Research Purposes
- 1 -
"Oh my, if this isn't a dreadful place, I don't know what is! Why do those government buildings always have to be such an assault on the eyes?"
Lieutenant Louie Provenza choked on a piece of his donut that his partner, Andy Flynn, had been watching him eat with obvious envy. The expression, however, was quickly replaced with a look of pure puzzlement at the sight of the new arrivals. Amy Sykes' eyebrows broke their own record as to smallest distance to the detective's hairline while Mike Tao's mouth formed a rather undignified 'O', his eyes going wide. Julio Sanchez hit his head on his desk under which he had been fumbling with a loose wire which momentarily kept him from finding out what the commotion was about. Only a second later, their eyes moved to their Captain, the woman in charge that they usually turned to in times of unexpected visitors, sudden catastrophes and all other predicaments.
Sharon Raydor had frozen in her tracks, her back to the door, holding on to the file she'd been about to open. Her posture was rigid, her shoulders square in the slim-fitting navy-blue suit she was wearing today. Very slowly, she turned towards the door but the look on her face was resigned rather than surprised. The visitor who had made the rather unflattering comment about their murder room's interior design spotted her immediately and gave a loud, piercing cry of what everyone was almost sure had to be enthusiasm.
"Sharon! Look at you!" Before any of them could fathom what was going on, the tall blonde woman had already enveloped their captain in a firm hug that looked threateningly suffocating. Another, shorter woman trailed behind the impressive blonde, also stretching her arms out for Sharon. Something about her was familiar, but even the LAPD's most elite squad sometimes missed the obvious.
They were snapped out of their strange-visitor-induced haze when Sharon gave a strained cough, signaling her impending suffocation due to the woman's hug.
"Oh, lord, Sharon. You poor thing. I am so sorry!" The blonde let go of her, clapping her hands that - oddly - were currently located in white lace gloves, making Amy Sykes look more puzzled than usual. She reminded herself to look it up on the internet later; maybe it was yet another fashion trend she had missed.
Sharon Raydor shook her head, obviously baffled, then stepped around the - impressively tall - blonde woman and wrapped her arms gently around her companion. They were about the same height, the others now realized, and that observation quickly led them to the conclusion that they were also similar in build and mannerisms.
"Dott, what are you doing here?" Sharon asked, her voice mildly surprised yet neutral enough to disguise her true feelings as to the woman's visit.
"And Ellie!" The other woman sang. "Good day to you, too, Missy. You look adorable as usual."
She turned towards the baffled onlookers and gave a charming smile that bordered on sexual harassment, or so Provenza thought with some arousal. She quickly took in the men in the room and then cocked her head at Sanchez, biting her lower lip with exaggerated glee. She lifted an eyebrow at him and smiled, making Sanchez more than just uncomfortable. For some reason she was carrying an old fashioned cigarette holder that she now slid in her pocket to be free to tap Sharon's shoulder. The now rather flustered-looking captain turned towards her with a questioning look.
"Wouldn't you like to introduce us, honey?" The woman named Ellie purred, stroking Sharon's arm with claw-like pink fingernails. "Is that Armani? Beautiful. Those boring suits always looked spectacular on you and before you ask, yes, that is actually meant as a compliment."
Sharon Raydor looked defeated. In fact, she reminded Andy Flynn of someone who'd been caught in a storm. Even her hair suddenly looked ruffled, probably courtesy of the hug. She tugged at her blazer although it fit her perfectly - so he had been casually observing all morning. She then gestured towards the woman next to her who, at second glance, looked remarkably like her.
"This is my sister Dott from New York." Andy regarded the woman with some interest. Her wardrobe was similar to Sharon's, yet completely different somehow, her skirts shorter and her neckline plunging. He tried not to look at it because comparing his captain's breasts to those of her sister seemed wildly inappropriate. One look at Provenza, however, proved that he was doing exactly that. He tried to concentrate on Dott's shoulder length hair with its slightly darker color when compared to Sharon. The same green eyes Sharon had sparkled at him from under fluffy bangs.
"Hi," Dott spoke for the first time, her voice not unlike the Captain's too, though it was higher and a little more lively somehow. "Sorry to interrupt."
"This is Ellie Walker," Sharon continued somewhat tiredly. "My sister's best-"
"ELLIE WALKER?" Sharon rolled her eyes, mimicked inadvertedly by her sister a moment later while Ellie straightened up from where she'd been leaning again Sanchez's desk, putting her hand on her hip and turning her face towards the ceiling as if posing for a photo shoot. Sykes' cheeks were pink while she began rummaging in her desk drawer to withdraw a tattered-looking paperback novel to hold it up. "I loved your last book!" she relayed breathlessly. "It was so good. To be honest... I loved all the others, too!"
Tao's eyes widened even more at Sykes acting so out of character. Romance novels, Flynn thought, it figured somehow.
