Disclaimer: The usual. I do not claim to own Witchblade or it's
characters (though I do have fun writing about them)
Sara awoke to the sound of her answering machine going off, followed by a very agitated Jake leaving a message. "Pez. It's Jake. You ok? I've been sitting outside your apartment for the past 20 minutes. Figured I'd call you first. I'll give you another 10 minutes and then I'm coming in there with back-up." he finished with a note of sarcasm.
Sara's head, and then the rest of her body, bolted up at the sound of his voice. She glanced quickly at the clock. Holy cow! How on earth did she sleep through her alarm? Quickly, she dressed and ran out the door to meet him. "Glad you finally decided to join the living, Pez," Jake joked. Sara just raised her eyebrows at him, warning him not to push it so early in the morning. Jake chuckled at her silent challenge and drove off to the station.
As they were driving, Sara glanced briefly at Jake and asked, "How are those bruises coming along?" A few days ago, she found herself rescuing him from a near-death beating by Ian Nottingham. Jake absently ran a hand over the cut on his cheek as he answered, "Better." He looked over at her quickly and added, "By the way, thanks again for not saying anything to anyone about what really happened." Sara teased, "You mean that you got saved by a girl?"
Jake looked in her direction at the implication. "Ha ha, funny, Pez. No, seriously, thanks for keeping quiet about Nottingham." He thought a moment before asking, "Why didn't you say anything to Dante about it anyway?"
'Good question,' Sara thought. Why did she keep quiet about Nottingham? Regardless of his so-called reason, Nottingham still assaulted an officer, almost killed him. She had pondered, since that day, if she kept quiet to protect Jake or Nottingham. In any case, Sara was just glad she arrived before Nottingham could do some serious damage to Jake.
Sara simply shrugged and replied, "Don't know. I guess cause he'd probably be released again by Dante or Orlinski, like earlier." Nottingham had turned himself in to be questioned on a double homicide a few days earlier. The shooter had never been identified. Orlinski had released him against Sara's better judgment because, according to Orlinski, she had no evidence. At least, that was the story he was sticking to. Sara had a sneaking suspicion that he and Dante were up to their eyeballs in something. The question was, what? And how in the world was Nottingham connected to them? Or were they connected to Irons, maybe? Or was Orlinski just being an ass to Sara? Sara had to shake her head to clear it. All this thinking before she even had her first cup of coffee was beginning to give her a headache.
Despite herself, Sara thought for a moment on what had happened in her office before Nottingham had been questioned. He told her he loved her. He then added, "In unguarded moments." Still, he said he loved her. Who in the world would say they loved someone in unguarded moments? What the hell kind of crap was that? As far as Sara was concerned, you either loved someone or you didn't. "Freak." she mumbled under her breath.
Jake heard her, barely. "Are you insulting me, now?" he asked. Sara looked up at him and gave him a tiny, apologetic smile. "No, Jake. I was just talking to myself." Jake teased, "Oh, so you're insulting yourself?" Sara teased back, "Don't go there, rookie. I can dish it out with the best of them." Jake raised up a hand in mock surrender, "Ok, ok, I give. You win."
Once they got to the station and got settled in their office, Jake got a call. Sara could only hear Jake's end of the conversation, but it sounded like great news. "You're kidding… You're not kidding? Beautiful… You just made my day… Yeah, later."
Once he hung up the phone, Jake flashed a Cheshire grin at Sara. "So, who was that, Jake?" she asked. Jake leaned over his desk as if for dramatic effect. "Get ready for this. That was Vicki down in Forensics. Remember that murder/suicide we've been banging our heads over for the last month?" Sara's eyes widened, "You mean the Lauderhill case? Did Vicki find out what we thought she would?" Jake nodded as he confirmed, "Yup, their son, Douglas, was the man behind it all. Wanna go get him now?" Sara eagerly answered, "Sure, let's go."
As they pulled up to 722 Melbourne Drive, Sara couldn't help but notice how much the place reminded her of Irons'. Then again, 1111 Faust Street was only a few blocks away.
