Chapter 6

"Good morning, angels." Charlie greeted. "I hope you enjoyed your break."

Charlie had dismissed them for the rest of the previous day, while he did the necessary legwork to begin this case anew.

"Good morning, Charlie." the girls greeted. Their voices indicated that they had not enjoyed their break.

"Jill, I've taken those snapshots you took of the photos in Moretti's home. The young man in the picture is indeed Anthony Moretti with his brothers Robert, whom we met, and Vincent. No word yet on the whereabouts of the real Anthony Moretti."

The girls nodded their head silently.

"Kelly, the list of names you gave me yields a few likely suspects for the man that Moretti had lunch with a few days back. The most interesting of which is Arturo Peralta. He's the one I'd like you to look into. This could very well be our murderer."

The girls turned as Bosley flashed a picture of a heavyset balding man in an expensive suit. He looked to be around forty years old and would not by any means be considered attractive. His mustache and beady eyes gave him a sleazy dishonest appearance.

"Wonder if he's single." Jill joked.

"I think you can do better." Bosley said with a smile.

"Agreed Jill." Charlie chuckled, clearly amused. "Actually, it's Sabrina that I want to pair him up with."

Sabrina snapped her head up.

"What?" she exclaimed.

"He owns a string of record stores in the L.A. area and he's looking for someone to help with finances. I want you to pretend to be a recent U.C.L.A. grad looking for a position. I've made you a resume and all the references listed have been prepared to give the proper answers. A call to the school will also check out. See if you can find out how he is operating and who works for him legitimately."

Sabrina nodded in complete confidence. The girls had long ago learned not to bother with wondering how Charlie managed to do the things he did. They just accepted it without question now.

Sabrina accepted a manila envelope from Bosley. A quick shuffle through its contents found everything Charlie had told her would be inside.

"Kelly," Charlie continued. "I want you to approach Mr. Peralta as well. You will also be looking for a job, but not a legal one. I want you to try to get in on his shady dealings. These murders were probably the result of a drug war. A few of the record stores that he owns are suspected bases for drug trade. It's very possible that he is masterminding the dealing going on in his stores, but he has yet to be convicted. See if you can find something to positively link him to it. Find out where he is getting his merchandise and how he's doing it. The more we know, the easier it will be to stop him. In your envelope will be a Washington driver's license and a list of the convictions you've been arrested for. A call to the Washington penitentiary for women will confirm that you served six months for theft and drug possession."

"Gee, Charlie, why did you tone down my police record." Kelly said dryly as she rifled through her envelope.

"I didn't want him to think you were taking over, Angel." Charlie laughed.

"What about me, Charlie?" Jill asked, leaning forward in her chair anxiously.

"Jill, I want you to do some reconnaissance work for this one. We need someone to relay information from Sabrina and Kelly and get to places that they can't. I need for you tail him everywhere he goes. The more information we can get about him, the faster we can bring him down."

"I'll be like a phantom, Charlie." Jill giggled.

"Alright angels, get started as soon as possible. We don't want to waste any time with this man. I'll be checking in with you later on. Goodbye angels."

"Goodbye Charlie." they chorused. Charlie hung up the phone.

Sabrina and Kelly spent the next few hours busily memorizing all of the information about their alter egos as they could and together with Jill and Bosley, they formulated a plan. By that evening, the girls were ready. They left early to get as much rest as possible that night. They would need it.

The next morning the angels met up at the office and exchanged contact information. It was imperative that they knew how to get ahold of each other in case of emergency. The girls went over the plan once more and then went their separate ways.

Sabrina pulled her Pinto into the street and headed for Peralta's main office. Charlie had secured her an interview there for 10:30 and she wanted to be early. She had dressed sharply in a business pantsuit and looked every bit the part of a young professional. Sabrina thought to herself for a moment and smiled. Of all her teammates, she was the most educated. Jill had chosen to put her sister through college in her place and Kelly had barely scraped through high school. Her disguise was basically what she would be had she not gone to the police academy. Her college days were not long behind her, she had graduated in May the year before last. She grinned to herself as she thought of her former classmates working their way up from the bottom. None of them had a career as rewarding as she did, she decided.

