Rae and Jesse had set the alarm for seven. As it went off Rae heard the mail thud onto the mat in the living area. Jesse groaned and flailed his arm around until it came into contact with the ringing monster on the nightstand. "Shut up!"
"And good morning to you too! Are we feeling a little grumpy this morning?" Rae leant over and kissed Jesse on the nose. He put his hand up and pulled her down towards him and kissed her on the lips. She relaxed against him and shut her eyes as she felt his arms go round her.
As he moved away from her a few minutes later he smiled. "I'm better now! D'you fancy a run before you go to work?"
"No, not really, but I haven't been on one for about a week, so I will suffer and say yes."
Fifteen minutes later they were pounding their way down a quiet residential street, they took it in turns to run ahead in a burst of speed and then jog while the other one caught up. After twenty minutes Jesse slowed down and turned to Rae. "Time to turn around and head back, I think. Don't want to tire you out!"
Rae stuck her tongue out at him and they slowly jogged across the road and back the way they had come. They headed to their own apartments and a shower each, then Rae fed Kira and went into Jesse's place for breakfast.
"So, what time do you have to start today?" Jesse was making coffee as he spoke and had his back to her.
Rae walked over and put her arms around his waist. "I'll be leaving in about twenty minutes. We only have three activists left to see. The ones who broke into Worthington Laboratories were held overnight, so it couldn't be them. The first one is coming in for ten o'clock; although I get the feeling that it's going to be a waste of time. I don't know what I was thinking about, but we don't have a copy of their handwriting, only their signatures, so all four of them have to be re-interviewed."
"But you haven't got anything else to do all day have you?" Jesse half turned in her arms and felt her tighten her muscles around his waist. "Hey, I surrender, I take it back."
"Good. This is supposed to be my day off remember? I just know it's going to be a waste of time."
"You just said that. Ow!"
"I know, Jess, but they're telling us what they want us to know, and have got alibi's to back it up. Trouble is, I don't believe a word of it. The guy we saw yesterday was at a meeting; I would put money on the other three being at the same meeting. If other people say they saw them there, there is nothing we can do. If we find out at a later date that they did have something to do with Candi Worthington's death, I think Steve'll blow a fuse."
"What about your dress, will you have a chance to go shopping? Hey, I think Amanda's going to get hers this afternoon, maybe you could go with her."
"I'll give her a call then, and see."
Ten minutes later Rae was ready to go to work. It was half past eight, she had arranged with Amanda to meet her at eleven thirty and they were going to go out for a couple of hours before Rae had to get back for her second interview at three. She felt happy and relaxed as she walked up the steps and into the squad room. Her mood improved even more when she saw Steve greet her with a smile and a cup of tea.
"Hey, partner, how are you? I hope you're feeling as good as I am."
"You had a good night then?"
Steve grinned. "Oh, yeah. I hope you don't mind, but I asked her to the dance on Saturday night."
"No, Steve, I'm glad. Of course I don't mind, in fact I suggested it to Jesse. I wonder who Amanda is going to bring."
"Ah, that would be me."
Rae spun round and came face-to-face Well, if I look up and he looks down with a tall good-looking man holding an FBI ID up.
"Ron! Hey, man, long time no see. Are you really here for the ball?" Steve held out his hand to his friend.
"No, but when I talked to Amanda last night, she told me about it, and, well, it's been a long time since I've been here, so I guess I owe her."
"And somebody is going to introduce me when?" Rae looked at both men and waited.
"I'm sorry. Detective Inspector Reagan Yeager, this is Agent Ron Wagner, FBI. Agent Ron Wagner, this is Detective Inspector Reagan Yeager, Scotland Yard."
Rae gave Steve a sarcastic smile and then turned it into a welcoming one, held her hand out and said, "Hi, how do you do?"
"Ah, fine thanks. What happened to Cheryl?"
"She's in London for twelve months, and Rae is here."
"Rae?"
"You can call me Reagan if you like, Agent Wagner, but I may be forced to kill you!"
"Oh, I bet she's keeping you on your toes, Sloan. I like her!"
"Yeah, right. So, if you aren't here for the ball, what are you here for?"
"Animal rights activists."
"You haven't come to take them off our hands have you?" Rae looked at him hopefully.
"No, ma'am, just the opposite. You can keep 'em, I just want your information."
"Yeah, that sounds like the Feds. Why do you want our information, did your paper cups and string break?" Steve grinned, Ron could drive him nuts, but he enjoyed working with him.
"Ha, ha. No, Worthington Laboratories does work for the government, so I just need to find out what you know, and make sure that the information on the federal contracts hasn't been compromised."
"Why, what were they researching?" Rae looked over at him, and wondered what he had in common with Amanda. He seemed very rigid.
"I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to disclose that information, Detective Inspector Yeager."
"Oh, for goodness sake. We have to give you everything that we have, but you aren't gonna give us squat. You should get in touch with MI5 or 6, they would just love you."
"I worked in London for six months, we are way nicer than they are."
As Rae went to make a cutting reply her phone rang. "Detective Yeager." Her tone softened instantly, "Hey, sweetie… no that's not a problem, do you want one that's ready made, or one you do yourself…? Oh, ok. I'll see you later then… Yeah, I love you too. Bye." Rae wrote herself a note and slid it into the pocket of her jeans, and then she turned back to the two men who were now standing by Steve's desk.
"Sorry about that."
"No problem." Steve smiled at her.
Rae checked her watch. "I guess our first little green man will be here in about thirty minutes. I'm just going to give Community General a ring to see how James is this morning."
Rae turned back to her desk and Ron smiled at Steve. "So, how is she as a partner? LA is hardly London is it?"
"No, it's not, and she hasn't had an easy time since she got here, but she's a good cop, and I enjoy working with her. I'm gonna really miss her when she goes home."