Sara thought about the family that owned this mansion. Richard and Leslie Lauderhill weren't quite as wealthy as Kenneth Irons, but they were close. They had a "small" business involving computer hardware and software. They products were in every major department store and electronics chain across the States.
Douglas, their son, the person Jake and Sara were here for, was their only child, and far from the model of a perfect son. He was rumored to always hang out with "the wrong crowd," carousing for women and getting high on whatever drug he could get his hands on. Douglas' parents weren't too happy with him throwing away the family money on that stuff, so they just recently, 2 weeks to be exact, cut off all access to the family money. Now, if he wanted to buy something, he had to prove that it wasn't drug or woman related. Sara thought how, at 21, she had been busy holding down a minimum wage job and on her way to becoming a cop, unlike Douglas.
Jake rang the doorbell and the pair patiently waited. A young man slowly opened the door. He looked rather nervous. He should be, thought Sara, he's about to be arrested for murdering his own parents.
Knowing Douglas would not go easily, Jake asked, "Mr. Lauderhill? Detective McCarty, NYPD. We had a couple more questions for you." Visibly relieved, Douglas asked, "Sure. What can I do for you?"
Sara looked to Jake as if to say, "What are you doing? Just tell him already." She then looked to Douglas and simply replied, "We need you to come down to the station with us." Douglas stiffened and answered, "OK, um, sure. Let me just…" and abruptly tried to slam the door shut on the officers. Jake and Sara both raised a hand to stop the door and then bolted into the mansion after their perp.
Douglas knew the entire mansion like the back of his hand. He weaved in and out of rooms until he found himself in the area of the Olympic-sized swimming pool. He quickly went for the gate, but found it locked. His parents had always kept it locked for security reasons and since their deaths, he still could not find where his father had hidden the key. Normally, it didn't matter because Douglas would let everyone in through the mansion. Today, he truly wished otherwise.
He quickly looked around for alternate options. He couldn't climb over the fence; it was 10 feet high and electrically charged. He briefly turned around to look behind him; he couldn't go back into the mansion, either. The officers were catching up to him. He swiftly made his way around the edge of the pool to increase the distance between his pursuers and to give him a chance to think.
Jake and Sara approached the swimming pool. Douglas was on the other side of it and had nowhere else to go. "We've got him!" Jake gloated. Sara cautioned him, "Be careful, Jake. You know what they say about an animal trapped in a corner." Jake nodded in comprehension.
They slowly rounded either side of the pool towards Douglas. He continued to look between the two as they neared him. Sara approached Douglas first. "Now, Douglas, there's no need for this. You don't want to get yourself in any more trouble, do you?"
Lauderhill's answer was the swing of a lawn chair in Sara's direction. While Douglas was distracted, Jake had approached him from behind and tackled him to the ground. "Douglas Lauderhill, you are under arrest. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you…"
**********************
Later that afternoon, on the way back from lunch, the Witchblade started to swirl and glow. Sara received an image of an apartment building engulfed in flames.
As the vision left her, Sara glanced over to Jake. Lucky for her, Jake hadn't noticed anything. She asked him, "Hey, Jake. Can you hang a left at this next light?" Jake looked over at her and replied, "Yeah, sure, I guess. Why the detour?" Sara simply answered, "Just something I want to check quick. We can just drive by."
As they approached the building from Sara's vision, her eyes went wide in surprise and Jake declared, "Oh, my God!"
"Quick, pull over, Jake."
"But…"
"Don't argue with me on this, rookie. There may still be people inside and the fire department isn't here yet."
Before the car could come to a full stop, Sara leapt out and assessed the situation. "Call it in, Jake!" she instructed.
"My baby's still in there!" a young woman was yelling. Sara approached her and quickly asked, "What floor?" The woman was so hysterical that she simply blurted, "Fifth. No, Sixth."
Before Sara realized what she was doing, she bolted into the burning building and ran up the steps to the sixth floor. There was more smoke than she anticipated. Still, she was already there and could hear the baby crying hysterically.