Somewhere between her thoughts, she arrived at the main office of Peralta Records and parked her car. She jogged up the front steps and went inside.

The building was expensively furnished, immaculately clean and made Sabrina feel like she was forbidden to touch anything. She noticed a receptionist's desk and headed over to it. The snooty woman looked up at her and then looked back down to her typing as if she wasn't there.

Sabrina cleared her throat.

"Hi, I have a 10:30 appointment with Mr. Peralta."

The receptionist looked up and pretended to have just noticed her.

"Oh, you're early. He's with another applicant right now so if you could just have a seat, he'll be with you in just a moment. We're so glad you're here." she said. Her foced smile said "go to hell" moreso than "We're so glad you're here."

Sabrina smiled back at her and took her seat.

At exactly 10:30, the receptionist's phone rang. She spoke to someone briefly and then hung up the phone.

"Ms. Duncan? Mr. Peralta will see you now." she called out looking around the room, though Sabrina was the only other person there.

Sabrina thanked her as she passed and walked through the office door. Peralta was seated behind a large mahogany desk, busily flipping through a thin stack of papers. He looked up as she came in and smiled. Sabrina was instantly struck with an intense dislike for the man and had this been a real interview she would have walked out right at that moment.

"Ms. Duncan." he said, rising out of his chair and crossing the room to her. "So good to meet you." He shook her hand warmly.

Sabrina noticed that he held her hand a bit longer than was appropriate. Peralta put his hand on the small of her back and led her to the chair in front of his desk. His touch made her skin crawl and Sabrina fought the urge to slap his hand away. Jill should have done this, she thought to herself. Her bubbly friend was much more patient and even tempered than she was.

Sabrina sat down in the chair and much to her discomfort, Peralta placed both hands on her shoulders and started to gently rub them. She clenched her teeth and wished for Jill's easy going "turn the other cheek" attitude.

"Relax." Peralta chuckled to her. "You new hires are always so tense." He removed his hands from her shoulders and went back to his chair.

Sabrina hoped her face didn't show her contempt. She hadn't been tense at all until he started touching her.

She forced herself to give him a shy smile, playing to what she figured was his type.

"I just want to impress, that's all." she said back.

Peralta looked her up and down appreciatively.

"You already have, Ms. Duncan."

Instead of rolling her eyes, Sabrina emitted a soft giggle.

Satisfied that he was in complete control, Peralta leaned back in his chair and opened the file Sabrina had brought with her. He raised his eyebrows and nodded approvingly.

"Summa Cum Laude, Finance degree with a minor in business? That is most impressive, Ms. Duncan." he said in a silky voice.

Sabrina smiled at him.

"Thank you, Sir."

Peralta laid her file down. "Oh, please, call me Art. Everyone who works with me is on a first name basis." he purred.

Sabrina looked shocked. "Does that mean I'm hired?"

Peralta nodded his head. "Yes, I believe I've seen all that I need to see. You can start tomorrow morning." he told her, rising from his chair again. He walked over to her and took her elbow in his hand. "Why don't I take you on a tour of the facilities?"

Sabrina let him help her out of her chair. She was amazed at how easily she had gotten her foot in the door. Peralta definitely had a weakness for women. She would have to play that weakness for as much as she could.

Without throwing up.

"Yes, I would love that. Thank you so much!" she gushed, looking up at him in admiration.

You womanzing jackass, she added in her head.

Peralta put his arm around her shoulder and led her out of the room. Luckily, he didn't notice her stiffen as she desperately fought the urge to elbow him in the ribs. She again wished for Jill's patience.

