Here's the next chapter. Thank you so much for the wonderful reviews of the last chapter. Rozzy, yours especially filled me with happiness - as the mother of two teenaged daughters myself, I can understand your pleasure in sitting down to immerse yourself in something a little easier to deal with! Every word in your review hit home, because what you described is exactly what I look for when I am reading and what I hope people feel when they read what I write.
To everyone, with thanks...
Too Good To Be True
By: Mariel
Chapter 17
Arriving back at the Bureau, Jack and Samantha found Vivian working at her desk.
"Terry not back yet?" he asked.
"He's been gone, come back for an early lunch, and then gone again," Vivian said, swivelling her chair to face her boss.. "He told me to tell you he'll be back around four or five. And before I forget: Janice called you. She needs a favour, and wants to know if you're busy this evening."
"Did she say what the favour was?"
When Vivian shook her head no, visions of Janice deciding on something new for his apartment made him ask, "She say where I can reach her?"
Vivian reached for a pile of notes and sifted through them. Selecting one, she passed it to him.
Reading the numbers, Jack nodded. "Thanks. I'd better see to this before Danny and Martin get back."
Turning, he walked towards his office.
Samantha followed him with her eyes. His quick response to Janice's phone call, she thought, said a lot. Knowing that he and Janice were a couple and that their relationship had steamrollered into a 'living arrangement' had thrown her more than she'd thought possible. She longed to know more, but knew she was no more likely to ask him anything than he was to ask her about Martin.
Vivian noticed Samantha watching Jack and commented, "He seems different these days."
Samantha nodded. With what seemed like an effort, she tore her eyes away and turned them to meet Vivian's. "He doesn't say much, though."
He can't, to you, Vivian thought. Aloud, she said, "Talking isn't always his strong point."
Samantha couldn't argue that. She had always known that there were things he didn't discuss; there were, after all, things she didn't talk about, either. Because it had been a mutual situation, she had been comfortable with it.
Perhaps they should have talked more.
Sighing, she tried to set aside the longing she felt. It was all in the past now. For better or worse, they had gone their separate ways - she with Martin and now, apparently, Jack with Janice. She hardly had grounds to complain or criticize.
Vivian felt saddened as she watched emotions flit across the younger woman's features. She truly believed that the way things were now was for the best, but had to admit no one seemed very happy. Remembering her harsh words towards Jack about his treatment of Samantha, she knew she'd been right to say them, but wondered, considering what she was seeing now between Samantha and Jack, if perhaps she had not known all the facts of their relationship and its demise...
Inhaling deeply, she asked, "Did you eat before coming back?"
Samantha shook her head.
It was, Vivian thought, a sign of the times.
"Then why don't you go grab something, and then come back and lend me a hand? I've come up with some pretty interesting information!"
Shaking herself from her thoughts, Samantha saw the controlled excitement in the older woman's eyes and smiled. "Sounds good. I'll be right back!"
-XXX-
When Danny and Martin returned about an hour later, Jack was still in his office. Not all the past sixty minutes had been spent talking with Janice - a good part of it had been spent wondering how she had talked him into what she'd just talked him into.
"Ask Terry!" he'd told her.
"I did. He can't. This is the first time I've asked you to do something like this," she said, "and it would really get me out of a jamb. It's only for a few hours," she said in her best wheedling voice, "Surely you can spare that?"
He could, and honesty and friendship made him admit, "Yes, as things stand now, I can. But I'm not going to like it. And if we're making points here, this isn't the first time - if I remember correctly, I and my whole team are expected to 'help you out' in a couple weeks."
She laughed, relieved he was able, if not terribly willing. "How could I have forgotten! But don't worry, love - you're going to have almost as good a time tonight as you will in October!" she promised. "I'll take care of everything - you just be ready to get changed by 7:00. I'll bring everything there, okay?"
He mentally calculated how long it would take to clear everyone out for the night, and said, "Make it 7:15."
Knowing the best tactic with Jack was to leave while you were ahead, she agreed and hung up.
"We found him," Danny said.
Shaken from his thoughts, Jack looked up to see Danny casually leaning against his office's door frame.
"Martin with you?" he asked.
When Danny nodded the affirmative, he said, "Then let's sit down with everyone and compare notes. Let the others know."
After Samantha filled everyone in on their conversation with Victoria Newbury, and Martin and Danny recapped their visit with Stephano Rossi, Jack said, "So we're all waiting, then."
Martin rested his forearm on the table in front of him and said, "Since they're so tied into this together, I'd lay money that Stephano and Victoria are having a conversation with each other right now. They both obviously needed to speak to someone before they talked to us again. Maybe they're consulting with each other."
