Chapter 4
"No, I didn't!" Jill squealed, her blue eyes shining with laughter. She snatched up and swung a nearby couch cushion into Sabrina's shoulder. "It was one of the worst dates I've ever been on!"
Sabrina deflected the plushy blow with one hand and laughed. "Oh, come off it!" she teased. "I called at ten thirty on my way home to see if you were there so I could pick up my punch bowl." She leaned in close, cupping her hand around her mouth as if sharing a secret. "And guess what? You weren't."
"I was in bed by ten!" Jill cried, striking again with the pillow.
"Yeah, sure." Sabrina responded. She paused for a beat, suddenly thoughtful, and narrowed her brown eyes suspiciously. "Wait. Who's bed now?"
"Mine!"
The big playful grin on Sabrina's face widened. How easy it was to rile Jill up. How wonderfully easy.
"Oh, so you were busy." she said slowly. "That explains why you didn't hear the phone." Immediately after her delivery, she jumped up from her spot in anticipation of Jill's expected retaliation. She wasn't nearly quick enough, however. With a cry of mock outrage, Jill pounced on her and began mercilessly pounding her with her cushion.
"Take that back!" she laughed.
Sabrina, incapacitated by a fit of giggles, could only shield her face and endure the soft blows. "I will not!"
"Take it back or I'm going to break your punch bowl!"
"It's plastic. Good luck."
"Then I'll melt it!"
Sabrina managed to latch onto Jill's cushion and halt her attack. "Go ahead, I hate that punch bowl." she challenged through her laughter.
"Then I'll just break everything else in your kitchen." Jill giggled, struggling for possession of her pillow.
"You wouldn't dare!"
"That punch bowl will be all you have left!" she gasped, hardly able breathe through her laughter. One firm yank ripped the cushion out of Sabrina's grip. "You won't even be able to burn dinner in there anymore."
She raised the pillow over her head as if preparing to strike and Sabrina squealed and turned her face.
"Then I'll burn dinner at your house!" she retaliated. "And if you hit me again, I'll do it tonight."
Jill raised the pillow higher. "Step one foot in my kitchen and I'll see that you're buried with that ugly punch bowl!" she laughed.
"What?"
Both girls turned their heads to see Kelly hovering in the office doorway, head cocked, eyebrows quirked and a half smile of amusement brightening her previously tired features. She'd managed to walk in just in time to hear only Jill's final out of context statement and appeared understandably confused by it.
"Morning, Kell!" Jill chirped, climbing off of Sabrina and lowering her weapon. "You just saved Bri's life."
"Shame. Do I even want to know?" Kelly asked with a grin. She shrugged her purse off and plopped down between her two friends. Sabrina, her playing not at all hindered by Kelly's arrival, immediately reached across her and snatched the pillow away from Jill while she wasn't looking.
"Hey!" Jill protested, making a desperate swipe at it. But, Sabrina held it away victoriously.
"I was just asking Jill how her date went." she said slyly, winking at Kelly. "And how she wasn't home when I called her after leaving your place."
Kelly raised an eyebrow and turned to Jill. "Oh?" she pressed suggestively. "So it went well?"
Jill scoffed and sprawled herself across the arm of the couch. "Don't listen to her. Josh took me to a pizza place. It was like being fifteen again." she giggled. "He was more interested in the pinball machine than me. I was home by nine."
"Ran out of quarters?" Kelly teased. Jill made a face at her, her antics broadening Kelly's smile. "So where do punch bowls fit in?" she continued.
Sabrina and Jill shared an amused look before Jill cleared her throat. "Well, Bri called me last night to pick up her punch bowl and I was already asleep -" She shot a look at Sabrina. "- by myself! And we were just joking about how ug-"
"The green plastic one?" Kelly cut in, with a sideways glance at Sabrina. "Isn't that mine?"
Jill, deciding she had explained more than enough, stopped talking and turned expectantly to Sabrina.
