Disclaimer: All Sentinel, JAG and Kung Fu: TLC characters are property of their respective companpies.
All orginal characters are my property and my not be used in any other stories.
"Phoenix Rising"
~*~*~*~*~
Sandburg sat typing at his computer amongst his mess on the coffee table.
His computer beeped and Blair stopped what he was doing.
"E-mail." he mumbled as he brought the letter on the screen. "Hi, sorry missed ya in the chat room, been busy. Sarah." he read aloud. Blair shook his head and took a sip of tea, saved the document and packed up for the night.
~*~*~*~*~
The next morning Jim and Blair were in Simon's office when two suits walked in.
"My name is Special Agent Daniel Callaway." said the short bald man with glasses as he shook hands with everyone in the room.
"This is Special Agent Michael Stone." Agent Stone preceded to shake hands like the agent before him.
~*~*~*~*~
Simon opened his mouth to introduce himself but was cut off.
"Captain Banks, I'll cut right to the chase. We have a dirty agent, who's killed 5 of our men and sold confiscated goods on the loose and we need you to catch him. Your department will be working with us to track him down. Here is the folder containing information that you need."
He dropped the folder on the desk. "We'll be in contact." he said gruffly and with that they both left.
~*~*~*~*~
Sarah paced the dark hallway floor in her blue sweat pants and a blue FBI shirt she'd gotten her father for Christmas.
"This is not normal." she said as she pushed the bangs of her auburn hair out of her face and slipped on her glasses.
She stopped pacing long enough to listen, no sound, all was quiet, except for her pounding headache.
~*~*~*~*~
Blair got up the next day and headed towards the university. Upon entering his office he began rummaging through various papers.
"Ah Ha!" he exclaimed reading the paper. "Sci-Fi convention at the Red Rock Hotel." Blair grabbed his keys and took off again.
~*~*~*~*~
Jim wasn't having the best of days when he walked into Simon's office that morning. Every person he tried talking to the day before had clamed up when they found out he was a detective. Now he stood in front of Simon's desk as Jim waited for Simon to finish his phone call.
"That was Special Agent Callaway, apparently some of the people you talked to yesterday got nervous and called him." Simon handed Jim a piece of paper.
"What's this?" Jim asked puzzled.
Simon rolled his eyes, "That detective is a list of people you are not to bother."
Ellison scanned the list of names, and shook his head. "Sarah Matthews?" Jim said as he looked up from the list. "I've not even talked to her. Is that all sir?" he asked. Simon nodded as Jim headed towards the door.
~*~*~*~*~
Sarah had been pacing back and forth outside the main conference room. "Sarah!" a female hollered from behind her. She turned to see Anna running towards her, with keys dangling from her wrist.
Sarah snatched the keys from Anna and unlocked the room, "Where have you been?" The door flew open and Sarah walked in turning on all the lights, as Anna pulled the covers off the tables.
~*~*~*~*~
Anna plunked down in the nearest chair and ran her fingers through her short sandy blond hair.
"I thought you had a presentation to give today." said Anna.
"Ha, I talked T-Byrd into doing it. I'm short handed setting up the banquet hall for tonight and if they want it done by tonight, well..." Sarah's voice trailed off as she looked at Anna's attire.
"Very nice, black skirt and blue silk blouse. Who are you trying to impress?"
Anna laughed, "You know that cute guy that works the front desk? Well he's got a cousin in town who's 23..." Sarah covered her ears, "Stop. I don't want to know."
"C'mon it will be fun, you need to start dating, for heavens sakes Sarah, you're old." argued Anna.
"I'm only twenty, hon that's not old." Sarah pointed out.
They both giggled as the people began to file in for the meeting. "If you find anyone willing to help get the banquet room ready, send 'em my way. At least there's a tear down committee."
Sarah took of her lavender sweatshirt to reveal a blue tee shirt, after putting her amethyst pendent necklace underneath her shirt she headed towards the banquet room.
~*~*~*~*~
Sarah looked around at the hall where she had been working for the last hour and a half. She had managed to pull out of storage a few long heavy tables and a couple dozen folding chairs, which were piled in the middle of the hall.
Anna had managed to round up some help for her and they got the starry back drop plastered to all but one of the walls, before they left. Sarah unfolded one of the chairs and stood on it trying to put the last piece of back drop on the left side of the hall. In one hand she had the masking tape and the other held the backdrop in place, within a few minutes she had it all up.
~*~*~*~*~
Blair spotted the convention signs in the lobby and followed them to a table outside the main conference room. "Excuse me." Blair said to Anna outside.
"I'm looking for Sarah Matthews, can you tell me where she is?"
Anna eyed him for a moment. "Who are you?" she asked.
"I'm Blair Sandburg, consultant to Cascade P.D."
Anna's eyes widened. "Really? Is she in some sort of trouble?"
"No, oh no, I'm an old friend of hers." he said.
"Well in that case she's in banquet halls 7 and 8. Go to the end of this hall and turn left. First door on your right."
Blair smiled, "Thanks." Anna smiled as Blair walked down the hall.
~*~*~*~*~
Sarah was in the middle of hauling up one of the large tables onto the stage, when she heard footsteps coming towards her.
As the person got closer she heard their heart beat begin to race.
~*~*~*~*~
Outside the door to the hall Blair took a deep breath as he opened the door.
"Sarah?" That voice, Sarah's head snapped towards the doorway.
"Shakespeare?" she asked.
Blair smiled and said "Yep." Sarah couldn't believe it, Blair Sandburg, she was so surprised that the table she had been holding slipped out of her hands and onto her foot.
"Bloody Hell!" she yelled.
Blair ran towards her and helped her lift it up. "Drop it." Sarah said, checking to make sure both feet weren't under it.
"My hero." she teased.
Blair smiled as he shook his head. "Still getting into trouble I see." he said as he helped her off the stage.
"Always." she said smiling.
"I guess it's time for a break." she said pulling the tie out of her hair and running her fingers through her hair. "It is good to see you Blair. What's wrong?"
Blair took another deep breath and said, "It's about your dad..."
Sarah stopped him, "I don't want to know this moment. Right now I have to finish setting up for the banquet. Then you can tell me." she said getting back up on the stage.
"OK, then I'll help." said Blair climbing onto the stage.
~*~*~*~*~
Jim pulled into the driveway of the Matthews' home on the outskirts of Cascade. It was a small ranch house, he knocked on the door and it opened. Jim pulled his gun out, pushed open the door and went in. Upon entering the house, he saw that someone had been looking for something.
The couch had been tossed on its back, the pillows had been taken apart and to the right of the couch was the fireplace. The photos above and around it had been taken out of their frames and then the frames broken. Everywhere he looked it was a disaster.
~*~*~*~*~
Then he heard a car coming towards the house, "Sandburg." he said as he walked out to meet him.
Blair noticed Jim's truck as he pulled up to the house.
Blair and Sarah got out of the car and he headed towards the house.
Sarah on the other hand headed towards the small guest house to the left side of the house.
~*~*~*~*~
Checking to make sure no one was looking she reached under the steps of the guest room and pulled out one of her dad's guns.
She had placed it there just before she left this morning.
Holding it firmly she listened as she got by the door.
She heard a heart beat coming from inside as she opened the door and walked in.
~*~*~*~*~
"Oh man!" said Blair when he saw the condition of the house. "Sarah is not going to be happy."
Jim put his gun down and said, "How did you..." Jim stopped and listened.
"What? What's wrong?" asked Blair.
~*~*~*~*~
Sarah's head began pounding again as she looked around and saw that the place had been trashed.
"Oh just great!" she mumbled as she moved the fallen chair with her foot. The heartbeat noise got louder as she neared the closet. Gun in hand she stood up against the wall, cocked it and with one hand reached to carefully opened the closet door.
As she reached for the doorknob she saw something black in the corner of her eye. She looked and saw a jaguar. The jaguar hissed and then ran out of the room. She shook her head and reached for the door knob. She heard something click as she opened the door, so she quickly snapped her hand back. *BANG*
~*~*~*~*~
Jim heard the click and was halfway out the door when the noise of a shot was heard.
Blair followed Jim out and when he saw Sarah was not by the car, he took off towards the guest room.
~*~*~*~*~
Sarah pointed the gun at the closet and looked in. She sighed with relief, as she walked into the closet.
"Freeze!" yelled a voice from the doorway. Sarah's body snapped around with the gun pointed at Jim's face.
"Put it down miss." he said.
"You first." she snapped.
"Jim put the gun down." said Blair from outside the door.
"Only if she does." he replied.
Blair pushed into the destroyed room. "Sarah, this is Jim Ellison, he's cool."
Sarah smiled as she un cocked the gun and stuffed it in the back of her blue jeans.
"Well, you can put yours away now Detective Ellison."
Sarah turned her attention back to the closet and noticed a small tape player next to the gun. She reached in and grabbed the player. After the rewind button clicked off , she played the cassette.
"Heartbeat. They knew, how the hell could they know?"
"I'll call Simon, we might be able to get some prints.." Sarah turned around and stared at Jim.
"Don't bother dusting for prints. Because you won't find any, other then my own or my fathers."
Blair shook his head and said "Give me the gun Sarah." She grumbled, but handed the gun over.
~*~*~*~*~
"I think she should stay with the two of you tonight." suggested Simon lighting up one of his cigars. "Where's the young lady?"
"Captain Banks, would you please put it out or smoke it outside? I have certain things that are easily ruined by smoke." said Sarah politely as she and Blair emerged from the kitchen.
"Umm, OK. Jim have her pack a bag for overnight." said Simon walking towards the door.
"Thank you Captain Banks." Sarah called after him.
~*~*~*~*~
Twenty-minutes later she had two bags almost packed. One clothing bag, the other her laptop case. She opened laptop bag grabbed a black tee shirt from the closet an packed on the bottom. Then she grabbed her wallet and a key ring and threw it in. She had a funny feeling that tonight was going to be a long night.. She took one last look around and saw her walls full of posters and pictures of wolves.
Finally her eyes rested on her knife collection, seeing her boot knife sitting next to her computer on her she reached for it. She heard someone coming up the stairs and stop outside her door. "I'm almost ready Detective Ellison." She grabbed the knife, slipped it into the bag with her laptop and zipped it up.
~*~*~*~*~
It was early evening when they reached the loft. "Listen Sarah you can have my room, I'll bunk on the couch." Blair offered.
She smiled and shook her head. "No thank you. I won't be sleeping much tonight."
Jim began making noise in the kitchen. "Coffee anyone?"
Sarah shook her head, "You wouldn't happen to have any tea would you?"
"Maybe you should sit down for this Miss Matthews." said Jim.
"Please Detective Ellison call me Sarah."
Jim put the folder down on the table in front of him and said, "We were assigned to your father's case by FBI Special Agents Daniel Callaway and...."
Sarah cut him off, "Michael Stone, sorry didn't mean to interrupt."
Jim continued, "They said that he's well, umm..."
Sarah's eyes widened. "No, no way. He is not dirty. Not a chance in hell mate." Sarah shook her head. "No, I don't believe it." She took a deep breath and said, "He's not dirty, but I know who is, but I've no proof. Yet."
~*~*~*~*~
Sarah's head was still pounding so she sat up and stretched. She really wasn't tired, but she pretended to fall asleep to please Blair. There was something about Detective Ellison, she couldn't put her finger on...She got up off the couch, opened the doors to the balcony and walked onto it. She wasn't out there for more then five minutes when she heard someone or something breathing behind her.
She turned around and saw the jaguar. It growled at her and headed back inside. Curious she followed it and saw it run up the stairs where Ellison slept. "I'm seeing things." she mumbled. As she turned to go back onto the balcony she saw a wolf standing in her path. The wolf led her onto the balcony and stared at her. She was so fascinated with the wolf that she never heard Jim wake up.
The wolf began to snarl as Jim came down the stairs. She turned to her right and saw the jaguar and then to her left in which she saw another wolf. The second wolf turned back into the loft and headed towards Blair's room. The jaguar moved past her and sat down next to the wolf. "Sarah?"
~*~*~*~*~
Sarah almost had a heart attack. She turned around with clenched fist swinging. Jim ducked just in time, "Hey. It's Jim." She looked at him, "Oh good heavens, Jim I'm so sorry."