Jack nodded, "You may be right. It'll be interesting to see how their stories connect when we speak with them again." Seeing a restless movement out of the corner of his eye, he turned to Vivian and smiled. "Okay, you've been quiet, but you look like the cat that swallowed the cream. Find anything of interest?"
Both Vivian and Samantha had been listening attentively, but it was apparent that there was something else on their minds. By the look on Vivian's face, he'd saved the best for last.
Vivian grinned. "Hold on to your seat. I can't believe what I came up with this morning. I remembered your mentioning that Georgina and Stephano knew each other in high school, so I started my research there. They more than knew each other; apparently, they were quite an item for a couple of years. Everyone thought they'd marry for sure. Then, when Georgina was in Grade Twelve, they broke up - quite abruptly." She paused and looked around the room, obviously enjoying the next piece of information she was about to deliver.
"The breakup occurred shortly after Georgina and Victoria's father was murdered," she said.
Jack frowned. "Her father was murdered? How did we not know that? The report I read said her parents were deceased, but that's all."
"The report you read is recent, and if it's the same one I read, it didn't deal much with the two women's pasts. Most people don't know about her father. Think about it: neither Victoria nor Georgina associate with the people they grew up with, and the circle they're in now...well, it wouldn't be something either of them would bring up over cocktails."
Here, Samantha piped up. "Vivian thought it was odd that it wasn't mentioned in newspaper articles. When I spoke with the reporter at the Gazette who covered the murder at the time, I asked why there was never mention made of it. He said there were two reasons as far as he knew: one, was that the two women are quite liked by the press, and considering the good they do, it would be churlish to bring up something that would cause them distress, and two, their husbands are influential enough they could make lives extremely difficult if their wives were caused distress by something they brought up."
Looking at her notes, Vivian continued, "And there's more. They also have a stepmother, who is still living."
"Stepmother?"
Vivian nodded. "Yeah. These people are just full of surprises. It's quite a history they have. When they were about ten, their mother died. It was a suspicious death, but nothing concrete was ever proved. I had a look at the post mortem report. If you ask me, I'd say she was an abused wife. The coroner had his suspicions, too, but nothing could be proven."
Jack's eyebrows rose. "You looked at her post mortem?"
She shrugged. "I got interested. They faxed it over." The excitement in her eyes belied her nonchalant manner.
Jack smiled at the enjoyment Vivian was getting out of her research results. The M.E. didn't just 'fax over' information like that. She'd have had to do some pretty good talking. He wondered what strings she'd pulled. Deciding to question her methods at a later date, he said, "Okay, so you've got our attention. What else did you find out?"
"The stepmother was Filipino, and the two girls apparently doted on her."
Jack sat back in his chair. "Yet we've never heard of her existence."
Vivian shrugged. "I'm sure Victoria Newbury would say that the topic never arose and wasn't relevant, anyways. According to a neighbour, the stepmother returned to the Philippines shortly after her husband's death. I did some checking around, and it looks like both Georgina and Victoria have visited her regularly over the past fifteen years or so."
Danny gave a low whistle. "They've been quiet about it"
Vivian nodded. "When it comes to their past, they're quiet people."
Returning to the topic of the father's death, Jack asked, "Was the murderer caught?"
Vivian shook her head. "No. And no motive was ever found. He was discovered in his backyard with his head beaten in. The shovel he'd been hit with was lying nearby. No prints, no witnesses, no motive, no nothing."
Intrigued, Martin said, "You say they don't have anything to do with any of the people who knew them when they were younger. What about Stephano?"
"He's the exception. According to a neighbour, it's probably because he's come up in the world, too, and travels in the same circles."
"A neighbour's your font of information?" Jack asked.
Vivian nodded. "She was a gold mine, believe me. She seems to have thought a lot of the two girls - they babysat for her occasionally, and I think she acted as a kind of surrogate mother until their father remarried a couple years after his wife's death. She watched them grow up. She liked Stephano, and commented that no one could understand what happened between him and Georgina. According to her, they seemed perfect for one another. She blamed the stress of Georgina's father's death on the breakup."
Jack nodded, trying to assimilate all the information. "So far, we've got two women with rich, prominent husbands whose mother died suspiciously and whose father was murdered. We've discovered a Filipina stepmother who's back in the Philippines and never spoken of, and an ex-boyfriend who's suspected of being in the Mob, but who apparently is also helping them secure new identities for the women they're protecting. What else have you got?"
Vivian looked at him in mock disbelief. "You want more?"
His lips curved upwards. "Always."
