By 6:00 that evening, Charlie still hadn't called and Jill was about to go bananas with boredom.
Normally, she could sit still even less time than Kelly could, but because their preoccupied friend had left them, she'd been determined to wait Charlie out and keep Sabrina company. But as the hours ticked by, it had gotten harder and harder to justify waiting around in the quiet office.
Something had come up, Bosley called to tell them a couple hours after leaving with Greg, and he wouldn't be able to bring back any lunch. So driven mostly by hunger, she was able to convince Sabrina to leave the office for a few minutes around 1:30 to get a bite to eat. A quick call to Bosley when they returned told them they hadn't missed anything on their little excursion. He hadn't heard from Charlie either, nor had he been able to get him to answer the phone.
That was the last they'd heard from Bosley. Now, he wasn't answering his phone either.
It was getting a bit ridiculous to be sitting around the office all night and so, with plans to meet back first thing in the morning, Jill and Sabrina parted ways to go get some much-needed rest at home.
It was after 7:30 by the time Jill finally stepped inside her house. She checked her messages and found one from Bosley, apologizing for not calling sooner and telling her to meet at the office tomorrow morning at nine. Tired and frustrated, she took a long and very logical bath, had a hot cup of tea and parked herself on her couch for an evening of mindless TV.
The program that had been tentatively holding Jill's attention for the better part of an hour ended and was replaced by what looked by the opening credits to be some low budget creature feature.
"Ugh," Jill grumbled, but too tired to get up to change the channel, she instead stretched her body out on the couch and closed her eyes.
The movie kept playing, but other than cheesy music and scraps of dialogue, Jill was able to mostly tune it out. She lay quietly, focusing on hearing the waves crashing on the beach outside her window. It was a comforting sound, relaxing and peaceful, and sometimes it was just enough to distract her from what was bothering her.
Unfortunately, this wasn't one of those times.
She couldn't pinpoint what was bugging her more: Greg Samson or Kelly. Both were worrisome, though there was only one that she could do anything about.
There was a fleeting thought to give Kelly a call and see how she was doing, but Jill decided against it. It was after 10:30. There was no point in bothering Kelly this late and especially not if she was asleep.
She shut her eyes and tried to relax.
A few seconds later, someone unfortunate enough to encounter whatever monster the creature feature was starring gave off a shrill scream that startled Jill's eyes open. Irritated, she glanced at the TV, realized that's all it was and closed her eyes again.
If only the ocean was louder.
Or the TV was closer so she could turn it off without getting up.
She concentrated again and picked up on the comforting sound of the beach, hoping it would drown out the TV.
It did after a while and, without meaning to, Jill let her eyes stay closed a bit longer than she meant to. The ocean succeeded in drowning out the late movie, but it was most certainly not loud enough to drown out the sudden shrieking jangle of the telephone a foot and a half away from her head.
With a startled yelp, Jill shot up, a hand pressed to her heart as if to keep it from bursting out of her chest.
"Holy shit," She breathed. Her blue eyes darted around her living room, frantic and disoriented. What the hell time was it?!
The phone rang again. Cursing to herself, she lurched over the pile of cushions she'd been laying on and yanked up the receiver. For a split second, she fully intended to slam it right back down to hang up on whoever had scared her, but all at once her brain caught up with the rest of her.
It was Kelly, she knew immediately. Something was wrong.
Frightened now, she pressed the receiver to her ear.
"Kelly?" She called urgently.
"What? No, it's not Kelly, it's me."
Within a single word from her caller, Jill knew she was both right and wrong. No, it wasn't Kelly calling her, but yes, something was wrong.
Jill sighed and fell back against her pillows. "Bri. You scared the shit out of me. What's wrong?"
"Um…well. A lot, I think." Sabrina answered her cryptically. Her voice was tight with worry.
Jill couldn't have been more infuriated by that response. "What do you mean? What's going on?" She looked around her living room again. It was dark outside, but she could see enough of her clock to know that several hours had passed since she shut her eyes. "And what…what time is it?"
