Chapter 11
Kelly stood quietly by Sabrina's temporary office door, waiting for her friend to arrive so that she could open it. She thought hard about what Sabrina had just told her.
Would Piper put anything together?
She certainly hoped not. Kelly turned as the clacking of Sabrina's heels announced her arrival a full twenty seconds before her friend appeared in the hallway. Sabrina acknowledged her by lowering her head and jogging the rest of the way to the door, doing surprisingly well in her heels.
"Sorry. Two guy were shooting the breeze right in front of the door. Took me a minute to get out." Sabrina muttered, as she keyed open the door.
The two girls stepped inside the office and locked the door behind them.
"So what do you think, Kell?" Sabrina asked quickly, her features twisted up in guilt.
Kelly sighed. "I don't know, Bri. He might find it weird, but that doesn't necessarily mean that he'll put together that we were spying on him or that you're a detective."
Sabrina nodded. "Let's not do anything out of the ordinary. Jill was going to come by today and act as my assistant. I'll call her off. I don't want to raise anymore suspicion."
"Good idea." Kelly agreed. "Why don't I go down and tell her right now and let her know what's going on. I don't think she can talk over the phone without being heard."
Sabrina nodded her head and sank down into the chair behind her desk.
"Alright, Kell." she said wearily.
Kelly looked at her friend's guilty face and put on a reassuring smile. "It's ok, Bri. Just let it go. We'll figure it out."
Sabrina shook her head and sighed, still angry at herself. "Yeah. I'm sorry Kelly."
Kelly frowned at her brooding friend.
"We'll watch him. We don't know for sure he suspects something, so stop beating yourself up. It doesn't do any good."
"You should talk." Sabrina muttered back in frustration.
Well, that was uncalled for.
Kelly glared at her for a moment and then opened the door. "I'm gonna go tell Jill. We'll meet you back at the room to figure out what to do about Piper." she said.
Sabrina rested her head in her hands and nodded weakly. Deciding that nothing else she said or did would make her friend feel better, Kelly sighed and stepped outside, quietly clicking the door shut behind her.
She headed down the hallway, running scenarios through her head. Piper had more than likely noticed Sabrina's slip, but that wasn't the problem. The million dollar question was if he had connected Sabrina to the meeting last night. If so, her cover could be compromised.
And she could be in danger.
"Kelly!"
Kelly turned and was pleased to hear that the male voice behind her came from Nick. Having succeeded in stopping her, he jogged down the hallway to catch up.
"Hey! I was hoping I'd catch you!" he panted. "Do you have dinner plans? Since it's Friday and all, I was thinking we could go grab some dinner and maybe catch a movie."
Kelly blushed. "Oh, Nick that does sound fun, but I'm going to be busy tonight."
Nick looked heartbroken.
"Oh, well, don't worry about it. No big thing, right?" he said with a big, over exaggerated smile. "What about Saturday?" he added hopefully.
"I don't know, Nick. I'm going to be very busy this weekend." Kelly said apologetically.
He nodded. "Alright, then. Sorry to bother you. Can I walk you to wherever it is you're going?" he asked.
"Sure, if you want to walk all the way to the parking lot."
"The parking lot? Where you going?"
"The sporting goods store." Kelly blurted out, before she could catch herself. Nick gave her a puzzled look and Kelly gave herself a sound mental kick for her loose tongue.
"I lost my checkbook and I think it might be there." she said quickly. She hadn't missed a beat or betrayed her momentary panic, and Nick had no reason to doubt her.
"Oh man, I hope you find it then. I'll walk you to the lot."
Kelly smiled and Nick joined her, hands jammed in his pockets. They walked in amicable silence for a few moments, Nick looking like he was going to burst with whatever he had to say. Finally, he spoke.
"So I know that we just met." he started, scratching his head. "But, I think you're amazing and I like being with you. I thought we had alot of fun the other day skiing. Would you ever be interested in a repeat of that?" he asked, his voice higher than normal from nerves. He'd been wanting to say that for days.
Kelly paled, immediately uncomfortable and struggled to find her voice. "I-We did have fun." she said lamely.
Nick smiled. "I'm glad." he said. "Sorry for being so blunt, I just want to honest with you. Would you like to get together again?"
"Uh, I definitely would. But, like I said, I'm busy this weekend, Nick." Kelly stammered, feeling her cheeks get hot.
Nick beamed, hearing only her first few words.
"You're beautiful, Kelly." he said softly. The two stared awkwardly at each other for a few moments, before Nick's gaze lowered to her lips.
He gently took hold of her elbow and leaned in to kiss her. Kelly, who had been nervous since the moment Nick had decided to profess his attraction to her, panicked at his sudden closeness and jerked away from him.
Nick immediately stepped away from her and stuffed his hands back into his pockets, his face turning a deep shade of red. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean-" he sputtered.
"No, I'm sorry, I-" Kelly tried to excuse herself, but her train of thought had derailed itself and she ran out of words. The two stood awkwardly for a few seconds before Nick cleared his throat.
