Here's chapter 9. And I bet all you Ian/Sara shippers are wanting to bludgeon me right now. Don't fret. And as far as Ian dancing, well, think of it like this: club is dark, loud and crowded, can't see anyone very well unless you're near them, and seriously folks, it's ridiculous how little movement is necessary to qualify as dancing in this day and age.
Anyhoo, disclaimer, again. The Witchblade and the characters from the series are not mine, etc.,etc., etc.,. So don't hurt me.

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Jake was the first to wake up. It took him a minute to realize where he was, and then another full minute to remember that he was working the late shift again and he needn't panic about being late for work. He considered going back to sleep, but it was a nice morning, so he neatened up the couch and went over to the kitchen to start some coffee. Real, caffeinated coffee this time.
Once he had the coffee brewing, Jake went over to check on Sara. She was in bed fast asleep, with Adrienne, fully dressed, conked out next to her. Judging from her attire, Jake figured he had been right about Adrienne's activities the previous night.
Just as Jake was sitting down at the kitchen table with his coffee, Adrienne wandered over, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
"Oh, good morning Detective."
"Good morning yourself. Have a pleasant evening?" He meant the question more as a tease than anything, but she considered carefully.
"No, and yes. But fortunately the pleasant bit was the later part, so it balanced things out." She took her boots off and padded over to the stove to start the tea kettle.
"So what were you up to?"
"I had to meet with someone. Sort of an acquaintance of a friend. Didn't go to well. So I spent the rest of the night at a dance club to cheer myself up." Adrienne grinned as she sat down, and Jake smiled back.
"I even scored a few phone numbers and invites." Jake watched in disbelief as she reached under the neckline of her dress and took out several cards and scraps of paper; she must have been keeping them in her bra. Looking up to see the shocked expression on Jake's face, Adrienne laughed. "Don't be silly Jake. Where else was I going to put them? My coat was in the check room and my dress doesn't have pockets."
"I'm sorry, I just..."
"It's all right. Whatever. She walked back over to the stove to make her tea and pulled down a cereal box, still laughing.
Sara smiled when she woke up to see her partner and her sister eating breakfast. It was so simple, so ordinary, so normal. For this moment on this morning, thing were right. She poured herself some coffee and sat down. "Good morning."
"G'Morning Pez."
"Hmn muffing." (Adrienne's mouth was full) She swallowed. "How did you sleep?'
"Like a rock."
"Yeah, I can imagine. You were ready to keel over when I came in last night."
"Speaking of which, where were you?"
"Nightclub. I had to meet with someone...with someone who knew my mother. I was upset when I left so I stayed out. I'm sorry. I should've called or something."
"I guess. I mean, It's ok. It's not like you're 12. hey. I don't have to go into work until late today, do you want me to take you over to your job?"
"That'd be great." Jake looked a bit startled.
"You're here for 3 days and you already found a job? he said incredulously.
"I set it up before I came. Through my previous employer."
"Ah. So what are you gonna be doing?"
"Working with old books."
"Oh."
"It isn't necessarily as dull as it sounds. Oh, man, I need to wash up and change!"
When Adrienne reappeared about half an hour later, Jake was gone and Sara was mulling over what was probably her third cup of coffee. She looked up when Adrienne came over. "Ready to go?"
"Yeah. Here's the address. How do I look?"
" You look fine. Really, "Sara said reassuringly. "Now come on, lets get going."
They took the car, as Adrienne refused to go anywhere near Sara's beloved motorcycle. Sara even though she heard Adrienne mumble something about a 'death machine'. It wasn't long before they pulled up outside the book shop where Adrienne was to work. "Hah!" Adrienne exclaimed, as she read the sign. "Arts and Letters- a book store named after a racehorse. I love it already."
The shop was on a corner, the last in a row of stores. So, on the far side was an alley, on the other side a tailor's shop. Then there was an antiques store, a cafe, a hair salon, and an appliance repair shop. The other side of the narrow street was occupied by a brick wall that made up the back of a factory building.
"Thanks Sara. I'll get back all right myself. Call a cab or something."
"You sure?"
"Yeah. Go home and take a nap and a shower before you take up your sacred duty in protection this fair city." Sara laughed and drove off. Adrienne knocked smartly on the bookshop door. there was no response, so she tried the knob, and found the door was open, but stuck. She pushed, to no avail, and then slammed her knee against the door, under the knob. To her immense satisfaction, the door swung open.
Once inside, Adrienne pushed the door back gently, so it wouldn't stick again. The main room was cool, with dim lighting. She took a deep breath, inhaling the comforting scent of old books, ink, binding glue, and...tea. While slowly moving towards the back, where she supposed the office was, Adrienne was confronted by a bespectacled man carrying a pile of books. He was of middling height, rather wiry, and had white hair; but Adrienne could only place him between the ages of 65 and 80. She had always been rather bad at gauging people's ages. The man reminded Adrienne of an eccentric Greek professor she had once studied with.
The man looked at her with a puzzled expression for a moment. Then his face cleared and he smiled pleasantly. "Ah. You must be Adrienne. I nearly forgot you were coming today. Jim O'Connell spoke very highly of you."
"Jim O'Connell is a big softy, as I'm sure you know." Chuckling slightly, the bookseller agreed.
"Yes, yes, he is indeed. But in matters of business and academia, he is razor sharp. I must say, I'm so pleased to have the help. I hope you don't mind getting to work right away? I just received a shipment 3 days late and they need to be catalogued. I'll explain things as we go along. For know, if you could just enter the new shipment information into the computer (he indicated a battered laptop) and then into the log (he pointed to a binder), that would be most helpful. I like to keep two sets of records, and only one digital, just in case. Oh! I'm forgetting myself. Edward Green." He held out a bony, calloused hand, which Adrienne shook firmly.
"Adrienne Farrell. I'll get right on that late order." She happily attacked her task, and Edward noticed approvingly her gentle, almost reverent handling of the volumes.