"Oh, yeah, in what way." Ron grinned at him.
"What? … Oh no, not in that way. Jesse'd kill me."
"Who? Oh, the guy on the phone was Jesse Travis? So I guess they'll be there tomorrow night as well as your dad, and whoever you are taking."
"Are you fishing, Wagner, trying to find out whether I have a date or not? Well, yes I do, a young lady called Jo, but it will only be our third date, so back off a bit, ok?"
"Steve, James was discharged about ten minutes ago, the nurse that I spoke to said that he left a message asking one of us to contact him some time after eleven this morning. I won't be here, so could you do that?"
"Yeah, sure… Morning, Bob, what can I do for you?" Steve turned to the desk sergeant who was walking across the room.
"Your appointment is here, Steve. Richard Crisp, 23, animal rights activist and saviour of the world, with his lawyer, Daniel Smallwood. I've put them in interview room 4."
"I bet they were hoping that we wouldn't be here yet." Rae ran her fingers through her hair. She thought for a minute and then smiled. "I'm sorry, Steve, I don't know why I am so negative about this. Yeah, I do. I keep seeing that poor woman, and then hearing Harmesworth yesterday, they've got us on a string, and that bugs me. Sorry."
"Rae, it bugs me too, but we just have to go with it. Come on. Ron are you coming in, or are you going to peer at us from the observation room?"
"I will 'peer' as you put it. I'll see you back in here when you've finished." They went their separate ways and Rae and Steve entered the interview room.
The lawyer stood as they entered, but Rae noticed that the other occupant of the room didn't even look up.
"Mr. Smallwood, I am Lieutenant Sloan, this is Detective Yeager. Thank you for coming in." Once all the formalities were concluded Steve turned to the young activist. "What do you do for a living Mr. Crisp?"
"I work at a convenience store, why?" Richard Crisp spoke for the first time. He had a high squeaky voice, and he suddenly sounded much younger than he looked.
"I was just interested." Steve smiled at him and hoped that this would be a fruitful interview. "I would like to know where you were on Monday night, that would be the Monday of this week.
"Monday night, I attended a meeting."
"What time did your meeting start and finish Mr. Crisp?"
"It was my turn to set the room up so I got there just after half past seven. I had to put out the chairs."
"What time did the meeting finish?" Steve was talking quietly, and Rae had a feeling that he was sitting on his temper, just as she was.
"I left at a quarter to eleven, after the final speaker. I had done my duty with the chairs, I didn't want to get roped in to putting them away too." Crisp was talking pleasantly, it was clear to them both that he wasn't at all worried about being questioned.
"Do you have anybody who can confirm that you were at this meeting?" Rae decided that it was time that she joined in this conversation.
"There were 200 people there, Detective." The man's voice was suddenly dripping with insincerity, and he lolled back in his seat. Rae had a strong urge to kick the legs out from under him.
"Is there anyone that we can contact who will confirm that you were at this meeting, Mr. Crisp?" Steve kept his voice light as he asked his question.
"Well, I was there with my girlfriend, will she do?"
"Maybe, if you can provide another name or two as well."
"I can give you a list of about fifteen to twenty people who were there, Detective, if you can give me a piece of paper and a pen I will write it down for you."
"Thank you, Sir. After you left the meeting, what did you do then?" Steve passed over the paper and pen as he spoke.
"I took Rosie home, I left her house at about twenty past eleven and I got to mine just after one."
"You live a long way apart then?"
"No, Lieutenant, but I was pedalling a tandem, and it's hard work on your own."
"A what?" Steve looked puzzled.
"It's a bicycle for two people."
Steve looked over to the mirror on the other side of the room and wondered what Ron was making of all this. "While you have the pen and paper, Sir, could you please write down the following words?"
"And why do you require this, Lieutenant?" It was the first time that Mr. Smallwood had spoken since the interview had begun. Rae realised that both Steve and herself had deliberately been on their best behaviour this morning.
"To eliminate your client from our enquiries, Councillor." Steve looked over at the lawyer with a smile on his face.
"It's fine, Mr. Smallwood, I don't mind at all."
Richard Crisp's writing was similar to Rae's daughter Mara's. It was very childish, and large. "Could you write it with your other hand now please, Mr. Crisp?" The other hand was worse.
Rae stood up. "Thank you, Mr. Crisp, Mr. Smallwood. If you could leave us your card, Councillor, and, Mr. Crisp, could you let us have a contact number and I would be obliged if you could let us know if you have any plans to travel outside L.A. in the next few weeks." Once she had the information she needed Rae walked over and opened the door, and the lawyer and the activist headed off down the hallway.
Rae moved back into the room, "'I was pedalling a tandem, and it's hard work on your own.' Give me strength!" She kicked the chair that Crisp had been using; somehow it didn't make her feel any better now that he wasn't sitting in it. "Uugh. I need to get my temper sorted out before I go shopping, or I'll be turning up tomorrow night wearing a rubbish bag!" She turned away from Steve and walked angrily out of the interview room.
Ron left the observation room just in time to see Rae storm across to her desk. He turned to Steve "Maybe he became a nasty lawyer to compensate for his other shortcomings, it was either that or change his name I guess."
Steve laughed and Rae turned back to them with a confused look on her face. "And you have no idea what we are talking about do you, Rae?" Steve was clearly enjoying the situation.
"Nope, not a clue, care to enlighten me?"
"I don't think you want to know."
"I might … Oh, right, no… way too much information, thank you, Lieutenant." Rae was mortified to feel herself begin to blush and turned quickly away from of the laughter of the two friends and headed for her phone. She picked it up and punched in a number. "Dr. Amanda Bentley please…yes I'll hold… Amanda? Hi it's me… Yeah, I'm ready now; I'll meet you at the mall… Yeah, he's here, do you want to speak to him? … Hold on, Agent Wagner, phone." She held the receiver out and Ron walked across the room.