"Well, I better get back to work." Nick said quickly.
He walked away as fast as he could without breaking into a run, his face pained and red from humiliation. Kelly sighed and buried her face in her hands. Was she fifteen? She had never been this nervous around a man before. Disgusted with herself, she shook her head and continued alone towards the parking lot.
Jill wanted to scream.
She had been reorganizing the stockroom all day long. Reflecting on her sudden demotion, she supposed it had something to do with the fact that she had technically quit that morning. This must be her parting gift.
She sighed and moved a few more boxes into place before standing up and stretching out her stiff back muscles, making her spine crack noisily. Had anyone died of boredom in the line of duty? Charlie had better give her something more exciting for their next case if he wanted a birthday present from her this next year.
"Jill, there's someone asking for you up front." someone yelled through the open door.
Thank God, Jill thought to herself. She yawned and then gratefully made her way back into the store area. She was pleased to see Kelly waiting by the rack of skis she had grown to hate so much. Her friend wasn't paying attention so Jill snuck up behind her.
"Welcome to McGrugger's. How can I help you?" she said loudly, in an annoyingly chirpy voice.
Startled, Kelly spun around to where her voice had come from and a soft smile spread across her face.
"Hey, Jill."
Jill frowned. "What's wrong, Kell?"
Kelly blinked. Was she wearing a damn sign on her forehead? She carefully neutralized her facial expression. "Nothing. Hey, I got some news though. Where can we talk?"
Jill led her back into the big stockroom and pulled up two large boxes for them to sit on. Once she was satisfied that they could speak freely, she turned back to her friend.
"What happened?"
"Bri slipped in front of Piper. Called him Rusty." Kelly said quickly. "She's in the spotlight now, so anything she does is going to look twice as suspicious."
Jill whistled. "Did he catch it? Does he suspect anything?"
Kelly shook her head. "We don't know yet, but you can't go in pretending to be Bri's partner anymore. We'll have to think of something else. I'm thinking this whole thing is going to blow up soon. Piper is probably nervous and he might make a mistake."
Jill nodded thoughtfully. "I had lunch with Joe today. We were talking about just confronting Piper and Warner, seeing if we can scare them into spilling everything. The police have been filled in, we just need them to spill about Buckley and whoever John is."
"Buckley?"
Jill grinned. "Jeremiah Buckley. That's Chubby's real name. Joe recognized him from the picture. He's a small time crook and scam artist. Been arrested a few times before. As for John, we still have no idea who he is. We're waiting to hear back from Charlie."
Kelly looked impressed.
"Wow, Jill. You should consider leaving all this behind and becoming a detective."
Jill giggled and nudged Kelly with her foot. "So, no go on hanging out with Bri. Did you just come here to give me the update?"
"Yeah, that. But actually, what I was hoping for was another skiing lesson before you're done here." Kelly said, looking at her friend expectantly.
Jill stared at her in disbelief and unable to keep a straight face Kelly started to giggle.
"Oh, shut up!" Jill giggled in relief upon realizing it was a joke. She aimed a playful punch to her shoulder and the two girls giggled happily in the quiet of the stock room.
"So, what else is wrong?" Jill asked suddenly.
Kelly stopped laughing. "What? I just told you."
Jill shot her a piteous look. "Oh, please. You look like you did when your goldfish died. What's up?"
Kelly was astounded and started to laugh, a nervous tic she had never been able to control. "Nothing's wrong, Jill." she insisted.
Jill studied her intently, her gaze making Kelly feel as if her blonde friend was capable of reading her mind. She shifted uncomfortably on the box she was sitting on, blanking out her thoughts just in case.
"Well, if you don't want to tell me that's ok." Jill relented finally. "Go ask Nick to take you out to lunch or something to make you feel better." she joked.
Kelly scoffed. "I'm pretty sure he's done talking to me. I blew it today."
"Oh, so that's what it is!" Jill said, sitting up straight. "What happened?"
Kelly sighed and explained her last encounter with Nick while Jill listened attentively. When she finished, Jill shook her head.
"Why wouldn't you let him kiss you? I thought you liked him."
"Jill, it was just to get information about this case. It's not a big deal."
Jill stared at her as if trying to figure her out. "You let that other loser kiss you, that jerk that grabbed your arm outside the restaurant."
Kelly looked away, embarrassed by the recollection.
Jill sighed to herself. Kelly could do many things, but somehow finding a decent guy was out of her capabilities.
The man in question had gone out with the three of them on a triple date. He talked down to Kelly and was very condescending towards her the entirety of their dinner conversation. She and Sabrina had been sharing looks of disgust with each other throughout the meal, planning on informing Kelly of their disapproval. When the six of them left the restaurant, her date headed straight for his car and was annoyed when Kelly lagged behind talking to her and Sabrina. He must have wanted only to get Kelly home and into his bedroom, because he stood around sighing obnoxiously in irritation before finally losing his patience and roughly grabbing her arm to get her attention. Sabrina had flipped and the poor man hadn't known what hit him. At Sabrina's furious yelling, Kelly's date retreated, hurrying back to the safety of his car and disappearing from their lives. In direct contrast to what she had just punished her date for, Sabrina had then grabbed Kelly's arm and dragged her to her own car, locking them both inside and demanded to know whether he had ever hurt her or made her do anything she didn't want to do. When Kelly fervently denied that he had, Sabrina, who was fed up with Kelly's extremely low standards, spent the next twenty minutes sternly lecturing the very surprised Kelly on the way that good men treat women.
