A/N: As promised, here's the latest installment in the story. Better early than late, don't you agree? It's cliché, but here is where the plot begins to thicken. More familar characters make appearances in this chapter, too. I hope you'll enjoy it, but since I'll be out of town and very busy I won't be able to reply to your comments until late Sunday night at the earliest.
Although it was still early, the Plaza was a madhouse. People were milling all over the place and there was a long line starting at the Buy More. Fortunately, Chuck managed to find a place to park easily.
"Tyler Martin is really popular," remarked Sarah from the passenger seat.
"I admit he has a following," confirmed Chuck. "But I feel sorry for the guys in there," he added, motioning towards the Buy More, where several Green Shirts could be seen scurrying about both outside and inside the store. Off to the side, news crews from all the major networks were setting up their gear next to their vans.
"This has all the hallmarks of a busy day for me," said Sarah and unbuckled her seatbelt. She was already in her Double O outfit, minus the apron and the headband, which were waiting for her in her locker.
"Do you want me to come pick you up later?" Chuck asked.
"I'll call you, since I'm not sure how long I'll have to stay." She leaned over the center console and gave him a sweet kiss. "At worst, I'll take the bus to your place."
"We need to get you a car, Sarah. I'm serious."
She kissed him again. "You've already done a lot for me."
"At the very least, I can look online for bargains."
"You do that. But first I'm going to have to get a license."
"You will get one, in no time at all, I might add. Call it a gut feeling."
"Why don't you come inside for a moment? I want your opinion on something."
"Okay," said Chuck. His curiosity was piqued and he followed her inside. He waited sitting at a table until she'd clocked in and put on the apron and the headband. When she returned, she first checked one of the machines and then prepared a small cup of yogurt for him.
"Try this," she said. "It's the new coffee flavor with cookie crumbs sprinkled on top."
He accepted it and shoveled a spoonful into his mouth. "Delicious," he mumbled around it. "It's going to be a smash hit."
Customers began flocking in soon and Sarah got to work preparing their orders. Another girl sent from another Double O also arrived to help her handle the influx of people. Chuck waved goodbye at her and went to get his car and drive to the office. He was halfway to the door when…
"HELLO CLEVELAND!" The voice spoke with an Australian accent and it belonged to none other than Tyler Martin.
"Cleveland?" Chuck laughed out loud. "We're in Burbank, mate," he added in a horrible imitation of an Australian accent. Sarah, who'd just delivered an order to a table laughed and bumped him playfully with her hip.
"Sorry…" Tyler said into the mike. Apparently, someone had pointed out his mistake. "Jet lag is brutal and I'm still not completely awake yet. In any case… HELLO BURBANK! HELLO LOS ANGELES!"
-o-
Several hours later, the event was over. Sarah had reasons to be happy it had taken place, because the store had made a neat profit and both she and the other girl had gotten quite generous tips from some of the customers. Right now, she was standing outside the door, watching as Tyler Martin walked around the Plaza, greeting his fans, giving autographs and posing for photos with them. Eventually, he went to his limo and was driven to his hotel. If she expected the throngs of people to magically disappear, she was mistaken. Instead, many of them descended into the food court, the deli across the parking lot owned by a petite brunette named Lou, whom Sarah had talked to on occasion, the Subway, the Wienerlicious and of course the Double O.
When she called Chuck to tell him that she was about to clock out, she was exhausted. He promised to drop by and pick her up. Until Chuck came, she decided to do some cleaning up. June, the other girl, passed her by on the way to the door. "Sarah, I'm going outside for a smoke."
"I'll keep an eye on things here and start closing the place down."
"OK, thanks. I'll be over to help in a… Argh! What the hell is that?"
Hearing June's screech, Sarah rushed outside. Seeing what had scared the other girl so much, she smiled. "It's a dog. You're not allergic or anything?"
"No, but this one is huge!"
Sarah knew the dog and its owner. In fact, she was seeing them frequently as they lived nearby and the latter was a regular customer. "Hi Ilsa," she greeted the woman. "Want the usual?"
"Yes, thank you Sarah," replied Ilsa and handed Sarah some cash to pay for her purchase.
