Baby Just Say Yes

"Rayleigh, I'm not letting you walk to that jail." Papa Gates told her as she told Suzie that she was planning on walking to the jail to get Brian and Matt out.

"I don't want to intrude on you." She said guiltily. He shook his head.

"I wouldn't let you just walk down to that jail, Ray. And neither would Brian. Or Matt." He told her, grabbing the keys to his car. She smiled. Brian's father had always done that kind of thing for her.

"Okay." Rayleigh told him, finally giving in. He put his hand across her shoulder and then they walked out to his car. He reved the engine a little bit, and then he drove off. It took about ten minutes to get the jail, and Rayleigh walked straight up to the counter.

"You know the drill." He said boredly.

"I'm not here to visit. I'm here to get them the hell out of here." Rayleigh said strongly.

"Are you paying bail?" He asked her. "It's $1000, Ms. Coslov."

"If that's what it takes, then yeah, I'm prepared to pay it. But I have proof that he wasn't going to kill me." Rayleigh told him. "Now review the goddamn tape and let them out."

"What tape?" The cop asked, his head up in interest. "Your father never--"

"He didn't know about it." Rayleigh said. "But it's worth listening to."

"Alright, come on." The cop said, leading both her and Papa Gates to a back room. He popped the tape into the player, and listened to it carefully:

"Is this Ripper?" her father's voice asked, gravelly because of the tape.

"Who's asking?" Matt's voice replied.

"Richard Coslov. I have a job for you." Her father replied.

"Who?" Matt's voice asked.

"My daughter, Rayleigh." Her father replied. She started shaking at the venom in his voice. He obviously meant it. He wasn't faking this; he really had wanted her dead. Did that mean she still did?

"How old is she?" Matt asked, his voice cool. She knew he was only pretending to play the part of killer, but it still shook her. She had never heard Matt's voice so cold.

"She's 14." Her father told him.

"And you want her dead?" Matt asked, sounding shocked. Apparently her father didn't find it strange that he was shocked.

"As strange as it is, yes. I want you to kill my daughter." He replied.

"I need to know why if I'm going to do this." Matt told him.

"Because I've had it with her attitude, and I don't feel like getting someone else to deal with it. I've heard that you're good at what you do. You're fast and efficient, and not messy."

"That's right." Matt agreed tensely. She could tell that the conversation was beginning to bother him. She knew that he hadn't wanted to discuss killing her with her father.

"What's your price?" Her father asked. "I'll pay whatever you want."

"When do you want her dead?" Matt asked.

"Whenever I call again. What's your price?"

"For her age, I'll charge $5000 for the actual killing. And I'll charge $2000 for the clean up afterwards." Matt said.

"Fine. That sounds reasonable. And you'll make sure she's never seen again? That no one will find her body?" Her father asked. She couldn't hold it anymore, and she ran to the nearest garbage can, where she threw up. Papa Gates walked over to her, and held her hair up out of her face. The conversation continued.

"I'll do my job, Coslov. All I require is to be paid." Matt said coldy. She heard her father hang up, and then a few minutes later, Matt's voice came back on.

"This was a conversation between Rayleigh Coslov's father, Richard Coslov, and her friend Matt Sanders. He was attempting to hire a hitman to kill his daughter, and believed that Matt was a wellknown hitman in the area, Ripper. This conversation took place on the night of Friday, April 13th, 1994."

"We'll have our lab check this out. But in the meantime, by law, we have have to let them go free until we can prove this wasn't artificially made." The cop said, getting up. "Wait here."
He left Papa Gates and Rayleigh in the room alone, and returned a few minutes later with Matt and Brian. Immediately upon seeing Brian, she ran to his arms, and let him hug her.

"What's with the sudden show of affection?" He asked her quietly. "Before you wouldn't even talk to me."

"That's exactly what we need to do." She said to him. "We need to talk and figure this shit out."

"I'm just glad to hear you say that." He whispered, putting his hands on her shoulders and ending the hug. She looked at Matt, and hugged him too.

"I'm sorry you had to hear me say those things." He whispered to her, his voice sounding like he was in pain. She gave him a squeeze hug.

"It's fine. As long as it gets my dad in jail, I don't care. I know you didn't mean any of it." She reassured him. He hugged her.

"Alright. Sanders, Haner, you guys are free to go." The cop said.

"Yes! Sweet freedom!" Brian joked. They walked out of the jail, Brian's arms around Rayleigh's shoulders. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw someone she'd never thought she'd see again.
"Long time, no see, Rayleigh."