Soon, the smoke was too much for Sara. The closer she got to the source of the crying, the more she found herself coughing. Before she knew it, she was on the floor choking on the smoke. She couldn't breathe. She was quickly losing consciousness. The last thought running through her mind was, "It can't end this way. It can't end this way…"
Sara awoke to the sound of her answering machine going off, followed by a very agitated Jake leaving a message. "Pez. It's Jake. You ok? I've been sitting outside your apartment for the past 20 minutes. Figured I'd call you first. I'll give you another 10 minutes and then I'm coming in there with back-up." he finished with a note of sarcasm.
Sara's head, and then the rest of her body, bolted up at the sound of his voice. She glanced quickly at the clock. Holy cow! How on earth did she sleep through her alarm? Quickly, she dressed and ran out the door to meet him. "Glad you finally decided to join the living, Pez," Jake joked. Sara just raised her eyebrows at him, warning him not to push it so early in the morning. Jake chuckled at her silent challenge and drove off to the station.
As they were driving, Sara glanced briefly at Jake and asked, "How are those bruises coming along?" A few days ago, she found herself rescuing him from a near-death beating by Ian Nottingham. Jake absently ran a hand over the cut on his cheek as he answered, "Better." He looked over at her quickly and added, "By the way, thanks again for not saying anything to anyone about what really happened." Sara teased, "You mean that you got saved by a girl?"
Jake looked in her direction at the implication. "Ha ha, funny, Pez. No, seriously, thanks for keeping quiet about Nottingham." He thought a moment before asking, "Why didn't you say anything to Dante about it anyway?"
'Good question,' Sara thought. Why did she keep quiet about Nottingham? Regardless of his so-called reason, Nottingham still assaulted an officer, almost killed him. She had pondered, since that day, if she kept quiet to protect Jake or Nottingham. In any case, Sara was just glad she arrived before Nottingham could do some serious damage to Jake.
Sara simply shrugged and replied, "Don't know. I guess cause he'd probably be released again by Dante or Orlinski, like earlier." Nottingham had turned himself in to be questioned on a double homicide a few days earlier. The shooter had never been identified. Orlinski had released him against Sara's better judgment because, according to Orlinski, she had no evidence. At least, that was the story he was sticking to. Sara had a sneaking suspicion that he and Dante were up to their eyeballs in something. The question was, what? And how in the world was Nottingham connected to them? Or were they connected to Irons, maybe? Or was Orlinski just being an ass to Sara? Sara had to shake her head to clear it. All this thinking before she even had her first cup of coffee was beginning to give her a headache.
Despite herself, Sara thought for a moment on what had happened in her office before Nottingham had been questioned. He told her he loved her. He then added, "In unguarded moments." Still, he said he loved her. Who in the world would say they loved someone in unguarded moments? What the hell kind of crap was that? As far as Sara was concerned, you either loved someone or you didn't. "Freak." she mumbled under her breath.
Jake heard her, barely. "Are you insulting me, now?" he asked. Sara looked up at him and gave him a tiny, apologetic smile. "No, Jake. I was just talking to myself." Jake teased, "Oh, so you're insulting yourself?" Sara teased back, "Don't go there, rookie. I can dish it out with the best of them." Jake raised up a hand in mock surrender, "Ok, ok, I give. You win."
Once they got to the station and got settled in their office, Jake got a call. Sara could only hear Jake's end of the conversation, but it sounded like great news. "You're kidding… You're not kidding? Beautiful… You just made my day… Yeah, later."
Once he hung up the phone, Jake flashed a Cheshire grin at Sara. "So, who was that, Jake?" she asked. Jake leaned over his desk as if for dramatic effect. "Get ready for this. That was Vicki down in Forensics. Remember that murder/suicide we've been banging our heads over for the last month?" Sara's eyes widened, "You mean the Lauderhill case? Did Vicki find out what we thought she would?" Jake nodded as he confirmed, "Yup, their son, Douglas, was the man behind it all. Wanna go get him now?" Sara eagerly answered, "Sure, let's go."
As they pulled up to 722 Melbourne Drive, Sara couldn't help but notice how much the place reminded her of Irons'. Then again, 1111 Faust Street was only a few blocks away.
Sara thought about the family that owned this mansion. Richard and Leslie Lauderhill weren't quite as wealthy as Kenneth Irons, but they were close. They had a "small" business involving computer hardware and software. They products were in every major department store and electronics chain across the States.