"It's almost two. Listen, Bos just called. Said Charlie told him to get us together." Sabrina paused for a moment. "And what the hell are you watching? Turn it off, I can barely hear you."
Swearing under her breath, Jill pushed herself off the couch and hurriedly crossed her living room to turn off the TV. The creature feature that had been on earlier had ended and another one, louder and with even less of a budget, had taken its place. "Did he say why?" Jill asked and didn't care how much frustration she was letting out in her voice. "What the hell is goin-"
"No, he didn't say why," Sabrina huffed. "I'd kind of like to know that myself. He said not to go to the office, that it might not be safe. So, ya know, I don't think it's exactly a tea party we've been invited to here."
"Oh, shit," Jill groaned. This was starting to turn into one of those times where her bad feeling turned out to be completely justified. It was not something she was happy being right about. "Where, then?"
"My place. Come in through the side entrance where no one can see you if they're watching the front. Pick up Kelly at the street behind her house. Cardiff Lane. At the stop sign."
There was entirely too much shit happening at once. Jill pulled a face. "The stop sign? What the hell for-"
"Just do it, Jill." Sabrina snapped irritably. "Bos said it shouldn't look like we're all headed someplace together. Him and Kelly are sneaking out. Bos is catching a cab and you're picking up Kelly. If someone is watching our places they'll only see you leave."
Jill blinked. "And they'll see me go to your place."
"Not if you come in the side entrance of the garage," Sabrina clarified.
"Are you kidding me?" Jill grumbled. "That's the stup-"
"I know it is. But that's what Bos says." Sabrina cut her off. "Be careful and keep an eye out for someone following you. Don't go by Kelly's if you get a tail. Call me here."
Jill did her best not to lose it with her over the phone. She took a deep breath. "Fine. See you in an hour."
"Be careful. Bye."
With that, Sabrina hung up leaving the loud dial tone to assault Jill's eardrum. Disgusted and frightened, she slammed the receiver down and buried her face in her hands. She'd been awake a little over a minute now, she guessed. Jesus Christ, what a night this was shaping up to be.
But when duty called, duty called.
She dressed quickly in the dark, grabbed her keys and headed out into the night.
Sunday, November 14th (but just barely)
It was nearly 2:45 in the morning when Jill finally reached Kelly's neighborhood.
It had been a nerve-wracking drive, to say the least. Jill squinted her eyes to make out the street signs in the darkness. After the first couple of trips to Kelly's house, she'd stopped paying attention to the street names around it. She knew Kelly's street by heart and it felt odd when she took a right onto the one before it. Cardiff, the sign read. That had to be it.
She slowed down and coasted down the quiet, empty street, feeling very much like a slow-moving target.
Sabrina's call had left her on edge.
She'd taken a good look around as she left her house earlier and, aside from a stray dog with a gross dead fish in its mouth, she'd been the only soul on the beach. No random strangers suspiciously loitering about or unfamiliar cars parked nearby, but she was on edge nonetheless. The entire drive over had been spent looking over her shoulder, not knowing exactly what it was that she was expecting to find, but dreading it all the same.
That paranoia still hadn't left her by the time she neared Kelly's neighborhood.
And here she was now, driving slowly, purposefully down the street, lighting up one house after another with her headlights and looking for all the world like she was casing the neighborhood for a break-in.
Jill groaned. If anyone looked out their window and saw her, they'd definitely be calling the police.
Up ahead a stop sign approached and Jill slowed down even more. She wasn't sure if Kelly had hopped a few fences or walked around the block, but she had to be around here somewhere.
"Where the hell are you?" Jill muttered to herself as she studied the dark neighborhood street in front of her. Her tires crunched slowly over the asphalt. It must have been trash day today- yesterday, she reminded herself nervously- because several houses still had a metal trash can in front of them that reflected the light from her headlights. She could see parked cars, mailboxes, empty lawns, sidewalks, darkened windows, even a stray cat perched on top of a truck, but just where in the hell-
And then there she was.