She turned back around and saw the wolf and jaguar were gone.
Jim smiled and said, "No harm, no foul. Are you OK? You look like you've seen a ghost."
Sarah shook her head, "I'm OK, really."
"How do you know Blair?" asked Jim as he leaned on the rail.
"My old baby-sitter." Sarah smiled as she continued. "He moved away when I was a little girl, I was crushed."
Jim smiled. "He seems to have that effect on people."
The door to Blair's room opened and he leaned against the doorway and listened.
"In the guest room today, what did you mean when you said that they know. Explain what you mean by they? The Special Agents? And what is it they know?" asked Jim.
"They, Stone and Callaway, must know about my heightened sense of hearing, how I don't know."
~*~*~*~*~
Blair walked towards the balcony and said, "Sarah, you didn't tell me you..." Jim turned around to face Blair. "I'm sorry." she said softly. "That's not all, I did have heightened sense of sight at one time. Now I don't." "What!? How? When?" asked Blair as he ran his fingers through his hair.
"The car accident." said Jim.
"Yes. I was 11 when the accident happened, I was in the car when it flipped over, I pulled myself out and took off, before it exploded. My mother and Callaway's wife were still in the car."
The gears in Jim's head began turning. "The report said Jennifer Callaway was drunk."
She rolled her eyes.
"Are you saying that there's a cover up?" said Blair.
"Yes."
"How did you lose your heightened sense of sight?" asked Jim.
"I'm not totally sure," she began. "But think it has something to do with the person who took at shot at me that night. I managed to free myself from the car and headed towards the woods. I heard two shots behind me, I looked back to see a man dressed in dark clothing coming after me. I really wasn't sure what to do at that point, run or fight. So I decided to hit him and then run."
"Needless to say I failed. He aimed a gun at me, something hit my head and then everything goes black and when I woke up, it was gone." She shook her head and ran both hands through her hair.
Blair stood there in silence. "I've been having headaches ever since."
~*~*~*~*~
Around 10 am the next day the phone rang. Jim grabbed it just as Blair reached for it.
"Hello? Yes, Simon. We'll be right down." Jim's smiling face disappeared when he hung up the phone.
"They pulled a body from the river early this morning. He was shot through the heart."
Sarah's ears perked up.
"They think its Sarah's father. Simon wants us down there so she can ID the body."
~*~*~*~*~
The sheet was pulled back on the lifeless body. Sarah looked, closed her eyes and backed up. "No, no, no, no..." she mumbled. "Its him." Sarah managed to control herself enough to ask, "What was found on him?" The coroner opened the file and said, "A Berretta, the gun he used to kill himself." Sarah shook her head. "May I see it?" she asked. "Sure, its right here." the coroner turned around and grabbed the bag containing the gun. "He didn't kill himself."
"Have you checked for prints yet?" she asked.
"Your father's prints were on it." the guy said. She pulled out a pair of gloves from her bag and put them on.
"Good." she opened the bag and took out the gun.
"Sarah!" Jim reached for her but she pulled back.
"This is not my father's gun." she said looking at it.
"But its registered to him."said Jim looking at the file.
"No its can't be his, Dad always had my initials in his guns, this one doesn't have it. Jim, feel where the clip goes."
Jim's fingers moved around and replied, "You're right. The initials S.M. aren't there."
Sarah nodded, "If you check all of my dad's guns you'll find those initials."
~*~*~*~*~
Simon saw the three of them Jim's desk a few minutes later. "Jim, can I see you in my office? Alone."
Jim looked up. "Sure Captain. Wait here." he said. Sarah's hearing kicked in as soon as the door slammed.
"Detective I am taking custody of Miss Matthews." said Michael Stone.
~*~*~*~*~
"Sarah, are you OK? You look like you've seen a ghost." Sarah shook her head, "Stone's pulling something. Blair, he's taking custody of me." She handed him a small envelope. "Take this."
~*~*~*~*~
"What is it?" he asked.
The door opened. "Blair, I'm scared. I don't know what they are capable of anymore."
Blair hugged her, "Its OK. We'll get you back." Stone escorted her to the elevator. Blair was upset, Jim could tell.
"Not much we can do Chief."
~*~*~*~*~
Stone cuffed her while in the elevator. "Am I that dangerous Stone?" she asked as the door open to the ground level.
Stone smiled, but said nothing. Her bag was on the right shoulder of handcuffed arms, there was a skeleton key in there, that just might open up the cuffs, if she could get it. The Goldman building was doing some construction, perhaps she could hide out there...
~*~*~*~*~
Stone lead her to the car, waiting with Callaway.
"Hello hon." he said as he pointed his gun at her.
"Bugger off," she replied.
Callaway laughed, "Get into the car."
Sarah's head began to pound from using her heightened sense.
"Oh no." she said as she slammed against the brick wall.
"What's wrong?" asked Stone getting close to her.
"My head." she moaned as he got closer. She lifted her knee and hit him the private area.
Stone fell over in pain as Sarah took off towards the construction site.
~*~*~*~*~
Break time. Sarah sighed as she hid behind on of the pillars of steel. Chomping down on the strap with her teeth, she managed to move the bag to the back, so she could try and get the key. She heard Callaway cursing as her fingers found the key.
"I hope this works." she whispered.
She managed to unlock the cuffs, as she heard Stone join the hunt.
She looked around and saw a small piece of steel a few feet away.
Looking before she headed towards it, she saw nothing.
~*~*~*~*~
Callaway decided to check the pillars of steel in front of him. Sarah heard him coming, so she leaned against the third pillar and waited. He past the second and headed for third. His outstretched arms were a easy target. Sarah knocked the gun from his hands and backed up. He leapt towards her, as she swung at his face.
The blood ran from his nose, "You brat, you broke my nose!" he yelled.
"That's an improvement." she said as she swung again at his knees, he went down. Then again to the rib cage and the side of the head.
Stone rounded the corner and saw the commotion. He went to fire gun, but thought it would alarm someone. Running up behind her and he wrapped his arms around her making her drop the steel bar. She snapped her head back into his. He let her go, she picked up the bar and swung. She connected to the rib cage and the side of his face, knocking him down.
"You're dead, brat." she heard him say as she took off.
Stone helped Callaway up and they hobbled back to the car.
"I'm gonna kill her." growled Stone.
"Not until we get the evidence." said Callaway as Stone drove off.
~*~*~*~*~
"Jim, I'm sorry. You're off the case." said Simon as Blair got up from the chair.
"Blair, that means you too."
Blair began to pace the office as he said, "They're going to kill her."
"Sandburg you don't know that." said Simon as he shuffled some files around. "Look, all I know is that she's afraid of them. She a caged animal..." The phone cut him off.
"Banks." he said into the phone. "That's just great. Hold on." he put the call on the speaker and lite a cigar. "Go ahead."
"You know Captain Banks you should trust what Blair says this time." the voice said.
"SARAH?" a smiled appeared on Blair's face. "What happened? Where are you?"
"Long story, so I'll cut it short."
Jim shook his head, "Miss Matthews you are getting yourself into more trou..."
"Stone handcuffed me, Callaway pulled a gun and threatened my life."
Jim shook his head and Blair stood there in silence. "So where are you?"
"Try looking out the window."
All three went to the window and looked out. There she was standing with a cell phone in her ear looking up.
"Sarah, come back here and we'll help you." said Simon.
"Sorry not yet. Shakespeare do you still have that envelope I gave you?" Blair pulled it out from his back pocket and opened it.
"Keys?" he said puzzled as he peered down at her.
~*~*~*~*~
"Safety deposit keys." she said. "I want Jim and Captain Banks to take the key in the light blue envelope and you take the other one Blair. Go to the bank written on the envelope, get the box and wait." She paused, "Be there by 2 p.m.." She hung up, waved good-bye and walked away.
It was almost 2 p.m. when Jim and Simon walked into the bank. Walking up to the older lady in charge of the vaults, Simon said, I'm Captain Banks of the Cascade P.D. and this is Detective Jim Ellison." They showed the lady their badges. "Ah, yes. Miss Matthews said you would be coming."
She got up, keys in hand and led them into the vault.
~*~*~*~*~
Blair, with key in hand, stepped through the doors of the bank. He headed towards the man behind the desk in charge of the vaults.
"Blair." His body seemed to snap around like a rubber band.
"Sarah, are you OK?" She grabbed Blair an arm and pulled him into a vault room.
Sarah locked the door behind them as he opened the large deposit box. Upon opening it he saw a gun, some ammunition for the gun, a small cell phone, a few mini cassettes and some green device.
"Sarah?" he asked.
"Long time no see." she said out as she reached for the cell phone.
"Who are you calling?" asked Blair.
~*~*~*~*~
Something began ringing in the metal box. Jim and Simon had been going through bank records, phone bills and other paperwork inside the box. Simon moved out the video tapes and mini cassette tapes in order to find the ringing phone.
"Hello?" Simon answered.
"You made it, good." said Sarah smiled. "That's all the evidence Dad collected on Stone and Callaway, who they have been taking bribes from, fencing seized merchandise, etc. I suggest you get it back to the station and keep it under lock and key."
Simon looked at all the stuff scattered around the table. "Man, oh man." he said as he handed the phone to Jim.
"Sarah? Is Blair with you?" asked Jim.
Sarah handed the phone over to him, "Yeah Jim?"
~*~*~*~*~
Jim sighed. "OK, now that we've got the evidence, bring Sarah in."
Blair nodded in agreement.
"I've no problem with that Jim." said Sarah. "Meet us at Cafe Pacer, in say in an hour?"
~*~*~*~*~
Sarah and Blair got to the cafe about quarter to three. They sat down outside and Sarah pulled out that green device.
"What's that?" he asked.
She opened it like a book and laid it on the table. "Its a tracking device." she stated as she unfastened a green angel from her tee shirt.. The device beeped.
"See? This is where I am." She showed him the screen, and pointed to the small printing under it, it read Marsh Street. "Blair, I was thinking about how Dad died."
Blair's eyes widened, "Really? Did you come up with any theories?"
She shook her head, "I'm not sure."
Sandburg nodded.
"But Callaway loves to dive with sharks. I read in some of those papers he owns a fairly large boat with a very impressive shark cage. Why couldn't Dad have been shot in that?"
~*~*~*~*~
Simon and Jim rounded the corner of the block as Sandburg agreed. "They're coming."
Sarah turned around in her chair and looked. "Good." she closed the green device.
"Sarah, just one question. Why is it green?" She giggled as Simon and Jim reached the table.
"Its his favorite color." she responded getting out of the chair.
"What is he a frog or something?"
She laughed and said, "He's my uncle of sorts, and I'll forget you said that.."
~*~*~*~*~
Detective Kermit Griffin adjusted his dark green sunglasses and began typing away at his computer when something began to beep.
"Now what?" he complained as he pulled up his e-mail. "Ex-mercenary, turned FBI Special Agent Aaron Matthews, son of mercenary Jason Matthews, found dead in the city of Cascade in Washington state. Aaron has a daughter, Sarah, her whereabouts are unknown. " he finished reading, at the bottom there was the letter "J."
"Great." He got up from his desk and went over to the filing cabinet. He rummaged through the bottom drawer until he found it.
~*~*~*~*~
"Jim, Captain Banks. I am truly sorry about this." she said. "I wanted to make sure everything got to where it was supposed to go."
Simon nodded and said, "Well I have everything in my office with orders that no one is to enter with out my authorization. Miss Matthews, I want you to stay with Jim and Blair until we find them. Clear? I'm going back to the station."
"Yes, Sir." the three of them said in unison as Simon left.
Sarah suddenly got dizzy and grabbed onto the table to steady herself. Something flashed into her mind, she saw a boat explode...
"Sarah? You're pale. What's wrong?"
She stood up, "Just a little dizzy. This happens when my sense gets over used, nothing a little peace and quiet wouldn't cure."
Jim looked around, "Lets get back to the loft."
~*~*~*~*~
Blair lit the last candle and put his Tibetan instrumental music on the stereo. Sarah winced when she heard the music. She clicked the stereo off.
"No offense, but that's not my type of music for meditation."
Jim coughed a laugh and Blair sighed.