Sabrina tilted her head thoughtfully. "Oh yeah." she mused. "You're right. I'll have to get that back for you." She looked away, purposefully avoiding Jill's gaze to keep them both from bursting into laughter.
Kelly rolled her eyes. "Don't bother." she replied with a chuckle. "It's awful, I was hoping you'd forget and keep it."
For reasons she didn't understand, Jill and Sabrina turned to each other and burst into laughter. Kelly smiled, laughing herself though she wasn't in on the joke. It just felt good to laugh. This was why she enjoyed their company so much. They were fun, they made her laugh, unlike so many others in her life. Any personal anxiety or insecurities always had a way of dissapating after a few minutes of light, easy conversation with her two best friends, and this morning's unsettled mood was no exception.
Between teasing and joking, Jill, who'd arrived first, informed her that Bosely was due back shortly with their new client in tow. But fighting the notorious morning L.A. traffic between the office and the airport was taking much longer than expected, so the girls filled the dead time with more happy conversation, knowing that they might not have time for it once this case was underway. By the time Bosely honked the horn on his Thunderbird, a strangely consistent "accident" to alert the girls to be in a professional state when their client entered the room, twenty minutes had gone by and Kelly was feeling much better, last night's vivid nightmare all but forgotten.
"Here he comes." Jill sang, sliding off of the arm of the couch and into a more professional position on the cushion. It was time for business. She smoothed her khaki slacks and neatly adjusted the pillows she and Sabrina had been throwing at each other.
"I heard this lady is loaded." Sabrina whispered from behind the bar where she busied herself pouring an extra cup of coffee. "Bos said to make a real good impression."
Jill cocked her head in feigned surprise. "Don't we always?" she asked innocently.
The girls giggled quietly together, finished cleaning up, and took their usual seats around the squawk box to await this mysterious new client. Less than a minute later, Bosely poked his head through the door and smiled, seemingly pleased at the sight of the three girls sitting politely, awaiting his arrival. They looked good, he noted. Business-like, professional, ready for action. His eyes caught Jill's, and she flashed a gleaming playful smile at him, reminding him of what lurked beneath.
As usual, he couldn't help but to smile back.
"Good morning ladies." he greeted them warmly, though his thin smile and guarded tone suggested that it might not be for all involved in today's meeting. He gave an elegant gesture and stepped aside to allow their client to enter the room first. She did so immediately, giving Bosely a slight nod of acknowledgement as she passed. The girls stood politely as she enterted.
Any lingering doubt about the nature of this case immediately flaked away as soon as the older woman bustled in the room. Whatever the problem, this woman seemed to radiate a heavy air of tension and within an instant the lighthearted, comfortable atmosphere of the lush office was transformed. She walked with quick, light steps to the middle of the room and then paused and frowned, as if she'd not found who she was looking for.
Undaunted, Jill and Sabrina gave her a polite smile in greeting, which she neither reciprocated or acknowledged. It was expected that Kelly had done the same and so, they didn't look at her face.
Had they, they would have seen a fleeting look of shock cross her features before being expertly neutralized into a blank, unreadable expression.
The woman in front of them was busy looking around the office and oblivious to the pair of green eyes boring into her. Kelly stared hard, feeling her heartbeat start to quicken and her stomach start to cramp, thousands of forgotten memories from the past dredged up at once in that one single, overwhelming instant. Just seeing her brought on the unpleasantly familiar stomachache it used to when she was a child, as though trained to do so on sight. Kelly sucked in a quick breath, fighting to keep her inner panic from seeping through. What was she doing here? Why? Why now? Why her? She swallowed and looked again to make sure. It was the nightmare playing tricks on her. Surely, she'd been mistaken.
But, no.
There she was. She was older, her face beginning to show the wrinkles and creases of age. She was dressed differently, more conservatively, whether due to age or the fifteen pounds she had since added to her formerly pencil thin figure, she wasn't sure, but the woman was now in current fashions instead of the sundresses and garish colors Kelly remembered her in. Her hair was also different. The beehive of the sixties that she had never managed to pull off was now worn down, cut short to frame her face, and if she wasn't still dying it platinum blonde, then she was sure to have streaks of gray running down from her temples. She looked more matronly now, a woman approaching fifty with dignity instead of the woman in her late thirties fighting tooth and nail to preserve her youth.
