The Angels and Bosley had gathered in Kelly's living room waiting on Charlie to call.
"Good Morning Angels!"
"Good Morning Charlie" the angels chimed in
"Good Morning to you too Bosley"
"Good Morning Charlie, everyone is here but Kelly."
"She is on the phone, Charlie, she said she would be here in a minute" Sabrina added.
"Well, I talked with her earlier this morning so lets get started, Angels."
"First, I want to assure everyone that you do not have to join in the investigation and there won't be any hard feelings if you have other commitments. I know you all have busy lives and I have talked to Kelly and she wants to make sure everyone knows she will not take it personally if you can not stay. She knows you love her and will support her even if you can't be here. With all that said, what do you say to catching a killer?" Charlie said.
Kris piped up first, "Count me in. Kelly has always been there for me. She is family."
Jill said, "I'm in, the racing season does not start for 3 months so I am good."
Tiffany responded next, "I talked to my office and took a leave of absence this morning, they were not real happy, but family comes first."
Charlie replied, "I will give the Boston DA a call Angel and explain the situation. What about Edward?"
Tiffany gratefully responded, "Thank you Charlie, any help would be appreciated. I talked to Edward last night and he understands."
Next Julie said, "I'm in, I just wrapped up my last photo shoot so I am good for at least a month, besides like Kris and Tiffany said this is family."
"Sabrina?"
Sabrina was sitting on the coach contemplating the end table very hard, "I will need to rearrange a few things, Charlie, but I'm in."
"Wonderful angels, I knew we could count on you."
"If anyone cares, I'm in too." Bosley added.
"Oh, Bosley were you feeling left out," Jill teased Bosley, as she flashed him a winning smile, "You know we care, we already knew we could count on you."
"Are you calling me predictable?"
"No, Bosley, dependable is a better word."**
Charlie put an end to the discussion, "Alright everyone lets discuss assignments."
"Julie, I need you talk to your contacts with the paparazzi. I want every picture they took that night, I do not care how bad the picture is it might hold a clue, I am sure you can find a photographer or two that the agency missed."
"Ok, I can do that." Julie nodded, already making a list in her head.
"Kris, are you still friends with Mr. Chadway?"
"Yes, Mr. Chadway and I have shared information on a few cases I worked on recently."
"How about at Interpol? I think you have established some contacts there also."
"Yes I have a few contacts in Interpol and some sources in the European community. Why?" Kris asks, puzzled.
Sabrina looks at Jill with raised eyebrows with an expression of 'when did she grow up,' "She has European sources?"
Jill smiles like a proud mother, "They grow up so fast, one minute we were teaching her judo holds and the next thing you know she has sources all over the world." Sabrina chuckles.
Kris smiles and throws a pillow at Jill and Sabrina, "Ha! Ha!"
"Alright ladies, as I was saying, the feds think this might be linked to a European group."
"Jill, can you help Kris with the European angle?"
"Sure, anything you need." Smiling at Kris, "I have a few European contacts, myself." Jill throws the pillow back at Kris.
"Bosley, has the CBI sent their files to you? They should give you the basic information they have right now."
"Yes, Charlie. I received them this morning."
"Tiffany, I need you to use your contacts in the Justice Department to find out what they know. I have a few contacts that can help, Bosley has their names. Also I need you to talk to Ben Vickers in Carl's Washington office to see what legislation Carl's office was working on now and what the hot issues have been. I need you to become an expert on the hot issues, especially any involving the UN, the banking industry or money laundering."
"Alright I will make some calls and see what I can find out and if I need to I can fly back East this week."
"I think that would be a good idea. Bosley will take care of your arrangements."
"Sabrina, I need you to do the same thing here with Jonathan Taylor in the Los Angeles office. I want to make sure we understand the hot issues in California and find out if any groups were angry enough to kill."
"All right, I can do that."
"Bosley, I need you to go back through the angels old cases and see if anyone with a grudge against Kelly has been released from prison recently. Since no one has publicly taken responsibility, it could have been personal and have nothing to do with Carl's political views."
Bosley and the others looked at each other with concern.
Sabrina had already considered this so she recovered first, "Charlie, do you really think this could be about Kelly or a case we worked on together?"
"I'm not sure Angel, but I do not want to leave any stone unturned. This is too important."
"I'll go down to the office and start right away Charlie." Bosley replied with a concerned look on his face.
Julie finally asks what everyone has been thinking, "What about Kelly, Charlie?"
"What do you mean, Angel?"
"I mean, what can we do to help her? How do we protect her?"
Kris had been waiting for this and pounced on Julie's question, "I'm real worried about her Charlie. I think she needs to take a trip, maybe one of us, can go with her for a trip up the coast or maybe Mexico, get her out of harms way." Kris just had a feeling in the pit of her stomach that Kelly needed to get away.
Sabrina and Jill exchange looks, Sabrina shrugs her shoulders and says, "I would love it, but she won't go, she just won't, especially if she thinks the killer is after her."
Jill nodded her agreement with Sabrina, "I agree with Bri, she won't go."