"Thank you, thank you, darling!" Ellie playfully waved her away. "Let me sign that for you later!" Sykes made a noise that sounded like a cat that someone had stepped on. Flynn was familiar with the sound since Rusty had recently adopted an impossibly fat specimen ill-fatedly named and only responding to "Lord Voldemort" who moved a lot more quietly than his considerable size would have suggested and had therefore been stepped on by him on two unfortunate occasions.
Sharon began to introduce the team that found themselves scrutinized by both Ellie and Dott who turned out to be a lot less discreet than her sister. Her gaze lingered on Flynn and she gave a sultry grin.
"I am glad to see you, Dott, but what exactly are you doing here?" Sharon asked rather politely, but the familiar twitch of her eyebrow told the attentive observer that she wasn't entirely pleased with the situation.
"It's about Ellie, really." Dott pointed at her friend who had taken up residence on Sanchez's desk for real now, her legs crossed and her hand very close to a startled Sanchez's cheek, not listening to the sisters' conversation at all. "She is researching for her next book. It is going to be set in the LAPD, chronicling the love story between-"
"Your skin is like caramel!" Ellie interrupted her, oblivious to the very fact that she had been speaking. Sanchez gulped, obviously not sure yet whether he was happy about the blatant act of flirting or scared shitless. Provenza looked jealous. "You should loosen that tie!" Ellie reached out but Sharon stopped her while her sister gave an amused snort of laughter. She didn't seem to mind her friend's shenanigans. She was probably used to it.
"Why do you have to do your research here?" Sharon asked rather sharply now, but her tone of voice was probably owed to the strain that pulling Ellie off Sanchez was causing.
"Isn't this the LAPD, sweetie?" Ellie roared, patting Sharon's cheek. It was rather interesting to see their Captain's usually very smooth exterior crumble.
"It is," she said from between gritted teeth. "but there is a huge number of other police departments in this country. Why didn't you pick one of them?"
"Because this-" Ellie made a grand gesture with her arms, almost knocking Sharon's glasses off her nose in the process. "is Hollywood! It is where the big things happen! Where the romantic things happen-"
"I can't see anything romantic about people being killed," Sharon noted, but was ignored entirely. Dott stood next to her, patting her shoulder comfortingly. It was really impossible to tell who the younger sister was, but from the way they were acting, Flynn thought maybe Sharon was the older one.
"The murders aren't that important!" Ellie said, obviously enjoying the fact that she had a captivated, if eerily fascinated audience. "It is the love, Sharon. The love! Nobody cares about dead bodies. People care about whether people have affairs, fall in love, have rough sex on desks in offices, get caught, have babies, make out in elevators! Take Detective Sanchez here," The aforementioned looked rather uncomfortable now. "Does anyone care about watching him chase down leads? Oh no! We want to know whether he would passionately pull the woman he desires into a supply closet to-"
"Ellie!" Sharon interrupted her quickly. "I think we've heard quite enough."
"Writer's block!" Dott whispered loud enough for anyone to hear. "Just give us a week, okay, Sharon? Just let her ride along, let her observe and get invited to the release party back in New York. You can even bring a da-ha-te!" She wriggled her eyebrows at her sister who instantly began to look uncomfortable.
"Not Julio here, though," Ellie informed her and turned back towards the detective. "He is with me."
Flynn grinned at the sight of the rather imposing woman in a bubble gum pink dress lounging on his squad mate's desk once again, stretching out a leg for him to admire before his eyes returned to the very similar-looking, yet completely different sisters. Dott was giggling by now.
Sharon rolled her eyes. "One week, Dott...!" she said, the underlying threat unmistakable in her voice.
"I think I must get to know those detectives better!" Ellie announced. "Maybe I could throw you a little party at our hotel later. What do you think, Dott?"
Sharon crossed her arms, apparently a little miffed to have been unceremoniously taken out of the loop now that she had principally agreed to their plan.
"That sounds great!" Dott confirmed, smiling brightly. It was her smile that confused Flynn somewhat, it seeming so familiar although it wasn't half as guarded and controlled as Sharon's. Ellie let out another high-pitched roar, indicating excitement (or so he thought).
"So what is going on here?" she asked casually, frowning at the photos on the white board. "Woah, a dead woman. How tragic. Has that picture been taken at the morgue?"
"No, she is still alive," Sykes supplied, her eyes a bit glassy. "That's a witness. We snapped that shot of her at the gym."
"That is very unfortunate. That woman needs a make-over." Ellie shrugged. "Speaking of which, I need to freshen up a little after the long flight. Dott and I expect you at eight at the Ritz-Carlton. Suite at the top floor. Come thirsty!"
And as quickly as they'd blown in, the two women exited again, leaving a stunned Major Crimes squad and a slightly distraught-looking Sharon.
It was certainly going to be an interesting night.