"C'mon, Jill. It wasn't like it could have possibly gone anywhere. He lives in Alaska. I live in Los Angeles, remember?"
Jill sighed. "I know that, but that isn't the point. You date losers, Kell, and all of a sudden when a good guy comes along you run away scared. Why is that?"
"Jill, we're on a case. I didn't come here to pick up men."
"Kell, that's not the point. Anytime a nice guy comes along, you run away and find the biggest jerk you can. You do know that you deserve someone better, right?"
Kelly stared at her. "Jill." she warned, starting to get irritated with her friend's prying.
"You're not answering my question, Kelly. Why do you run away?"
Feeling trapped and angry, Kelly sighed and got up from her seat. "I'll see you back at the room tonight." she said quietly.
Jill sighed in frustration at her best friend's retreating form.
"Fine, Kell. Run away from me too."
Kelly angrily turned around, a scathing remark ready on her tongue. She caught herself, took a deep breath and left Jill sitting in the stockroom.
She walked quickly out of the store and into the bitter cold outside. Her mind was spinning with all that Jill had told her. She was angry, furious, humiliated.
But only because she knew Jill was right.
Overbearing and abusive men were all she had known, and when a kind man came into the picture, it confused her. Loving attention and constant compliments made her uncomfortable. She didn't trust their well meaning intentions and the notion of marriage was completely beyond her. How a good, gentle man could want to be with her, she couldn't understand. Surely, he would see through her eventually and change his mind. And that was something Kelly couldn't allow to happen.
So caught up in her thoughts was she, that she didn't notice a tall, heavyset man in a leather jacket get out of an old brown Impala.
He casually opened his trunk and looked inside, waiting for her to pass.
Kelly, still reeling, barely noticed him, her only focus on getting in her car and leaving. She walked past him, not bothering to turn her head. A sudden crunch of snow behind her finally made her turn, but by then it was too late.
Her vision was suddenly blocked out by a cloth sack flying over her face, roughly yanking her head back. Alarmed and confused, Kelly began screaming for help, but a strong hand clamped itself over her mouth through the cloth that was obstructing her view.
"Shut up!" her attacker hissed in her ear.
Kelly refused to be taken quietly. She flailed and kicked wildly, but her attacker was much too strong, and easily lifted her off of the ground with one arm, pinning both of her arms to her sides. Still screaming muffled curses through his hand, Kelly twisted, thrashed, and blindly fought back hard as hard as she could until finally her waist dig into something hard and metal.
Panicking now, she spun around in her attacker's arms and started kicking frantically at him.
Though unable to see, she felt her foot connect solidly with the man's crotch and he grunted in pain and let out a string of furious curses, his grip relaxing slightly. Before she could take advantage of this, a sharp blow to the side of her face knocked her sideways, sending bright lights exploding in front of her blindfolded eyes and dazing her to the point where she could no longer fight back.
He shoved her over the lip of the trunk and she rolled inside, still screaming loudly at him through the sack and kicking out helplessly. He grabbed both of her slim wrists with one hand and, whipping a coiled up cable from his jacket, quickly strapped them together in front of her.
Outraged shouts from behind him made him turn around. There were people coming from inside the store, he needed to move fast. A blonde girl led the pack, shouting shrilly at him as she sprinted towards him.
Jill tore across the parking lot, slipping and sliding in the wet snow. She had watched Kelly go and had seen her get attacked through the store window. She shrieked for someone to call the police and shoved her way past the people milling by the door to get to her before it was too late.
As she rushed outside, she saw him punch her and force her into the trunk of his car.
"Stop!" she hollered at him.
The man looked up, slammed the trunk down and scrambled around his car to the front seat. The engine started before his door had completely shut.
"Stop! Stop!" Jill cried helplessly. She would reach the car in another second and she reached out a determined hand to grab onto the passenger side door.
The car suddenly screeched backwards out of its parking spot, and Jill had to throw herself out of the way to avoid getting hit. She slipped in the snow and landed hard on her side, the cold snow instantly soaking through her simple cotton shirt. She popped back to her feet immediately, but in the time it had taken her to do that, the brown Impala was flying out of the parking lot, tires throwing up clouds of snow in her face as it jumped over a median and bounced out into the street.
Jill swore loudly and lunged forward to give chase, knowing in her heart that it was hopeless.
She stopped after thirty yards and watched in horror as the Impala disappeared, her heart pounding, her face covered with dirty water, and her features twisted in shocked disbelief.
Kelly was gone.
Taken right in front of her face.
And she had let it happen.