Kris desperately tried to persuade them to agree with her, "I know she will protest, but I really think she should get away; the news media is making this into a 3 ring circus. We should gang up on her to make her go."
Tiffany and Julie nod their heads in agreement
Sabrina shrugged her shoulders and looked sadly at Kris, "She won't go, you know she won't and ganging up on her will only make her mad and she will investigate by herself and that could be even more dangerous for her."
Kris wanted to cry, she was worried about her friend and could not seem to find a solution, "I know but I'm worried about her."
Jill walked over to Kris and put her hand on Kris' shoulder and squeezed, "We are all worried about her but we have to let her grieve in her own way and support her."
Sabrina nodded agreeing with Jill, "I'm sorry Kris, but pushing her won't work; we just need to try and keep someone with her."
Kris looked up at Jill, everyone could see how much Kris cared for Kelly and how hard this was for Kris, "I see your point and you are probably right, I know you are right. I would just feel better if she would get away. What if Kelly is the next target? Anybody think about that?"
Bosley walked over to her side, "Yes, we have thought about it and it scares me to death, but Kelly won't hide. I've never seen her back down from a fight. None of you girls do, remember I have tried over the years and I have always been unsuccessful." Kris looked up at Bosley and gave him a small embarrassed smile, he had a point, none of them liked to hide.
The other angels nodded, they had all seen Kelly's determination in the face of danger and knew she did not believe in hiding, if someone was after her, she wanted to go after them; it was a trait they all shared.
"Kris, I promise we will keep someone with Kelly all the time. I will do everything in my power to keep Kelly safe, all of you safe." Charlie added.
"I know Charlie, I guess this case is hitting a little too close to home for me."
"It does for all of us Kris, but this is going to be a very dangerous assignment so we need everyone thinking logically. Too much emotion can get you killed." Charlie made his point.
"He is right Kris, we have to try and keep a little distance in this case," Sabrina added.
"Absolutely, Sabrina, I couldn't of said it better myself."
Kris threw her hands up, "Okay, okay so what is next."
"First, we attend the swearing in ceremony for the new Senator from California."
Jill looked a little confused, "So who is the new Senator."
"I am" Kelly said as she walked into the living room.
"What?"
"Are you kidding?"
"How?"
"The governor made the appointment this morning." Kelly smiled at her friends questioning looks.
Sabrina had been sitting back thinking while everyone else was talking, finally spoke with a concerned look on her face, "Kelly is setting herself up as bait. That's your plan Charlie to draw out the murderer!"
Kris spoke up looking from Kelly to Sabrina, "But we don't know that Kelly was a target or the killer will even go after Kelly, it could have been a vendetta against Carl, a political statement."
"Kelly is going to step in on Carl's legislation and push his agenda." Sabrina added with a worried look on her face.
"Sabrina, as usual you are a step a head of me. The governor was kind enough to make the appointment and it also made sense because Kelly was Carl's wife, she is familiar with his agenda and personnel so she can be up to speed in a short amount of time."
Sabrina's mind was still spinning, "Charlie, is it me or is this moving a lot faster than the normal process?"
"Once again Angel you are right. Normally this would drag out at least a month or more, but the senate is due to be back in session in 3 weeks and Carl's, now Kelly's, vote could prove to be the tie breaker on 2 bills. After talking to the governor and Kelly we thought the best way to proceed is quickly. The person that killed Carl, may have wanted to stop those bills, so by getting Kelly in there so quickly, we keep the pressure on." Charlie finished.
Kris looked over at Kelly concerned, "Are you sure you are up for this?"
"I am, Kris, don't look so worried. I can handle it I promise." Kelly looked Kris in the eyes and smiled reassuringly. Kris was not convinced, but she did feel a little bit better.
"Kelly, I think it is time you updated everyone on who you saw that night."
"You recognized someone that night and did not tell us?" Kris accused.
Kelly walked across the room as she considered how to say her next words, "I saw Paolo Donatelli."
Everyone started searching through their old cases for that name; as usual Sabrina figured it out first.
"You mean, Paolo Donatelli, as in Paolo from Vail, Colorado? That is why Charlie wanted Kris to contact Mr. Chadway." Sabrina says surprised.
Kris wanted her question answered, "Why didn't you mention this earlier?"
"At first I didn't remember, everything was such a blur and later because I want to get whoever did this and Paolo is our best lead. Besides the police would just scare him and if he went underground I might never find him."
Sabrina was still looking surprised replied, "You don't actually believe he had anything to do with this. He was the one who let me go in Vail."
Kelly swirled around and snapped at Sabrina, "I don't know, but I know he was there when Carl was almost killed and he was standing there when Carl was killed a week ago. It is too big a coincidence to ignore".
"Hey Kelly, calm down. I'm just trying to make sense out of all this." Sabrina defended herself putting her hands up, "It just does not make sense, that's all."
Everyone but Kris and Bosley were lost in thought trying to place the name. Kris set back trying to understand this new information and how it fit into the picture.
"Information please. Remember I wasn't here then." Jill says impatiently.
Sabrina started bringing the others up to date on their protection detail for Carl Hansworth, all the while trying to figure out how this fit together. Sabrina couldn't believe that Kelly had kept this from her for the last week.