She would have taken Kelly for a kid the way she looked in the dark, standing partially hidden beside an especially tall and thick tree. Her thin shadowy form disappeared behind the tree for a moment before apparently recognizing Jill's car and stepping out from hiding.
That was her, wasn't it? Jill suddenly wondered in her paranoia. She didn't speed up and, to her relief, that hooded shadowy form slowly illuminated and revealed itself more and more to be Kelly the closer Jill got. By the time she had idled her car, Kelly – and it was definitely Kelly- had stepped out to the sidewalk.
She got in immediately and even though it was dark, Jill could see that she hadn't been sleeping when Sabrina called. There was absolutely something wrong and Jill had a feeling that it had nothing to do with whatever they were going to find out at Sabrina's apartment.
Jill waited until she had turned back onto the main street before greeting her friend. "Hey, you okay? You didn't see anyone watching us, did you?"
"No," Kelly said tersely, pushing the hood of her jacket off of her head.
"Do you know anything more about what's going on than I do?" Jill chanced. "Cause I have no clue what's wrong?"
There was a brief moment of silence before Kelly answered her. "That makes two of us then." She said simply.
"Are you alright?" Jill asked nervously.
Kelly took a deep breath and finally looked at her. "Yeah. Except for whatever this is."
Jill felt a cold chill run through her.
Kelly was lying. She was definitely not okay. Jill made herself look back at the road, but she recognized that look in Kelly's eyes and she recognized the wavering in her voice. Once, years ago, she and Kelly were unfortunate enough to get stuck in a tiny mall elevator together. She'd always known Kelly was claustrophobic, but this was the first time she'd actually witnessed one of her anxiety attacks. It had taken nearly twenty minutes to calm her down and by the time she had, she- along with the poor woman who had been with them- was just as freaked out as Kelly. It had been just awful and she'd always remember the panic-stricken look in her eyes.
That panicky look in her eyes right now was a chilling reminder of that day.
"Were you able to call up some of -"
"We'll deal with that later," Kelly clipped off her question and Jill knew best to just shut up and focus on whatever was going on.
The girls drove in tense silence, both looking about to make sure they weren't being followed.
They appeared to be alone. The roads were mostly empty and the lack of traffic allowed them to get to Sabrina's without much of a hassle. It was just past 3:00 when Jill finally turned into the parking garage to Sabrina's apartment complex. Again it felt odd to be approaching a familiar place from an unfamiliar route. She usually came through the front entrance whenever she visited Sabrina, but once inside there wasn't a difference at all and she parked as close to the entrance as she could. The Cobra idled for a moment in the garage, the only sound Jill could hear for the moment, as she surveyed their surroundings.
"Do you see anyone?" Jill asked in a terse whisper.
"No," Kelly responded after moment, not bothering to whisper.
"Let's just keep an eye out, okay?" Jill continued in the same low voice. She turned off her car and listened a moment longer, gazing nervously out into the gloomy darkness of Sabrina's parking garage.
A rustling behind her startled her, but it was only Kelly, reaching for the door handle. "There's no one there, Jill." She told her irritably. "Come on."
Jill rolled her eyes. Hadn't Sabrina been just as mysterious and paranoia-inducing when she talked to Kelly? Kelly was already getting out of the car and so Jill followed, cringing at how loud the sound of her door closing sounded in the darkness.
Even if Kelly wasn't afraid, both girls still walked quickly to the nearest garage elevator and rode it in silence to the main floor. When the double doors opened- with the loudest "ding!" imaginable- they found themselves in the familiar, if equally quiet and empty hallway that lead to the apartment building's entrance. Sabrina lived on the second highest story and so a set of much nicer elevator doors awaited them.
