Chapter 28 – The Long Con
Juliet pours coffee into her waiting mug and yawns. It felt as though she'd just gone to sleep when the alarm had gone off and in all fairness she had just climbed into bed sometime significantly after 4am and it was now almost 8. James was already up and gone to work. "Are you sure you are okay with the kids staying home this morning Rach?"
"Jules it's fine. It seems silly that we pay for day care when I'm fully capable of looking after them"
"I just don't want you to push yourself, you know that"
"Yup, I do know that but I'm fine Juliet. My energy levels are better and my last follow up scan was perfect. I wouldn't have said that it was okay if I didn't feel as though it was."
Juliet takes a sip of the coffee and sets her mug down, "I promise that I'll be home by one. I can't cancel my clinic it's too late of notice for my patients. Plus I have a couple inpatients that I need to round on but I will be home as soon as I can."
"Juliet", Rachael says exasperated. "Go to work, we'll be fine"
Juliet glances over at Clem. After what had happened the previous day she didn't want the little girl going to day care or being with anyone other than family, not until they knew for sure what was going on.
"She'll be fine Jules" Rachael says as she watches Juliet.
Juliet nods her head in response. She gulps back the remainder of her cup of coffee, "Alright, I need to run". She kisses Julian on the cheek, "Be a big boy and help mommy with Clem today okay?"
The little boy nods his head, "I help" he tells her proudly.
She smiles back at the boy, "That's my big boy". She leans over and kisses Clem, "See you later sweetheart" she says to the little girl.
"Me go", Clem says holding out her arms to Juliet.
Juliet picks up the little girl from the highchair, "No honey" she tells her. "You are going to stay with Auntie Rachael today". She doesn't miss the tears that were forming in the child's eyes. This parenthood thing was most definitely harder than she'd ever imagined it to be.
Rachael holds out her arms for Clem, "I'll take her Jules, just go she'll be fine". Seeing Juliet's resistance she continues. "Honest Jules, she'll stop crying in like two minutes. Remember what Julian was like when I first went into the hospital"
She thinks back to those first few horrible weeks when Rachael was in the hospital and Julian would sob from her room to the car and then be fine. "I know you're right", she tells her sister, "But it's a lot easier said than done".
"I know it is Jules" she replies sympathetically.
Juliet gives Clem one last hug and hands her to Rachael. "I'll see you after lunch honey".
Four hours later Juliet is working on her third cup of coffee of the morning. She'd told her secretary to just keep the coffee coming if she was going to make it through her clinic that morning. Her patient from during the night thankfully continued to be stable.
She's just about through her charts when there is a knock at the door. "Come in", she says looking up at the door, expecting her secretary to walk in. "Hey", she smiles seeing it was James. "What are you doing here?"
He holds up a paper bag and cup of coffee. "Brought you lunch".
She gets up from behind her desk and walks over to him. "Thanks" she leans in and kisses him. "What did you bring?" she asks, taking the bag and peeking into it.
"Chicken wraps from your favourite place down the street"
"Sounds good!" she says still smiling. "How did you know that I hadn't stopped for lunch already?"
"Because I know you" he replies, smiling back at her. "You aren't so different in this life than you were in Dharma you know. You never stopped for lunch when you worked in the motor pool unless I brought you something."
"What you brought was always so much better than what they were serving in the cafeteria though. You never seemed to catch on that I wanted you to bring me lunch", she adds with a wink.
He laughs, "Oh so now I get it, all those times you were just waiting for me to bring you something better"
"Or something like that", she teases.
He switches subjects as they sit down to eat, "Have you talked to Rachael this morning?"
"I called before my last patient. Things were going okay there"
"Yeah" he nods, "I called too. Just missed you this morning"
"Rachael mentioned that. Did you get a chance to call Miles yet?" she asks.
"Yup, I spoke to him just before I came. He was a little unsure of the fact that I seem to be putting so much confidence into my two year old but he was willing to look into Cassidy for me. And because they still can't find Edmund he's gonna keep the car in front of the house to monitor things. He's hopeful that if it is Edmund and he comes near the kids at home then they can nab him. I was thinking that if you weren't on call this weekend we might take a quick trip to Albuquerque."
She could sense the urgency in his voice to figure this out. "I think it sounds like a good idea. I'm free to go. I'll book our flights this afternoon."
"Rachael will be okay if you go away for a few days?"
She nods her head, "She keeps telling me she is fine and not to worry anymore. Of course I can't help but worry, but yes, I think she'll be fine"
He chuckles, "Okay then, go ahead and book it."
The rest of their meal is eaten in silence and it seems like no time at all has passed when Juliet's secretary was knocking on the door to let her know her last few patients were ready for her.
"Guess that's my cue", James says standing up. Juliet gets up as well and walks over to him, she leans in and kisses him goodbye. "You'll be home early?" it was a question as much as a statement.
"I think it'll be after three". He leans in and kisses her back and with one last goodbye he leaves her to the rest of her day.
The last hour of Juliet's day passes quickly. After last nights all nighter she wasn't disappointed for an early finish to her work day. Before heading home she books the tickets and a hotel for their weekend in Albuquerque.
As Miles had promised the squad car was still sitting out on the street in front of the house. It was a comfort to know that it was there. She finds Rachael and Julian in the kitchen. "Hey you two" she says dropping her purse on the counter. "How was the morning?"
"Auntie Juwiet" the little boy runs over to her at the sound of her voice.
She scoops him up in her arms. "Did you and Clemmy have fun with mommy today?"