"Sit." he told Sarah. She obeyed, "Now close your eyes and relax..."
It was dark when she opened her eyes. "Welcome back to the land of the living." teased Jim.
She looked over at Blair, who was still in meditation. "How long was I under?"
Jim looked at the clock "About two hours."
Blair's eye slowly opened a few minutes later.
"How are you feeling?"
Sarah turned to Blair and paused. "Relaxed. Is it possible to go home and collect a few things?" she turned back to Jim.
"Umm, no problem. I'll get my jacket...." Jim began.
~*~*~*~*~
Someone's cell phone began ringing. "That's mine. She headed towards the sofa and pulled out a her phone.
"Hello?" A familiar voice was heard on the other end.
"Sarah? I just heard what happened to your father. You turned on the tracking device on my end, are you all right?"
Her jaw dropped open. "Kermit?" She put her hand over the phone and whispered "It's for me, a friend of Dad's." as she headed towards the balcony.
~*~*~*~*~
"She's taking her father's death pretty well don't you think?" asked Jim.
"She's very good at hiding her true feelings, believe me Jim, she more upset then you and I will ever know."
"Kermit, I always knew this time would come, but..." Sarah voice began to shake a little. "I'm sorry about all that's happened hon. How's the headaches? Are you keeping up on your meditations?"
She shook her head, "Yes sir." She came back from the balcony. "Kermit, can you do a check on FBI Special Agent Daniel Callaway and Special Agent Michael Stone?"
~*~*~*~*~
"Callaway? Sarah, he's involved?" asked Kermit.
"Yes, why?"
"You are going to need one hell of a plan." he replied.
"Kermit, hold on. I want to put you on speaker." She pushed a button on the phone and set it on the counter top.
"Detective Griffin, say hello to Detective Jim Ellison and Blair Sandburg."
"Hi. Like I said before Sarah, you cannot try to take down Callaway by yourself. He's far too dangerous."
Jim spoke next, "Detective, why is he so dangerous?"
Sarah shook her head, "No way. Not possible. Is it?"
Blair's head looked like it was watching a tennis match, he looked to the phone, to Sarah and then back to the phone. "What?"
"He's ex-mercenary. I met him a few times, he's a real ass and very gun happy. Also loves to blow things up. I think he's tangled with your grandfather and dad, Sarah. Came out on the short end. He wasn't happy." finished Kermit.
"Kermit who do you know would buy fenced goods from him?" asked Sarah.
Blair absorbed the information he was hearing.
"I'm not sure, but give me 24 hrs and I'll see what I can come up with. Listen when this is all over with, why don't you come see me? And Peter might be able to help you with those headaches."
"And Sarah, I don't want you doing anything stupid. Good luck." said Kermit before he hung up.
She smiled, "Yes Kermit. Thanks." she said. She hung up and left the phone on the counter.
~*~*~*~*~
"I'll go with her." Blair told Jim.
"Chief, I don't think that's a good idea."
Blair leaned against the counter, "Oh come on. We won't be there for more than 10 minutes."
Jim shook his head, "No."
~*~*~*~*~
Sarah flipped on the light in the hallway. "I'll be upstairs." as she hurried up the staircase.
Blair began to look around. "Everything seems to be OK." he mumbled. He heard a noise of some sorts outside so he decided to investigate.
~*~*~*~*~
Something moved downstairs and it wasn't Blair. Sarah decided to leave her packing and investigate. She went downstairs and looked around, nothing.
Something moved behind her, then the sound of a dial being turned. There was a humming noise, it got louder and louder, forcing her to put her hands over her ears to block the noise.
The pitch got higher and higher, it reached the point of pain. She sank to her knees and screamed for Blair.
~*~*~*~*~
Blair heard the scream and barged into the house. "Sarah, come on." He pulled her from the floor and out to the car.
The car started up and Blair pulled away from the house, with Sarah in tears.
She managed to get Blair's cell phone out and dial Jim's number at the edge of the drive.
She pulled the ash tray out and set the cell phone on that.
"Hello?" she heard Jim's calm voice on the other end.
~*~*~*~*~
"Jim they were waiting for us." Blair hollered.
"What? Are you OK? How about Sarah?"
Blair turned right and answered, "I'm OK, but they did something to Sarah. I think they over loaded her hearing with some high frequency."
Jim's heart skipped a beat. "OK, where are you?"
"Maple and Vine." Blair replied. A dark van pulled up behind them and began ramming their bumper.
"Blair!" Jim yelled.
"A blue or black van." said Sarah. "Washington plates, FYV-851." she continued.
"How can you read it that far back?" asked Blair.
"You got me." she shrugged her shoulders.
The final bump sent the car spinning out of control. Jim heard a loud crash and then got cut off.
"Damn it!" Blair and Sarah jumped out of the car. "Run!" Blair hollered.
The dark van cut them off and out jumped four men, who surrounded them. One came after Sarah with a small receiver in hand. The high pitch dropped her to her knees in pain.
"Get in the van." said one of the men. Blair helped her into the van, and then everything went dark.
~*~*~*~*~
"You can't be serious." moaned Simon over the phone. "Have the plates come back yet?"
Jim shook his head.
"They won't be in for awhile. How are you doing going through all the stuff?" Jim asked.
"Actually its been quite entertaining. Videos to cassette tapes to their bank deposits to receipts on what they had for lunch. Call me when you have something." said Simon just before he hung up.
~*~*~*~*~
The cell phone on the counter began to ring.
"Hello?"
The person on the other end responded, "Who's this?"
Annoyed, Jim said, "This is Detective Jim Ellison, Cascade, P.D. Who is this?"
"My aren't we a bit grumpy today. My name is Detective Kevin "Kermit" Griffin. Where's Sarah?"
"Well, Detective, she and my partner were abducted last night coming back from her home."
Kermit mumbled a few curses. "I pulled in a few favors for this information so listen up..."
~*~*~*~*~
Blair was out cold when they reached the boat.
Sarah, was groggy and still hearing a ringing sound in her ears.
"Welcome to my humble home Miss Sarah." said Callaway.
"Humble? That'll be the day." she said as the boat started up.
~*~*~*~*~
Blair was beginning to come around and when he did he heard voices coming from outside the
cabin he was in. Someone came into the room as he tried to get up.
"Well look who's up." said Stone as he grabbed Blair and pulled him to the deck of the large, yacht like ship.
~*~*~*~*~
"He's finally awake." said Stone as he shoved Blair into the rail of the huge boat.
"You OK?" Sarah's hand touched his right shoulder. He looked up and saw her.
"I really wish you hadn't woken up."
He stared, "What happened?"
Her glasses were folded up and hanging on her shirt. Her bottom jaw was swollen and bleeding, bruises began to darken around her temples and he noticed she was favoring her ribs.
"Loose lips." she responded.
~*~*~*~*~
"The van was stolen." Jim told Banks.
"What's your next move?" asked Captain Banks.
"Well sir I...." A knock and an opening door caught Jim in mid sentence.
"A fax for you Detective." A hand holding a piece of paper came through the opened door.
"Well?"
Jim snapped out of his day dream. "A friend of Sarah's sent the fax, sir. He also said that Callaway is former mercenary. I checked his records sir, and there is nothing on him before 1988."
Simon sat and waited. "Well? Do you have a plan?"
~*~*~*~*~
"If you don't talk we'll start shooting." Stone said. "Starting with him." Stone pointed to Blair.
"You if you kill Blair first you'll never find out what you need to know. Plus you'll have Cascade's finest coming after you." said Sarah.
Callaway pointed his gun at her.
"You talk too much." Callaway said.
"How's the nose? I figure since you've met my family its been broken at least three times."
Stone pulled her father's Desert Eagle gun from his jacket and pointed it at Blair.
"Come on, move you two." Stone motioned towards the shark cage some what submerged in the water.
Blair didn't move quick enough for Callaway so he grabbed Blair by the arm pulled him towards the cage.
Sarah's hands were untied and when Callaway turned away from her, so her instincts kicked in.
~*~*~*~*~
There was a gate on the back of the boat, Stone had opened it for lowering the shark cage in the water.
"Blair it will be fine." she said as she speared Stone and they both went swimming.
Callaway and Blair rushed to look at the struggle.
~*~*~*~*~
They went under quickly. Sarah barely had enough time for a breath. They struggled for
control of the gun, then it went off. Stone emerged from the water, pulled himself from the water and left the gun on the floor of the boat by the gate.
"Sarah..." Blair was shocked.
~*~*~*~*~
"I hear a boat coming." said Callaway and he turned his attention to boat coming towards them.
Sarah came up from the water. She saw the gun on the floor and reached for it as the second boat pulled up next to them.
Blair saw something out the corner of his eye emerge from the water.
"Sarah?" he whispered as he helped her back onto the boat.
She slipped on her glasses.
~*~*~*~*~
Luck didn't seem to be with them today, because just as she began to untie Blair, Callaway turned around and saw them.
Daniel drew his gun and fired at them. Blair pulled her out the line of fire.
Sarah began to fire her gun and managed to hit Stone in the shoulder.
Daniel fired two shots at Blair, but missed. Blair moved closer and closer to the second boat.
"Hola, Senor." said a voice from the second boat. Blair turned around to see a gun pointed in his face.
~*~*~*~*~
"Put the gun down or I shoot him." said the man in the second boat. Sarah put down her gun without a moments hesitation.
"Senors, I thought there were going to be no problems."
Callaway spoke, "No problems Senor Ruina, a bonus of sorts. More workers for you."
"No, thank you." Ruina said.
Michael smiled as he prodded Sarah into the shark cage and locked it. He dropped the keys on the floor.
"You know if you kill me, you'll have big problems." she said.
Stone snickered.
~*~*~*~*~
Blair made a moved towards the cage, but was stopped halfway.
"I don't think so." said Stone pointing his gun at Blair.
Stone smiled as he hit a button and the shark cage came up from the water.
Sarah gasped for air when she came up.
Callaway saw Sarah was still alive he ordered Stone to "Shoot her and the lower her back in the water."
Stone sighed and carried out his orders. "The sharks will have fun, especially when the ship goes down."
Stone placed an explosive device on the cabin of the boat. "Ten minutes."
~*~*~*~*~
She was shot at almost point blank range, with a quick sudden movement, the bullet barely missed
hitting her in the right shoulder. Sarah hit the back of the cage with a sick thud, to give the appearance the shot was worse then it was.
She didn't have much time for a breath as the cage was lowered quickly into the water.
~*~*~*~*~
Callaway tied Blair to the opposite end of the boat. They jumped into Ruina's boat and sped off.
Blair heard the timer on the bomb counting down. "Don't panic." Blair told himself as he looked all around for something sharp to cut the ropes with.
"Glass, a knife, sharp things..." he mumbled as he kept searching. "Nothing."
He began to try untying himself with his teeth, with little success, next he move his wrists trying to wiggle out of the ropes.
~*~*~*~*~
"There!" Jim pointed to a boat adrift in the middle of the sea. It seemed like years before he reached the boat.
"Chief?" Jim hollered as pulled up behind the boat.
"JIM!" Blair's voice seemed to echo. Ellison jumped aboard and headed towards Blair.
"I see you're tied up." joked Jim as he cut Blair loose.
"There's a bomb." said Blair rubbing his wrists.
"Where's Sarah?" asked Jim as he looked at the bomb. Blair picked up the keys and began pressing buttons.
"Jim they put her in the shark cage, shot her and lowered her in the water." The cage was coming up, slowly, but it was coming up.
"Sarah!" Chief shouted.
~*~*~*~*~
The cage was finally out of the water and Blair saw Sarah up against the back of the cage, bleeding from the shoulder.
"Sarah!" He balanced himself on the edge of the boat and grabbed onto the cage. The cage began to rock back and forth as he tried unlocking the cage.
~*~*~*~*~
Jim on the other hand was studying the ticking bomb. "Oh boy..." He heard a lock open, then a thud and turned around. Blair had light blue faced Sarah out of the cage on the boat.
"No pulse." Blair was about to begin CPR as Jim opened the bomb casing.
Jim moved the wires with his fingers and studied them. "If I cut any of the wires the bomb goes off. We need to get out of here, Chief." Jim turned around and saw the look in Blair's eyes.