Though Jill didn't want to admit it, it seemed a relief when she and Kelly were safe inside the building's elevator and on their way to the fourteenth floor (really, the thirteenth. Jill never did understand why old superstitions still existed today). Thankfully, this elevator didn't "ding" their arrival and the girls were able to quietly make their way through the little lobby and straight to Sabrina's door.
It opened when they were halfway down the hall and Sabrina's head poked out, her face looking just as anxious and worried as Jill felt.
"Hurry up," She greeted them, waving them frantically toward her.
It felt safe enough to break into a light jog and Jill did so, snatching Kelly's arm to pull her along. Sabrina closed the door and locked it behind them and, finally, they were safe inside.
"So what the hell is going on?" Jill asked, while Sabrina loitered at the door, staring through the peephole.
"For the love of God, Bri," Kelly groaned. Despite a verbal protest, she pulled Sabrina away and spun her around to face them. "Tell us what's going on!"
Sabrina shoved Kelly's hand off of her and, annoyed, smoothed out the pajama top that Kelly had wrinkled. "I told you, I don't know."
"Well, where's Bos?" Kelly balked.
"He isn't here yet." Sabrina sighed.
Kelly only shook her head. "This better be good."
"Well, I guess we won't know until-"
Jill's words turned into a little shriek of surprise when three loud, sharp knocks sounded right behind her. Sabrina was at the door before she could even turn around.
"Calm down, it's just Bos," She said, peeking through the peephole again.
Just Bosley. Jill breathed her relief as Sabrina quickly unlocked the door.
"What took you so long?" She greeted as a very unkempt and frazzled Bosley hurried into the room.
Bosley narrowed his eyes at her. "Do you know how hard it is to get a cab at 2:30 in the morning?"
Sabrina finished dead-bolting her door and turned. "Yes, I do. Do you know how hard it is to wait around when you don't know what's going on?"
Bosley sighed dramatically. "Yes, as a matter of fact I do."
"So what's going on?!" Kelly cried, looking like she was about to lose her mind.
Bosley turned his gaze on her. "Hi, yourself. Let's sit down and I'll fill you in on what we know."
"What you know," Jill grumbled but padded along after him and Sabrina just the same. The four parked themselves in Sabrina's living room, Bosley and Sabrina on the couch and Jill perched on her ottoman. There was plenty of room for Kelly to sit on either piece of furniture, but the anxious young woman chose instead to lean against the wall of Sabrina's fireplace instead.
Thankfully, Bosley wasted no time getting started. "So, this is what I know-" He started, leaning forward and dropping his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. Jill felt herself leaning forward herself so that she could hear him. "After I dropped off Greg, I went back home to get a few things organized for your trip to New York and Charlie calls me. He says that his friend is having a hard time pulling up anything on Eva Rossi or Dave Taylor, despite them having lived in New York City until recently. None of the information Greg gave us seemed to check out. He said the only Dave Taylor that matches what Greg told us moved here to California back in the fifties."
Jill furrowed her brow. Could that be the same Dave Taylor whose son she had met the other day in San Francisco?
"Strange," Sabrina chimed in. "But…but why all the-"
"I'm getting there." Bosley cut her off. "Charlie found it pretty strange too, so he called Greg and get this: The guy is gone. Checked out from his hotel, no forwarding address, no message for us, nothing. Just gone."
Kelly sighed her frustration. "I told you he was crooked. He split because Charlie was looking up his tax records, didn't he?"
Bosley nodded his head. "That's part of it, yeah. Anyway, by that evening when we found out Greg had checked out of his hotel, Charlie called the office number he'd left for us. And they'd never even heard of the guy."
Sabrina pulled a face. "What? How…doesn't Charlie check these things out before he agrees to take on a case?"
"He did check him out," Bosley insisted. "All of those numbers were legit when we ran the background check on the guy."
Jill felt another cold chill creep down her spine. "Then…then what did he want from us?"
"That's why we're being so careful," Bosley replied and his voice dropped even lower. "Charlie kept on communicating with his friend trying to find this Greg Samson and he doesn't turn up anywhere. The only Gregory Samson is an infant from New York who died at birth in the early thirties. Our guy must have stolen his identity. He had all the right papers in order when we met."