Vivian shook her head and smiled. "Some people are never happy. I'm afraid until I talk to a few more people, that's it. But I figure it's enough to add some interesting colour to things."
Jack grinned inwardly. Vivian: goddess of the understatement.
"So how does this fit in with the murdered Filipino women?" asked Danny.
"I've no idea," Jack said. "Maybe one of us will learn something this afternoon, when we talk to Rossi and Victoria again." The circle, he thought, was definitely tightening. Wait 'til Terry heard. He'd love it.
"Vivian, that was beautiful work."
She nodded, pleased with herself and what she'd learned. "I'll work a couple more hours on this, then head home, if that's all right," she told him. "I've got a couple things I want to do with the family tonight."
Again, Jack smiled at her. "Not a problem," he said, pleased that that was one down and just three more to get out of the building before 7:15.
-XXX-
Jack and Samantha were just getting ready to leave for their appointment with Victoria when Terry returned. Turning to Vivian, Jack said, "Before you head home, could you fill him in on what you learned today?"
When Vivian nodded, he and Samantha headed for the elevator.
As the elevator made its way downward, Jack looked at his watch. "I'd like to be back by 7, if we can. You can head straight home from Victoria Newbury's office, if you like."
Samantha looked at him curiously.
"You have something planned for this evening?"
She couldn't interpret the look that flashed across his features before he answered smoothly, "Yeah."
She waited expectantly for more, but nothing more came. They finished the ride to the main floor in silence.
-XXX-
Ushered into Victoria Newbury's office by Victoria herself, Samantha and Jack were surprised by the unexpected presence of Stephano Rossi.
Recognising him from his pictures, Jack spoke first. "Mr. Rossi," he said in greeting.
Stephano rose from a chair that had been placed to the left of Victoria's desk and stepped forward. "You must be Agent Malone," he said, extending his hand. When the two men finished shaking hands, Victoria completed the introductions by introducing Samantha. Once that was done, Stephano told Jack, "I phoned Agent Taylor a few moments ago to let him know I'm meeting with you here. I know he was expecting my call."
Jack's estimation of the man in front of him rose. Rossi's considerate phone call meant that if Danny and Martin were not waiting for a phone call, they might be long gone by the time he got back to the office.
Setting personal issues aside, Jack moved forward as Victoria indicated he and Samantha should again take the seats they had occupied a few hours before.
"I have the files you requested," Victoria told them. "We have decided to be as open with you as we can. We ask one thing of you, however." Glancing at Stephano, she continued, "and that is that you keep everything you can - including our involvement - out of any official documents, if possible."
Jack frowned. Samantha looked at him silently, her eyes urging him to agree. She had immediately understood the reasons for their wanting not to go 'public', and hoped that Jack would understand, too.
Stephano, seeing the silent exchange, pressed forward with his case. "Mr. Malone, you know that what we do for these women is important. If you want to be dramatic, you could even say lifesaving. We provide a very necessary service, and do nothing that the women wouldn't do themselves if they had the knowledge and the financial resources. It's not law enforcement's fault that it can't protect all women from their abusers. We help in a way the police and other social services cannot. We can't continue if it is advertised that 'this' is what we are doing, and that 'this' is how we are doing it."
Jack remained silent a moment. Glancing at Samantha before he spoke, he finally said, "I understand that if your involvement were made public, the network would most likely shut down. I'm willing to do what I can to protect your activities, but if push comes to shove, I can give no promise your names won't come up in my reports."
Samantha eyes widened at what Jack had just agreed to. Relaxing tension she hadn't realised she'd held, she sat back in her chair, loving him all over again for being a man who was willing to do what was right, even if it wasn't the 'right' thing to do.
Stephano looked at Jack a long moment, then proved he was a man who did his homework by nodding slowly. "I have been told you're a man who can work outside the box," he said. "Thank you for the consideration, at least."
Looking at Victoria, he said, "So where do you want to start, Victoria?"
Victoria looked at the two agents. "Perhaps where our guests want us to?"
"First, we'd like to know how you got started doing what you're doing," Jack said. He was certain it was rooted in their youth, and he wanted to know her version of the story.
Stephano surprised them by quickly speaking first. "That's an unexpected question - certainly not one we'd considered discussing. Surely it's more important that I can tell you about the woman Georgina planned to meet the night she was killed, and where you can get information about her in Houston," he said in a helpful tone.
Jack shook his head. "I want to know how it got started. Then you can tell me the details of recent events."
Still Stephano hesitated. Finally, he said, "Then you must ask Victoria. That would be her story, not mine."
End
Chapter 17