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Jake turned around to see Sara Pezzini opening her door just as he called her cell phone. "Hi, why..." before he could finish his sentence however, he noticed what she was wearing, and had to stop and think.
"What?" Sara's face held a puzzled statement as she held the door open for Jake to come in. Heading up the stairs she turned on the lights and picked up the towel from off her bed. Returning to her bathroom she hung the towel up and moved to turn off her bathroom lights before pinning her hair up. After doing so she returned to the where Jake was sitting and sat down across from him. "Sorry about that, I fell asleep in my bathtub and didn't wake up until about a moment ago."
Nodding, Jake still stared at her. Then and only then did Sara notice what she was wearing and how she looked. "Oh god."
~~~~~
Chapter 6 - Surprises
Jake was still slightly stunned by Sara's appearance, never had he seen her like this before. She had all of her wet tresses of brown hair clipped up behind her, that coupled with her shirt gave her a look of vulnerability that he hadn't expected. Sara herself looked shocked at her appearance, "Lemme guess, you dressed in the dark?"
Nodding dumbly Sara tried to form a reply. "I... I didn't even know I still had this outfit... Danny gave it to me three years ago for my birthday, as a lark.... I've never worn it... I thought I'd given it to Maria." Sara got up heading for her dresser to grab a different outfit to change into. When a hand on her arm stopped her.
"It's ok Pez, you look fine. Besides it's good to see you wearing color every once in a while." Sara knew Jake was trying to make her feel better but she flushed none the less.
Looking down, she muttered "I still look like some teenager." Suddenly the ridiculousness of the situation dawned on her and she started laughing. "I'm sorry Jake, this just isn't something I would normally wear, ever." Flushing once again she sat down, staring self-consciously at her ensemble. It was a blood red tank top attached to the inside of a clear white shirt through which her black bra straps could be seen clearly, the overshirt had pink roses and green vines embroidered onto it climbing from her left shoulder to the right side of her waist. Her pants were white as well with the same embroidery around the pockets and bottoms of each leg as well as on her back pocket. "Well, at least it's not ALL red. Besides you came to talk, not hear me freak out over what I'm wearing." Smiling she sat down again. "Now then, what the heck happened to my manners. Want something to drink?"
Smiling back Jake nodded. "Yeah, beer would be nice." Sara got up and went to her kitchen; Jake followed her with his eyes. Not quite sure anymore where to start or why he came. When she returned with two opened beers and handed him one, Jake leaned back and took a swig, and looking at her again, he was suddenly reassured. "So, let's talk."
~~~
Calliope DeLancie combed her jet-black hair slowly as she sat in front of her mirror. She had stepped out of her shower fifteen minutes ago and was presently trying to untangle her semi-dried hair. Taking a deep breath she suddenly noticed that she was still wearing her locket. "Not tonight," She whispered to it as she took it off and put in her drawer, locking it in the secret compartment only she knew about. It was one of the only things she had left from her mother. As if by instinct she turned immediately to the porcelain doll sitting on the other end of her dresser, holding it to her she began to caress its long black hair, so much like her own.
The doll was made of good porcelain and the face resembled her mother's impeccably. An appraiser once told her that with the dress the doll was worth a few thousand dollars. Calliope's mother was a lounge singer; there was no way she could afford a doll like this, so it must've been given to her by someone, maybe her father... Calliope always had to gather her self-control and pause her thoughts when she thought about her father, mostly because she had no memory of him. When she was twelve she found a secret compartment in the doll and in it she found two things. One was a picture of her mother, the other was a letter written in Chinese. She had told no one about the compartment, but asked her parents for a Chinese tutor instead. Six years latter she was finally able to read that letter and what she learned had made Calliope cry herself to sleep for days. She hugged the doll to her for a second she then put it down as she began to twist her hair around a curling iron so that it fell in soft waves. Then drawing one side of it back behind her ear she pinned it there with a clip that had fresh red roses on it. Taking the photograph of her mother out of the doll she looked at it carefully, it was black and white and Calliope intended to look just like her mother tonight.
Placing the photo back she heard the door open behind her, and looked into the mirror to see Luka walk towards her, suddenly she remembered something, the man she had bumped into today had looked so familiar, but she couldn't place him. Then there was the flashback she'd had when she bumped into that woman... where had that come from? Confused she turned behind her and asked "When Luka?" For a moment he didn't answer just caressed her hair.
"Soon love, soon." To him she seemed lost. It scared him, Callie had always been the strong one, she always knew what to do, but something had shifted. He didn't know what was bothering her, but he intended to be there for her anyway. "I have a surprise for you." Callie tilted her head questioningly as he drew her out of her seat and led her out of her bedroom, wondering just what he planned on surprising her with.