Yes, she was different. But it was her. There was no mistaking it and there was no denying it.
The initial shock worn off, Kelly watched her warily, wondering if she would be recognized and how to react when she was.
Mrs. Hanover was clearly under a great deal of stress, evidenced by the dark circles under her eyes, her thin pursed lips, and quick nervous movements. If she'd seemed tense at a distance, her entire aura screamed an overpowering mixture of frustration, anxiety, and fear up close. She took a few quick steps towards the long couch and then looked back at Bosely, waiting for an introduction.
"Ladies, this is our new client, Candace Hanover." Bosely introduced her. "Mrs. Hanover, these are my associates: Sabrina Duncan, Jill Munroe, and Kelly Garrett."
Mrs. Hanover gave the three girls a faint shadow of a smile before offering her hand to Sabrina, who was the closest to her.
"Hello." she said politely. Her voice was another kick in the gut, the same disinterested arrogance in her tone that Kelly remembered all too well.
Kelly studied her in disbelief as she shook Jill's hand and then her own. Her touch felt strange, foreign and cold. The woman looked right into her eyes, unenthusiastically shook her hand, and offered her a false smile. More affection in two seconds than she had ever given her as a mother, she noted. Yet there was no spark of recognition , nothing in her eyes that told her Mrs. Hanover had recognized her former foster daughter in either face or name. And Kelly made the split second decision to keep it that way.
Had she really changed all that much?, she wondered frantically. She had been several inches shorter, a lanky, underfed little girl, but her face hadn't changed all that much since she was twelve, had it? Had Mrs. Hanover recognized her, but chosen not to say anything?
No, she thought to herself firmly. She would have seen it in her eyes, her body language, something. Neither of her foster parents had paid very much attention to her. Maybe that was it.
The phone rang, interrupting any further thoughts, and all five turned towards the sound.
"Well then." Bosley started, rubbing his hands together. " Everyone have a seat. Let's get started, shall we?"
The women scattered themselves around the overstuffed sofas as Bosley walked back to his desk and dropped himself down into his own chair, grabbing up the phone as he did.
"All here, Charlie." he announced in a business-like voice. He flipped on the squawk box and Charlie's cultured, pleasant voice drifted out from the speaker on Bosely's desk.
"Good morning, angels." Charlie greeted them.
"Good morning, Charlie." they chorused back.
Charlie cleared his throat. "Candace? How are you this morning?" he asked, a trace of sympathy in his voice.
Candace Hanover sighed and anxiously toyed with the fringe on one of the couch cushions. "I'm as I should be expected to be." she answered. "I'm hoping you and your associates can help me."
Kelly looked away, too unnerved by the familiar voice she had grown to dread as a child, to retain eye contact. Everything seemed so surreal, like it couldn't be happening. Shouldn't be happening. She briefly squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again, half hoping she had just imagined the past few minutes.
But she hadn't. Her cruel, neglectful foster mother was here. Right here. Sitting in their office, with her friends, on the couch she often napped on, toying with the same pillow fringe that she herself liked to run her fingers through. The whole situation felt wrong, a violation on her privacy, an intrusion on her new life. Why? Of all the detectives in the country, why them?
A slight nudge to her ribs made Kelly start. She turned to head to catch a discreet look of disapproval from Jill.
Jill's blue eyes widened slightly and flitted over to the desk, a clear sign that her inattention was not going unnoticed. Kelly immediately fixed her eyes on the squawk box, though there was no way Charlie could have known that her attention was wandering. She had missed part of the conversation but careful listening would soon catch her up.
"I just know he didn't do it." Mrs. Hanover said determinedly. "I know my husband and he is not capable of -" she swallowed back a sob. "-of what they say he did."