"She's gone."
Jim shook his head, "I'm sorry man..." He was cut off by the sound of choking and gagging.
"What took you so long?" coughed Sarah trying to stand up.
"All right kids, we've got less than 2 minutes before this boat blows up."
~*~*~*~*~
As they sped away she turned back and looked at the boat. She heard the last few seconds of the count down and then it went off.
This was the image she saw yesterday. She took a deep breath and began coughing again.
"This isn't over." she said between coughs.
~*~*~*~*~
"We want to keep you over night." said the doctor.
"No." she said stubbornly. "I am fine."
The doctor shook his head, "It's a precaution. You've got a concussion, few bruised ribs and not to mention that you almost drowned."
"No, no way. I want to go home." she said sitting up in the bed.
"The warrants will be issued for Stone and Callaway in the next day or so." said Jim as he walked in.
"Detective, I want to leave, but they won't release me." she complained.
"I think you should stay here and rest." said Blair from the doorway.
"I've got an armed guard outside." said Jim.
"I'm going back to the loft..." Blair mentioned.
"Hold on! If I have to stay here and "play dead" over night, then Blair should stay too. After all he was on the boat too." she pointed out.
"Good point. Chief, stay here until I come get the two of you tomorrow." Jim headed out the door and Blair flopped into the chair.
"Oh yeah. Sarah here's your cell phone." He turned around and threw it at her.
"No calls." he said sternly as he turned back around.
Sarah stuck her tongue out at Jim and mockingly said, "No calls."
Blair smiled and tried to hide a laugh.
"Ha, ha. You're stuck here too." she teased.
Blair stuck his tongue out at her. He got a pillow in the face for his effort.
"By the way, how did you do that..." Blair started.
"Meditation, Master Caine taught me how to slow down and stop my breathing and heart-rate. Never tried it underwater before." she said adjusting her glasses.
"Who's Master Caine?" he asked.
"Someone who brought me back into balance with myself." she replied.
~*~*~*~*~
A few hours later Jim came back with a few of her things that she had packed for the loft.
"Finally," she declared as she came out of the bathroom, "decent clothing."
Jim and Blair smiled.
"So, did ya find them yet?"
Jim shook his head "No."
Sarah plunked down the bag and said, "Whether you find them or not, I am going home tomorrow."
She dropped her cell phone into the open bag. "I don't want to hear about staying in a safe house or your loft. My home is a safe house, at least when I get done with it."
Jim turned to Blair, "Was she always this way?" Jim teased as he felt something hit him in the head.
Blair coughed, "Yeap. I honestly don't know why I put up with her."
Sarah thought better of hitting Blair with a pillow. "Jim, I want to call Kermit."
He turned around and said, "Not with that cell phone. Someone might..."
"Pick up on the conversation, yeah, yeah. Can I call from the room then?"
~*~*~*~*~
Kermit was already on his way to home when she called him.
"I want you to be careful. Ruina may be involved, but he's harmless, compared to Callaway."
He pulled out two medium size bags from the trunk of the green car. "Sarah, I've the news out on the wire. You've got 2 people you can trust right there with you. If anything comes up through my sources, you'll be the third person to know. I'll be here if you need me."
~*~*~*~*~
Blair drove her home when she was released from the hospital.
She quickly got out the car and headed inside with her duffel bag.
"Listen, I've, uhh, got a few things to do. Are you going to be OK alone?"
She shook her head "Yes."
Sarah followed Blair out to his car a few minutes later. She leaned on the driver's side window as Blair finished up giving instructions.
"Don't forget if you have a bad headache, relax, begin meditation, and don't panic. I'll be back around dinner time, 'K?" He squeezed her hand and started the car.
~*~*~*~*~
Her head began to pound when she walked back into the living room.
She squeezed her eyes shut tightly as she stumbled onto the sofa. Broken images flashed into her mind,
"Let go." she heard Blair's voice pierce through the pain and images.
She turned off all the lights, sat down in front of her mediation candles and lit them.
~*~*~*~*~
She watched the flames climb, she closed her eyes and let herself go. She found herself outside her home, an exchange of gunfire erupted from inside. She allowed herself to go inside.
She looked around and saw her own body, shot through the heart.
"SANDBURG!" Jim's tone sounded painful. He headed downstairs to see Blair with a gun in his back.
"Bang, bang." said Callaway before he shot Blair.
Blair fell onto the steps, Sarah heard Callaway laugh and she could see the hurt in Jim's eyes.
Halfway down the stairs Jim stopped aimed at Callaway, but never got a shot off.
Stone was behind him on the stairs, shot him in the back of the head.
"All finished." said Stone stepping over Jim.
"The brat's dead and so are they." Callaway laughed, "Their Captain Banks will be engulfed in a scandal forcing him out..."
~*~*~*~*~
Sarah jolted out of her mediation at the sound of the phone. It was Jim calling to say he had posted a guard at her house that day. Sarah wasn't happy when she was told.
"I do not need a guard. I'll be fine." she protested.
"Its just a precaution. We don't want anything happening to you." he said.
"Fine." She hung up and then stomped through the house to show her disapproval.
~*~*~*~*~
"This thing goes way past two dirty agents, if the evidence we have goes public, it would shake the foundation of the FBI." said Simon after they sat down in his office.
"The DA has issued an arrest warrants for both Callaway and Stone. They feel there is enough evidence to convict. So stay with her, I don't want anything happening to her."
~*~*~*~*~
"Come on." Sarah slammed the door closed on the bottom of the book case.
"Where the hell is it?" She slammed and banged every other door and drawer downstairs.
She wasn't happy as she stomped upstairs and went between bedrooms.
"Bloody hell," she cursed as the pounding in her head started.
She stomped back downstairs and took a look again into the hall closet.
Sure enough there it was, her black address book.
She looked around the living room for the cordless phone.
She spotted it on the coffee table, she went over and got the phone.
She brought it over to the steps and sat down.
The book flew open and the pages went flying as she looked for that important number.
Spotting the number she dialed it, not wanting to notice she was shaking.
~*~*~*~*~
The patrol outside recognized them and allowed them access to the house.
Blair jumped out of the truck and made a bee line for the door.
Jim heard her inside crying. "Hey, I why don't I go get some pizza for dinner?" he suggested.
"Sure man." was Blair's response and he opened the door.
~*~*~*~*~
Sarah was becoming more blurry eyed as the phone on the other end kept ringing.
She was choking back tears as she heard Uncle Mic's Australian accent as answering machine picked up.
"Uncle Mic? Please if you're there pick up, its me, Sarah." she paused and at once it hit her, everything that had happened finally sunk in.
She started crying, "Mic, I'm in a whole lotta trouble. Dad's dead and people are trying to kill me. Watch your back Mic. Give me call when you get in? Love you."
She hung up and just kept on crying.
~*~*~*~*~
Blair walked in and saw her crying. "Sarah." he said. She looked up and tried to stop crying.
"I'm fine," she claimed as she wiped the tears away from under her glasses.
Blair moved closer to her. He could tell she was a wreck as he reached for the address book.
She let him take it, as he did a photo fell out. Blair looked at it and recognized Sarah and her father in the photo, but not the other man.
"Who's that?" he asked.
"That is my uncle, Mic Brumby." she said softly.
"He's in the Navy?" he prodded.
"The Australian Royal Navy. He's a lawyer." she said.
"He kinda looks like that villain in that one Mortal Kombat movie." replied Blair.
"Yeah, he gets that a lot." she said standing up on the stairs. She felt the tears running down her cheeks, Blair pulled her off the steps and hugged her.
~*~*~*~*~
Jim arrived almost an hour later with two pizzas, bread sticks and soda.
"Hey Chief." he said as he entered the kitchen.
"Oh hey Jim." he replied as he opened a cabinet door looking for something. "Sarah! Where are the glasses?" Blair hollered upstairs.
She heard him and answered "Above the sink. I'm blind not deaf."
Jim smiled and said, "She says they are above the sink. And that she's blind, not deaf."
Blair rolled his eyes. "Yeah, OK."
She stood at the top of the stairs and took a deep breath, she had a feeling this was going to be one hell of a few days.
~*~*~*~*~
"Absolutely not. You can't go." said Jim two days later, leaning against the sky blue wall in Sarah's room. "And why not?" she shot back. "I can take care of myself."
Jim sighed and said, "I've seen how well you take care of yourself, you almost died along with Sandburg."
"I wasn't expecting it so soon." she snapped as she opened a suitcase and began packing. Jim walked over and snatched the air plane ticket off her bed and put it into his jacket.
"Give it back, please." she said narrowing her eyes. "Oh no. I am going to keep this until this is all over with." he said.
"I am going to see my uncle, I bought the ticket. Now give it." Sarah seemed to growl as she said that. Jim said nothing and headed towards the door.
Sarah snarled silently as she took hold of Jim's arm and tried reaching for the ticket in his jacket.
He pushed her hand away from the jacket and said, "Don't." He opened the door, she pushed against it, closing it.
"I would like to apologize for what I am about to do." she said causing Jim to turn around.
Jim couldn't block it fast enough. Her knuckles connected with his jaw, forcing him to take a step back. She reached in for the ticket as he grabbed her arm, twisted it behind her.
"Back off!" he said. After letting her go, he left the room. Sarah slammed the door behind him.
~*~*~*~*~
Sandburg cringed as he heard the door slam. "Uh oh. It didn't go well? See I should have told her." spoke up Blair as Jim stepped into the kitchen.
"No Chief it didn't." Jim rubbed his jaw. "She landed a punch, not bad."
Blair dried the last plate and put it in the cupboard. "Did she apologize first?"
Jim nodded.
"Then she hit you?"
Jim nodded again.
"When she does that, its meant as a warning, she's mad. By the way what did you tell her?" Chief asked. "That she couldn't go." Jim replied.
Blair nodded, "That'll do it. Listen, I'll got talk to her, I've dealt with her temper before." he said as he headed for the stairs.
~*~*~*~*~
Sarah began rummaging through her dresser drawers for something.
"Ah ha!" she exclaimed as she pulled out her throwing knives. A knock came on the door.
"Who is it?" she asked.
"Me." said Blair.
*Thump* He opened the door and walked in.
~*~*~*~*~
Her room was a sky blue, with a walk in closet to the right and her bed on the left.
To the right of her bed was a four panel window and on the left were her computers, a white PC and a black laptop.
Posters and photos of wolves covered almost every inch of her wall. Above her night stand was a small book case.
Some of the books in the case were, "Sonnets of Shakespeare," "The Complete Works of W.M." and another on herbal healing.
Hanging above her bed was a necklace made of the darkest amethyst chips he'd ever seen, on each side of it there was a photo of a wolf and a snake.
~*~*~*~*~
She was standing with a small knife in her right hand ready to throw. "Would you mind closing the door?" she asked. The door closed and Blair didn't move away from the door. "Hey Shakespeare, I'd rather not put this through your head." she said shaking the knife in midair. He stepped aside and she threw the knife, it landed in the center of her door.
"You didn't warn him." she said as she threw the last knife in her hands.
"I didn't think I had too." Blair answered as she retrieved the three knives from her door.
"I don't respond well to jaguars telling me what I can and cannot do." she said readying a knife. " I could not go to my father's funeral, because they might have been there. The only blood family I have left, you deny me seeing or talking to."
Blair slowly took the knives from her hand and said, "This is for your own good."
She turned around and stared at him. "I cannot stay locked up in my own home. Besides, I don't respond well to jaguars."
Blair looked around at her room and all the photos of wolves. "I understand, but you have to trust me and Jim." He put his hands on each of her shoulders. Sarah said nothing, her face showed no expression, Blair frowned. "What happened to you? Where's the girl I knew so well?"
He sighed, "We are going to get through this, like we've done before, like the old days."
Sarah seemed to soften.
"How did you know about Jim's animal guide?" asked Blair.
"I saw a jaguar when I found the gun rigged in the closet, and that same night in the loft. I saw it run up to Jim's room." she replied.
"And me?" he asked curiously.
"A wolf headed towards your room at the loft." she laughed. "I saw my wolf guide as well, and it growled at the jaguar."
Blair smiled. "Must have saw this coming. By the way, you're still not going."