"Yup" he says. "Clemmy is sleeping, she was tired"
"Ah, I see", she says smiling at the little boy. "I was wondering where she was"
"All was good this morning", Rachael says filling her in more on the morning. "Clem just went down for a nap and Mr. Julian here was thinking that he didn't want a nap today." Rachael herself looked exhausted from her morning with the kids.
"Not tired, huh buddy?" she asks.
He shakes his head, "No way"
"Well, Auntie Juliet is tired because she stayed awake all night at work."
"Are you gonna have a nap?" he asks giving her a silly look, like she was crazy for even suggesting it.
"I think so" she says setting the little boy back down and yawning. "When James comes home maybe we'll go to the park." She sees the smile on his face grow, "But only if you are a good boy for mommy and go have a rest." Juliet winks at Rachael.
The little boy looks from his mom to his aunt, "I think you tricked me Auntie Juwiet."
She shrugs her shoulders, "That's the deal buddy, nap then the park."
"Okay" he says begrudgingly, "I will go to bed". Rachael takes the little boy by the hand. "Thanks sis" she says leading him from the kitchen. "Oh", Rachael calls over her shoulder. "Clem's in your room"
Juliet checks the locks on the doors and heads to her bedroom. Clem was sound asleep in the centre of the bed. Juliet heads into her bathroom and changes out of her work clothes into something more comfortable, and climbs into the bed beside Clem.
"You getting back up today baby?" she wakes to the feel of James lips on her forehead.
"What time is it?" she asks groggily rubbing her eyes.
"It's almost 5:30"
She becomes more alert and stretches, "Clem?" she says glancing around the room, remembering the little girl had been in the bed with her.
"She's with Rachael. She got up when I got home at 3"
"Oh" she says sitting up. "Why didn't you wake me?"
"I tried" he laughs, "But you told me to leave you for a bit longer"
"Really?" she asks pushing her hand through her hair, "I really crashed, I don't remember that."
He nods, "Its okay, you feel like dinner?" he reaches out and tucks her hair behind her ears and kisses her again.
"Yeah, but I am going to jump in the shower first." She gets up and walks towards the bathroom.
He climbs off the bed following her, "Shower sounds like a fabulous idea. I think I'll join you" he says with a smirk.
She laughs and continues on into the bathroom, "Sounds like fun"
"Daddy" they both turn at the sound of the little voice heading in their direction.
James lets out a low growl as he watches Juliet strip off her clothes.
"Daddy" the little voice becomes more urgent as it approaches the bedroom door.
"She's calling you big guy", Juliet teases.
He shakes his head at Juliet as she steps into the shower, "I'll be back for you" he says heading towards the door. "Right here baby girl" he says poking his head out of the bedroom.
Juliet finds them in the kitchen. "Where's Rachael and Julian?" she asks.
"They went out to dinner with her friend Lauren" He steps closer to her, still somewhat hyped up from their earlier encounter. "Said they might go see a movie afterwards. Which means", he drawls out "we have the house to ourselves".
She drapes her arms around his neck, bringing her mouth to his ear, "You're forgetting a little something, or rather someone", she whispers.
He dips his head and trails his lips along her collar bone, "She's already yawning" he mumbles.
She glances over his shoulder at the little girl playing on the floor with her toys. "She looks pretty wide awake to me"
"Trust me I'll have her tucked into bed by 7:30"
She giggles and pats him on the chest, "You're on!"
Two hours later, good to his word Clementine was tucked into her crib sound asleep. Unfortunately for James, Juliet was also sound asleep on the couch.
He smiles and shakes his head, "Oh Blondie" he thinks to himself. He contemplates waking her but she looked too peaceful. He covers her with a blanket, takes a seat at the end of the couch, and picks up the book he'd been reading. He's just turning the first page when his phone rings. Looking at the call display he sees that it's Miles, "Enos, what's up?" he asks.
"Jim, I've got some info on Cassidy for you"
"That was quick" he replies.
"Don`t go thanking me yet, it isn`t a alot. Cassidy was working for a real estate company in Albuquerque. According to her boss she up and quit out of the blue. She gave no reason for quitting and no forwarding address."
"That just doesn't sound like Cassidy"
"It gets stranger", Miles continues, "She had just accepted a promotion and was just closing on her own new house. Her boss was completely baffled by her behaviour, said it was like she flipped personalities in one twenty four hour period."
James contemplates this new information, "Is that all he could give you?"
"Gave me the name Ella Stevens, another agent in his company. According to him, Ella and Cassidy were good friends. I was going to look her up but I figured if you were going there this weekend that you might get more out of her face to face."
"Thanks Miles, I appreciate this"
"It's not a lot to go on, but it's a start. For what it's worth, I think you are right. Something about Cassidy's move to Miami isn't on the up and up. I'm going to pull the accident records tomorrow I want to look at them a little more closely."
"Still, it gives me somewhere to start when we go this weekend."
"What about Cassidy's belongings?" Miles asks.
"I have them in storage, after I got custody of Clem I went through Clem's things only and took some of the things she'd use. I didn't go through the rest of it. I left it for Clem when she's older. Figured it would be a way for her to know her mom."
"I think we need to go through them" Miles tells him matter of fact. "If we are curious as to what Cassidy was up too then maybe there are clues in there".
James glances at a sleeping Juliet on the couch, "No time like the present. Juliet and Clem are down for the night. Want to meet me at the storage locker?"
"Sure, give me the address. I'll meet you there".
James gives Miles the address to the storage locker where Cassidy's things were being stored. He writes Juliet a note and leaves it on the coffee table beside her and heads out to meet Miles.
