Sara opened her eyes slowly. Turning her head, she saw Jake staring at her.
"Morning." She whispered
"Morning."
She started to sit up but he pulled her down.
"We have to get up." she said
"But I want to stay here."
"You seem to forget we are here…" he cut her off by kissing her
When he pulled back, Sara was smiling.
"Then again, maybe a few more minutes won't hurt."
**********
Sara and Jake walked into the dining room holding hands. They headed for the long table where the other couples sat. Jake pulled Sara's chair out, waiting until she was seated. Then he pulled out his chair. He reached under the table, entwining his fingers with hers. He leaned over and whispered
"I love you Sara."
"I love you too."
Sara looked over, meeting Elizabeth's eyes. She smiled, nodding her head.
"Grace?"
She looked at Jake
"What would you like to eat?"
"Whatever you're having."
*******
When breakfast was over, Sara stood up.
"Robert, I forgot something upstairs. I'll be right back."
"I'll wait here for you."
Sara slipped out of the dining room and headed down the hall towards the lobby. Alana looked up from the papers she was filing as Sara approached. She stood up, moving to the other side of the desk.
"Grace, how are you. I was so worried when Robert said you were missing yesterday."
"I'm fine Alana" she said, "But I need to talk to you outside."
"I can't leave the desk,"
"Alana I know that you tried to help Shelby."
Sara watched as the color drained from Alana's face.
"How…how did you know about Shelby?"
"I want you to listen to me. My name is Sara Pezinni and I am a homicide detective from New York. The man with me is Jake McCarty and he is my partner. We are investigating your father as a possible involvement in Shelby's death."
"But Shelby isn't dead. Her parents sent someone to take her home."
"That's not true Alana. Shelby's family sent someone here to bring her home. A few days after she returned home, someone broke into her apartment and killed her. Now before that happened I know that you two were together just before she left. I need to know what you were talking about."
"I…I don't remember."
"Please Alana, it might be important."
"Shelby was…she was pregnant."
"Pregnant? Do you know who the father was?"
"It was…" she began, "She said he drugged her."
"Who Alana?"
Alana opened her mouth but nothing came out. He eyes widened and she fell forward. Sara caught her, slowly lowering her to the ground. A quick glance at her back revealed a small reddish stain in between her shoulder blades."
"Alana, I'm so sorry." Sara whispered
"Stand up Detective Pezinni."
Sara looked over her shoulder to see John Malfat standing behind her with a gun in her hands. Slowly Sara stood up.
"Now move slowly towards the building."
Sara dropped her arms to her sides but didn't move. He pushed the gun into her back.
"Get moving detective."
She slowly began walking towards the building.
"Back away from her Malfat."
Malfat grabbed Sara by the arm pulling her against him. He pressed the gun against her head.
"You back off or I will blow her brains out."
"Jake shoot him." Sara shouted
"John Malfat, you are under arrest." Jake said, moving forward with his gun trained on Malfat
"What's the charge." Malfat said, backing up
"Murder." Sara said
"You have no proof."
"What about Alana."
"Where's the body?"
Sara looked over her shoulder and saw that the body was gone.
"Then we will begin with fraud and work our way up." Jake said, still moving forward
"You forget one thing detective. We aren't in New York. You can't do anything to me."
Keeping his gun on Malfat, Jake reached into his pocket to pull out a badge. Flipping it open, he said
"Federal agent. You are under arrest Malfat."
He pointed the gun at Jake. Sara watched as he started to squeeze the trigger. She closed her hand and felt the witchblade cover her hand. Before he could squeeze the trigger, she knocked his hand out of the way. The gun discharged then fell to the ground.
Sara spun around, grabbing Malfat by the shirt. She held the witchblade up to his face.
"Are you going to cooperate or do you want to see what this thing can do."
He nodded his head. Sara opened her hand and the witchblade disappeared. Jake appeared a moment later, handcuffs in his hands. He handed Sara his gun. While Sara kept the gun on him, Jake handcuffed him.
"You have the right to remain silent…"
Later
Sara stood in the bedroom, packing her clothes.
I still don't believe that he is a fed.
Part of her was glad than he was there, but another part couldn't help but feel betrayed. He had kept a huge secret from her. She knew that if she opened her heart to someone, it would end up hurting her in the end.
"Sara?"
She stiffened, not answering.
"Sara?"
He walked into the bedroom to see Sara packing her clothes.
"Hi."
"Hey."
"So…strange day huh."
"Yeah."
"Sara I never meant to keep this from you. I wanted to tell you every day what was going on. The justice department has been building a case against John Malfat for years."
"And working in the homicide department?"
"It was the easiest department to slip into unnoticed."
"And they Danny got killed."
"I asked Joe to make me your partner because I knew that if I had to, I could trust you with my secret. I knew that you would cover my back."
"But you didn't trust me." She said, "Because you didn't tell me."
Sara closed her suitcase and picked it up. She started walking by the door. Jake stepped in her way.
"Move Jake."
"Not until you hear me out."
"There's nothing left for you to say."
"Yes there is." He said, taking a deep breath, "Sara Pezinni, I love you. I love you more than life itself. I never meant to hurt you. I wish that I could take it all back and start over from the beginning."
"It wouldn't make any difference."
"I think that it would."
Jake grabbed her suitcase and set it on the floor behind him.
"Give me my suitcase Jake."
"No."
"I'm not playing Jake. I want my suitcase and I want it now."
Jake grabbed her by her arms and pulled her towards him. She struggled but he managed to keep her still.
"If you don't let me go I will…
Her words were cut off when he pressed his lips to hers. He continued to kiss her until she stopped struggling. Slowly his arms wrapped around her waist. He backed away to see tears streaming down her face. He wiped them away with his fingertips.
"Sara please don't cry." He whispered
"Jake just let me go." She whispered
"Sara I love you. I'm sorry I didn't tell you the truth. I…I don't want to lose you."
She slipped out of his arms and stepped around him. Picking up her suitcase, she whispered
"You already have."
Okay…not what everyone was expecting. It would have been so easy to wrap it up with a neat little bow and call it an end…but that didn't appeal to me. I promise to deliver one more part (hopefully by this weekend) that will make everyone happy…or at least that will make me happy.