"Hello…? Oh, hi, honey… No I didn't know who she was talking too… Yeah, probably all day… I'll see you later… Bye." Ron held the receiver up and looked across at Rae and she shook her head. He put the phone down and turned to her. "So you're going shopping with Amanda?"
"Yes, right now as a matter of fact. I'll see you later, Steve, Agent Wagner." Rae turned and left the room.
"D'you think she'll ever call me Ron?"
"Oh, yeah, but you'll have to tell her to. She called me Sir for so long I thought I was gonna brain her."
"Yeah, but she's British right, terribly polite don't you know?" Ron's accent was almost passable as English.
Rae drew up into a parking space and walked into the mall. She saw the shop that she had arranged to meet Amanda in and headed for it. She could see her friend looking through a rack of beautiful dresses and wandered up to her. "Hi, found anything that you like yet?"
"Quite a few actually, but none of them suitable for tomorrow night. What were you thinking of wearing?"
"Well, I have never been to one of these things before, and I don't want to let Jesse down, so I thought I would go for something classic, maybe not black, but not bright either. What do you think?"
"Sounds good to me. Do you have a price range?"
"Yeah, cheap! Amanda, I have no idea how much a dress of that kind will cost, so I'm gonna worry about that when I find something I like."
The next hour seemed to fly by. They spent it either laughing, groaning, or sometimes enthusing, as they tried dresses on and then either discarded them or tried to make a mental note of where they had seen them so they could come back later. Rae remembered to get Jesse's new bow tie for him, and she got a cummerbund to match it, as she had been trying on mainly blue she got him a dark blue set. Rae didn't think she would ever forget the look on Amanda's face as she had come out of the changing room in a black dress, which had a flouncy layer over the top and a diamante pattern on it. She looked like depressed fairy and she could hardly take it back off she was laughing so much.
The tables were turned when Amanda had tried on a halter necked dress, which was graduated from light coffee at the top to dark coffee at the bottom.
"Oh, no, Amanda, no, you can't wear that!" Rae covered her mouth with her hand, her normally elegant friend looked suddenly ordinary.
"Why ever not? I just love the colour."
"You'll look like you stood in a puddle on the way in and the dress soaked up all the muddy water. It looks grubby. Sorry, but no way. Ron may be the strong silent type, but I think even he may have something to say about that!"
Amanda gave Rae a glare, but she went and changed. As they headed back towards the stores that had their favourite dresses in she brought the subject up again. "What did you mean by Ron being the strong silent type?"
"Sorry, it was just my first impression of him. I mean Jesse's so outgoing and chatty, Steve made me feel at ease straight away, but I can't read Ron. He doesn't give anything away does he?"
"No, I guess not, and I must admit we had a mutual hate society there for a while when we first met." Amanda smiled as she remembered their first meeting. Ron was about the only good thing that had happened at that time in her life.
"When did you meet? I got the feeling that he didn't work in LA."
"No, he works out of Quantico, but he was sent here to investigate a plane crash. I was on the recovery team, we met then."
"Wow, that must have been a harrowing time for you. Still nice ending. Ooh, this is your store isn't it?"
"Mm, yeah, come on, I feel my plastic calling."
Amanda paid for her dress, which was a deep metallic gold. It was perfectly plain and straight at the front, but it had a high neck, long sleeves and no back. Rae loved it and would have been delighted to wear it herself, but when she tried it on, she found that she couldn't cope with the fabric around her neck. Still that woman is in my life, I guess I'll just have to learn to live with it.
Rae's dress was still hanging on the rail when they arrived at their final stop. It was dark blue, but it had no high neck, in fact the neckline was quite low and the sleeves were just small pleated straps, which went over her upper arms. It was tight fitting until just before it reached her knees and then there were kick panels to make it easier to walk. On the back of the dress there was a larger kick panel, which started just below the waist and trailed along the ground slightly when Rae walked. It was a beautiful dress, and she hoped that everybody would like it as much as she did.
"What about shoes, Rae, I don't think I have ever seen you in anything but sneakers."
"Oh, yeah, that's true. What time is it?" Rae looked at her watch. "Half past one. I guess I'd better have a quick squiz in a few shoe stores."
"A quick what?"
"A quick squiz, a quick look. Black would be best wouldn't it. I would have more use for them. Do you have time, or would you rather get back to work?"
"Well, if you don't mind, I think I'd better. I'll see you tomorrow at the activity afternoon. I am looking forward to dunking Steve."
Rae smiled, "So am I! Ok, I'll see you there then. Oh, and Amanda, thank you for this morning, I really enjoyed myself."
Amanda smiled back and waved as she wandered off towards the exit. Rae turned and headed towards a shoe store that she could see half way down the mall.
Rae checked the shoes in the window, and decided that she liked most of them, so she went in and started to look around. She finally found a pair of black patent leather court shoes, which weren't too high. She didn't want to be taller than Jesse. After she had paid for them she began to walk back towards her car. As she passed a children's clothes store she heard a cry.
"No, stop, help, that man took my purse."
Rae turned and saw a woman with a buggy pointing to a young man who was running straight at her. She dropped her bags on the floor and launched herself at him. She slammed him to the floor and sat on him.
"Get off me." The man was squirming under Rae and she was having trouble staying on top of him.
"And I suppose that this purse is just the right colour to match your outfit."
The young woman came running over pushing the buggy in front of her. "Oh, thank you, thank you so much." She took her cell phone out of her pocket. "Would you like me to call the cops for you?"
"No, that's all right ma'am, I am the police." Rae took the cuffs from the back of her belt and put them on the still struggling man underneath her. "Right, up on your feet and behave, I'm armed, ok?" Rae got her phone out and put a call in for a black and white to come and pick up her prisoner. Five minutes later she gratefully handed him over, told the officers what she had seen, picked up her shopping, and headed to her car.
