Part 3
Earth Cops Are Easy
The next day Mara allowed Emma to take Benjamin to school again, but decided to at least pick him up afterwards. She didn't figure her task at the police station would last that long, and since she didn't have to work at Fantasma's until the next night, she wanted to let Emma have her day too. Judging from the small amount of packages Emma had returned with the previous day, Mara suspected Emma required more shopping time. Mara could relate. Even at times in her own galaxy, Mara would sometimes surrender to the shops of Coruscant armed with Luke's credit card. She would make herself feel better when she bought a dress, a purse, or shoes...or three of each.
As Mara let Emma have her indulgence for the second day in a row, she set out to the police station in downtown Mobile. Emma gave her directions that purposely avoided Airport Boulevard. For once in the town, the rain and clouds gave way to clear sunny skies, though it was still brisk for September. Mara noted more than once that weather had a direct affect on a person's disposition for the day. She wondered how the people of Mobile stayed cheerful, despite the constant gloomy weather. She found that the people in the area were relatively positive no matter what the situation. Even Mara felt a burst of confidence as she neared the station.
Once she parked in the lot provided, she noticed the lack of activity surrounding the building. There were shows that she had watched in the evening on the television that always seemed to depict police stations as crowded and subject to a dramatic life-threatening outburst at any moment. The reality was that police stations were as calm and serene as any other public building. Though, the officers who she knew in her life, like Corran Horn, were rather less than serene. She figured Earth's cops were like them as well. If there was a dramatic outburst, they would make sure it was well outside the public eye.
She entered the building and came into a wide forum with a large counter at the opposite end. She spotted a uniformed officer sitting at the counter busy with writing. She made a quick glance around to make it look like she wasn't glancing around and detected the cams in the corner of the ceilings at once. They were painted to match the color of the ceiling but she could find them anyway. There had been one time in her life when she would have went out of her way to avoid those cams. Now, she waltzed inside and headed for the counter.
She reached it and prepared for the role of her alter-ego. She spoke in her well-practiced Southern drawl, "Well, hey there."
"Can I help you?" he asked without looking up from his paper he was writing on.
"I surely do hope so. I need to investigate myself."
The man's attention was aroused as he lifted his head this time and asked confused, "You need to what?"
"Let me explain. See, last year I was involved in an accident out at the Evergreen Stables out there on Highway 25 past the airport. I had me a run in with a wild horse. It kicked me in the head and I was bounced into nowhere for a year. One whole year. Can you believe that?"
"No kidding? You lookin' all right to me."
"Well, of course I do now. I just woke up weeks ago. Now, I don't remember anything about how it happened. I just would love to know what happened in an official capacity. And I heard there was an accident report filed. Well, I'd just love gettin' my hands on that report."
"No problem, Miss." He turned to reach for a shelf of papers stacked nearby. He chose one of the sheets of paper and handed it to Mara.
"Here. Fill this out and we'll see about gettin' you that report, sweet thing," he said.
Mara said, "Thank you," and took the form and went aside to a bench on the side wall. She sat there and reached into Mary's purse and found a pen to start filling out the form. She had to reach back into the purse to peek at Mary's wallet to know her Social Security number. She was glad the officer went back to his writing and didn't see her check it. Usually, people would know their ident codes by heart. She finished the form within minutes and she handed it back to the officer.
"Ok, ma'am...I mean, Miss Skyler, I'll take this to the Sergeant and he'll be out here with your file in no time." He turned to disappear in the back and she sat down at the bench again. After several minutes, a burley heavy-set man with a full goatee that reminded her of Talon Karrde's came out and stood behind the counter. He called out to her, "Uh, Miss Skyler?"
She sprang from the bench to approach the counter again and answered, "That's me."
"How you doin'? I'm Sgt. Brown, and I see that you're interested in seeing an accident report from last July."
"Yep, that's rat."
"And you were involved in this incident?"
"Why, you're gettin' all the right answers today."
"Kicked in the head by a horse. Out there at Evergreen. By God, I remember when this happened. They said you went into a coma. You just woke up now?"
"A few weeks ago."
"You feelin' all right now?"