Continued in Part 2 of "Phoenix Rising"
All orginal characters are my property and my not be used in any other stories.
"Phoenix Rising"
~*~*~*~*~
Sandburg sat typing at his computer amongst his mess on the coffee table.
His computer beeped and Blair stopped what he was doing.
"E-mail." he mumbled as he brought the letter on the screen. "Hi, sorry missed ya in the chat room, been busy. Sarah." he read aloud. Blair shook his head and took a sip of tea, saved the document and packed up for the night.
~*~*~*~*~
The next morning Jim and Blair were in Simon's office when two suits walked in.
"My name is Special Agent Daniel Callaway." said the short bald man with glasses as he shook hands with everyone in the room.
"This is Special Agent Michael Stone." Agent Stone preceded to shake hands like the agent before him.
~*~*~*~*~
Simon opened his mouth to introduce himself but was cut off.
"Captain Banks, I'll cut right to the chase. We have a dirty agent, who's killed 5 of our men and sold confiscated goods on the loose and we need you to catch him. Your department will be working with us to track him down. Here is the folder containing information that you need."
He dropped the folder on the desk. "We'll be in contact." he said gruffly and with that they both left.
~*~*~*~*~
Sarah paced the dark hallway floor in her blue sweat pants and a blue FBI shirt she'd gotten her father for Christmas.
"This is not normal." she said as she pushed the bangs of her auburn hair out of her face and slipped on her glasses.
She stopped pacing long enough to listen, no sound, all was quiet, except for her pounding headache.
~*~*~*~*~
Blair got up the next day and headed towards the university. Upon entering his office he began rummaging through various papers.
"Ah Ha!" he exclaimed reading the paper. "Sci-Fi convention at the Red Rock Hotel." Blair grabbed his keys and took off again.
~*~*~*~*~
Jim wasn't having the best of days when he walked into Simon's office that morning. Every person he tried talking to the day before had clamed up when they found out he was a detective. Now he stood in front of Simon's desk as Jim waited for Simon to finish his phone call.
"That was Special Agent Callaway, apparently some of the people you talked to yesterday got nervous and called him." Simon handed Jim a piece of paper.
"What's this?" Jim asked puzzled.
Simon rolled his eyes, "That detective is a list of people you are not to bother."
Ellison scanned the list of names, and shook his head. "Sarah Matthews?" Jim said as he looked up from the list. "I've not even talked to her. Is that all sir?" he asked. Simon nodded as Jim headed towards the door.
~*~*~*~*~
Sarah had been pacing back and forth outside the main conference room. "Sarah!" a female hollered from behind her. She turned to see Anna running towards her, with keys dangling from her wrist.
Sarah snatched the keys from Anna and unlocked the room, "Where have you been?" The door flew open and Sarah walked in turning on all the lights, as Anna pulled the covers off the tables.
~*~*~*~*~
Anna plunked down in the nearest chair and ran her fingers through her short sandy blond hair.
"I thought you had a presentation to give today." said Anna.
"Ha, I talked T-Byrd into doing it. I'm short handed setting up the banquet hall for tonight and if they want it done by tonight, well..." Sarah's voice trailed off as she looked at Anna's attire.
"Very nice, black skirt and blue silk blouse. Who are you trying to impress?"
Anna laughed, "You know that cute guy that works the front desk? Well he's got a cousin in town who's 23..." Sarah covered her ears, "Stop. I don't want to know."
"C'mon it will be fun, you need to start dating, for heavens sakes Sarah, you're old." argued Anna.
"I'm only twenty, hon that's not old." Sarah pointed out.
They both giggled as the people began to file in for the meeting. "If you find anyone willing to help get the banquet room ready, send 'em my way. At least there's a tear down committee."
Sarah took of her lavender sweatshirt to reveal a blue tee shirt, after putting her amethyst pendent necklace underneath her shirt she headed towards the banquet room.
~*~*~*~*~
Sarah looked around at the hall where she had been working for the last hour and a half. She had managed to pull out of storage a few long heavy tables and a couple dozen folding chairs, which were piled in the middle of the hall.
Anna had managed to round up some help for her and they got the starry back drop plastered to all but one of the walls, before they left. Sarah unfolded one of the chairs and stood on it trying to put the last piece of back drop on the left side of the hall. In one hand she had the masking tape and the other held the backdrop in place, within a few minutes she had it all up.
~*~*~*~*~
Blair spotted the convention signs in the lobby and followed them to a table outside the main conference room. "Excuse me." Blair said to Anna outside.
"I'm looking for Sarah Matthews, can you tell me where she is?"
Anna eyed him for a moment. "Who are you?" she asked.
"I'm Blair Sandburg, consultant to Cascade P.D."
Anna's eyes widened. "Really? Is she in some sort of trouble?"
"No, oh no, I'm an old friend of hers." he said.
"Well in that case she's in banquet halls 7 and 8. Go to the end of this hall and turn left. First door on your right."
Blair smiled, "Thanks." Anna smiled as Blair walked down the hall.
~*~*~*~*~
Sarah was in the middle of hauling up one of the large tables onto the stage, when she heard footsteps coming towards her.
As the person got closer she heard their heart beat begin to race.
~*~*~*~*~
Outside the door to the hall Blair took a deep breath as he opened the door.
"Sarah?" That voice, Sarah's head snapped towards the doorway.
"Shakespeare?" she asked.
Blair smiled and said "Yep." Sarah couldn't believe it, Blair Sandburg, she was so surprised that the table she had been holding slipped out of her hands and onto her foot.
"Bloody Hell!" she yelled.
Blair ran towards her and helped her lift it up. "Drop it." Sarah said, checking to make sure both feet weren't under it.
"My hero." she teased.
Blair smiled as he shook his head. "Still getting into trouble I see." he said as he helped her off the stage.
"Always." she said smiling.
"I guess it's time for a break." she said pulling the tie out of her hair and running her fingers through her hair. "It is good to see you Blair. What's wrong?"
Blair took another deep breath and said, "It's about your dad..."
Sarah stopped him, "I don't want to know this moment. Right now I have to finish setting up for the banquet. Then you can tell me." she said getting back up on the stage.
"OK, then I'll help." said Blair climbing onto the stage.
~*~*~*~*~
Jim pulled into the driveway of the Matthews' home on the outskirts of Cascade. It was a small ranch house, he knocked on the door and it opened. Jim pulled his gun out, pushed open the door and went in. Upon entering the house, he saw that someone had been looking for something.
The couch had been tossed on its back, the pillows had been taken apart and to the right of the couch was the fireplace. The photos above and around it had been taken out of their frames and then the frames broken. Everywhere he looked it was a disaster.
~*~*~*~*~
Then he heard a car coming towards the house, "Sandburg." he said as he walked out to meet him.
Blair noticed Jim's truck as he pulled up to the house.
Blair and Sarah got out of the car and he headed towards the house.
Sarah on the other hand headed towards the small guest house to the left side of the house.
~*~*~*~*~
Checking to make sure no one was looking she reached under the steps of the guest room and pulled out one of her dad's guns.
She had placed it there just before she left this morning.
Holding it firmly she listened as she got by the door.
She heard a heart beat coming from inside as she opened the door and walked in.
~*~*~*~*~
"Oh man!" said Blair when he saw the condition of the house. "Sarah is not going to be happy."
Jim put his gun down and said, "How did you..." Jim stopped and listened.
"What? What's wrong?" asked Blair.
~*~*~*~*~
Sarah's head began pounding again as she looked around and saw that the place had been trashed.
"Oh just great!" she mumbled as she moved the fallen chair with her foot. The heartbeat noise got louder as she neared the closet. Gun in hand she stood up against the wall, cocked it and with one hand reached to carefully opened the closet door.
As she reached for the doorknob she saw something black in the corner of her eye. She looked and saw a jaguar. The jaguar hissed and then ran out of the room. She shook her head and reached for the door knob. She heard something click as she opened the door, so she quickly snapped her hand back. *BANG*
~*~*~*~*~
Jim heard the click and was halfway out the door when the noise of a shot was heard.
Blair followed Jim out and when he saw Sarah was not by the car, he took off towards the guest room.
~*~*~*~*~
Sarah pointed the gun at the closet and looked in. She sighed with relief, as she walked into the closet.
"Freeze!" yelled a voice from the doorway. Sarah's body snapped around with the gun pointed at Jim's face.
"Put it down miss." he said.
"You first." she snapped.
"Jim put the gun down." said Blair from outside the door.
"Only if she does." he replied.
Blair pushed into the destroyed room. "Sarah, this is Jim Ellison, he's cool."
Sarah smiled as she un cocked the gun and stuffed it in the back of her blue jeans.
"Well, you can put yours away now Detective Ellison."
Sarah turned her attention back to the closet and noticed a small tape player next to the gun. She reached in and grabbed the player. After the rewind button clicked off , she played the cassette.
"Heartbeat. They knew, how the hell could they know?"
"I'll call Simon, we might be able to get some prints.." Sarah turned around and stared at Jim.
"Don't bother dusting for prints. Because you won't find any, other then my own or my fathers."
Blair shook his head and said "Give me the gun Sarah." She grumbled, but handed the gun over.
~*~*~*~*~
"I think she should stay with the two of you tonight." suggested Simon lighting up one of his cigars. "Where's the young lady?"
"Captain Banks, would you please put it out or smoke it outside? I have certain things that are easily ruined by smoke." said Sarah politely as she and Blair emerged from the kitchen.
"Umm, OK. Jim have her pack a bag for overnight." said Simon walking towards the door.
"Thank you Captain Banks." Sarah called after him.
~*~*~*~*~
Twenty-minutes later she had two bags almost packed. One clothing bag, the other her laptop case. She opened laptop bag grabbed a black tee shirt from the closet an packed on the bottom. Then she grabbed her wallet and a key ring and threw it in. She had a funny feeling that tonight was going to be a long night.. She took one last look around and saw her walls full of posters and pictures of wolves.
Finally her eyes rested on her knife collection, seeing her boot knife sitting next to her computer on her she reached for it. She heard someone coming up the stairs and stop outside her door. "I'm almost ready Detective Ellison." She grabbed the knife, slipped it into the bag with her laptop and zipped it up.
~*~*~*~*~
It was early evening when they reached the loft. "Listen Sarah you can have my room, I'll bunk on the couch." Blair offered.
She smiled and shook her head. "No thank you. I won't be sleeping much tonight."
Jim began making noise in the kitchen. "Coffee anyone?"
Sarah shook her head, "You wouldn't happen to have any tea would you?"
"Maybe you should sit down for this Miss Matthews." said Jim.
"Please Detective Ellison call me Sarah."
Jim put the folder down on the table in front of him and said, "We were assigned to your father's case by FBI Special Agents Daniel Callaway and...."
Sarah cut him off, "Michael Stone, sorry didn't mean to interrupt."
Jim continued, "They said that he's well, umm..."
Sarah's eyes widened. "No, no way. He is not dirty. Not a chance in hell mate." Sarah shook her head. "No, I don't believe it." She took a deep breath and said, "He's not dirty, but I know who is, but I've no proof. Yet."
~*~*~*~*~
Sarah's head was still pounding so she sat up and stretched. She really wasn't tired, but she pretended to fall asleep to please Blair. There was something about Detective Ellison, she couldn't put her finger on...She got up off the couch, opened the doors to the balcony and walked onto it. She wasn't out there for more then five minutes when she heard someone or something breathing behind her.
She turned around and saw the jaguar. It growled at her and headed back inside. Curious she followed it and saw it run up the stairs where Ellison slept. "I'm seeing things." she mumbled. As she turned to go back onto the balcony she saw a wolf standing in her path. The wolf led her onto the balcony and stared at her. She was so fascinated with the wolf that she never heard Jim wake up.
The wolf began to snarl as Jim came down the stairs. She turned to her right and saw the jaguar and then to her left in which she saw another wolf. The second wolf turned back into the loft and headed towards Blair's room. The jaguar moved past her and sat down next to the wolf. "Sarah?"
~*~*~*~*~
Sarah almost had a heart attack. She turned around with clenched fist swinging. Jim ducked just in time, "Hey. It's Jim." She looked at him, "Oh good heavens, Jim I'm so sorry."