Kelly's heart skipped a beat, knowing with sickening certainty who the "he" is question probably was. Was this going to get worse? Was this going to get unspeakably worse? She looked around the room at Jill, Sabrina, and Bosely's appropriately somber faces and quickly shifted her features to match them. What was going on?, her mind frantically wondered.
"Forgive me, Candace." Charlie said gently. "I have to ask. What makes you so sure that your husband isn't guilty."
Mrs. Hanover stiffened, offended at what she perceived to be Charlie's skepticism.
"Are any of you married?" she challenged.
Charlie cleared his throat. "No, ma'am." he answered honestly. "It didn't take."
She ignored him, and at her continued sternly inquisitive gaze, Sabrina and Bosely shared a look, then reluctantly mumbled a few words about their failed marriages as well.
"A year?" Mrs, Hanover echoed, eyeing Sabrina with disdain. "I've been married to the same man for twenty five years. When you're with someone that long you know them." She pursed her lips and straightened her spine. "And that, Mr. Townsend, is how I know my husband isn't guilty."
Jill, Sabrina, and Bosely glanced at each other and let the awkward silence hang in the air for a painfully long few seconds before Charlie finally cleared his throat.
"Alright, then." he said neutrally. "We'll do what we can. Slide please, Bosely?"
On cue, the room darkened, a white screen whirred into view, and a picture of a blonde girl in her early teens smiled back at them.
"Angels, this is Rebecca Saunders." Charlie announced. Kelly glanced nervously at her two friends as Charlie spoke, suddenly guessing at what she was about to hear. The grim tone in Charlie's voice indicated that they were about to hear something extremely unpleasant involving the sweet looking youth in the photo, and both Jill and Sabrina looked as if they were dreading the blow.
But Kelly already knew.
She knew. Though in her shock she'd missed some crucial bits of conversation, her nimble mind had quickly pieced the puzzle together. Her foster mother. The absence of her evil tempered and abusive foster father. A crime. This girl. Charlie's tone.
Kelly's stomach began to churn. She took a deep breath and anxiously began to grind her teeth.
"She was found in a dumpster just outside her hometown by some transients digging for coins. Carson City police ruled her death as a homicide." Charlie went on quietly. "She had been severely beaten but autopsy reports have determined her cause of death as strangulation. She was thirteen years old."
He paused for a moment, leaving the office in a thick and horrified silence.
"Now, several witnesses report seeing a navy blue Ford Mustang leaving the scene at the approximate time of death." Charlie continued. "A Ford Mustang matching the description of our client's husband."
The room was washed in darkness for an instant as the slide changed. When it reappeared, Kelly let out a strangled involuntary cough.
"This is James Hanover."
Sabrina absently patted Kelly on the back, simply believing her to have choked on the coffee in her hand. Kelly jerked away, eyes transfixed on the image before her.
There he was. Heavier, older, hairline beginning to recede. But it was him. With his huge frame and shirt stretched taut over the belly he must not have known he had. Smiling the same charming smile that had kept everyone from knowing the truth.
"He is the husband of our client and currently being held as the key suspect in the investigation of the girl's murder." Charlie explained. "This is going to be a tough one, angels. I'm afraid the evidence is well stacked against him. Po-"
"But he didn't do it!" Mrs. Hanover exclaimed from her seat. Her outburst startled even Charlie, and four sets of eyes fixed on her in surprise.
Kelly was closer, but Jill finally reached around her to give the older woman a reassuring pat on the knee. "We just have to know what we're up against." she explained gently.
Whether or not Jill's kind gesture calmed her, Mrs. Hanover angrily turned her head to stare across the room.
"Yes, Candace." Charlie continued. "The evidence was strong enough for an arrest. In order to overturn that, we need to know what we have to work with."
"Then go on." Mrs. Hanover snapped. She set her jaw angrily and stared at Jill's hand, still resting on her knee, as if it was festering with disease. Acutely aware of the blistering glare she was receiving, Jill awkwardly removed it and folded both hands in her lap.