Sara Pezzini's boss, on the other hand, was far from pleased with his detective; he called her into his office before she even checked into her own. Sara stood in front of the irate captain, motorcycle helmet in one hand, a satchel of case files in the other.
"Pet-sini!"
"Yes, sir."
"I would have addressed this yesterday is things hadn't been so busy. The day before yesterday. You better have a damn good excuse for bailing out at 10am!"
"Sir, my, uh, sister showed up, and-"
"Wait a minute Pet-sini! Since when do you have a sister?!"
"That's just it sir. I didn't know until she came to see me here, the other day. She's, well, my biological mother's youngest child. It was quite a shock. I wanted to work things out as soon as possible."
"Well. Certainly unusual circumstances. Don't make it a habit!"
"No sir."
"Where are you and McCarty on the Tuilliger case?"
"We went over all the forensic reports and photos again, and we were able to discern the murder weapon. We still have a pool of suspects and several possible motives, but the weapon should narrow things down a bit."
"All right then. Get back to work."
"Yes captain." Sara consciously tried to mask the irritation in her voice. Still, she thought, it was probably the most civil conversation that she'd ever had with Captain Dante. Having Adrienne around was definitely improving her outlook.

Adrienne was in heaven. She knew it wouldn't last, but as she ate her lunch in the back room of the store, she savored the past week in her mind. She had found her sister; found someone strong and beautiful who had welcomed her with open arms. Adrienne would do everything and anything she could to help her. She had friends, or at least the beginnings of them; Ian the Shadow, Jake, Amy from the club who was going with her to the Met that weekend.
And if all that wasn't enough, she was being paid to look after beautiful books. Adrienne finished her sandwich and moved back among the stacks where she had been shelving. "Enjoy it while it lasts, Rin," she whispered, addressing herself by a childhood nickname, "Because the good times never do." She smiled ruefully and went to retrieve a step stool.
Adrienne had an odd tendency to ignore the passage of time. Which was why she had no idea it was past 6, and so past closing time, when her new employer discovered her putting the last of the entries from the last book order onto the computer.
"Oh! Adrienne! I was so busy, and you were so quiet, it quite slipped my mind to come speak to you. And now you've gone and worked overtime on your first day!" Adrienne blushed.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't notice the time."
"No need to apologize. I'm delighted to find someone so diligent. Do you mind if we discuss the details of your position tomorrow? Scheduling and wages, and the like."
"Oh no, I don't mind at all. Back here at 9 tomorrow morning?"
"Yes, that's perfect. Oh, do you think you could run an errand for me? This evening or tomorrow morning?"
"Of course."
"Someone procured a few rare antique literary pieces for me, he's holding them for me at his shop."
"Antique shop?"
"More of a collector's curiosity shop. This is the address, and here are the names of the manuscripts. You'll want to see Gabriel Bowman."
"Ok. Tomorrow, then, Mr. Green?"
"Ed, if you don't mind. Mr. Green always reminds me of that mystery board game. But yes, I'll see you in the morning."
"Bye then."
Adrienne left, studying the address. she was about to call a cab from the nearby pay phone when she realized that the shop was within walking distance; she had noticed the street name when Sara had driven her in that morning. Fifteen minutes later, Adrienne was standing outside a green warehouse door.