"All right Angels I think you see where we need to start. Bosley will hand out copies of the CBI files on what we know so far. Tiffany, I have arranged for you to talk to Ben Vickers today at 1pm since he is still in town and Sabrina you have an appointment with Jonathan at his office down town today at 3pm. Well, that will get you started, remember to be careful Angels and make sure we stay in touch. Goodbye Angels"
"Goodbye Charlie" the Angels said.
"Well all this intrigue has made me hungry, who wants something to eat." Jill asks.
Sabrina smiled, leave it to Jill to break the tension and get everyone's mind on something else, but Sabrina was not going to be deterred, she wanted some answers from Kelly.
Grateful for the interruption Kelly smiled at everyone, "I ordered Chinese; ya'll go on into the kitchen and help yourselves. I'll be there in just a minute."
Tiffany, Julie and Bosley moved toward the kitchen, sensing that Kelly wanted a minute alone with Sabrina. Sabrina shot Kris a look to leave them alone, but Kris ignored her, she wanted her questions answered too, but first she wanted to convince Kelly to rest.
"Kelly what about taking some time off?"
Kelly did not even let Kris finish. "I'm not going anywhere; I am going to help catch this bastard, end of discussion."
"Kel, I am real worried about you honey, you are exhausted and you need rest. When you are tired you could make a mistake and get yourself hurt or worse."
"I'll rest when this guy is dead."
"Hey you don't mean that, you are just upset," Sabrina stated, she had never seen Kelly this angry.
"That is not what we do. We will catch him and we will turn him over to the authorities," Jill added. Jill was worried too, in all the years she had known Kelly she could not remember her ever losing control, Kelly was the most contained person she knew.
"I owe Carl this, I knew there was something wrong that night and I did not push it, if I had pressed the issue, demanded he stay at home that night, had the security detail take more precautions, been just a little bit quicker," Kelly's voice trailed off as she realized what she was saying. She felt 3 pairs of eyes staring at her and she hated the speculation in their eyes. She needed to get control of her emotions if she was going to convince them she could handle this.
Kris' heart went out to her friend, "Kel, it is not your fault. You can not hold yourself responsible for something a wacko does."
"Yeah Kel, you're not Superwoman you know." Sabrina gently chided.
"Besides he had a security detail of professional bodyguards and they didn't see anything out of place." Jill added.
Kelly was reluctant to give up just yet, "Yes, but they did not recognize Paolo, did not know his connection to Carl."
Sabrina was getting aggravated, she needed Kelly to snap out of this, "Kelly, you said you didn't see him until after Carl was shot. Give yourself a break! We have all seen it, no protection detail is perfect."
Kelly did not want to give up but she realized she was losing this battle. She paced back and forth in the room trying to make them understand how important this was to her, "You don't understand what is was like to see him like that, one moment we were laughing, the next he is laying on the ground with blood covering his shirt. I can't let him down. I have to find this guy, I have to know why." Kelly finally seemed to wear herself out and flopped down on the couch with a look of complete desolation, tears streaming down her face.
Sabrina, Kris and Jill exchanged concerned looks with raised eye brows, and tears in their eyes wondering what to say or do next.
Jill also concerned said, "We will found out who did this, I promise. Just give us a chance."
"I appreciate what you are saying and I understand, but I have to do this, I just can't sit this one out. I have to make whoever is responsible pay." Kelly said softly.
Sabrina slowly walked over and kneeled down in front of Kelly, "We will catch him, but we are not out to kill him. Killing him will not make the pain go away. But Kel you have to be straight with us, you have to tell us everything."
"I know and I am sorry I did not tell you about Pablo earlier. It has just been so hard to talk about, and it was just so much easier to deal with the details of the funeral than to think about that night." Kelly said her voice still choked.
Sabrina, Jill and Kris exchanged looks of complete helplessness, they could never remember feeling this helpless and it hurt to see their friend hurting.
Kelly looked up, her emotions under control for the moment, "Look guys, let's just take this step by step, I promise to tell you what I know and you promise to quit trying to make me take a trip and not help with the investigation."
"Like we have any choice on whether you help investigate," Sabrina said.
"I don't like it, I'll quit pushing you, but you have to at least try to get some rest." Kris added knowing she was fighting a losing battle.
"I will try." Kelly said as she held her hand out to Kris. Kris took her hand and squeezed.
"Now that, that is settled let's eat," Jill said.
Kelly looked up at Jill, "Do you ever turn down food?"
"Never, especially when I am on a case. I never know when I am going to be able to eat again." Jill says as she pulls Kelly up and they make their way into the kitchen, "Now you are going to eat and I mean more than 2 bites."
Jill linked her arms with Kelly and they walked into the kitchen together. Kris followed. Sabrina was slower; she was thinking about everything Kelly said and wondering what would happen when they caught the guy. What would Kelly do and how would Sabrina handle it. Time would tell and Sabrina hoped it was for the best, she wasn't sure Kelly could handle much more. They needed to solve this case and fast for Kelly's sake.
**took this out of Angels in Waiting
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