"There was a great deal of evidence, angels. Rebecca was a foster child placed in the Hanover's care, so you can imagine the uproar this caused." Charlie went on. "In addition to the car, Hanover was seen leaving work during the time the murder supposedly took place. He claimed to have gone for a drive and has no alibi."
Jill and Sabrina winced simultaneously, garnering an agitated huff of annoyance from Mrs. Hanover. She hardly had a right to be upset, though. The evidence was indeed damning.
And had Kelly been listening she would have been inclined to agree. But the words "foster child" had brought all thought processes to an abrupt and screeching halt.
Her stomach gave a violent spasm that made her squirm in her seat. Foster child? It was worse than she'd expected. So much worse. That girl was his foster daughter, just as she had been ten years before. Probably beaten and bullied, terrorized and tortured. Just like her. Except for one vital difference.
He'd killed this girl.
And there was no doubt in her mind that he had. Candace Hanover was a fool if she believed otherwise. A cold sweat broke out over Kelly's face and for one terrifying instant, her breakfast threatened to come bubbling back up her throat. The repulsive and bitter taste of bile filled Kelly's mouth and she hurriedly slurped down a mouthful of coffee to wash it away. She dribbled it down her chin in her hurry and quickly wiped it away with hands that she didn't notice were trembling.
Her chest tightened, remiscent of a panic attack, and she fought hard to control her breathing. It was loud and harsh, how could Charlie be talking over it? How could she explain herself when all eight eyes in the room locked on her and demanded an explanation for her crazed behavior?
She chanced a glance up at her friends and was surprised to see that none of them were even looking at her. The nausea, the panic, the overwhelming feeling of having narrowly escape doomed, that was all for her. A private moment of horror.
Kelly took a deep breath and let it out as slowly as she could. She could almost hear the reality of her situation crashing all around her, deafening, overwhelming.
He had murdered a young girl and she was being paid to help him get away with it.
Despite the desire to jump out of her seat and tear out of the room and away from this as fast as she could, Kelly crossed her arms tightly over her chest and took several slow steady breaths.
They were just clients. This wasn't personal. Just a job.
Just a job.
"So where do we start Charlie?" Sabrina was saying, just as Kelly forced herself to tune back into the conversation.
"I want the three of you to fly to Carson City this evening. Tomorrow morning, I've arranged for you to meet with James Hanover." Charlie began earnestly. "I want you to talk to him, find out everything, every detail you can about where he was that day, who he was with, anything at all, angels."
"Didn't the police do that?" Jill spoke up. She shot a nervous look toward Mrs. Hanover, whom she was quickly realizing did not care for her at all. "Not being a skeptic, but if there was anything that could have gotten him off, then wouldn't his defense have found it by now?"
"To be honest, angels, this is going to take more than just questioning." Charlie explained. "After you find out all you can from him, do some digging, try to find someone, anyone that can pinpoint his exact location at the time of the murder." He paused for second. "Candace?"
"Yes?" she answered, her tone guarded and concealing anger.
"Would it be alright if the girls searched your home in Carson City?" Charlie asked cautiously. "The girl's room especially. If there is something out there that proves your husband's innocence, I don't want to leave any stones unturned. You understand that, don't you?"
The woman sat quietly before giving her head a slight nod. "I do, Mr. Townsend."
"What time is your flight back to Nevada?" Charlie asked after a beat.
Mrs. Hanover checked her watch, though she already knew the answer. "At two this afternoon." she said quickly. "I didn't want to be away long and that was the earliest flight back I could get."
"Would it be alright if the girls called on you later tonight then? Say seven or eight?"
The woman's eyes made a quick circuit around the three unlikely detectives in her presence and then came to a rest at the squawk box. Those girls might not be what she had been expecting and they might not fully believe her story, but they were the only chance her husband had.
She sighed and crossed her arms. "That would be fine, Mr. Townsend."
"Excellent." Charlie sighed, a touch of relief in his tone at her cooperation. "Lunch is on us, Candace. Bosley will take you somewhere and you can fill out all of the necessary paperwork. Angels?"
"Yes?" Jill answered for them.