"Yeah, I do. I just don't have all my memories back yet. When I woke up, I didn't know who I was, at first. Then I saw a few doctors and they helped me get most of my memory back."
"Doctors? Wasn't there one doctor who treated you? He wrote an article right after it in the Mobile Press Register."
Mara cringed at the mention of that. Her fury towards Dr. Steve Markham grew larger when he wrote a column about what happened to her describing her situation in coming out of a year-long coma relatively unscathed. He had not included the fact that she woke up as someone else. He had already experienced the wrath of Mara Jade for drugging her into a hypnotic state. There had been an older picture of Mary Jane beside the column and it brought her a small dose of fame for a short time. Most of the remarks about her were made by customers at Fantasma's when she would fetch their drinks. She was glad that Deke did not expand the hype by calling attention to it. Then again, that may have been for his benefit, not Mara's.
She acknowledged the article with Sgt. Brown and went on to explain, "I just thought that if I look at the full report, somethin' can jog my memory as to how an animal could hit someone so hard that they go into a coma. Have you ever heard of that?"
"Until this instance, I haven't. But, I do remember our forensics team went over that stable with a fine toothed comb and they found nothin'. They did get the horse out of there and they ended up shootin' it. As wild as that horse was, anythin' can happen, I reckon."
"My instinct tells me they don't."
"Well, ma'am, we here at this precinct don't rely on instinct. Heh, I made me a poem, didn't I? We go with facts and facts only. The facts, as they say, tell the story."
"If you're missing some of the facts, then you have a different story, don't cha?"
"Well, Miss Skyler, all I know is all the facts that was collected at that there stable are all in here." He dropped a small manilla envelope on the counter. "And you are welcome to it, bein' the victim and all."
"Thank you so much. Now, when do I have to have these back?"
"Oh, no, Miss Skyler. You can't take the report home with you. You have to read it here. There ain't much there, so it won't take you but a few minutes."
She opened the folder to see its contents.
One typed piece of paper.
"This is it?" she muttered in her own plain dialect. She immediately repeated in Mary's accent, "This is it?" Luckily, Sgt. Brown did not hear her first response.
"Yes, ma'am. It was pretty much an open and shut case."
Mara picked the sheet up and turned it over to reveal a blank page. On the front was all the vital data about Mary Jane Skyler, including blood type, DNA sample, and medical history. Below that was a paragraph of several short sentences describing the time frame of events and describing the injuries. Under that was the series of statements from the witnesses and finally two signatures of authority. The Chief of Police and Head of Forensics.
She eyed the last signature and noted the contents of the folder. "Hmm, this was investigated by forensics, rat?"
"Yes, ma'am. Whenever they're involved they have to sign the report too."
"Uh huh. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but if forensics were involved, where's the hard evidence?"
"Come again?"
"Well, I assume if they used a fine toothed comb that there would be a comb."
Sgt. Brown was clearly off his guard at that point. Mara smiled at his sudden realization that he was speaking to someone with more intelligence than what he gave her upon sight.
"Well, ma'am, you do know there wasn't any actual comb."
Mara closed her eyes and brought Mary's hand up to her mouth to stifle a laugh. Maybe she was giving Sgt. Brown way too much intelligence. "I know that, Sgt. What I meant was actual evidence. There's no pictures?"
"Well, yeah, there's pictures, but I don't think you would want to see them."
"I can handle it."
"It's not that, Miss Skyler. It's against policy to show the public physical evidence. Now, the report itself you can look all you want."
"Policy. You don't have a better answer than that?"
"Come again?"
"No, I won't be coming again. If there's pictures that go with this then Mary–er, Iam entitled to them. I ain't leavin' until I see them."
"Can I ask why you need to see them so bad?"
"That ain't none of your business is it? I'd tell you, but it's not my policy to explain my reasons for things."
"Miss Skyler, you can stay here till Mardi Gras, and we still can't let ya see them pictures. It's a conflict of interest to show a victim actual evidence of their own trauma."
"Well, whose interest is it conflicting? Yours or mine?"
"Ma'am, you're welcome to copy that page over at the copier in the corner there, but I can't allow you to see the photos. If you want me to be blunt, you don't want to see what happened to you. It might be more traumatic if you see 'em. 'Specially if you don't remember it and seein' it for the first time. It was pretty bloody."