She went back inside and made Ilsa's order, putting it in an insulated to go container. As she went to hand it over, she saw June still pressed against the door frame and the dog pulling on the leash, trying to sniff her. "Don't be afraid of Ivan. He's just a puppy and he wants to make new friends all the time."
"Just a puppy?" June's voice went up an octave. "This thing is bigger than a goat!"
"He's a Central Asian Shepherd. He'll grow even bigger." She squatted down in front of the dog and petted him. He licked her hand enthusiastically and madly wagged his tail. "You're a good boy, aren't you Ivan?"
"Woof!"
"I'll take that as a yes," she laughed and scratched him behind the ears. The next thing Sarah felt was a sharp pain in the back of the head. She cried out in pain and knelt, her right hand automatically going to cover the injured area and screwed her eyes shut. She then felt something soft, wet and warm passing repeatedly over her cheek. She opened her eyes to see Ivan's nose as the puppy whimpered and licked her trying to get her to feel better, knowing she was hurt. There was a circle of concerned people around her, too. "I'm all right," she tried to reassure them. "What happened?"
"It was my fault," said an unfamiliar young man. "I work for a record company and we set up the event. We were packing up when I tripped on a loose paving slab." He paused and pointed to the offending slab on the pavement outside the Orange Orange.
Chuck (When did he get here, Sarah wondered) helped her sit up and look. She nodded.
"And the tripod I was carrying hit you on the head with the spotlight bracket."
"Well, it wasn't your fault," said Sarah.
"How are you?" Chuck asked her.
"My head is ringing a bit."
"I'm taking you to the hospital to get checked up."
"This will not look good on my insurance," she grumped, accepting his help in getting up. She swayed a little on her feet, making Chuck suspect she had a concussion.
"You're not a klutz, Sarah, just a little bit unlucky," he said reassuringly.
"Hang on a sec," she requested. "June, can you please get me a tissue? Ivan is a sweetheart, but I've got his slobber all over my face."
"Sure thing," smiled June. Off to the side, Scooter was mumbling something about calling someone to get the pavement fixed before any more accidents happened in front of the frozen yogurt shop. Chuck was supporting her with an arm around her waist while they both petted the dog, which was back to its usual cheerful, playful, cuddly self now that Sarah appeared to be okay.
"Do I have some competition here, Sarah?" Chuck asked jokingly as he drove out of the parking lot. "Ivan seems to like you a lot."
She shifted a bit in her seat and adjusted her hold on the icepack he'd given her from his car's first aid kit. "He's a very sociable dog. Ilsa is a commercial photographer and she adopted him back when she made a puppy calendar."
"The Naughty Paws animal themed calendars?" Chuck interrupted her. "I know them! She makes one every year. They are funny and in fact she's a bit famous because of them."
"So you do know of her."
He nodded. "She started out as a photojournalist, but decided that the art side of photography had a greater appeal to her. Come to think of it, if I weren't so worried about you, I'd probably have asked her for an autograph."
"I'll take care of that. She's a regular at the Orange Orange, so I can ask her for one."
"Thanks, I'll owe you one if you do."
"By my count, I already owe you plenty, so don't mention it."
-o-
At the hospital, Ellie immediately took over Sarah's case. They were sitting together in Ellie's small office, doing the paperwork after a quick but thorough examination, an X-ray and a precautionary MRI, which she had felt was necessary, given her patient's recent medical history.
"How's your headache?" Ellie asked after they completed the last form.
"Actually, it's not too bad. I expected it to get worse after all the paperwork. It's funny, isn't it?" She had a bump and a slight scratch on the back of her head, but otherwise she was fine.
"I can sympathize. Treating people is what I became a doctor for. Paperwork gives me a headache too. How much did Chuck freak out when you got hurt today?"
"He was concerned, but I wouldn't say freaked out, exactly, at least not from what I saw. I regained consciousness pretty quickly, which helped. From what I was told, he'd just parked and saw me go down. The girl helping me at the Orange Orange for the day said she'd never seen anyone move so fast before."
"Funny. I expected him to go off the chart on his freak out scale, given that the two of you are an item now. I noticed you spent the night in his apartment the other day."
Sarah blushed and looked down.
