STAGE 1

PART 4

Jane walked back to her desk, shaking her head at the perp they had finally detained. 'That had to be the most violent way to ask to use the bathroom I have ever seen,' she laughed to herself.  She sat down and was reaching for the file she had been working on earlier when her hand hit something, nearly knocking it over.  With some fast moves she managed to right it before any of the water had spilled.

"What the hell….?" She muttered as she stared at what looked like a jelly jar with pansies and snapdragons beaming up at her.  She picked it up to see if there were any marks or anything to tell her who could have left it and spied a piece of dusty, yellowed stationary on the desk underneath.  She shot a quick look around to make sure no one was watching and then picked it up.  Flowing across it was a beautiful collection of slanted loops and lines that read:


Pansies and snapdragons

For sweetness and fire

They are the traits

I have come to desire

Jane re-read the passage several times, tracing the words, before she realized what she was doing.  She had just folded the note and put it in her pocket when Sam came up.

"Hey partner.  Where'd the flowers come from?"  He asked slightly suspicion for her sake.

Jane shrugged and lied, "Saw them on the way in and decided they were pretty."

"Yeah, well whatever floats your boat.  Come on, we got crime scene to visit," Sam said off handedly as he gathered their stuff and ushered her out the door.

Up above in the precinct attic Tarzan was having the devil's own time trying to keep from jumping all over the place in joy.

'She took the note!  She took the note!'  He kept babbling to himself as he got out of there and headed straight to Tanta's to report.  When he got there he saw her working in her garden, her faithful Louisville Slugger resting on the ground beside her within easy reach.  John hopped over the wall and landed right behind.  Next thing he knew he was starring at the business end of the bat where he stopped it an inch from his head.

'Okay, note to self, don't sneak up on Tanta anymore.  She's faster than she looks,' he thought as he grinned sheepishly at her.

"Dang you, boy!  Don' you know I could have taken your pretty head off.  Whatcha doin' sneakin' up on poor old Tanta like that?"  She half yelled as she jerked the bat out of his hand and dropping it on the ground so her hands could be free to perch on her hips.  Tarzan's grin turned from sheepish to pure, delighted mischief as he picked her up in a bear hug and spun them both around.

He sat her back on her feet and sassed, "You aren't old, you're in your prime."

"Don' you sass me, boy.  Now what kind of tom-foolery you been up to that you're this hyper?"  Tanta asked as the young man in front of her nearly vibrated from trying to keep still.

John started bouncing on his toes a little and told her, "She liked them, Tanta!  She liked the flowers and note."  Tanta just shook her head as she watched him lose his battle with his joy and bounced all over the place.  She moved to the patio chairs and sat down as she waited for him to quit swinging on anything that could hold his weight and come back down to earth.

After about ten minutes he dropped down at her feet and put his head in her lap totally exhausted but still deliriously happy and pleased with himself.  Tanta stroked his hair smiling gently when he started a soft purr.  Neither of them had any idea how long they stayed like that before Tanta broke the silence.

"What was that about a note?  I don't remember a note," she commented quietly, startling him out of the light doze he had gone into.

"Hum?  Oh, while I was waiting for an opportunity to get in there I decided to write a note to go with the flowers, to really throw her off the track," John replied sleepily as he sat up and rubbed at his eyes like a little kid.

Tanta smiled at the cute picture he made and thought to herself, 'So this is the big, bad, dangerous savage that everyone's suppose to be so afraid of?  That uncle is a very hateful man to want to destroy this sweet child.'

"What are you going to tell the sister?"  She asked shaking off that train of thought since it always made her madder than a wet hornet.

"I thought I'd do my adorably confused look if she asks," John snarked with an evil grin as he got up and brushed himself off.  Tanta laughed and made a swipe at his head, which he easily ducked as he said, "I'm going to have to go.  I just had to share all that with someone and you're the only one who knows who I really am."  John gave her another hug and a kiss on the cheek, promising to come and talk to her again soon.  With a final wave he hopped over the wall and started tracking Jane to her newest crime scene, ready to protect her however he had to.