"Oh? And a horse did all that?"
"Yes, it did."
"Who says?"
He pointed to the folder. "That report says so. The horse was wild, you tried riding it anyway, and you got hit. Hard. End of story."
"It most certainly is not the end of the–"
"Mary!" a voice suddenly called out.
Mara suddenly froze a moment. What were the chances of running into someone who knew Mary well? She thought of Emma's pet name for Mobile as the World's Largest Small Town, and considered the odds to be great. Could she pass as Mary with someone who was close to her? That situation certainly never came up in her roles that she played as Emperor's Hand. She turned towards the direction of the voice near the entrance. There was the figure of a man just entering the building and heading towards her.
He was of medium height and build with neatly parted amber hair. He was not excessively handsome, but he wasn't unattractive either. His attire consisted of a neatly pressed navy business suit and maroon tie. He looked to be in this late thirties. He approached her with a stoic confidence.
Mara answered him back as if she knew him. "Hey there."
"How you doin', girl? I haven't seen you in a while. I saw your picture in the paper a few weeks ago. Did you really come out of a coma for so long?"
"Well, yeah. And I've been around, uh...uh..."
"Doug. Doug Tanner." Feeding off her confusion, he then asked, "You don't remember me, do you?"
"Not a bit," Mara took no time in admitting.
"That's ok. We went out a few times a few months before your accident."
"Oh. As in a date?"
"More than one."
Though she had lost her Force abilities completely after the first day of waking up, Mara still projected a call for Mary within herself as if she hadn't. Mary! Help me out here! Hello, Mary! Mary was silent. Mara wondered if there was an ulterior motive in her absence.
"That's ok, we can catch up later. What are you doing here?"
"Oh, I'm just looking at my own accident report," she said casually.
"Why do you need to–oh, you don't remember it, do you?"
"No more than I remember you. No offense, but I only remember the basics of my life so far."
"I understand. You don't remember anything at the stable. Wow, that's incredible. Amazing what the brain tells us to forget and remember." He looked up at Sgt. Brown and asked him, "Is there a problem with something?"
"Who are you?" Sgt. Brown asked back.
"Doug Tanner. I work in forensics. I've seen you around before. I usually come through the back way."
"Oh, yeah, I thought you looked familiar. Well, Miss Skyler has her accident report but she wants to look at the pictures."
Doug Tanner whistled. "Oh, Mary, is that wise?"
"I think you best let me judge that for myself."
"Ok, fair enough. Sgt. Brown, I think I can take over now. Thanks."
"Whatever. You have a good day, Mr. Tanner. You too, Miss Skyler." Sgt. Brown tipped his hat to her and turned to disappear around the corner to the back.
Doug looked back at Mara and addressed Mary. "Now, the pictures. May I ask why they're so important?"
"I prefer my answers to be internal for now," she stated.
"Mary, look, we've known each other for–"
"Not a lick of time, according to me right now. For all intents and purposes, I technically just met you five minutes ago. Do you know what it's like not having your memories intact, yet everyone around you remembers every detail? And everything you once knew and loved is gone?" The image of Luke sitting with a blank stare on their bed popped into her head and she managed to fight back tears. "It's like on the gloomy side of frustration."
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to presume. The article said nothing about a memory loss. Why don't we start over? About a year and a half ago, we met at the PTA meeting at Madison Junior High. My daughter, Debbie, goes to school with your Ben. We made each other laugh and we went out on a few dates. After that, you never called back. Then your accident happened. Horrible to be hit by a horse's hoof."
"It didn't tickle," she muttered.
He laughed. "I'm sure it didn't. Actually, I'm glad I ran into you finally. After reading the article, I was going to call you. But, I thought...awkward."
"You wanted to know why I stopped calling," she uttered.
"I see a year-long nap has strengthened your instinct."
"Among other things. To be honest, Mr Tanner–"
"Doug, please."