"Ugh," Sabrina said for all of them. "Please tell me that's it."
Unfortunately, Bosley wasn't done. He barreled right through her comment. "So, Charlie's friend does a little more digging, gets some of his friends to dig along with him. They come up with a guy named Marcus Solomon."
"Who's that?" Sabrina asked before Jill could get her mouth to formulate a question.
Bosley threw up his hands. "Well, Charlie thinks that's Greg Samson's real name. And get this: Charlie's contact just found out that this guy Solomon was wanted for murder about twenty-seven years ago when he was just a kid, maybe fifteen or sixteen. Apparently, he sold drugs to a guy he worked for at the docks. Guy didn't pay up or something along those lines and Solomon killed him and another employee that worked with them just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. They haven't seen or heard from him since. The kid just up and vanished."
The girls shared a surprised look.
"If he was a teenager twenty-seven years ago, then he's about the right age to be Greg," Jill muttered. "And that would explain why he changed his identity."
"And why he bailed when he figured out just how much dirt Charlie is capable of digging up," Sabrina added. "So…why get involved with us then?"
Bosley shook his head. "We don't know. We couldn't find anything on Michelle Samson. And the ex-wife and boyfriend have no record in New York past the early fifties. Not even Charlie could find a trace of them and now Greg Samson or Marcus Solomon-if that's really his name- is gone too. There had to be a reason he wanted to get close to us. We just don't know it yet."
Jill rubbed her face in one hand and silently wished she was at home watching the goddamn creature feature, warm and safe on her couch. "So…so maybe he wants to get to Charlie."
"Maybe," Bosley said after a moment. "That's why Charlie wants to keep you safe. Now we know this guy is capable of murder. And maybe he figures the best way to get to Charlie is through one of you girls."
"But why?" Kelly balked. "And why didn't he do it when we were in San Francisco? He had us alone in a strange city in the hotel that he picked out and paid for. He could have made his move any time, why didn't-" She paused as a light went on in her head. "-or maybe-" She trailed off, fixing Sabrina with a knowing look.
"Or maybe he just wanted us out of his hair," Sabrina finished for her. When the group fell into a tense silence, she popped to her feet. "Well, isn't this fun? I guess we're not sleeping anymore tonight. Who wants coffee?"
Jill meekly raised her hand and Bosley grumbled something that sounded like an affirmative and so Sabrina disappeared into the kitchen.
"So-" Jill piped up, keeping her voice loud enough so that Sabrina could hear her in the kitchen. "Why would he want to get rid of us for a few days?"
"Well, that would guarantee the office to be empty. And our houses." Kelly said quietly and that implication made Jill feel sick all over again. "If someone wanted some information on us, what better way than to distract us with a bogus case? And even better if we're four hours away to give them all the time they needed to snoop around our places, go through our things and find out as much as they could about us."
Jill stared hard at Kelly as she absorbed that. Sometimes she forgot what Kelly's past was like. It was hard to see it in her now, but she had been a thief, a criminal, and just because life was better for her now, didn't mean it changed the way her mind worked. Most often her insight was helpful, this time it just made Jill want to throw up.
"This keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?" Sabrina muttered from the kitchen. "Did anyone notice anything out of place when they got back home?"
Jill groaned. "No. But, I wasn't looking for it either."
"I worked from the office a couple hours a day while you were gone. It didn't seem to have any visitors besides me." Bosley answered her. "But, who knows what this guy is trying to do."
"Great," Jill replied dejectedly. "So what's Charlie doing about it?"
"He's trying to figure out if he's connected with Gregory Samson in any way," Bosley explained. "At least that's what he told me before he had me get you girls together. We have to figure out where Charlie knows him from before we can figure out just what's going on." He paused and gave Jill and Kelly both a long, hard look. "If it's even Charlie who this guy is after. And until we figure that out, you girls need to be very careful. Charlie wants you to stay together and stay here until he can figure out what's going on."