She turned back around and saw the wolf and jaguar were gone.
Jim smiled and said, "No harm, no foul. Are you OK? You look like you've seen a ghost."
Sarah shook her head, "I'm OK, really."
"How do you know Blair?" asked Jim as he leaned on the rail.
"My old baby-sitter." Sarah smiled as she continued. "He moved away when I was a little girl, I was crushed."
Jim smiled. "He seems to have that effect on people."
The door to Blair's room opened and he leaned against the doorway and listened.
"In the guest room today, what did you mean when you said that they know. Explain what you mean by they? The Special Agents? And what is it they know?" asked Jim.
"They, Stone and Callaway, must know about my heightened sense of hearing, how I don't know."
~*~*~*~*~
Blair walked towards the balcony and said, "Sarah, you didn't tell me you..." Jim turned around to face Blair. "I'm sorry." she said softly. "That's not all, I did have heightened sense of sight at one time. Now I don't." "What!? How? When?" asked Blair as he ran his fingers through his hair.
"The car accident." said Jim.
"Yes. I was 11 when the accident happened, I was in the car when it flipped over, I pulled myself out and took off, before it exploded. My mother and Callaway's wife were still in the car."
The gears in Jim's head began turning. "The report said Jennifer Callaway was drunk."
She rolled her eyes.
"Are you saying that there's a cover up?" said Blair.
"Yes."
"How did you lose your heightened sense of sight?" asked Jim.
"I'm not totally sure," she began. "But think it has something to do with the person who took at shot at me that night. I managed to free myself from the car and headed towards the woods. I heard two shots behind me, I looked back to see a man dressed in dark clothing coming after me. I really wasn't sure what to do at that point, run or fight. So I decided to hit him and then run."
"Needless to say I failed. He aimed a gun at me, something hit my head and then everything goes black and when I woke up, it was gone." She shook her head and ran both hands through her hair.
Blair stood there in silence. "I've been having headaches ever since."
~*~*~*~*~
Around 10 am the next day the phone rang. Jim grabbed it just as Blair reached for it.
"Hello? Yes, Simon. We'll be right down." Jim's smiling face disappeared when he hung up the phone.
"They pulled a body from the river early this morning. He was shot through the heart."
Sarah's ears perked up.
"They think its Sarah's father. Simon wants us down there so she can ID the body."
~*~*~*~*~
The sheet was pulled back on the lifeless body. Sarah looked, closed her eyes and backed up. "No, no, no, no..." she mumbled. "Its him." Sarah managed to control herself enough to ask, "What was found on him?" The coroner opened the file and said, "A Berretta, the gun he used to kill himself." Sarah shook her head. "May I see it?" she asked. "Sure, its right here." the coroner turned around and grabbed the bag containing the gun. "He didn't kill himself."
"Have you checked for prints yet?" she asked.
"Your father's prints were on it." the guy said. She pulled out a pair of gloves from her bag and put them on.
"Good." she opened the bag and took out the gun.
"Sarah!" Jim reached for her but she pulled back.
"This is not my father's gun." she said looking at it.
"But its registered to him."said Jim looking at the file.
"No its can't be his, Dad always had my initials in his guns, this one doesn't have it. Jim, feel where the clip goes."
Jim's fingers moved around and replied, "You're right. The initials S.M. aren't there."
Sarah nodded, "If you check all of my dad's guns you'll find those initials."
~*~*~*~*~
Simon saw the three of them Jim's desk a few minutes later. "Jim, can I see you in my office? Alone."
Jim looked up. "Sure Captain. Wait here." he said. Sarah's hearing kicked in as soon as the door slammed.
"Detective I am taking custody of Miss Matthews." said Michael Stone.
~*~*~*~*~
"Sarah, are you OK? You look like you've seen a ghost." Sarah shook her head, "Stone's pulling something. Blair, he's taking custody of me." She handed him a small envelope. "Take this."
~*~*~*~*~
"What is it?" he asked.
The door opened. "Blair, I'm scared. I don't know what they are capable of anymore."
Blair hugged her, "Its OK. We'll get you back." Stone escorted her to the elevator. Blair was upset, Jim could tell.
"Not much we can do Chief."
~*~*~*~*~
Stone cuffed her while in the elevator. "Am I that dangerous Stone?" she asked as the door open to the ground level.
Stone smiled, but said nothing. Her bag was on the right shoulder of handcuffed arms, there was a skeleton key in there, that just might open up the cuffs, if she could get it. The Goldman building was doing some construction, perhaps she could hide out there...
~*~*~*~*~
Stone lead her to the car, waiting with Callaway.
"Hello hon." he said as he pointed his gun at her.
"Bugger off," she replied.
Callaway laughed, "Get into the car."
Sarah's head began to pound from using her heightened sense.
"Oh no." she said as she slammed against the brick wall.
"What's wrong?" asked Stone getting close to her.
"My head." she moaned as he got closer. She lifted her knee and hit him the private area.
Stone fell over in pain as Sarah took off towards the construction site.
~*~*~*~*~
Break time. Sarah sighed as she hid behind on of the pillars of steel. Chomping down on the strap with her teeth, she managed to move the bag to the back, so she could try and get the key. She heard Callaway cursing as her fingers found the key.
"I hope this works." she whispered.
She managed to unlock the cuffs, as she heard Stone join the hunt.
She looked around and saw a small piece of steel a few feet away.
Looking before she headed towards it, she saw nothing.
~*~*~*~*~
Callaway decided to check the pillars of steel in front of him. Sarah heard him coming, so she leaned against the third pillar and waited. He past the second and headed for third. His outstretched arms were a easy target. Sarah knocked the gun from his hands and backed up. He leapt towards her, as she swung at his face.
The blood ran from his nose, "You brat, you broke my nose!" he yelled.
"That's an improvement." she said as she swung again at his knees, he went down. Then again to the rib cage and the side of the head.
Stone rounded the corner and saw the commotion. He went to fire gun, but thought it would alarm someone. Running up behind her and he wrapped his arms around her making her drop the steel bar. She snapped her head back into his. He let her go, she picked up the bar and swung. She connected to the rib cage and the side of his face, knocking him down.
"You're dead, brat." she heard him say as she took off.
Stone helped Callaway up and they hobbled back to the car.
"I'm gonna kill her." growled Stone.
"Not until we get the evidence." said Callaway as Stone drove off.
~*~*~*~*~
"Jim, I'm sorry. You're off the case." said Simon as Blair got up from the chair.
"Blair, that means you too."
Blair began to pace the office as he said, "They're going to kill her."
"Sandburg you don't know that." said Simon as he shuffled some files around. "Look, all I know is that she's afraid of them. She a caged animal..." The phone cut him off.
"Banks." he said into the phone. "That's just great. Hold on." he put the call on the speaker and lite a cigar. "Go ahead."
"You know Captain Banks you should trust what Blair says this time." the voice said.
"SARAH?" a smiled appeared on Blair's face. "What happened? Where are you?"
"Long story, so I'll cut it short."
Jim shook his head, "Miss Matthews you are getting yourself into more trou..."
"Stone handcuffed me, Callaway pulled a gun and threatened my life."
Jim shook his head and Blair stood there in silence. "So where are you?"
"Try looking out the window."
All three went to the window and looked out. There she was standing with a cell phone in her ear looking up.
"Sarah, come back here and we'll help you." said Simon.
"Sorry not yet. Shakespeare do you still have that envelope I gave you?" Blair pulled it out from his back pocket and opened it.
"Keys?" he said puzzled as he peered down at her.
~*~*~*~*~
"Safety deposit keys." she said. "I want Jim and Captain Banks to take the key in the light blue envelope and you take the other one Blair. Go to the bank written on the envelope, get the box and wait." She paused, "Be there by 2 p.m.." She hung up, waved good-bye and walked away.
It was almost 2 p.m. when Jim and Simon walked into the bank. Walking up to the older lady in charge of the vaults, Simon said, I'm Captain Banks of the Cascade P.D. and this is Detective Jim Ellison." They showed the lady their badges. "Ah, yes. Miss Matthews said you would be coming."
She got up, keys in hand and led them into the vault.
~*~*~*~*~
Blair, with key in hand, stepped through the doors of the bank. He headed towards the man behind the desk in charge of the vaults.
"Blair." His body seemed to snap around like a rubber band.
"Sarah, are you OK?" She grabbed Blair an arm and pulled him into a vault room.
Sarah locked the door behind them as he opened the large deposit box. Upon opening it he saw a gun, some ammunition for the gun, a small cell phone, a few mini cassettes and some green device.
"Sarah?" he asked.
"Long time no see." she said out as she reached for the cell phone.
"Who are you calling?" asked Blair.
~*~*~*~*~
Something began ringing in the metal box. Jim and Simon had been going through bank records, phone bills and other paperwork inside the box. Simon moved out the video tapes and mini cassette tapes in order to find the ringing phone.
"Hello?" Simon answered.
"You made it, good." said Sarah smiled. "That's all the evidence Dad collected on Stone and Callaway, who they have been taking bribes from, fencing seized merchandise, etc. I suggest you get it back to the station and keep it under lock and key."
Simon looked at all the stuff scattered around the table. "Man, oh man." he said as he handed the phone to Jim.
"Sarah? Is Blair with you?" asked Jim.
Sarah handed the phone over to him, "Yeah Jim?"
~*~*~*~*~
Jim sighed. "OK, now that we've got the evidence, bring Sarah in."
Blair nodded in agreement.
"I've no problem with that Jim." said Sarah. "Meet us at Cafe Pacer, in say in an hour?"
~*~*~*~*~
Sarah and Blair got to the cafe about quarter to three. They sat down outside and Sarah pulled out that green device.
"What's that?" he asked.
She opened it like a book and laid it on the table. "Its a tracking device." she stated as she unfastened a green angel from her tee shirt.. The device beeped.
"See? This is where I am." She showed him the screen, and pointed to the small printing under it, it read Marsh Street. "Blair, I was thinking about how Dad died."
Blair's eyes widened, "Really? Did you come up with any theories?"
She shook her head, "I'm not sure."
Sandburg nodded.
"But Callaway loves to dive with sharks. I read in some of those papers he owns a fairly large boat with a very impressive shark cage. Why couldn't Dad have been shot in that?"
~*~*~*~*~
Simon and Jim rounded the corner of the block as Sandburg agreed. "They're coming."
Sarah turned around in her chair and looked. "Good." she closed the green device.
"Sarah, just one question. Why is it green?" She giggled as Simon and Jim reached the table.
"Its his favorite color." she responded getting out of the chair.
"What is he a frog or something?"
She laughed and said, "He's my uncle of sorts, and I'll forget you said that.."
~*~*~*~*~
Detective Kermit Griffin adjusted his dark green sunglasses and began typing away at his computer when something began to beep.
"Now what?" he complained as he pulled up his e-mail. "Ex-mercenary, turned FBI Special Agent Aaron Matthews, son of mercenary Jason Matthews, found dead in the city of Cascade in Washington state. Aaron has a daughter, Sarah, her whereabouts are unknown. " he finished reading, at the bottom there was the letter "J."
"Great." He got up from his desk and went over to the filing cabinet. He rummaged through the bottom drawer until he found it.
~*~*~*~*~
"Jim, Captain Banks. I am truly sorry about this." she said. "I wanted to make sure everything got to where it was supposed to go."
Simon nodded and said, "Well I have everything in my office with orders that no one is to enter with out my authorization. Miss Matthews, I want you to stay with Jim and Blair until we find them. Clear? I'm going back to the station."
"Yes, Sir." the three of them said in unison as Simon left.
Sarah suddenly got dizzy and grabbed onto the table to steady herself. Something flashed into her mind, she saw a boat explode...
"Sarah? You're pale. What's wrong?"
She stood up, "Just a little dizzy. This happens when my sense gets over used, nothing a little peace and quiet wouldn't cure."
Jim looked around, "Lets get back to the loft."
~*~*~*~*~
Blair lit the last candle and put his Tibetan instrumental music on the stereo. Sarah winced when she heard the music. She clicked the stereo off.
"No offense, but that's not my type of music for meditation."
Jim coughed a laugh and Blair sighed.
"Sit." he told Sarah. She obeyed, "Now close your eyes and relax..."
