CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 9

Bobby stared at the cell phone in his hand and the number displayed on the screen. Drawing a deep breath and exhaling he hit the 'send' key. Three rings… four rings… damn, it was going to go to her voice mail.

Breathlessly, Sarah answered the phone, "Hello, I'm here. Don't hang up, I'm here."

"Just in the nick of time. Hi Sarah, it's Bobby. Hope this isn't a bad time?"

"Phew, no it's fine. I'd just gone outside to check the mail. Had to run back in. You'd think that someone who jogs three miles a day could run 100 feet to answer a ringing phone without getting breathless."

"What's up? Are you calling to confirm you guys coming out to the premiere tonight, I hope, I hope." she laughed as she collapsed on the couch.

"Well, actually yes. It doesn't look like it's going to work out with Andy's schedule though, but Alex is excited about the idea. I also thought I'd check to see how you're holding up. So, how are you holding up?"

Sarah exclaimed excitedly, "Woohoo! This is going to be great! I'm sorry about Andy not being able to come, but I'm so happy that you and Alex are going to be able to make it."

"The butterflies are out in force, so a couple of friends in the audience will be a big plus. I have to keep reminding myself to breathe. I'm a little nervous. I'm trying to get all my stuff gathered up. The studio is sending over a limo about three to take me to, and I quote, 'one of the most exclusive salons in the city' to get me presentable enough to attend this thing tonight. If I survive that ordeal, tonight should be a piece of cake."

"You'll be fine. And you don't need 'one of the most exclusive salons in the city'. You always looked great and you still do."

Laughing, "I look ok for a real person, I don't have the 'celebrity' look that seems to be mandatory out here. But thank you, Robert. I appreciate that, even if you're just trying to help me stay calm."

"About tonight though, I was wondering, if there was any chance that we could bring along a couple of guys we've been working with out here. I'm sure they'd get as much of a kick out of it as Alex will. They've been really helpful, dealing with the LAPD."

"Sure, that's not a problem. How many more tickets do you want? They gave me something like twenty tickets and I think including the ones for you and Alex, I've handed out about six. They'd better not count on me providing a full house for the premiere. Um, I guess that the easiest thing to do would be for me to leave them at the box office for you and we can… "

"Um, I was hoping to be able to come by and pick them up, you have them with you, right?" He had to talk to Sarah and find out what he could about this Veronica Daniels. Was she Nicole? He needed to warn Sarah that she might be in danger. He knew he'd have to sneak this by the Feds and LA cops. Maybe even Alex.

"Um, well I guess you can come by and pick them up, that just seems like a lot of extra trouble, it would be just as easy to for you to pick them up at the theater, but however you want to do it, is fine. So like I said earlier, I'll be home until about three, so if you can get here before then sure, come on by and pick them up."

"What if I were to come in about an hour? Will that work with your schedule? We've been cut loose for the day, so I can drive over now."

"Wow, and you thought it was going to be another long day trapped in meetings. Ok, that will get you here about lunchtime. We could eat. Just something simple, sandwiches, a salad. Is Alex going to be with you?"

"Alex said something about going shopping. She said she didn't bring anything appropriate to wear to a premiere."

"Well, I have to admit, I had to go buy something appropriate too. I don't have dressy clothes just hanging around in my wardrobe either." Sarah listened to Bobby breathing into the phone. "Are you still there, Bobby?"

"Yeah, Sarah, sorry. Someone was showing me something. Um… lunch would be great. Maybe we could take it out on the beach and I can work on my tan for a little bit. You know, everyone back in New York is going to expect Alex and I to come back with a nice tan."

"Well, if not on the beach, at least on the deck. I'll have a little something ready by the time you get here. It'll help keep me occupied and stop me from obsessing about tonight."

"Great. I'll see you in a little while." Bobby slapped his phone closed. He was going to have to be very careful the next few minutes. He hoped that the FBI wasn't actively monitoring the phone tap they would have on Sarah's phone. If they we, he was dead. Hopefully, they were relying on tapes that would be transcribed later.

He got up and opened the conference room door. In the corridor, the others were standing in a cluster drinking coffee. "We're all set. I just need to go over to Sarah's place to pick up the tickets."

"Hawkins can drive you over and when you two get back, we'll go over what we're looking for tonight."

"Sarah invited Alex and I over for lunch. I think we should stay and eat with her. I did give Alex an out though, saying she had to get something appropriate to wear tonight. But I don't know about taking Hawkins over for lunch." Bobby watched Caldwell as he laid this all out.

"All right, you're on your own Goren. Don't make me regret that." He knew that Goren had capitulated too easily. But everything he'd read about Goren gave him confidence that even though his methods may be unorthodox, he wouldn't do anything to put the investigation in jeopardy. Especially if there was a chance that Veronica Daniels was Nicole Wallace.

--

Sarah hung up the phone and stared at it. After Bobby left last night, she regretted babbling out the invitation to the premiere. Especially when she saw the look on Bobby's face when she'd said it. He looked pained at the thought. A look she attributed to the weirdness factor of them both trying to pretend that seeing each other was anything other than, well, just plain weird. She hadn't intended to put him on the spot like that, but a part of her was so nervously, giddily happy to see him, she hadn't been able to stop herself.

She was filled with feelings of missed opportunities. Seeing him again last night so unexpectedly and without warning forced her to admit the she wasn't over that relationship at all. If she were as over it as she kept telling herself, she wouldn't have been so happy to see him, once she got past the initial shock of it. She could avoid his phone calls, not return his calls all she wanted. That didn't prove that she had moved on, which she obviously hadn't. If she had, would she really have kept Tony DaSilva at arms length for months now? He'd made it clear that he was interested in pursuing a more personal relationship, and yet every time he broached the subject, she had made it clear that she valued their professional relationship and even their personal friendship, but she wasn't interested in pursuing a romantic one. He gracefully accepted her rejection, but also made it clear that he wasn't going to give up. She couldn't get over the feeling that she was cheating on Bobby.