Kelly scoffed and Bosley immediately raised his hands to pacify her. "I know, I know. But that's what Charlie wants us to do."
Kelly was not pacified. "Just to sit here when some wackos might have been going through our garbage for the last week? This is ridiculous. We're sitting ducks here. I don't want to just sit here."
Jill sighed. "Kelly, relax."
"I don't want to relax either," Kelly grumbled. She appeared to have more to say, but instead decided against it and stalked off. Sabrina's apartment wasn't big enough for her to have much distance from the rest of the group, but she did what she could and re-positioned herself out of sight in the little hallway that led to Sabrina's bathroom and bedroom. Jill didn't hear a door open so she was forced to assume that Kelly was just standing there in the hallway, alone with her thoughts.
"What's with her?" Bosley whispered, a bit taken aback. He didn't often see the darker side of Kelly's personality and it was a surprise when it showed.
Jill smiled awkwardly, hoping to lighten the mood. "Um, a lot of things." She replied, hoping the vague answer would sate him.
It didn't. Bosley raised a brow expectantly and Jill knew she needed to elaborate. "Okay, okay. She got a blast from the past earlier this week. You know how she gets. Or maybe you don't." She let out a nervous giggle. "Anyway, it'll take her a little while to process everything, that's all."
The elaboration didn't seem to help much. Bosley looked even more puzzled. "A blast from the past?"
Jill just shook her head. "It's… well, she can tell you later, I guess."
Bosley shrugged helplessly. "Okay. Anything I can do?" He asked.
"I guess she'll let us know when she's ready," Jill answered with a shrug of her own. She craned her neck toward the hallway, hoping their voices had been low enough so that Kelly wouldn't know they were talking about her. It wouldn't matter though, Jill realized glumly. The sudden silence would have given it away anyway.
Coffee started percolating in the kitchen and Jill turned to see Sabrina heading back toward them.
"Give that about ten minutes," She said before sitting down. She shot a curious look toward the hallway Kelly had disappeared into and then fixed Jill with a questioning look.
Jill only shook her head. "Later." She promised.
That seemed to satisfy Sabrina because she nodded and perched herself on the arm of her couch. "So is Charlie going to call us if-"
As if they had planned it, the phone suddenly let out a shrill ring, startling Sabrina nearly to the floor. Jill fared only a little better, snatching Bosley's arm and making it the second time that night that a ringing telephone had her shrieking with fright.
Luckily, Sabrina managed to catch her balance instead of spilling to the floor and swooped over the tangled-up pile of Jill and Bosley to answer the phone.
"Charlie?" She said quickly.
Jill stared at her intensely, not daring to breathe until she saw Sabrina visibly relax.
"Yeah, he's here," Sabrina said, her voice much calmer now and relieved, Jill relaxed and finally let go of Bosley's arm.
"We're all here," Sabrina went on and, most unnecessarily turned and mouthed "It's Charlie" to the rest of room. "Let me ask him." She put her hand over the receiver. "Bos, did you bring-"
"Yes, I brought it, let me set it up," Bosley answered.
"He's getting it," Sabrina informed Charlie and Jill guessed he had jumped up to go connect the speaker box. She was right. A few moments later, he returned, took the phone from Sabrina and then Charlie's worried voice filled the room.
"Sorry about the late night roll call," He said. "But, until I figure out what's going on, I'd like the four of you to stay together and Sabrina's apartment is the safest place to do that."
"We understand, Charlie," Jill said, trying to sound pleasant.
"Glad to hear it," Charlie replied. "I take it none of you were followed or saw anything out of the ordinary on your way over?"
Bosley cleared his throat. "Nothing on my end."
"Me neither," Jill reported.
"I've been keeping an eye out and I haven't seen anything either," Sabrina chimed in. There was an expectant silence that followed and Jill had a feeling that Charlie was waiting for Kelly to report.