Oh well, she thought, at least Charlie hadn't put Kelly in her place. She would have snapped and broken both of his wandering hands within five minutes.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Kelly sauntered into one of the record stores that Charlie had marked for her. It was quite possible that this particular store was the front of many previous drug deals. Just as Sabrina was doing a few miles away, she wondered to herself if Charlie had purposely had her disguise herself as what she would have been had she not joined the police academy. She laughed to herself as she strolled over to a shelf of records and started flipping through them. Thank God she had. This hoodlum life was definitively not for her anymore.

Kelly strolled casually through the store, periodically shooting nervous looks to the clerk, purposely giving him the impression that she was a punk looking to steal something. With her torn faded jeans and worn jacket, she looked like any common street kid. She had purposely tied her hair back and not worn makeup in an effort to make herself look a few years younger. She looked around. There were a few other teenagers in the store. She hoped she looked young enough to pass for one of them. Moretti had mentioned that his boss had employed high school kids, so a high school kid she had become.

Apparently all of her efforts paid off.

"Hey you, you gonna buy anything or are you just hiding from a cop?"

Kelly looked up. A young clerk was looking down disapprovingly at her. He was probably her age and valued his job.

She glared at him.

"I'm just looking around like everyone else." she shot back.

He eyed her warily. Good, just keep watching me, Kelly thought to herself. Their plan involved her being caught stealing. Jill would walk inside in a few minutes to back her up and make sure she didn't get hurt.

Kelly continued to walk through the record store. She was pleased when she saw the clerk leave his post and head to the security guard who was reading in the back. He whispered something in the big man's ear and discreetly pointed her out. The security guard nodded and put down his newspaper. He did a terrible job of feigning disinterest in Kelly as he wandered over and stood a few feet away from her.

The shop door opened and Jill walked in wearing Sabrina's frumpy librarian outfit. She walked right past Kelly, pretending not to know her, and made a beeline towards the clerk.

"Where are your Donny Osmond records?" she asked him in a shrill whiny voice.

Kelly coughed to mask her sudden laughter.

Jill turned and headed towards her. "Excuse me, young lady." she said as she brushed by, purposely bumping Kelly with her hip.

Kelly glared at her.

"Watch it!" she snarled. The anger wasn't real, but she had to do something to keep from laughing.

Jill ignored her and muttered to herself as she pawed through the records.

The security guard gave Kelly a disapproving look for her bad manners and Kelly narrowed her eyes at him. She looked around for something to steal. Jill was in place, and now it was time.

She walked over to a tower of loose records and lifted two of them off of the rack. Knowing that both the clerk and the security guard were watching her carefully, she headed to the group of teenagers and using them to block her, she stuffed them into her jacket.

The group of teenagers made a poor cover. Kelly made sure to act very nervous and overexaggerate her actions so that her intentions were immediately obvious. Her teenage self would have been sadly disappointed.

With the hidden merchandise tucked away in her jacket, she headed towards the door. When the security guard started walking towards her, she willed a panic-stricken look to cross her face and suddenly flung the door open bolted.

"Hey, stop!" the guard yelled at her.

Kelly sprinted down the street, hoping Jill was following close behind. She looked back over her shoulder to make sure the guard was still behind her. She wanted to get caught and it would do no good to outrun him. To her dismay, his large size caused him to be a very poor runner and Kelly found herself slowing down to let him catch up. She looked over her shoulder again a few seconds later. Though she had slowed down considerably, he was still lagging far behind.

"Really?" she said to herself in disgust. She spotted some cardboard boxes laying in the street by an alley and looked back over her shoulder once more as she purposely tripped over them. She fell into a practiced roll to keep from hurting herself, and looked up. The guard had finally managed to close some distance between them. She got up slowly and made a half hearted attempt to run away. The security guard grabbed her by the back of her jacket and swung her around towards him.

"You should make sure to keep your eyes on the road when you're running." he growled at her.