By the time she had got back to the station, she needed something to eat. So she went back out onto the street and picked up some sandwiches from the nearest deli. Steve and Ron were talking quietly when she entered and she smiled at them and headed for her own desk.
"Did you get anything?" Steve looked over at her.
"Yes, thank you, one dress, one pair of shoes and one bag snatcher."
"What?"
"I caught a … purse snatcher while I was there. Hey it's all in a days work! Even if today is supposed to be my day off." She sat down, and began to eat her sandwiches. She had only taken two bites when her phone rang.
"Detective Yeager…Bob? … Oh, great. Look, put him in an interview room… Oh, sorry her and we'll be there in a few minutes. I'll just finish my lunch." Rae took another bite of her sandwich, got up and moved over to Steve's desk.
"Our next interviewee is here. Dani Barlow, 28. So whenever you are ready. At least we get to go home after this."
"Ok, I'm ready now. Ron, are you going to do the same again?"
"Yeah, I don't want these people to know that we are involved, not yet anyway. They headed down to the interview room and opened the door. Steve had obviously made the same assumption as Rae, because she saw him do a double take as he looked at the young woman with long blonde hair sitting in front of him.
"Ms Barlow, I'm Lieutenant Sloan, this is Detective Yeager. Do you not have a lawyer with you?"
"Yes, she's in the can."
"Oh." Rae couldn't think of anything else to say to that. As she looked round a tall, dark haired woman walked down the hallway and back into the room.
"I trust you haven't asked my client any questions without me, officers."
"No, ma'am, and you are?" Rae shut the door as the woman moved past her.
"Meg Connolly, I am Ms Barlow's lawyer."
Rae moved over and switched on the recording equipment and then once again she and Steve went through the formalities to begin the interview.
"Ms Barlow, could you please tell me where you were on Monday night of this week, from about eight o'clock until two the following morning?"
"No."
"And is there a reason why you can't tell us?"
"'Cause I don't want to."
"Ms Barlow, let me explain something to you. The reason you are here is because we need to know your whereabouts at the time a serious crime was taking place. No, really isn't an answer that will help us or you." Rae stared at the two women in front of her. She waited for a reply from either of them, but when it was clear that neither of them was going to speak she took a breath. "Ok, I can sit here for the rest of the day; I don't have anything else planned. Liar, you have all sorts of things you would rather be doing.
Rae turned, moved across to the side of the room and picked up a chair, she moved it back across to the table, put it carefully down and sat on it. Then she waited.
The room was silent for almost twenty minutes of the half an hour Rae had mentally allowed before Ms Barlow looked up. "I was at a meeting."
"Thank you. Do you have any witnesses to that fact?"
"Yeah, I was sitting right at the front."
"Did you know the people sitting either side of you?"
"Yep."
Rae took a breath. "Maybe you could write their names down for me, so that I can contact them on your behalf."
Rae slid a piece of paper and a pen across the table and watched as Dani Barlow wrote down two names. Then she got a black book out of her jacket and wrote down two phone numbers.
"Thank you." Rae picked up the piece of paper and handed it to Steve. "What time did the meeting finish?"
"Ten."
"So we have four hours left unaccounted for. What did you do when the meeting finished?"
"I went home."
"Alone?" Rae purposefully kept her voice as expressionless as Ms Barlow.
"No."
"Ok, can we have the name of your companion, as well please?" I will not lose my temper with this woman; she is just trying to wind me up.
"His name is Joseph."
Steve who was happy to let Rae deal with this interview handed the piece of paper back, and they watched as she wrote down the full name of her boyfriend and a number next to it.
"What do you do for a living Ms Barlow?" Rae looked at the young woman in front of her, she had no idea what her occupation could be.
"I teach."
Nope, I wouldn't have guessed that.
"What subject?" Rae thought for the minute the young woman was silent. She decided it would probably be English or music.
"Science." There was a small smile on the woman's face but it quickly disappeared.
"Thank you. Now I need you to write out for me the following words please.
"Why does my client need to provide you with more handwriting, Detective?"
"Because we need it to assist us with our enquiries, Councillor."
"Now, could you write 'how do you like it', once with each hand please?"
After Ms Barlow had written the words twice, she lapsed back into silence and Rae concluded the interview. The two women then left the room and walked down the corridor without a further word.
"Can't be much of a boyfriend if he didn't even sit with her." Rae said in the flat, impassive voice she had used during the interview.
Ron came down into the room with a grin on his face and looked over at Rae. "So, Detective, what did you make of that then?"
"Well, Agent Wagner, I think that we are being played for fools, as I have already told Steve. So far we have had the artist, who was a speaker at a meeting of 200 people. Then we had Mr. Crisp, who was, as far as it goes, helpful and willing to let us know of his movements and finally, for now, Ms Barlow, who had obviously been cast as the silent type. So what do you think we will have tomorrow, nervous and happy to please, sullen and violent, tearful and incoherent? Take your pick, but I bet it will be one of them."
"Yeah, you could be right. So, now what, Rae, do you want to carry on working, or are you gonna call it a day?" Steve looked at his partner; he had a feeling he knew what her answer would be.
"No, I'll stay for a while, I want to go through what we have got, so that Monday we can get back down to it. Oh, did you speak to James Worthington?"
"Yes, I did, the funeral is ten o'clock on Monday morning. He would like us to go, and Jesse as well."
"Ok, I'll tell him later. So, Agent Wagner, would you like to see the information we have, or has Steve shown you everything?"
"Please call me Ron, then I can call you Rae, at least I hope I can."
"Of course."
"I've seen what Steve has got, but I would like to see your notes, and hear your impressions of what has happened so far. I have to say I agree with you about your activists."