It was dark when she opened her eyes. "Welcome back to the land of the living." teased Jim.
She looked over at Blair, who was still in meditation. "How long was I under?"
Jim looked at the clock "About two hours."
Blair's eye slowly opened a few minutes later.
"How are you feeling?"
Sarah turned to Blair and paused. "Relaxed. Is it possible to go home and collect a few things?" she turned back to Jim.
"Umm, no problem. I'll get my jacket...." Jim began.
~*~*~*~*~
Someone's cell phone began ringing. "That's mine. She headed towards the sofa and pulled out a her phone.
"Hello?" A familiar voice was heard on the other end.
"Sarah? I just heard what happened to your father. You turned on the tracking device on my end, are you all right?"
Her jaw dropped open. "Kermit?" She put her hand over the phone and whispered "It's for me, a friend of Dad's." as she headed towards the balcony.
~*~*~*~*~
"She's taking her father's death pretty well don't you think?" asked Jim.
"She's very good at hiding her true feelings, believe me Jim, she more upset then you and I will ever know."
"Kermit, I always knew this time would come, but..." Sarah voice began to shake a little. "I'm sorry about all that's happened hon. How's the headaches? Are you keeping up on your meditations?"
She shook her head, "Yes sir." She came back from the balcony. "Kermit, can you do a check on FBI Special Agent Daniel Callaway and Special Agent Michael Stone?"
~*~*~*~*~
"Callaway? Sarah, he's involved?" asked Kermit.
"Yes, why?"
"You are going to need one hell of a plan." he replied.
"Kermit, hold on. I want to put you on speaker." She pushed a button on the phone and set it on the counter top.
"Detective Griffin, say hello to Detective Jim Ellison and Blair Sandburg."
"Hi. Like I said before Sarah, you cannot try to take down Callaway by yourself. He's far too dangerous."
Jim spoke next, "Detective, why is he so dangerous?"
Sarah shook her head, "No way. Not possible. Is it?"
Blair's head looked like it was watching a tennis match, he looked to the phone, to Sarah and then back to the phone. "What?"
"He's ex-mercenary. I met him a few times, he's a real ass and very gun happy. Also loves to blow things up. I think he's tangled with your grandfather and dad, Sarah. Came out on the short end. He wasn't happy." finished Kermit.
"Kermit who do you know would buy fenced goods from him?" asked Sarah.
Blair absorbed the information he was hearing.
"I'm not sure, but give me 24 hrs and I'll see what I can come up with. Listen when this is all over with, why don't you come see me? And Peter might be able to help you with those headaches."
"And Sarah, I don't want you doing anything stupid. Good luck." said Kermit before he hung up.
She smiled, "Yes Kermit. Thanks." she said. She hung up and left the phone on the counter.
~*~*~*~*~
"I'll go with her." Blair told Jim.
"Chief, I don't think that's a good idea."
Blair leaned against the counter, "Oh come on. We won't be there for more than 10 minutes."
Jim shook his head, "No."
~*~*~*~*~
Sarah flipped on the light in the hallway. "I'll be upstairs." as she hurried up the staircase.
Blair began to look around. "Everything seems to be OK." he mumbled. He heard a noise of some sorts outside so he decided to investigate.
~*~*~*~*~
Something moved downstairs and it wasn't Blair. Sarah decided to leave her packing and investigate. She went downstairs and looked around, nothing.
Something moved behind her, then the sound of a dial being turned. There was a humming noise, it got louder and louder, forcing her to put her hands over her ears to block the noise.
The pitch got higher and higher, it reached the point of pain. She sank to her knees and screamed for Blair.
~*~*~*~*~
Blair heard the scream and barged into the house. "Sarah, come on." He pulled her from the floor and out to the car.
The car started up and Blair pulled away from the house, with Sarah in tears.
She managed to get Blair's cell phone out and dial Jim's number at the edge of the drive.
She pulled the ash tray out and set the cell phone on that.
"Hello?" she heard Jim's calm voice on the other end.
~*~*~*~*~
"Jim they were waiting for us." Blair hollered.
"What? Are you OK? How about Sarah?"
Blair turned right and answered, "I'm OK, but they did something to Sarah. I think they over loaded her hearing with some high frequency."
Jim's heart skipped a beat. "OK, where are you?"
"Maple and Vine." Blair replied. A dark van pulled up behind them and began ramming their bumper.
"Blair!" Jim yelled.
"A blue or black van." said Sarah. "Washington plates, FYV-851." she continued.
"How can you read it that far back?" asked Blair.
"You got me." she shrugged her shoulders.
The final bump sent the car spinning out of control. Jim heard a loud crash and then got cut off.
"Damn it!" Blair and Sarah jumped out of the car. "Run!" Blair hollered.
The dark van cut them off and out jumped four men, who surrounded them. One came after Sarah with a small receiver in hand. The high pitch dropped her to her knees in pain.
"Get in the van." said one of the men. Blair helped her into the van, and then everything went dark.
~*~*~*~*~
"You can't be serious." moaned Simon over the phone. "Have the plates come back yet?"
Jim shook his head.
"They won't be in for awhile. How are you doing going through all the stuff?" Jim asked.
"Actually its been quite entertaining. Videos to cassette tapes to their bank deposits to receipts on what they had for lunch. Call me when you have something." said Simon just before he hung up.
~*~*~*~*~
The cell phone on the counter began to ring.
"Hello?"
The person on the other end responded, "Who's this?"
Annoyed, Jim said, "This is Detective Jim Ellison, Cascade, P.D. Who is this?"
"My aren't we a bit grumpy today. My name is Detective Kevin "Kermit" Griffin. Where's Sarah?"
"Well, Detective, she and my partner were abducted last night coming back from her home."
Kermit mumbled a few curses. "I pulled in a few favors for this information so listen up..."
~*~*~*~*~
Blair was out cold when they reached the boat.
Sarah, was groggy and still hearing a ringing sound in her ears.
"Welcome to my humble home Miss Sarah." said Callaway.
"Humble? That'll be the day." she said as the boat started up.
~*~*~*~*~
Blair was beginning to come around and when he did he heard voices coming from outside the
cabin he was in. Someone came into the room as he tried to get up.
"Well look who's up." said Stone as he grabbed Blair and pulled him to the deck of the large, yacht like ship.
~*~*~*~*~
"He's finally awake." said Stone as he shoved Blair into the rail of the huge boat.
"You OK?" Sarah's hand touched his right shoulder. He looked up and saw her.
"I really wish you hadn't woken up."
He stared, "What happened?"
Her glasses were folded up and hanging on her shirt. Her bottom jaw was swollen and bleeding, bruises began to darken around her temples and he noticed she was favoring her ribs.
"Loose lips." she responded.
~*~*~*~*~
"The van was stolen." Jim told Banks.
"What's your next move?" asked Captain Banks.
"Well sir I...." A knock and an opening door caught Jim in mid sentence.
"A fax for you Detective." A hand holding a piece of paper came through the opened door.
"Well?"
Jim snapped out of his day dream. "A friend of Sarah's sent the fax, sir. He also said that Callaway is former mercenary. I checked his records sir, and there is nothing on him before 1988."
Simon sat and waited. "Well? Do you have a plan?"
~*~*~*~*~
"If you don't talk we'll start shooting." Stone said. "Starting with him." Stone pointed to Blair.
"You if you kill Blair first you'll never find out what you need to know. Plus you'll have Cascade's finest coming after you." said Sarah.
Callaway pointed his gun at her.
"You talk too much." Callaway said.
"How's the nose? I figure since you've met my family its been broken at least three times."
Stone pulled her father's Desert Eagle gun from his jacket and pointed it at Blair.
"Come on, move you two." Stone motioned towards the shark cage some what submerged in the water.
Blair didn't move quick enough for Callaway so he grabbed Blair by the arm pulled him towards the cage.
Sarah's hands were untied and when Callaway turned away from her, so her instincts kicked in.
~*~*~*~*~
There was a gate on the back of the boat, Stone had opened it for lowering the shark cage in the water.
"Blair it will be fine." she said as she speared Stone and they both went swimming.
Callaway and Blair rushed to look at the struggle.
~*~*~*~*~
They went under quickly. Sarah barely had enough time for a breath. They struggled for
control of the gun, then it went off. Stone emerged from the water, pulled himself from the water and left the gun on the floor of the boat by the gate.
"Sarah..." Blair was shocked.
~*~*~*~*~
"I hear a boat coming." said Callaway and he turned his attention to boat coming towards them.
Sarah came up from the water. She saw the gun on the floor and reached for it as the second boat pulled up next to them.
Blair saw something out the corner of his eye emerge from the water.
"Sarah?" he whispered as he helped her back onto the boat.
She slipped on her glasses.
~*~*~*~*~
Luck didn't seem to be with them today, because just as she began to untie Blair, Callaway turned around and saw them.
Daniel drew his gun and fired at them. Blair pulled her out the line of fire.
Sarah began to fire her gun and managed to hit Stone in the shoulder.
Daniel fired two shots at Blair, but missed. Blair moved closer and closer to the second boat.
"Hola, Senor." said a voice from the second boat. Blair turned around to see a gun pointed in his face.
~*~*~*~*~
"Put the gun down or I shoot him." said the man in the second boat. Sarah put down her gun without a moments hesitation.
"Senors, I thought there were going to be no problems."
Callaway spoke, "No problems Senor Ruina, a bonus of sorts. More workers for you."
"No, thank you." Ruina said.
Michael smiled as he prodded Sarah into the shark cage and locked it. He dropped the keys on the floor.
"You know if you kill me, you'll have big problems." she said.
Stone snickered.
~*~*~*~*~
Blair made a moved towards the cage, but was stopped halfway.
"I don't think so." said Stone pointing his gun at Blair.
Stone smiled as he hit a button and the shark cage came up from the water.
Sarah gasped for air when she came up.
Callaway saw Sarah was still alive he ordered Stone to "Shoot her and the lower her back in the water."
Stone sighed and carried out his orders. "The sharks will have fun, especially when the ship goes down."
Stone placed an explosive device on the cabin of the boat. "Ten minutes."
~*~*~*~*~
She was shot at almost point blank range, with a quick sudden movement, the bullet barely missed
hitting her in the right shoulder. Sarah hit the back of the cage with a sick thud, to give the appearance the shot was worse then it was.
She didn't have much time for a breath as the cage was lowered quickly into the water.
~*~*~*~*~
Callaway tied Blair to the opposite end of the boat. They jumped into Ruina's boat and sped off.
Blair heard the timer on the bomb counting down. "Don't panic." Blair told himself as he looked all around for something sharp to cut the ropes with.
"Glass, a knife, sharp things..." he mumbled as he kept searching. "Nothing."
He began to try untying himself with his teeth, with little success, next he move his wrists trying to wiggle out of the ropes.
~*~*~*~*~
"There!" Jim pointed to a boat adrift in the middle of the sea. It seemed like years before he reached the boat.
"Chief?" Jim hollered as pulled up behind the boat.
"JIM!" Blair's voice seemed to echo. Ellison jumped aboard and headed towards Blair.
"I see you're tied up." joked Jim as he cut Blair loose.
"There's a bomb." said Blair rubbing his wrists.
"Where's Sarah?" asked Jim as he looked at the bomb. Blair picked up the keys and began pressing buttons.
"Jim they put her in the shark cage, shot her and lowered her in the water." The cage was coming up, slowly, but it was coming up.
"Sarah!" Chief shouted.
~*~*~*~*~
The cage was finally out of the water and Blair saw Sarah up against the back of the cage, bleeding from the shoulder.
"Sarah!" He balanced himself on the edge of the boat and grabbed onto the cage. The cage began to rock back and forth as he tried unlocking the cage.
~*~*~*~*~
Jim on the other hand was studying the ticking bomb. "Oh boy..." He heard a lock open, then a thud and turned around. Blair had light blue faced Sarah out of the cage on the boat.
"No pulse." Blair was about to begin CPR as Jim opened the bomb casing.
Jim moved the wires with his fingers and studied them. "If I cut any of the wires the bomb goes off. We need to get out of here, Chief." Jim turned around and saw the look in Blair's eyes.
"She's gone."