Kelly played her part and made a weak effort to get away from him. There were a few people walking nearby and Kelly was glad for their presence. The security guard looked like he wasn't above hurting a teenage girl.

"Let me go!" she yelled as she thrashed against his grip. The security guard clapped his hand over her mouth and dragged her into the alley.

Kelly felt a sudden surge of fear, as she was pulled out of sight of potential witnesses. Hopefully Jill wasn't too far behind.

The guard slammed her into a wall. "Give it back!" he whispered harshly.

Kelly made a show of looking terrified as she unzipped her jacket and let the records fall to the floor. This didn't satisfy him.

"All of it!" he shouted.

"That's all I took, I sw-" She gasped in pain as he cut her off with a swift punch to her midsection. Kelly doubled over and sank to the floor. Her eyes darted out into the street.

Where the hell was Jill?!

The big man leaned forward until his face was right by her ear. "If you think I don't like thieves, wait till you meet the store manager. We have a lot in common." he whispered threateningly. He grabbed her arm and pulled her roughly to her feet.

"Is he as ugly as you are?" Kelly gasped angrily. His punch had hurt and she was quickly losing her temper. The security guard responded by twisting her arm behind her back. Kelly dropped to her knees with a cry of pain and frantically looked out into the street for Jill.

"Does beating up on girls make you feel good about yourself?" she shot at him through clenched teeth. She regretted it immediately when he cursed and raised his hand to hit her.

She really needed to work on controlling her mouth. Kelly flinched and waited for the blow.

"Oh! How exciting! You caught her!"

Kelly looked up. To her immense relief, Jill was standing in the opening of the alley, looking excited and out of breath.

The security guard lowered his fist and helped Kelly to her feet.

Ever the gentleman now that there's a witness, she thought wryly.

"Yes, ma'am, no one escapes me." he said proudly. Kelly fought back the urge to laugh. The only way she could have made it easier for him is if she had run backwards.

"Are you going to have her arrested?" Jill asked brightly.

The guard began walking, stringing Kelly along by her arm. "I want my manager to talk to her first."

Jill followed, falling in step with the guard, playing the part of the nosy bystander.

"Wow! That was incredible! Do they train you guys to chase down crooks like that?" she pestered.

"Uh, yeah." he mumbled back at her.

Jill crossed in front of them to stand at Kelly's side. "I hope you learn that crime doesn't pay, young lady!" she scolded. While she talked, she gave Kelly's arm a slight squeeze, asking if she was alright. She had noticed her friend's stiff gait. Kelly gave her a discreet nod.

Jill followed them back to the record store to make sure the big man didn't decide to get rough with her friend again. She had lost them during the chase, but had thankfully decided to check the alley. She was glad she did, the guard looked like he was about to hurt Kelly and she wouldn't have been able to stay in character for long if he did.

The manager was waiting in the front for them. Jill felt uneasy. The rest of their plan depended on how the manager reacted. He could see her situation and appearance and offer her a job as a drug pusher.

Or he could take her in the back room and beat the crap out of her. The girls, Kelly especially, hoped for the first option.

She smiled at the manager, hoping to soften him up for Kelly's sake.

"You sure employ athletic people here!" she gushed, her blue eyes widening. "You should have seen this guy run! The kid didn't have a chance!"

The manger humored her with an annoyed nod and turned to the guard and Kelly. He motioned them through a door and gave Jill a nervous smile as he followed them.

Jill watched them go, her throat tightening with concern for her friend. Kelly was a smooth talker, she would come through. That's what she hoped anyway. If not, she had her gun in her purse ready to jump in at a moment's notice.

"Here are a few Donny Osmond records, ma'am. When you're ready to buy, I'll be up front." the cashier said to her as he pushed some records towards her. She leaned back in surprise and then remembering her act, she thanked him and spread them out in front of her as if contemplating which to buy.

She stared at the records absently, her mind on what was going on in the back room. She hoped Kelly was alright.