"Hey, it's all right. I wanted Chuck to find someone and I'm happy that someone was you."
"Thank you, Ellie. You know, he asked me something weird on the way here."
"What did he say this time? No, let me guess… He asked if the knock on your head jarred your brain into recovering your memories."
"How…?"
"It's simple: he reads too many comic books and watches too many movies. This is a recurring theme in a lot of them."
"I wish things were that simple," sighed Sarah. "But no, other than the bump and the headache, nothing came out of it. I didn't even lose consciousness."
"Well, you're good to go. Just don't overexert yourself or the headache will get worse. Also, I recommend no TV, computer games, internet, and the like for the rest of the day. In fact, I suggest you get plenty of rest and avoid alcohol or caffeine. If your headache persists, take some paracetamol and call me immediately."
"Got it. Thanks Ellie. I should be going now. Chuck's probably wondering what we're doing in here for so long."
"I'm coming with you. I want to impress upon him the need for you to take it easy for the rest of the day." She spotted her brother in the hallway, loitering near her office. "Chuck! Come here please. I have a couple of things to tell you."
-o-
It was already dark outside when Cole Barker shuffled tiredly into the office, hanging his messenger bag and his jacket on the coat rack. Alex was at her desk and looked up from her computer screen when she heard him enter. "Well? How did it go? Is she cheating on her husband?"
"Nope. It was a false alarm," he replied, loosening his tie and sitting down.
"So much the better. I hate it when we prove a spouse's suspicions."
"Me too. Well, at least we've got good news to give him and we'll get paid for it. He'll get even better news when she springs the surprise she's preparing for him. I won't give him any spoilers, just tell him his suspicions about her were unfounded. How are things on your end?"
"A whole lot of nothing," she replied. "I've spent a lot of time making calls, but since it was a long time ago, no one I talked to could be of much help over the phone. Looks like I'll have to go to the station and talk to someone in person."
"Which one?"
"I looked in Youtube and other video streaming sites. The ad had the logos of several TV stations, both national and local, depending on where it was recorded from before being posted online. With a bit of luck, the one nearby will be a good choice. I'll ask if they can dig into their records and see what advertising agency had contracted them for broadcasting the commercial. Of course, if any of the people I've already contacted call me back, as some said they might do, we'll go straight to the ad agency."
"Sweetheart, you are a genius, you know that, right?"
"It's good to be reminded from time to time," said Alex with a flirtatious smile.
-o-
"Moving on to other news, Australian rock star Tyler Martin made an appearance today in Burbank's Buy More Plaza to promote his latest album and in preparation of a concert in Los Angeles. According to Mr. Martin's representatives, more such events will take place in cities all over the country just before the already scheduled concerts. The lure of a VIP ticket hidden inside a CD for sale at the selected stores proved to be an irresistible lure for Tyler Martin's fans," said the news anchor. The camera focused on the long line of people outside the Buy More and there was also mention of the golden ticket treasure hunt, which had led to very high sales for the artist's latest album. Also shown were scenes from inside the Buy More and general views of the plaza.
Among the people watching the news that evening was a Latino man with an olive complexion, wavy black hair and a relatively fresh ugly scar on the left side of his face. He was also a guest of the government and thus was wearing an orange prison jumpsuit. Something in the news report caught his eye and he jumped up, approaching the television screen as close as possible, managing to take a better look before the camera moved on.
"No," he said hoarsely. "No, this can't be happening! The bitch is alive!" Unconsciously, his hand traced the scar on his face… a scar caused by a certain blond woman; a woman he thought was dead, until today. Still, he managed to collect himself and looked around to see if anyone else, a guard or a fellow prisoner, had witnessed his outburst. Nothing looked out of the ordinary, so he focused on more practical matters, such as getting out of the maximum security prison he was currently incarcerated in and exacting his revenge on the woman who had disfigured him not very long ago. As a matter of fact, he already had an escape plan, which he was going to put into action later the same night. He'd been working on it for a while, since day one in that prison – and it was good. No matter how tight the security was, someone with his skills and expertise was sure to find a way out.