Rae spent the next hour going through her notes and talking things over with Steve and Ron. As they talked they realised that they did have quite a bit of information, but nothing to really help them yet.
"I think that this will fall into place as we move on with it. This was never gonna be a case where we solved it in twenty-four hours. So, what now?" Rae looked over at Steve.
"I think that we call it a day, come back to interview the last activist tomorrow morning, and then I will work through the afternoon to try and join it all together."
"Oh, no you don't. There is no way that you are getting out of tomorrow afternoon, I don't care how you try to avoid it, you are gonna be dunked, my friend."
Ron looked over at them both. "What? What happens tomorrow afternoon?"
"It's the police activity afternoon tomorrow and Lieutenant Steve Sloan has a spot waiting for him in the dunking booth."
A huge grin split Ron's face. "I am so glad I'm still going to be here!"
Rae stood up, "Right, I'm going home. I'll see you tomorrow, Steve. Ron, it was a pleasure to meet you." She held out her hand, and shook his. Then she picked up her jacket, shopping and phone and wandered out towards her car.
When she got home, Rae hung up her new dress in the closet and put her shoes underneath it. Kira came rubbing around her ankles and she got down onto the floor and began to make darting movements with her fingers. The little paws lashed out at her, making contact a couple of times. Rae laughed.
Then she got up and headed for the phone. "Jo, hi it's Rae. Did you have a nice time last night…? Good listen, I have something to tell you…"
Steve headed back to the beach house and down to this apartment. He checked his messages and pressed the button. "Steve, hi it's me, Jo. I just wanted to thank you again for a lovely evenin' an' the flowers, which were beautiful. I am lookin' forward to tomorrow night. I'll see you then, bye."
That was the only message and Steve smiled as he wound it back and played it again. Then he went over to his closet took out his dinner suit and left it to hang so that the creases dropped out.
He picked up the phone and dialled the number for Community General. "Dad, hi, it's me. Listen I've had an idea…"
It was just after eight in the evening when Jesse arrived home, he dropped his jacket and bag inside his front door and then knocked for Rae. She opened the door with Kira in her arms. "Hey, I wondered when you would be back. Come in."
Jesse walked in, stroking the kitten as he went past. "So, did you get your dress yet?"
"You seem more worried about this than me, every time I see you, you ask me if I have got my dress, well yes, doctor, I have my dress. Happy now?"
"I'm sorry, it's just that I am really looking forward to us being there together. I know we've been together for six months, but it'll be the first time I get to show you off to my colleagues."
"Jess, I'm sorry, I didn't think of it like that." She put Kira down, and pulled Jesse down onto the sofa next to her and began to kiss him hard on the lips. "I love you so much, Jesse, I hope I won't let you down tomorrow."
"Honey, that is never gonna happen. So, when do I get to see this dress then?"
"Tomorrow night, when you pick me up."
"Oh." Jesse saw the determination in her face and decided to leave it. Besides he had a surprise for her, so he guessed she should have one for him too.
By lunchtime the following day Rae was ready to drown all activists on sight. Donald Leonard, trainee accountant, had been sullen and uncooperative. It had taken them almost two hours to complete their interview. He had arrived exactly at eleven, but from then on he had decided not to help in any way. They were finished now and heading for the activity afternoon, which had been set up at the local PBA sports ground.
Rae and Jesse drove over in Tom, and as she drew into the parking lot Rae looked around for a minute. She could see Steve's car parked by the entrance. He had left about half an hour before her. Suddenly she saw what she was looking for and eased Tom over to the far left corner of the lot.
"Rae, there are plenty of parking spaces much nearer than this."
"I know. But I'm meeting someone." Rae drew to a halt.
Jesse opened his door. Standing just by the side of the car next to them, was a young woman dressed in jeans and a red top. She had long dark brown hair, which had been put back in a big clip. He recognised her from Bob's the other evening.
"Jesse, you remember Jo. Jo, I don't think you were introduced the other night, this is my partner, Jesse Travis." The two women smiled at each other, and then began to laugh.
"Rae, why do I get the feeling that you are hatching a plan?"
"Because I am! I just thought that Jo should have the chance to dunk Steve."
"Oh." Jesse joined in with the smiles and laughter and they headed off together to the sports field.
Steve looked at the large tank that he was about to sit above, on a very small looking seat. Over to his left there was a large target. If the small red circle in the middle was hit then he would end up in the water. The only problem was all cops had to be able to shoot, so they could probably all hit the target with a soft ball with their eyes shut. He had a feeling that he was going to get very wet, very quickly, very often.
Mark wandered towards the dunking booth and moved over to where he could see his son. "Hi, you ready?"
"No. I don't suppose I'll ever be. How did I let Rae talk me into this?"
"Don't ask me, there is no way you would ever have gotten me to do that, not even for a new paediatric wing!" Steve smiled and looked round. There was one other cop in front of him, and then it would be his go. He was expected to sit up there for twenty minutes and then it would be over. He had an old t-shirt and shorts on, but the sun was strong and he knew he would dry in its warmth quite quickly.
Rae, Jesse and Jo kept well away from the part of the ground that Steve was in, and looked at all the other activities and stalls. They bought a few things to send over to London for Rae's children, and then sat down and had a soda each as they watched the world go by. They had been sitting down for about ten minutes when an announcement floated out across the ground.
"Next up in the ducking pond will be Lieutenant Steve Sloan, Homicide Division, North Hollywood. So come on all you cops from his precinct, don't miss this chance to get him, and get him good."
The three friends smiled at each other, and started across the ground. As they arrived, Jo moved round behind Rae and Jesse, hoping that Steve wouldn't see her until the last minute. Rae saw Ron and called him across.
"Hi, listen, could you do me a favour, stand in front of this young lady until we get to our turns? This is Jo. Steve's girlfriend."
"And he doesn't know she's here, right?" Ron smiled. "Sure thing, let's go."
