16 – Echo's of Existence

16 – Echo's of Existence

"Hi Sarah, I hope every things good" Gabriel's voice was more then welcome to Sarah's ears, after the stressful last few days, she hoped that he had some good news. "Listen, I got the information you wanted on Excelsior enterprises. Apparently its major stockholder is also its CEO, a man by the name of Dovidi D'angitino. Basically he runs the company, has a fortune large enough to ransom several kings and still have enough left to be filthy rich. He's suspected of illegal arms dealing and supposedly has business ties with both Kenneth Irons and Armand Parsigie." Sarah somehow wasn't surprised, knowing already that if Dovidi was tied to Kenneth Irons, he probably wasn't a model citizen, but then again, so was she.

"And Jake?" Almost hesitantly Sarah had brought him up, when silence greeted her she knew that something was most definitely wrong. "Gabriel? What's going on?" Gabriel stayed silent, and Sarah's heart began dropping into her stomach.

"Sarah… I think you're going to have to sit down for this." His voice was grave, troubled, and at it's edges… perplexed. Sarah was already sitting, but pulled the car over just in case, the last thing she needed was car accident. "Sarah are you sure that Jake McCarty was his full name?"

Sarah nodded, then realized he couldn't see and mumbled a 'yeah' in affirmation. "I looked everywhere, obituaries, government databanks, I even hacked the police files, and everywhere I looked, all I found was nothing. I tried different spellings, Jake, Jacob, even Jacques. There was nothing Sarah, not even a trace… it's as if Detective Jake McCarty never even existed."

***

When Erik reported in to his superiors that day, they were extremely satisfied. He was finally getting close… and this time he was not to get too close to his subject. Erik hated this… it had all been a game before now, one that he'd been good at. For the first time, he had begun to feel guilt, begun to regret his duplicity. Drawing himself out of his somber reverie, Erik headed instead for his closet thinking that somewhere in that abyss he must have a tuxedo.

***

Gabriel absently stroked Snowflakes white coat, thinking how unusual it was for a Russian Blue to be white, as he thought this he also wondered just what type of game Jake played with Sarah… Just what type of man would treat her so cruelly? Gabriel cared about Sarah, in her he saw an echo of his own loneliness. Despite their brief acquaintance she was probably one of his closest friend, and when he'd called her today he'd felt almost as if he'd failed her. Determination surging within him once more, Gabriel returned to his computer, there had to be a way for him to help her, and at last he knew exactly how to.

***

For an hour after she'd received the news Sara just sat there in her car, unmoving. Gabriel had just confirmed what had been her worst fears about Jake, and everything about their relationship suddenly came into question. She wanted answers, wanted to know just who and what he was, but he was dead now… or was he? A million questions ran through, each bringing with it a stab of pain. At last she moved her hand to the key and turned on the ignition, she didn't want to deal with Irons, but even his company suddenly became preferable to that of thoughts.

When she returned, Colleen was waiting for her by the front door, an anxious expression on her face. "Oh Miss! Thank goodness you're back. It's four o'clock and nigh time you started preparing for tonight's gala. In a whirl of activity Sarah found herself being dragged into the house and upstairs to her room. "There's a nice a warm bath all set for you. It's already been scented and bubbled, just soak in there for at least an hour, then wash your hair. I'll come back up at five thirty ma'am." In the blink of an eye Colleen was gone, leaving only Sarah in her room. On the bed there lay a white robe, deciding that she needed to relax, Sarah quickly undressed and pulled the robe on before heading to the bathroom, pushing all prudence aside for the evening. She needed rest, needed to relax, and more then anything, needed to stop thinking.