"Doug. My brain has been overloaded since I woke up. At first, I didn't know who I was. Then it was the bigger things that came back to me. My name, my son, my moth–mama, and unfortunately, my ex husband. I wish he could've stayed forgotten. Don't take this the wrong way, Mr. Tanner, but the little things like people who I don't see everyday kinda went on the back burner of my mind. So, forgive my lack of memory of you."
"I understand. And you believe seeing those pictures will jog your memory more?"
"More like to tell me I ain't crazy."
"How so?"
Mara tried thinking of a way to keep her reasons as close to the truth without giving away her true motive for her investigation. She found one. "Ever since I woke up, I've slowly gained my memory. But, I still can't remember what happened at that stable."
"You can't? That's weird."
"Yeah, everyone tells me I got hit in the head by that horse, but I don't remember the horse. I do remember the pain, though. Everyone is so sure that it was just the horse, but I've had dreams since I woke up that shows me someone else there at the stable besides the horse."
"Really?"
Mara Jade had been trained to watch the reactions that people made when they were asked or told certain things. If she had to guess at his reaction just then, and she had to guess without use of the Force, she would say he was very concerned. Maybe even overly concerned. Mara made a note of that. "Yeah. Strange, isn't it?"
"Very. We couldn't find anything else at that stable. Especially any evidence of someone else there. Then again, the floor was nothing but hay and dirt, so if there were someone else there, they could hide their tracks well. Look, uh, I can't discuss your own case with you here. But, you now have me intrigued, Mary. Maybe there was something I missed."
"So, you'll help me?"
"Yeah, but I definitely can't give you the pictures. At least, not here. Tell you what, go ahead and take that file–no, you can't take it home. I'll take the file and I will come to your house tonight with this and the photos we took at the scene." He went into a whisper. "Look, Mary, this is sensitive and I could be in trouble for it, but at least I'm doing it when I'm off duty."
"Why would you risk helping me.?"
"Because I liked you, Mary. I thought we had something once, but..."
"Doug, I can't tell you right now why I stopped seeing you. Tell you the truth, I don't even know myself. But, if you really want to help me, we do it my way. You're not coming to me. I'll come to you. That way I can leave when I need to."
"Fair enough. When did you become so security-minded, Mary?"
Since I was a five-year-old running around Palpatine's court, she so wanted to answer. Instead, she gave an answer more relative to Mary Jane. "I don't know. I guess since I woke up some things changed."
Mara noticed his eyes squinting at her for a fraction of a second. Almost as if he were studying her in that small moment. It disappeared quickly and he said, "I'm sure they did. Do you remember where I live?"
"And the Dumbest Question of the Year Award goes to Doug Tanner."
He laughed. "Sorry. I live off Dauphin Street. Apartment 325." He gave her quick directions and she filed them away in her memory. "I'll see ya tonight at, say, six?"
"Sounds good." She handed him back the folder and turned to leave the building. She felt his eyes watching her leave. Mara got into Mary's car but she didn't turn the ignition. She sat there for a while trying to will Mary to answer her. There was no response. Hidden away again in her desolate blackness that Didi showed her.
She knew this meeting with Doug Tanner was for the purpose of going over the facts of Mary's accident report. She could not shake the fact that Doug wanted it to be more. She had to know why Mary broke it off, or why she stopped calling. Yet, if Mara were to refuse Doug's advances, would that be considered dictating Mary's choices? For all Mara knew at that moment, Mary may have had feelings for this guy. She may had been too afraid to commit again. After marrying someone like Luke Wallace, Mara could see why.
The real question Mara did not want to answer was not regarding a date with Doug Tanner, or Mary Jane's lack of reaction towards him. No, the question on Mara Jade Skywalker's mind had to do with cheating on her husband. Was she betraying Luke Skywalker for even thinking about dating another man? Granted, it wasn't her body or life.
Nonsense, Mara, she told herself. You haven't even gone that far with Doug yet.
"Then why do I still feel guilty?" she muttered the question to herself. "Oh, Farmboy, why can't you be here to tell me what to do? Or at least assure me that I'm doing right." Again, there was no reply. She now missed the warmth Luke would give her from across the galaxy more than ever. Someday. Someday soon.
