I'm sorry it's taking me forever to update, I really am! My sport is almost over, so I'll have more time then to update.
Thsi goes out to Deathgirl997 for helping me over a mild case of writer's block. Thank's for the ideas, they really do help. Credit to you for this chapter and the next one as well.
Chapter Fourteen: Primum Non Nocere (First do no harm)
"There are three things in life people love to stare at: A rippling stream, a fire in a fireplace, and a zamboni going round and round"
"I love a zamboni"
"We all do"
-Grissom and Sara, respectively, CSI (The quote is completely random, but I thought it was funny, so it's being put there. Deal with it.)
Sissy leaned back casually in the chair. "Didn't we already establish that? Ulrich just said I'm a hit man, or woman in my case. I was hired to exterminate you two. I also threw the bomb in the mustang. A sweet car, I hated to see it go. Oh, well."
"Hired by who," Ulrich said in a low tone.
She shrugged again. "I don't know."
Ulrich slammed a fist down on the table. "How could you not know?" Yumi couldn't tell if it was a question or not.
Sissy stared at him long an hard, dark eyes burning into his own. A small smile played across her lips as she finally spoke. "I got a phone call with orders to come to this apartment complex and fire a few shots into this apartment. The intent wasn't really to kill either of you, but if one or both of you had died it wouldn't matter all that much."
Yumi didn't like the way she suggested that their lives meant so little. "So you just meant to scare us off the ruby hunt?"
Sissy blinked. "Ruby?" She thought for a moment. "Oh, that thing that everyone's in a uproar about because it got stolen. You two are looking for that?"
Yumi and Ulrich exchanged glances, and Yumi knew she'd made a mistake. Had clueing Sissy in that they were hunting for the ruby been wise? Too late now.
"Yes, we are," Ulrich said cautiously.
Sissy laughed. "Oh, don't worry, I have no way of contacting whoever called me. Besides, they obviously already know you're after the ruby, I doubt it matters much now who knows."
Ulrich nodded, she was right. "So where does this leave us?"
Yumi sat down heavily in the chair across from Sissy. "Nowhere. Absolutely nowhere."
Ulrich was still looking at Sissy. "Is there anything you can tell us about the person who hired you?"
She shook her head. "Not really, but the caller was a girl."
Yumi cocked her head at the younger woman. "That's not much, but it's a start."
Yeah, it only narrows it down to about half the population of New York," Ulrich spat.
"It's better than nothing," Yumi reasoned.
From down the hall there was the sound of a machine whirring to life. All eyes turned to stared down the empty hall, and then the girls glanced at Ulrich.
He shrugged. "Fax machine." Ulrich marched down the hall and disappeared into another room Yumi had yet to see, presumably the office. A few moments later he emerged again.
"It says that there's going to be a formal affair tonight that we should attend if we want to find the ruby. And it's addressed to Yumi. The place where the party is going to be held is on here too."
Yumi raised and eyebrow. "And who sent this mysterious fax?"
Ulrich shook his head. "No number or anything. I don't know how it's possible, but there's no way I can trace this."
Yumi snatched the paper and read the message for herself. "Completely impossible," she mused aloud. "Whoever sent this is good. Really good."
Ulrich smirked. "No kidding. That leaves us with one question."
"What's that," Yumi asked.
"Do you have a formal dress to wear tonight?"
Sissy broke in before Yumi could answer. "You don't mean you're actually going?"
Ulrich shifted his attention back to her. "Why wouldn't we?"
"Hello! Can't you see it? This whole fax is obviously a trap to set you two up. You could get killed!"
"Coming from a woman who just tried to shoot us, that almost seems funny," Yumi retorted.
Ulrich shifted his gaze back to her. "I'll change my question. Do you have a formal dress to wear tonight that you can tuck a gun into without being obvious?"
Yumi shook her head. "No, but I have a handbag that would match my dress very nicely that I can tuck a gun into without being obvious. Would that work?"
Ulrich smiled. "It would work very nicely."
Yumi nodded. "I'll head back to my apartment then and get ready."
Sissy stood up. "You're just going to leave? You're not having me arrested?"
Ulrich shook his head. "That would raise awkward questions about Yumi's....occupation. We'll just have to let you go for now. Just don't shoot at us again."
Sissy rose silently and exited through the door that Yumi was holding open. "I'll be back by five Ulrich."
"Okay," he said. Both girls left and Yumi shut the door behind her.
Ulrich looked around the apartment. It seemed strange for it to be empty now. Yumi's presence had broken the solitude that he had lived in for so long that her absence made everything dismal.
"How stupid," he chided himself. "She's coming right back." But she had walked out before. And for some odd reason, this time Ulrich wanted to make sure she stayed.
He walked into the living room and sat down on the couch. 'Let's go over this,' he thought. Grabbing a pen and pad of paper sitting on the coffee table, he began to write.
1. Vinnie's gang stole the ruby, and then it was stolen from them.
2. Someone hired Sissy to scare me and Yumi off of looking for it.
3. That someone may or may not be female. All we know is that a woman made the call.
4. Someone wants Yumi to go to this party for a reason.
5. We don't know what that reason is.
Ulrich sighed. "I agree with Yumi. No matter how much information we get, we have absolutely nothing."