They moved closer, just in time to see Mark throw his three balls at the target. He missed and Steve called out.
"Thanks, dad, I owe you one. So who's next? I still seem to be incredibly dry."
"That's what dad's are for. I'm off now, Steve, I'll see you later." Mark spoke quietly to Amanda as he passed and then watched from a distance as Rae walked over to the tank.
"My go." Rae smiled. "That will change right now, Lieutenant." Rae paid her money and picked up three balls.
"Go on then, Detective, I'm sure that by the time you have thrown your third ball you will have gotten the…" Steve didn't get the chance to finish his sentence before he was unceremoniously dunked in the water.
The big tank was made of a clear material and Rae could see Steve as he was flung down to the bottom of it, and then made his way back to the top. She grinned at him and then waited for him to re-seat himself.
Rae raised the second ball and threw, this time she was slightly off target, and Steve stayed where he was. "Nope, you only winged it, that won't do it. Wanna give the last ball away, so you don't humiliate yourself?"
Rae stuck her tongue out at him, then she smiled. "Make yourself comfortable, you won't get a chance to sit there for long." She looked over at her partner, then she eyed up the target and threw.
Once again Steve found himself in the water. Rae turned and gestured to Jo to come forward and watched as her friend paid for her go. Steve hauled himself back out of the water for the second time and sat back down. "Right, who's next?" His hair was pouring water down his face, and he couldn't really see who he was talking to. Give it your best shot."
"Honey, I intend to do just that."
Steve shook the water out of his hair, and just stared. "Jo, what are you doing here?" He didn't have the chance to find out. Down he went again. Jo laughed out loud, and waited for him to emerge. He had hardly had the chance to sit back down when he saw the ball fly past and strike the middle of the target again.
He wasn't surprised when Jo dunked him for the third time. She moved over to the side of the tank as he came over to the side at the end of her go. She leant over to kiss him on the lips and felt him put his wet hands on the back of her top.
"Aw, Steve. No." But she was smiling. "I enjoyed that, I'll see you when you've finished your go. I think there are still some people waitin' to get you wet."
Ron stepped up and Steve grinned at him. "No, not a chance, he's not a cop, so he doesn't have to be a good shot."
"I heard that." Ron smiled as Steve pulled himself back out of the tub again. By the time he had finished his go and Jesse had had his, they had dunked Steve another three times between them. Another five minutes after that his turn was over.
Rae and Jo were standing together with Ron, Jesse and Amanda when Steve made his way back from the dunking pond. He was dripping wet as he walked up to Rae and pulled her to him, making her completely wet, front and back.
"Steve, what did you do that for?" Rae was so surprised she could hardly breathe.
"Because you volunteered me for it, and we're partners, if I get wet so do you."
"Well it's a good job I had planned to go home in a minute isn't it?" Rae shook herself a little, she felt cold, wet and horrid, so Steve must feel awful.
Jesse handed over a small hand towel to a dripping Rae who held it up and looked at it. "Oh this is a lot of good! But thanks."
"Yeah, I guess it's about as useless as tits on a bull." Jo said as she looked at Rae's hands.
Rae looked at her in amazement? "What?" Then realising what she had heard began to laugh. "Oh, my." She couldn't speak; there were tears of laughter on her face and the towel fell to the floor.
Steve who had heard the saying before was grinning like an idiot as he stood soaking wet but happy.
Gradually Rae gathered herself together, picked the offending towel back up and trying to regain some composure looked over at her partner.
"So, did you enjoy it? Really?"
"Yeah, I did actually. It was fun, but I am never doing it again, ok?"
"We'll see." Rae smiled. "Right, I think I need to get home and you do too. Jesse are you ready to come, sweetheart?"
"Yes, I'll see you all tonight? Ah, Jo, sorry, are you coming?"
Jo who had been blushing furiously at the reaction to something that she said all the time smiled at him. "Yep, I'm comin' I have an invite from the drippin' man over there." She smiled at Steve and then kissed him gently on the lips, keeping well away from his body as she did so. "Honey, I'm gonna go too. I'll see you about eight. It was nice meetin' y'all. I'll see ya tonight."
Jo turned and walked away with Rae and Jesse. Steve moved round to the back of the dunking pool and grabbed another towel. He changed into dry clothes in the cubicle provided and then headed off towards his car, waving at Amanda and Ron as he went.
By half past six Steve had had a warm shower, something to eat and was lying on his bed reading the newspaper. He was looking forward to the evening, and the plans that he had made. He had phoned Jo when he got home and made sure that it was ok to pick her up early, and had told her why it was necessary. He got up and stretched. Then he checked his dinner suit and began to get dressed.
Amanda and Ron had sorted out the boys and were getting dressed together in her bedroom. Well, they would be in a moment. Amanda ran her hands over Ron's back and smiled up at him. "I have missed you, especially when I see Rae and Jesse together, we have something so special when we are with each other." Ron leant down and began to kiss her on the lips. He moved his fingers up and through her hair, and she moaned. "Ron, honey, we have to go soon." She smiled, "But the boys are staying overnight with my mother."
"Good." He smiled at her. "I guess I can wait then."
Mark walked down the stairs to Steve's apartment to check on his son's progress. Steve was standing by the window looking out across the beach. He was ready to go, and Mark looked at him proudly. "Son, you look great. I hope you have a good evening."
"Yeah, me too, Dad. I know you will like Jo…" They both heard a horn beep above them, they turned smiling to each other and headed for the door.
Jesse put his cummerbund around his trousers, picked up his jacket and tie and headed towards Rae's apartment. He rang the bell and waited.
Rae had just come out of the bathroom when she heard the bell. She picked up her bathrobe, slipped it on and went to answer it.
Jesse's smile dropped as he saw that she wasn't dressed yet. "Hey, we have to be going in about half an hour."