Mara turned the key and sped off back to Mary's home. Emma must have been still shopping as there was no one there. Since she had done most of the housework the previous day, Mara was forced to sit around and wait. Something she would have never caught herself doing in her former galaxy. Though she did not want to go back to Deke's the next night for an Earth version of her former life before Luke, she admitted that she did miss the action. At least she was doing something.
Sooner than she imagined, Emma had returned. This time, there were twice as many packages on this leg of her shopping tour. Emma filled her in on all of the bargains she found. It reminded Mara of when she took Jaina on a shopping spree on her eighteenth birthday. Jaina showed the same girlish glee as Emma just had when she found shoes for half price.
Once Emma finished her joyful rants on shopping, Mara explained what occurred at the station. She mentioned her appointment that night with Doug Tanner.
The name sparked a memory in Emma as she reflected, "Yes, I remember him. Don't know why she let go of him. That's Debbie Tanner's daddy. She don't live with him. His ex is already remarried and Debbie lives with them. He's not too handsome, but he's not hard to look at."
"And he's got a good payin' job apparently."
"Mara, you don't need the accent with me."
"Sorry, it's kind of contagious. Look, I can pick up Ben today."
Emma pulled out a blouse she admired and said simply, "Tired of sitting around?"
"We are way too in tune, Emma. Scary."
When it was time to pick up Benjamin from school, Mara drove up to their designated rendezvous spot and Benjamin was there. He climbed in the car quickly and kept his head down.
"Hey there, Ben. How ya doin'?"
"Stop talking like her. You ain't her."
"Sorry, Benjamin."
"It's Spike."
"That's the name of a dead dog. You were named after your grandfather. You're telling me you'd rather honor a pet than your own family?"
Ben gave no reply but sank deeper into the seat.
Mara changed the subject. "Tell me, do you know Debbie Tanner?"
Ben answered weakly, "Yeah. She's all right."
"Know her well?"
"We don't talk much. She's a cheerleader."
"Oh." Mara looked over at him and spotted a red mark on his cheek. She took her right hand off the steering wheel and tried to brush his hair back. He turned for a second and his face was in full view. His left eye was red and black. "What happened?"
"Nothing. Can we just go, please?"
"No, I want to know why your face looks like it met with a battle droid."
"It's nothing. And you don't care."
"Benjamin, I know I'm not your mother. But in the past weeks I have accepted the job because of the circumstances. I can't change our situation any sooner than you can. For you to say I don't care is not true."
"Whatever. Let's just go."
Mara put the car in gear and sped off as she muttered, "Why are all Ben's always this stubborn?"
Once they got home, Emma treated Benjamin's eye as Mara prepared a quick dinner. She ate some of what Emma called Mac and Cheese and then prepared herself to leave for Doug's. He gave detailed directions and in no time she reached a large building. It was split into four separate apartments. From the look of the place, she figured the divorce and child payments took most of his money if this was all he could afford. Either that or a job in forensics wasn't as lucrative as she thought. She reached the correct apartment and knocked.
The door creaked open and Doug Tanner appeared in casual jeans and a red button-down shirt. "Hey, Mary. Come on in."
She entered and immediately the smell of something spicy hit her nose. She looked around at the small dwelling and saw that the table was set for two with a bottle of wine chilling on the side. She mentally shook her head as her assumption that Doug believed this meeting to be more was just verified.
"I have my famous Sausage Parmesan cooking. I think you'll like–"
""I already ate."
"Oh. Well, you wouldn't object to a little wine, would you?"
"Doug, we have to talk. We gotta get somethin' straight right now. As I said at the station, I don't remember our time together. So, this is not a date. I am goin' through something very unique right now. I'm tryin' to get back the memories in my life. That means I have to put aside any type of relationship with anybody. I know you've been divorced, so I know that must have been painful. I'm sure you're a great guy, but I have to gain myself back first. Do you understand?"
His look was solemn at first, then he smiled with no humor contained. He stated, "That was probably the longest and deepest words that Mary Jane had ever spoke to me. Which begs me to ask a question. And I want an honest answer."
"Of course."
He wore a more serious expression and asked, "Who are you and what have you done with Mary Jane Skyler?"
Coming Soon: Part 4 - Dates and Detections