"Kelly said she didn't see anything either," Jill covered. It wouldn't do to yell for her. She turned and motioned for Sabrina to go get her and with an irritated sigh, Sabrina slipped off of the couch to do just that.
"Is Kelly there?" Charlie asked, his voice a bit confused.
Jill began an explanation, but Bosley started talking over her. He got to the word "blast" before Jill was able to elbow him into silence. She smiled, though Charlie couldn't see it, and hoped her voice didn't betray any of the worry she was feeling. "Yes, she's here. She's just-"
"Sorry, Charlie. I was closing the blinds in Bri's bedroom." Kelly's voice came from behind her. Jill turned and was relieved to see Kelly headed back their way, Sabrina right behind her.
"Ah," Charlie said and if he was confused about Jill and Bosley's fumble, he chose not to acknowledge it. "Glad you're being careful. You didn't see anyone suspicious on your way over here, did you?"
Kelly sat down next to Jill. "No, nothing."
There was a crackle on the other line as Charlie moved about his office. "That's good. I just wanted to make sure the four of you were safe for the night. I'll check in with you tomorrow by noon. No one leaves Sabrina's apartment for any reason until my call tomorrow."
Jill, for some reason, felt she needed to try to keep the atmosphere light. "Ooh, a sleepover." She cooed.
Charlie chuckled. "If you'd prefer to think of it that way."
Bosley looked unhappy. Unlike Jill and Kelly, he didn't have a change of clothes stashed away in Sabrina's apartment for the next day. "Got it, Charlie."
"Good. Then stay safe. And keep your eyes open. Hopefully, this arrangement will be very temporary."
"Will do, Charlie," Sabrina replied.
"Goodnight then."
"Goodnight." Jill, Sabrina, and Bosley chorused. The line went dead and Bosley heaved a big sigh.
"Well, I hope you don't mind seeing me in this getup for the next twenty-four hours." He said, gesturing to the sweatpants and wrinkled blue t-shirt he had been wearing when Charlie's phone call woke him up.
Jill giggled and tugged at his sleeve. "Oh, I don't know. I like this look." She waved her hands as if tracing a marquee. "Bosley au naturale."
"Yeah, it's natural, alright," Bosley grumbled. He turned and looked expectantly toward the kitchen where the coffee had just stopped percolating. "Is that ready? I could use a cup."
Sabrina gave a sly grin. "Are you sure you need it?" Jill saw where she was going with that and dissolved into giggles. "I saw the way the two of you jumped when the phone rang."
Bosley sniffed. "I'm surprised you noticed what with all the effort it took you to not fall on your keester."
That had Jill giggling too. Sabrina gave him a good-natured swat across his arm and then disappeared into the kitchen to get the coffee. Bosley turned back to Jill, grinning victoriously and though she would have loved to give him his moment, she suddenly realized that there probably wouldn't be a better opportunity to talk to Kelly any time soon. She caught Bosley's eye, tilted her head at Kelly and then smiled.
Bosley promptly turned away and just as Jill resigned herself to thinking that he hadn't understood her, he stood and followed Sabrina into the kitchen. "I think I'll be nice enough to help you with that." He called.
"And people say chivalry is dead." Sabrina teased.
Their banter continued, but Jill fixed her attention on Kelly, still sitting next to her on the ottoman. She patted her knee and Kelly flinched. She must have been a thousand miles away. "Sorry. Are you alright, Kell?"
To her surprise, Kelly didn't shy away. "No." She admitted softly.
"Tell me?" Jill whispered. "Did something happen?"
Kelly shook her head. That panicky, agitated look had returned to her eyes. "Later." She said quietly. They sat in awkward silence, listening to Sabrina and Bosley laughing in the kitchen until, apparently unable to take it anymore, Kelly excused herself with a mumbled "Be right back" and disappeared into the hallway again. Jill watched her friend go, feeling like she'd failed her.
Later, she promised herself. Later, she would get to the bottom of this.