"I will be ready. You can come in and occupy the cat for me."
"Oh, no, not today. I don't want to get cat dander on my suit. She can stay in her cage."
"Do you want me to fix your tie for you? I'm left handed remember."
"No that's ok, I'll do it, can I use the mirror in your bedroom?"
"No, you may not you will see my dress. I'll bring you the small one out, hold on." Rae disappeared and then came back with a small table mirror. She set it down, kissed him gently on the lips and smiled. "I'm going to go and carry on getting ready, don't worry by eight I will be standing by the door."
Jo smiled at herself as she held up the black dress in front of her. It was perfectly plain with a sweetheart neckline, long tight sleeves and except for a large black bow at the waist, was backless. She fastened a square diamond on a gold chain around her neck. She had matching earrings, and that was the only jewellery she planned to wear.
After she had finished at the activity afternoon she had hurried to the hairdressers and had her hair put up in a French pleat. She checked her watch; it was just coming up to half past seven, time to let Michael know she was getting ready to leave.
Five minutes later Steve walked up to her door and rang the bell. Jo was waiting just behind it. "Hi, I didn't want to keep you waitin'."
Steve gasped as she walked out into the light. "Oh, Jo, you look beautiful." He could see that one of the yellow roses from the other night was pinned to her dress, and her hair was put up in a very complicated looking shape on the back of her head. He put his hand out and she took it. Steve raised it to his lips and kissed it gently then he put a hand on her back and guided her towards the car.
Jesse was getting very agitated. "Rae, come on, honey!"
"Jess, for goodness sake, what is the problem? You haven't stopped fidgeting and calling out since you got here… So what do you think?"
Jesse stood up and turned round. Rae looked stunning. Her hair had been slicked back, and her dress made her look breathtaking. "Oh, honey, I will be the luckiest and proudest man there. Thank you." He walked over to her. "Do you have time to re-do your lipstick?"
"Yes why what's wrong with it?"
Jesse didn't say anything, but he leant forward and kissed her passionately on the lips. After a couple of minutes Rae gently moved away from him. "Oh, I see, I'll be right back."
As Rae came back into the room she heard the sound of a horn tooting below. "Come on, honey, it's time to go." Rae looked at him but Jesse just slipped his jacket on and took her hand. They walked down to the entrance hall together, and Jesse held the door open for her. Outside was a black limousine. Steve and Jo were standing by the back door and a chauffeur was waiting by the front.
"Oh, Jess, thank you."
"Honey, it wasn't my idea, it was Steve's" They were walking down the steps as he spoke. "He realised that this might be your only Community General ball, so we did this between the three of us, Mark joined in too, to make it more special for you."
Rae looked at these two wonderful men who had so recently come into her life. She walked over and kissed Steve on the cheek, then she held out her hand and Jesse took a hold of it. The chauffeur opened the door and Jo, then Rae, Jesse and finally Steve got in and headed off for their special evening.
The ballroom where the event was being held was decorated with gold and silver balloons and midnight blue satin streamers. As Steve and Jesse walked into the room each with their partner on their arm Mark saw them and headed over.
"Hi, Dad, is Amanda here yet?"
"No, Son, but I'm sure they won't be long."
"Sorry, Dad, this is Jo Walters, Jo, this is my father Doctor Mark Sloan, he's head of internal medicine at Community General Hospital."
"Jo, I'm pleased to meet you. I hope I may have a dance later on."
"I'd be honoured, Sir, thank you for askin'."
Mark turned. "Rae, honey, you look absolutely beautiful, may I escort you to our table?"
Rae smiled and held out her hand. Mark took it and they walked together towards the other corner of the room. Jesse followed behind them with a grin on his face, he could hear Rae talking excitedly about the limo as she walked. Once they had sat down, Jesse took her hand himself. "I hope you enjoy yourself tonight, I'm sorry if I was a pain earlier, but I just wanted it to start well."
"I know." Rae lifted her hand as she saw Amanda and Ron enter the room. She watched as Mark once again headed across the room to meet them, and soon they were seated around the table, and chatting easily.
The seven of them had enjoyed each other's company as they ate their meal. Later Rae and Jo returned from the ladies room just as the band started to play a slower tune. Ron and Amanda were already out on the floor, when Steve and Jesse stood up, almost together and held their hands out to their respective partners. Soon Jo found herself being swept around the floor in the arms of her very handsome man. "Enjoying yourself, Jo?"
"Oh, yep. Your daddy seems such a nice man, an' Rae an' Jesse, they're good together aren't they?" she smiled as they danced past the two friends she was talking about.
"Yeah, it's the happiest I've seen Jesse for a long time, they have had a rough time lately, but things are peaceful at the moment. She goes home in six months, I don't know what Jesse will do then, or me for that matter."
"Why does she go home, isn't here home for her?" Jo looked confused.
Steve explained about the job switch scheme, and Jo remembered reading about it. Then the music slowed some more and they moved closer together and there was no more talking.
Mark relaxed back in his chair. He would have loved to be dancing with one of the young ladies, but, alas, they had all been taken. Still, he quite enjoyed watching as his son and his friends glided around the room, each couple moving as if they had always belonged together. The ladies were stunning, and each of the men cut a dashing figure. It was like watching the courtship dance of some rare and exotic birds.
Rae and Jesse had danced together for two dances and then Jesse had taken her hand and moved over towards the door. They walked out through it and Rae found herself on a balcony looking over part of the city. The lights were twinkling and in the distance she could just make out the water as it lapped up to the shore.
"Thank you, Jesse, I have had a wonderful evening. I can't remember the last time I did something as special as this, and to be able to share it with you, well it makes it even more special. She moved closer to him and began to kiss him. But to her surprise he moved away from her. "Jess? Did I say something wrong?"