Douglas, their son, the person Jake and Sara were here for, was their only child, and far from the model of a perfect son. He was rumored to always hang out with "the wrong crowd," carousing for women and getting high on whatever drug he could get his hands on. Douglas' parents weren't too happy with him throwing away the family money on that stuff, so they just recently, 2 weeks to be exact, cut off all access to the family money. Now, if he wanted to buy something, he had to prove that it wasn't drug or woman related. Sara thought how, at 21, she had been busy holding down a minimum wage job and on her way to becoming a cop, unlike Douglas.
Jake rang the doorbell and the pair patiently waited. A young man slowly opened the door. He looked rather nervous. He should be, thought Sara, he's about to be arrested for murdering his own parents.
Knowing Douglas would not go easily, Jake asked, "Mr. Lauderhill? Detective McCarty, NYPD. We had a couple more questions for you." Visibly relieved, Douglas asked, "Sure. What can I do for you?"
Sara looked to Jake as if to say, "What are you doing? Just tell him already." She then looked to Douglas and simply replied, "We need you to come down to the station with us." Douglas stiffened and answered, "OK, um, sure. Let me just…" and abruptly tried to slam the door shut on the officers. Jake and Sara both raised a hand to stop the door and then bolted into the mansion after their perp.
Douglas knew the entire mansion like the back of his hand. He weaved in and out of rooms until he found himself in the area of the Olympic-sized swimming pool. He quickly went for the gate, but found it locked. His parents had always kept it locked for security reasons and since their deaths, he still could not find where his father had hidden the key. Normally, it didn't matter because Douglas would let everyone in through the mansion. Today, he truly wished otherwise.
He quickly looked around for alternate options. He couldn't climb over the fence; it was 10 feet high and electrically charged. He briefly turned around to look behind him; he couldn't go back into the mansion, either. The officers were catching up to him. He swiftly made his way around the edge of the pool to increase the distance between his pursuers and to give him a chance to think.
Jake and Sara approached the swimming pool. Douglas was on the other side of it and had nowhere else to go. "We've got him!" Jake gloated. Sara cautioned him, "Be careful, Jake. You know what they say about an animal trapped in a corner." Jake nodded in comprehension.
They slowly rounded either side of the pool towards Douglas. He continued to look between the two as they neared him. Sara approached Douglas first. "Now, Douglas, there's no need for this. You don't want to get yourself in any more trouble, do you?"
Lauderhill's answer was the swing of a lawn chair in Sara's direction. While Douglas was distracted, Jake had approached him from behind and tackled him to the ground. "Douglas Lauderhill, you are under arrest. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you…"
**********************
Later that afternoon, on the way back from lunch, the Witchblade started to swirl and glow. Sara received an image of an apartment building engulfed in flames.
As the vision left her, Sara glanced over to Jake. Lucky for her, Jake hadn't noticed anything. She asked him, "Hey, Jake. Can you hang a left at this next light?" Jake looked over at her and replied, "Yeah, sure, I guess. Why the detour?" Sara simply answered, "Just something I want to check quick. We can just drive by."
As they approached the building from Sara's vision, her eyes went wide in surprise and Jake declared, "Oh, my God!"
"Quick, pull over, Jake."
"But…"
"Don't argue with me on this, rookie. There may still be people inside and the fire department isn't here yet."
Before the car could come to a full stop, Sara leapt out and assessed the situation. "Call it in, Jake!" she instructed.
"My baby's still in there!" a young woman was yelling. Sara approached her and quickly asked, "What floor?" The woman was so hysterical that she simply blurted, "Fifth. No, Sixth."
Before Sara realized what she was doing, she bolted into the burning building and ran up the steps to the sixth floor. There was more smoke than she anticipated. Still, she was already there and could hear the baby crying hysterically.
Soon, the smoke was too much for Sara. The closer she got to the source of the crying, the more she found herself coughing. Before she knew it, she was on the floor choking on the smoke. She couldn't breathe. She was quickly losing consciousness. The last thought running through her mind was, "It can't end this way. It can't end this way…"