"Get home and get packing, your flight leaves today at three."
"Will do, Charlie!" Jill sang cheerily. The tense atmosphere was suffocating her and if someone didn't crack a smile, she'd lose her mind. She flashed a grin at Sabrina, her friend's unamused face half hidden by the mug she was drinking from, then at Kelly, who looked as if she'd just eaten bad fish, and finally to Mrs. Hanover.
The woman glared at her and then turned away, muttering under her breath insults not meant for her ears.
Jill sighed and let her unreturned smile melt off of her face, feeling stupid for even trying to keep the mood up.
If everyone insisted on being so gloomy, this was going to be a long trip indeed.
At ten till two, Jill pulled up at Kelly's house and shut off the engine of her car. The location of Kelly's house in a quiet subdivision made it a more ideal place to leave all three of their vehicles than either Jill, Sabrina's or the airport parking lot and so the girls decided to rendevous there. The taxi would pick them up at 2:15, courtesy of Charlie, and whisk them away to the airport and the beginnings of this case. Hopefully it would be finished by the Fourth. Jill climbed out of her car, yawning as she did, and looked around.
It appeared she'd beaten Sabrina.
Just as well. She wanted to have a talk with Kelly.
As quickly as she could, she opened her trunk, hefted her suitcase and duffel bag out of its depths, and jogged up to the front door.
"Open up, Kell!" she shouted playfully, rapping at the smooth white paint of the door. "Let me in out of the cold!"
Light footsteps hurried forward, the latch clicked free, and the door opened partway, revealing Kelly's confused face.
"Cold?" she echoed, moving to let her friend in. "It's June."
Jill giggled. "I know. It's a joke, lighten up."
Kelly sighed and took her suitcase for her. "I figured that." she mumbled irritably, turning away. Jill watched her back, a frown darkening her pretty features, as Kelly set down the suitcase next to the couch.
Something was off.
Kelly wasn't herself.
She had suspected as much during the meeting with Candace Hanover and during the brief phone call they had shared to determine who the lucky one was who got to shelter their cars. Her behavior right now confirmed it. Instead of smiling and rolling her eyes or contributing to her silliness, Kelly seemed agitated, restless, not at all her usual kind, caring, and playful self. Her face was flushed and her moments erratic and careless.
"You feeling ok?" Jill chanced at her back.
She watched Kelly stiffen and immediately realized she had made a mistake.
"I caught my finger in a drawer." Kelly answered with a well placed laugh. Jill followed her friend's eyes to her right hand and noticed for the first time the wet kitchen towel wrapped around her fingers. "Other than that, I'm fine."
"Ouch." Jill whispered, wincing slightly. "Sure you're alright?"
Kelly smiled over her shoulder as she whisked by on her way to the front door. "Positive."
Jill nodded, though it didn't nothing to ease her suspicions. Kelly's kitchen drawer was notorious for sticking and accidentally closing on unsuspecting fingers. She had done it herself several times, but all it took was a little caution and the drawer was no threat. And that was the problem.
Kelly hadn't been careful.
Something was definitely on her mind, that much was clear. But now wasn't the time to probe into her best friend's damaged pysche. Kelly had just heard Sabrina pull up and was now waiting right outside for her. Any attempt now to pull information out of her would seem like a planned team effort, and would certainly make Kelly pull herself farther into her shell.
Jill bit her lip and then shrugged off the tingling feeling of uncertainty tugging at her. Maybe it was the fact that this case dealt with the murder of a foster child that had Kelly rattled. That had to be it. And if it wasn't, she would keep an eye on her anyway. Just in case.
That settled, Jill turned her attention toward the two chattering voices approaching the front door and grinned as Kelly then Sabrina stepped over the threshold.
"Hey, Jill!" Sabrina greeted, as she set her things down. "You all set?"
"All set, Bri." Jill answered with a toothy smile.
"Not me. But, I'm almost done." Kelly breathed, slipping by them both. She poked her head from behind a corner and narrowed her eyes playfully. "Can I trust you two alone in here for five minutes?"
