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Author's Note: Kind of a boring chapter, but
they can't all be Vaughn & Syd!
Chapter Sixteen – Returns
The following Monday, Sloane returned to work as
expected. The first thing he did was meet
with Jack for a briefing of what had happened in his absence. Outwardly, Sloane acted no different than
usual. Calm, cool, restrained. Only when Jack informed him that they had
acquired several new Rambaldi artifacts, did Sloane show interest.
When the briefing was complete Jack ventured into personal
issues. "How are you doing, Arvin?"
"Honestly, Jack, I'm very glad to be back. It is a welcomed distraction. When I'm at home, all I think about is
Emily."
Having been through the same experience, Jack nodded
knowingly. "I'm constantly reviewing
our life together," Sloane said sadly.
A small smile crossed his lips, "Do you remember when the four of us
went on that vacation to Acapulco?"
"That was so long ago," Jack commented with a touch of melancholy.
"Yes it was. But
those were good times," Sloane mumbled as he thought back to the trip. "Do you remember how Emily and Laura
insisted in stopping at every flea market we came across?" Sloane laughed.
Thinking back to his life with Laura was painful, but Jack
indulged him. "Yes. You and I would sit and drink beer while
they haggled with the merchants."
"Warm beer most of the time," Sloane added. "And they kept buying those hideous
necklaces…!"
Jack let out a laugh, "They were awful. I'm certain Laura threw them out within a
month's time." Jack shook his head
remembering Laura's odd attraction to flea markets. They had the means to buy most anything and yet she still went to
flea markets at least twice a month.
Usually, she came home with several odd items. He wondered what happened to all that stuff. There were very few things to go through
after she died.
A spark of recognition ignited in his brain. Suddenly Jack remembered where he had seen
the Rambaldi necklace. Laura had bought
it at a flea market. She gave the inner
pendant to Sydney and kept the outer pendant.
He scoured his memory. He
couldn't remember Laura ever wearing it, but he also couldn't remember finding
it in her possessions after her death.
Sydney, however, wore her pendant every day for three
years after Laura's death. But he
hadn't seen Sydney wear it in years.
*****
When Jack got home that night, he searched through the few
boxes of Laura's stuff that he had kept.
Then he searched through Sydney's bedroom. He found nothing.
Jack requested a meeting with Vaughn and Sydney the next
day. They met at headquarters. Jack told them what he remembered about the
necklace and they showed Sydney a copy of the Rambaldi page. They were not surprised that Sydney did not
remember it. That night, Sydney
searched her house for it. She couldn't
find the necklace or anything else related to her mother. She must have gotten rid of everything
associated with her mother when she learned the truth.
Even though they assumed the necklace to be lost, at her
next session with Carson, they tried using hypnosis to find it. Everyone was thrilled when under hypnosis,
Sydney remembered saving some of Laura's things including the necklace. She had stored them in a safety deposit box. She kept the key for the box hidden away in
her jewelry box.
That Saturday, Jack accompanied Sydney to the bank to
retrieve the necklace. They were
careful to make sure that they were not followed to the bank or back to CIA
headquarters. They delivered the piece
to Schulte, who was fast becoming an expert on Rambaldi and his work. He was leading the Tech Services analysis of
all the Rambaldi artifacts in the CIA's possession. Jack had never seen anyone in the Tech Services division ever get
that excited.