"No, honey, but I need to talk to you, and if I don't do it right now I will lose my nerve. I have been thinking about the fact that you have to go home in six months time…"
"Jess, no, please not tonight. I can't think about that, not yet." Rae's expression became pained as she heard what Jesse wanted to talk to her about.
Jesse's voice came out as a whisper. "I know how you can stay, Rae."
Jo and Steve had seen Rae and Jesse leave the room, Steve sighed, he had wanted to take Jo out on to the balcony. Jo looked at him. "You know I've been here before. There is another balcony lookin' out the other way." She took his hand and they wandered over towards another door. Jo looked out and smiled when she realised that it was empty.
"When were you here then?" Steve smiled at her as she pulled him out after her.
"I came to a weddin' reception. But that time I wanted to come out here to get away from someone, not be with someone." She moved towards him then and began to kiss him as she had on the Thursday night. Steve had no intention of stopping her and he could feel himself respond to her, there was something very special about this lady.
Gradually he pulled away from her. "Mmm, Jo, honey, I guess we will have to go back inside in a minute. But maybe not quite yet, huh?" He began to kiss her again this time on her neck, and he felt her body melt against his, and it felt so right to him.
Mark was talking quietly to Ron when he saw Rae come back through the ballroom, her hand over her mouth as she rushed away. Jesse came out after her and followed her out of the room. Mark went to follow, but realised that it would be futile.
Rae went out into the parking lot and straight over to the limo that had brought her here just a few short hours before. "Please would you take me home, and then come back here for the others?" She got in before the driver had time to answer and was relieved that they drew away before Jesse got to them.
Jesse went back into the room, saw Mark walking towards him and went over to meet him. "Mark, I'm sorry, but I have to go. I'll see you at the hospital tomorrow."
"Jesse, what happened? Is Rae alright?" Mark sounded concerned.
"Yeah, it's just something that I have to deal with, Mark. I will tell you when I have more time. Which I may have real soon."
Jesse turned from him and walked out to the main desk and asked the receptionist to order him a cab, then he walked over to the door and waited, trying to work out all the time what had gone wrong.
By the time Jo and Steve came back into the room both Rae and Jesse had long since left. Mark, Ron and Amanda were all dancing and they sat quietly together at the empty table. "Jo, let me know if you want to leave before the end, only my dad always stays until the band packs up!"
"Honey, I will let you know when I am ready to leave, but right now I would just like another dance." Steve stood up and escorted her onto the dance floor, but as he did so Mark walked over.
"May I have the pleasure of this dance, Miss Walters?"
"Why, Sir, of course." The next thing she knew Jo was being guided around the floor by a man who was obviously an expert dancer.
"Doctor Sloan, I thought your son was a good dancer, but you are exceptional, Sir."
"Mark, please call me Mark, and thank you for your kind words." Mark smiled at her; he was very taken by this young woman.
As they all walked back towards their table when the music ended Steve realised that Rae and Jesse were missing.
"Dad, where's Rae?"
"She and Jesse went home, Son. Separately."
"Oh." Suddenly Steve felt his mood dip. They had been having such a great time, he wondered what had happened. He decided then and there to go and visit with Rae in the morning and find out if there was anything he could do to help her. He knew she would do the same for him.
It was only another half an hour before Steve and Jo found themselves alone in the back of the limousine.
"What happened, Steve? I thought they went out on the balcony for the same thing we did. Guess I was wrong."
"I have no idea. But I'll go and see her tomorrow morning. We don't have to start until eleven, so I'll go round about nine."
"Would you like some company, I don't know if it would be right for me to come. I wouldn't want to intrude."
"Well, you could see Rae and I could talk to Jesse, something is obviously up and I want to help if I can."
Jo smiled at him, and snuggled into his arms as they drove back towards Beverley Hills.
Steve walked her up to her door. "I hope you had a good time. That the dancing and the food and everything was ok."
"Oh, I think I could have done with a little more sugar." Jo had a smile on her face.
"Huh, a little more what?"
"Honey where I come from, this is what we mean by sugar." She put her arms around his neck and pulled him into a passionate kiss once again. The driver, sitting in the car, smiled to himself. He had had a very interesting evening.
Steve pulled himself together as he came up for air. "Sugar, mmm, I'll have to remember that. I'll pick you up in the morning, about half past eight?"
"Ok, thank you, Steve, I did have a real nice evening, real nice." She smiled at him and unlocked her door, blew him a kiss and disappeared.
Steve walked back down the driveway, a smile on his face, and climbed into the back of the waiting car. As he was driven through the streets of Beverley Hills, he realised that for the first time his car was just as good as anybody else's in this area. When he got out of the limo in Malibu, Steve tipped the driver and headed indoors. Mark was waiting for him, as he walked in the door.
"Alright, Steve? Did Jo enjoy herself?"
Steve still had a smile on his face. "Oh yeah, so did I, I had a great evening. Goodnight dad, I'll see you tomorrow."
It only took Steve five minutes to go through the shower and into his bed. He lay there for a few minutes going over in his mind the time he had spent with Jo, slowly his eyes closed, and he drifted off into a peaceful and contented sleep.
Jesse on the other hand was pacing in his apartment. He had tried to get Rae to open her door, but she wouldn't. He guessed that he had hurt her, although that hadn't been his intention and he had no idea how. She'd just suddenly become upset and then angry, and he'd gotten so tongue-tied he couldn't even ask her what was wrong. Now he wasn't sure if he would be able to repair the damage, not easily anyway.
As Steve slept and Jesse paced, Rae was lying on her bed in her own place, Kira was curled up beside her. The pillow was wet with tears, and her carefully chosen dress was in a heap on the floor. She closed her eyes, and tried to think about the first part of the evening, but she could only hear Jesse as he destroyed their relationship with a few ill chosen words. She knew that for her sleep wouldn't come, not for a while.