Jim shook his head, "I'm sorry man..." He was cut off by the sound of choking and gagging.
"What took you so long?" coughed Sarah trying to stand up.
"All right kids, we've got less than 2 minutes before this boat blows up."
~*~*~*~*~
As they sped away she turned back and looked at the boat. She heard the last few seconds of the count down and then it went off.
This was the image she saw yesterday. She took a deep breath and began coughing again.
"This isn't over." she said between coughs.
~*~*~*~*~
"We want to keep you over night." said the doctor.
"No." she said stubbornly. "I am fine."
The doctor shook his head, "It's a precaution. You've got a concussion, few bruised ribs and not to mention that you almost drowned."
"No, no way. I want to go home." she said sitting up in the bed.
"The warrants will be issued for Stone and Callaway in the next day or so." said Jim as he walked in.
"Detective, I want to leave, but they won't release me." she complained.
"I think you should stay here and rest." said Blair from the doorway.
"I've got an armed guard outside." said Jim.
"I'm going back to the loft..." Blair mentioned.
"Hold on! If I have to stay here and "play dead" over night, then Blair should stay too. After all he was on the boat too." she pointed out.
"Good point. Chief, stay here until I come get the two of you tomorrow." Jim headed out the door and Blair flopped into the chair.
"Oh yeah. Sarah here's your cell phone." He turned around and threw it at her.
"No calls." he said sternly as he turned back around.
Sarah stuck her tongue out at Jim and mockingly said, "No calls."
Blair smiled and tried to hide a laugh.
"Ha, ha. You're stuck here too." she teased.
Blair stuck his tongue out at her. He got a pillow in the face for his effort.
"By the way, how did you do that..." Blair started.
"Meditation, Master Caine taught me how to slow down and stop my breathing and heart-rate. Never tried it underwater before." she said adjusting her glasses.
"Who's Master Caine?" he asked.
"Someone who brought me back into balance with myself." she replied.
~*~*~*~*~
A few hours later Jim came back with a few of her things that she had packed for the loft.
"Finally," she declared as she came out of the bathroom, "decent clothing."
Jim and Blair smiled.
"So, did ya find them yet?"
Jim shook his head "No."
Sarah plunked down the bag and said, "Whether you find them or not, I am going home tomorrow."
She dropped her cell phone into the open bag. "I don't want to hear about staying in a safe house or your loft. My home is a safe house, at least when I get done with it."
Jim turned to Blair, "Was she always this way?" Jim teased as he felt something hit him in the head.
Blair coughed, "Yeap. I honestly don't know why I put up with her."
Sarah thought better of hitting Blair with a pillow. "Jim, I want to call Kermit."
He turned around and said, "Not with that cell phone. Someone might..."
"Pick up on the conversation, yeah, yeah. Can I call from the room then?"
~*~*~*~*~
Kermit was already on his way to home when she called him.
"I want you to be careful. Ruina may be involved, but he's harmless, compared to Callaway."
He pulled out two medium size bags from the trunk of the green car. "Sarah, I've the news out on the wire. You've got 2 people you can trust right there with you. If anything comes up through my sources, you'll be the third person to know. I'll be here if you need me."
~*~*~*~*~
Blair drove her home when she was released from the hospital.
She quickly got out the car and headed inside with her duffel bag.
"Listen, I've, uhh, got a few things to do. Are you going to be OK alone?"
She shook her head "Yes."
Sarah followed Blair out to his car a few minutes later. She leaned on the driver's side window as Blair finished up giving instructions.
"Don't forget if you have a bad headache, relax, begin meditation, and don't panic. I'll be back around dinner time, 'K?" He squeezed her hand and started the car.
~*~*~*~*~
Her head began to pound when she walked back into the living room.
She squeezed her eyes shut tightly as she stumbled onto the sofa. Broken images flashed into her mind,
"Let go." she heard Blair's voice pierce through the pain and images.
She turned off all the lights, sat down in front of her mediation candles and lit them.
~*~*~*~*~
She watched the flames climb, she closed her eyes and let herself go. She found herself outside her home, an exchange of gunfire erupted from inside. She allowed herself to go inside.
She looked around and saw her own body, shot through the heart.
"SANDBURG!" Jim's tone sounded painful. He headed downstairs to see Blair with a gun in his back.
"Bang, bang." said Callaway before he shot Blair.
Blair fell onto the steps, Sarah heard Callaway laugh and she could see the hurt in Jim's eyes.
Halfway down the stairs Jim stopped aimed at Callaway, but never got a shot off.
Stone was behind him on the stairs, shot him in the back of the head.
"All finished." said Stone stepping over Jim.
"The brat's dead and so are they." Callaway laughed, "Their Captain Banks will be engulfed in a scandal forcing him out..."
~*~*~*~*~
Sarah jolted out of her mediation at the sound of the phone. It was Jim calling to say he had posted a guard at her house that day. Sarah wasn't happy when she was told.
"I do not need a guard. I'll be fine." she protested.
"Its just a precaution. We don't want anything happening to you." he said.
"Fine." She hung up and then stomped through the house to show her disapproval.
~*~*~*~*~
"This thing goes way past two dirty agents, if the evidence we have goes public, it would shake the foundation of the FBI." said Simon after they sat down in his office.
"The DA has issued an arrest warrants for both Callaway and Stone. They feel there is enough evidence to convict. So stay with her, I don't want anything happening to her."
~*~*~*~*~
"Come on." Sarah slammed the door closed on the bottom of the book case.
"Where the hell is it?" She slammed and banged every other door and drawer downstairs.
She wasn't happy as she stomped upstairs and went between bedrooms.
"Bloody hell," she cursed as the pounding in her head started.
She stomped back downstairs and took a look again into the hall closet.
Sure enough there it was, her black address book.
She looked around the living room for the cordless phone.
She spotted it on the coffee table, she went over and got the phone.
She brought it over to the steps and sat down.
The book flew open and the pages went flying as she looked for that important number.
Spotting the number she dialed it, not wanting to notice she was shaking.
~*~*~*~*~
The patrol outside recognized them and allowed them access to the house.
Blair jumped out of the truck and made a bee line for the door.
Jim heard her inside crying. "Hey, I why don't I go get some pizza for dinner?" he suggested.
"Sure man." was Blair's response and he opened the door.
~*~*~*~*~
Sarah was becoming more blurry eyed as the phone on the other end kept ringing.
She was choking back tears as she heard Uncle Mic's Australian accent as answering machine picked up.
"Uncle Mic? Please if you're there pick up, its me, Sarah." she paused and at once it hit her, everything that had happened finally sunk in.
She started crying, "Mic, I'm in a whole lotta trouble. Dad's dead and people are trying to kill me. Watch your back Mic. Give me call when you get in? Love you."
She hung up and just kept on crying.
~*~*~*~*~
Blair walked in and saw her crying. "Sarah." he said. She looked up and tried to stop crying.
"I'm fine," she claimed as she wiped the tears away from under her glasses.
Blair moved closer to her. He could tell she was a wreck as he reached for the address book.
She let him take it, as he did a photo fell out. Blair looked at it and recognized Sarah and her father in the photo, but not the other man.
"Who's that?" he asked.
"That is my uncle, Mic Brumby." she said softly.
"He's in the Navy?" he prodded.
"The Australian Royal Navy. He's a lawyer." she said.
"He kinda looks like that villain in that one Mortal Kombat movie." replied Blair.
"Yeah, he gets that a lot." she said standing up on the stairs. She felt the tears running down her cheeks, Blair pulled her off the steps and hugged her.
~*~*~*~*~
Jim arrived almost an hour later with two pizzas, bread sticks and soda.
"Hey Chief." he said as he entered the kitchen.
"Oh hey Jim." he replied as he opened a cabinet door looking for something. "Sarah! Where are the glasses?" Blair hollered upstairs.
She heard him and answered "Above the sink. I'm blind not deaf."
Jim smiled and said, "She says they are above the sink. And that she's blind, not deaf."
Blair rolled his eyes. "Yeah, OK."
She stood at the top of the stairs and took a deep breath, she had a feeling this was going to be one hell of a few days.
~*~*~*~*~
"Absolutely not. You can't go." said Jim two days later, leaning against the sky blue wall in Sarah's room. "And why not?" she shot back. "I can take care of myself."
Jim sighed and said, "I've seen how well you take care of yourself, you almost died along with Sandburg."
"I wasn't expecting it so soon." she snapped as she opened a suitcase and began packing. Jim walked over and snatched the air plane ticket off her bed and put it into his jacket.
"Give it back, please." she said narrowing her eyes. "Oh no. I am going to keep this until this is all over with." he said.
"I am going to see my uncle, I bought the ticket. Now give it." Sarah seemed to growl as she said that. Jim said nothing and headed towards the door.
Sarah snarled silently as she took hold of Jim's arm and tried reaching for the ticket in his jacket.
He pushed her hand away from the jacket and said, "Don't." He opened the door, she pushed against it, closing it.
"I would like to apologize for what I am about to do." she said causing Jim to turn around.
Jim couldn't block it fast enough. Her knuckles connected with his jaw, forcing him to take a step back. She reached in for the ticket as he grabbed her arm, twisted it behind her.
"Back off!" he said. After letting her go, he left the room. Sarah slammed the door behind him.
~*~*~*~*~
Sandburg cringed as he heard the door slam. "Uh oh. It didn't go well? See I should have told her." spoke up Blair as Jim stepped into the kitchen.
"No Chief it didn't." Jim rubbed his jaw. "She landed a punch, not bad."
Blair dried the last plate and put it in the cupboard. "Did she apologize first?"
Jim nodded.
"Then she hit you?"
Jim nodded again.
"When she does that, its meant as a warning, she's mad. By the way what did you tell her?" Chief asked. "That she couldn't go." Jim replied.
Blair nodded, "That'll do it. Listen, I'll got talk to her, I've dealt with her temper before." he said as he headed for the stairs.
~*~*~*~*~
Sarah began rummaging through her dresser drawers for something.
"Ah ha!" she exclaimed as she pulled out her throwing knives. A knock came on the door.
"Who is it?" she asked.
"Me." said Blair.
*Thump* He opened the door and walked in.
~*~*~*~*~
Her room was a sky blue, with a walk in closet to the right and her bed on the left.
To the right of her bed was a four panel window and on the left were her computers, a white PC and a black laptop.
Posters and photos of wolves covered almost every inch of her wall. Above her night stand was a small book case.
Some of the books in the case were, "Sonnets of Shakespeare," "The Complete Works of W.M." and another on herbal healing.
Hanging above her bed was a necklace made of the darkest amethyst chips he'd ever seen, on each side of it there was a photo of a wolf and a snake.
~*~*~*~*~
She was standing with a small knife in her right hand ready to throw. "Would you mind closing the door?" she asked. The door closed and Blair didn't move away from the door. "Hey Shakespeare, I'd rather not put this through your head." she said shaking the knife in midair. He stepped aside and she threw the knife, it landed in the center of her door.
"You didn't warn him." she said as she threw the last knife in her hands.
"I didn't think I had too." Blair answered as she retrieved the three knives from her door.
"I don't respond well to jaguars telling me what I can and cannot do." she said readying a knife. " I could not go to my father's funeral, because they might have been there. The only blood family I have left, you deny me seeing or talking to."
Blair slowly took the knives from her hand and said, "This is for your own good."
She turned around and stared at him. "I cannot stay locked up in my own home. Besides, I don't respond well to jaguars."
Blair looked around at her room and all the photos of wolves. "I understand, but you have to trust me and Jim." He put his hands on each of her shoulders. Sarah said nothing, her face showed no expression, Blair frowned. "What happened to you? Where's the girl I knew so well?"
He sighed, "We are going to get through this, like we've done before, like the old days."
Sarah seemed to soften.
"How did you know about Jim's animal guide?" asked Blair.
"I saw a jaguar when I found the gun rigged in the closet, and that same night in the loft. I saw it run up to Jim's room." she replied.
"And me?" he asked curiously.
"A wolf headed towards your room at the loft." she laughed. "I saw my wolf guide as well, and it growled at the jaguar."
Blair smiled. "Must have saw this coming. By the way, you're still not going."
Continued in Part 2 of "Phoenix Rising"