Sabrina smiled innocently and traced an imaginary halo over her head with a finger. The comical gesture drew a laugh from Kelly and with a sigh, she disappeared into her bedroom to finish packing.
With nothing else to do but wait for Kelly, Sabrina and Jill gravitated towards the kitchen, opened the pantry, and plopped down into at the kitchen table with a pilfered unopened box of graham crackers between them.
"I wonder how long we'll be over there." Sabrina wondered aloud.
Jill shrugged and tore open the box, unaware it was upside down. "As long as it takes." she answered. She flashed a teasing grin at her friend, knowing full well how the philosophical response would annoy her.
Sabrina rolled her eyes and reached for a cracker. "I wonder if this is just a waste of time." she mused. "I mean, the guy seems guilty, ya know? What if this is just a desperate attempt on her part to get her husband back? What if there isn't anything to find?"
"Then we get paid for doing nothing, take our paycheck to Vegas, triple our earnings and take a long vacation in the Bahamas."
Jill giggled and responded to Sabrina's piteous look by taking a big crunchy bite out of her Graham cracker.
"Be serious." Sabrina chided gently.
"I am being serious." Jill insisted through her snack. "You hear about stuff like this all the time." She stopped and looked thoughtful for a moment. "Though if Charlie took her case, then he might think there's more to her story." she admitted.
Sabrina grunted a reply and nibbled on her cracker. "You think we'll find anything?" she asked.
Jill shrugged and wiped her dusty fingers on her pants. "I don't know, Bri. There's something about her I don't like."
"Well, there's a lot about you she doesn't like." Sabrina chirped suddenly. "You see the way she looked at you when you touched her leg? Priceless!"
Jill made a face at her. "I was just trying to be nice!"
"Guess you weren't trying hard enough."
At Jill's warning glare, Sabrina laughed out loud and slid the box of crackers towards her. "I know, I know. I'm just sayin- she's kind of a snob. You can't win 'em all."
"Maybe you can't." Jill grumbled. "People like me. I'm the nice one."
"Mmhmm."
"You'll see, I'll win her over." Jill declared. She broke the corner of her cracker off and tossed it at her friend. "Besides, I'm not the only one who's iffy about her. I don't think Kelly likes her either."
Sabrina rolled her eyes and ate the piece of cracker Jill had tossed her way. "Why do you say that?"
"'Cause she's been acting funny." Jill answered simply. "Didn't you see her earlier? Something's on her mind."
"I think that has more to do with the case details than Candace Hanover." Sabrina whispered back quickly, looking over her and Jill's shoulder. "Don't say anything to her, you're just going to upset h-"
"I'm not." Jill interrupted irritably. "I'm not stupid, ya know. I just get the feeling she doesn't believe the lady. Next time we see her, watch Kelly."
"Alright, Jill." Sabrina sighed in defeat. She glanced at her watch and then craned her neck to peek over Jill's shoulder into the hallway.
"You almost done, Kell?" she shouted.
There was the slight crash of papers sliding to the floor and then Kelly's cheerful voice resonated through the hallway.
"Be done in a second!" she called from her room. "There's some Graham crackers in the pantry if you want a snack! Help yourselves!"
Jill and Sabrina snickered softly and each took another cracker out of the box.
"Thanks, Kell!" Jill called. She caught Sabrina's eye as she bit into her fourth cracker and giggled. Sabrina smiled back at her and tilted her head in Kelly's direction.
"See?" she whispered. "She's fine."
Jill shook her head. "Nope. I'm gonna keep an eye on her." she said seriously. "Something isn't right, Bri. I can feel it."
Sabrina sighed and stared at Jill's determined face. As much as she hated to admit it, Jill was usually right in instances like these. Ever perceptive, and ever the worrier. But she loved them both and meant well, and if her bubbly friend was worried, then there no harm in indulging her to stay on the safe side. She'd keep an eye on Kelly.
And Jill too, for that matter.
"Alright, Jill." she muttered. "If you say so."