-o-
Even though Ellie had given Sarah a clean bill of health, Chuck insisted on staying over to keep an eye on her. Although the blow had not been too hard, since she had already suffered one concussion not long ago, Ellie had recommended erring on the side of caution, even though she appeared not to have a concussion this time.
To make her feel better, Chuck had taken it upon himself to order takeout for their dinner and he also poured them both generous amounts of fruit juice in place of the wine or the beer they normally enjoyed. He carried the glasses to the comfortable chairs by the window. Sarah was sitting in one, having changed into her iris blue colored Carole Hochman Midnight Cocktail PJs. She smiled when she saw him approach.
"Sarah," he began.
She cut him off. "If you ask me how I'm feeling and if my head hurts one more time, you're the one who's going to be hurting."
"Shutting up now," he caved.
"Just to put your mind at ease, my head doesn't hurt anymore and I'm fine. What did you order for dinner?"
"I called one of my favorite restaurants, the Bamboo Dragon. I don't know if you like Chinese, but I took the liberty of ordering simple dishes."
"I don't know if I like Chinese either, but since I'm allergy free I have no doubt I'll like the food. I trust your taste, after all."
Their order arrived less than half an hour later and he carried a small table over to put the food on. They decided to eat straight from the cartons and Sarah took to the chopsticks easily. She also declared that Chinese was going to be added to her favorites list effective immediately. The banter over dinner was lighthearted, although she did express her disappointment (in the strongest terms) over his absolute refusal to partake in any sexual activities that evening. He was willing to cuddle, but this was hardly compensation for what she was missing. His refusal to allow her to perform even the smallest task such as cleaning up the table and throwing away the trash was equal parts endearing and infuriating. Indeed, she felt lucky he was letting her walk to her bed and not trying to carry her. Had he tried that she was sure she couldn't be held accountable for her actions, i.e. jumping his bones.
-o-
The following morning…
Director of Central Intelligence Langston Graham walked into his office to start yet another day at work. His assistant and his secretary were already there, ready to give him the first briefing of the day and pass on his orders.
"Good morning people," he greeted his subordinates. "What have you got for me?"
The assistant was efficient and he quickly rattled out facts about events and operations needing his boss' attention. "And this arrived just before you came in, sir," he said holding up a sheet of paper.
Graham nodded, encouraging him to continue.
"It says that Thomas Delgado escaped from the maximum security prison in Virginia where he was being held."
"How did he manage to escape?" Graham asked brusquely.
"Sir, he is a trained agent. The FBI and the US Marshals have already been alerted and warned that he's extremely dangerous and quite possibly armed by now."
"Crap. Was anyone hurt during his escape?"
"No sir. In fact the escape went unnoticed until the morning roll call."
"All right. I would like to see any reports on his escape when they become available."
"Yes sir."
Following the briefing, Graham went over the day's schedule with his secretary and dismissed both her and his assistant when he deemed everything done to his satisfaction.
-o-
Alex Forrest couldn't believe her luck when a parking spot was vacated right in front of her. She swiftly parked and got out, straightening her charcoal grey blazer. Her luck was apparently working overtime this morning, because she'd barely locked the car when she spotted a familiar face. "Mr. Turner," she called out to a middle aged man walking her way with his hands in the pockets of his suit jacket.
"Yes?"
"Hi, my name is Alex Forrest and I'm a private investigator. If you don't mind, I'd like to ask you a question pertinent to one of the cases I'm working on."
"I'm intrigued. Go on Ms. Forrest."
"Six years ago, you were in a commercial for a hamburger restaurant franchise."
"I remember that one," he interrupted her. "We all had a good time."
"Good to hear that," Alex said politely and took a photograph from her briefcase. "Do you recognize this woman? She was in the same commercial."
"Yes, she's a lovely young lady and a very nice girl to boot. Sarah I believe her name was."
"Um, do you remember anything else, like her surname?"
"Sorry, no. It's been a while and we were on first name terms on the set anyway."
She was disappointed and predictably so, but at least her investigation was on the right track. "Thank you for your time, Mr. Turner. Oh, could I please have your autograph?"
"Of course," he beamed at her. He was so flattered to have a beautiful young woman ask for his autograph that he forgot to ask why she wanted to learn about the young girl he'd worked with all those years ago.