~~~
Sara felt as if she had been talking to a lie detector test for the past half hour, Jake would not accept that she had left the police department simply because of this mornings incident, not only that but he seemed insistent on persuading her to return. "Jake please," She interrupted in pleading tones. "I just... I don't want to talk about this anymore ok? Please. What's done is done, besides I haven't been much of a training officer, I'm too independent for that I guess. I constantly leave you in the dark and I don't explain things. Your life would be a lot easier without me in it."
Jake just stared at her for a second, wanting to argue the point, but finally he relented. "Ok, fine then, want to tell me what you plan on doing now that you're off the force?"
Sara just shrugged, not liking this subject any better then the last, suddenly an idea occurred to her. "Hey Jake, you play the drums?" Jake just looked confused. Smiling Sara dragged him to his feet and led him upstairs. "I got these from a friend, a business deal of sorts." Jake looked at them, the surprise on his face apparent, in a second though the look turned to one of amazement
"Weren't these auctioned to John Bonham after Keith Moon died?" Surprised, Sara nodded herself.
"You're a music buff?"
"Well, only some. You know last time I checked these went for fifty thousand online. How did you...?" Sara just gave him one of her looks. "A friend, right." For the next twenty minutes the two of them played around with the drums until the doorbell rang.
Sara went downstairs and opened it to find a boy standing there with a dress on a hanger folded over one arm so it wouldn't touch the floor and a box in the other. "Here you go miss, the man in the black suit told me to give these to you, and he also said to tell you that there's a note on the box " Handing them over to her, he smiled waved and left. Puzzled, Sara carried the armload up to her bedroom closing the door with her foot. Dropping it on her bed she looked at the box and took the folded piece of paper off of it, opening it she read:
"Sara, Noticed you had a guest. Didn't want to interrupt. Hope you like the dress. Kenneth doesn't know about the jewelry. Ian
P.S. Nice outfit. "
Sara shook her head as she read the note it was short and abrupt. The postscript however was just enough to get on her nerves. "What's all this?" Remembering Jake's presence at the sound of his voice she crumpled up the note and turned around.
"Oh, uh, nothing." Jake neared the bed and looked at the black dry cleaners bag over the hanger. Noticing a tag sticking out of it he took it in his hand and gave it a look. "Geez!"
~~~~~
Chapter 7 – Hidden Wealth
“What?” asked Sara in puzzlement:she hadn’t seen what Jake had done, only that he’d moved closer to her. When she turned around she saw that he wore a frown and was opening the box besides the dress. From it he took out two smaller boxes. Opening one of them he took a look inside and snapped it shut in surprise. Quickly he turned to the smaller one and had almost the same reaction.
“Sara, I’m really starting to wonder if you’re honest with me.” Jake’s voice was bland and his face dead serious. Looking at him Sara suddenly became worried.
“About what?” was all that she could think to say.
“About everything, about why you left the force, even who you are.” Seeing that she still wasn’t getting it he started spelling things out, “ Ok, that drum set was $50,000.00 on the Internet, you don’t want to tell me how you got them, fine by me. That dress that you just came upstairs with is supposedly a Donna Karan Original, according to the price tag it cost $3,250. Then, there’s these.” Jake picked up the two small boxes and handed them to Sara who opened them and looked inside while she wasn’t shocked by the contents she was fairly surprised.
Inside of the larger box was a choker that was about half an inch wide made of silver that was formed into intricate designs set with a ruby at the front center and what looked like small red stones all around. Also in the box was a pain of matching earrings. Opening the smaller box, Sara saw that inside of it was a watch the silver of band was as intricate as that of the choker. All around the watch face were small red gems. It was a beautiful set, and even Sara could tell that it was expensive. “That set was auctioned off today for $1.5 million. Supposedly it once belonged to Cornelius Vanderbilt; he had intended it as a wedding present to his daughter when he married her off to some earl, but on her wedding day she wore pearls instead, refusing to wear them because she was being married against her will.”
It suddenly dawned on Sara why Jake was angry, but before she could explain anything, he continued ranting. “Now if I add that up correctly, I’ve just counted $1,553,250.00. You were a cop Sara, and so was your father. So unless you have some secret income, I’m really not seeing how you afforded all this, and I’m really beginning to wonder.” Finishing his tirade Jake did his best to glare at Sara who only smiled impishly in return, and somehow, even in his anger, Jake felt the beginnings of a grin breaking through.