The door led into a narrow hallway. There were two doors on the right hand side. Kelly guessed the smaller one was a closet and that the other was a break room of some type. The two men took her through the larger door.

Her guess had been right.

There was a table surrounded by a few flimsy wooden chairs. A baseball bat was leaning in the corner. The guard yanked one of the chairs out from under the table and slid it across the room. The manager led her to the isolated chair. Kelly felt a cold shiver run through her as he picked up the bat and hefted it over his shoulder.

"Sit down." he ordered, Without giving her time to comply, the security guard shoved Kelly into the chair.

"What's your name?" the manger asked her, idly swinging the bat in one hand.

"Kelly." she whispered back to him.

"Why are you stealing from me, Kelly?" he asked her calmly, as he walked around her chair. Kelly could plainly see that he was trying to intimidate her.

It was working.

"I need money." she said quietly.

The manger looked to the guard and laughed derisively.

"You need money? Why don't you get a job? That's how everyone else gets money."

Kelly shrugged. The manger was standing behind her now, tapping the bat against the back of her chair. She craned her neck to see him. It was an uncomfortable feeling knowing that he could knock her head off at a second's notice.

"No one will hire me." she answered him simply.

The manager considered this for a moment. He moved to stand in front of Kelly.

"Well, maybe this is your lucky day, kid." he sneered at her. "How old are you?"

"Eighteen." Kelly lied. She held her breath hoping she looked young enough to fool him.

He nodded his head.

"Why don't we make a deal?"

Kelly almost smiled to herself. This was going perfectly. She shifted nervously in her chair and winced as she felt a soreness in her ribs.

Well, almost perfectly.

"A deal?" she repeated meekly.

The store manager nodded his head. "Yeah, you seem like a smart kid. Not much of a thief, but you'll do. How about you work for me?"

Kelly put on a look of confusion. "Work here?" she repeated.

The manager gave her a contemptuous laugh. "No, not here. You work for my boss, run errands for him. Help him move the-" he smiled wickedly. "the merchandise." he finished.

"What merchandise." Kelly asked, narrowing her eyes. The man gave her a piteous look.

"Drugs, kid." he explained as if talking to a toddler. "You help him push drugs, get to places that we can't."

Kelly recoiled.

"No way." she said with a laugh. "Find someone else to take the fall for you."

The manager's smile faded from his face. "You don't have much room to bargain with, sweetheart. This is my final offer." he said menacingly. He hefted the bat from his shoulder and tapped it against the floor.

"Do I get anything out of it?" she asked, her eyes fixed on the bat.

The manager scoffed.

"You get paid, kid. The more you sell, the more comes back to you. You don't really look like you have a whole lot going for you anyway.' he leered at her.

Kelly looked thoughtful.

"And if I refuse, you'll call the cops."

He laughed again and tilted her chin up with the barrel of the bat.

"No, if you refuse, Arnie here is going to break both of your legs for stealing from me."

To prove his point, Arnie rested a hand on the back of her neck and started to squeeze. Kelly shifted uncomfortably in her chair.

"Ok, ok I'll do it. Call him off." she said hurriedly in a frightened voice.

Arnie released her. Kelly looked back to the store manager. His smile made her very uneasy.

"Good idea." he said. "Come back here tomorrow night at ten. The store will be closed so knock on the backdoor."

"Fine, can I go now?" Kelly asked, shifting in her chair.

"Yeah, you can go." the manager said. Kelly stood up and walked past Arnie to the door.

"Hey." the manager called out before she could open the door. Kelly turned.

"Don't think about ratting us out. We'll find you and when we do, it won't be pretty." he said, with a cruel smile. He took a practice swing, the bat whistling through the air. Kelly put on a look of fear and nodded her head quickly.

"See you tomorrow, Kelly." the manager called out after her in a sweet voice.

Kelly opened the door, glad to be out of the confining back room. Jill was still inside, looking around the store. She looked up briefly as Kelly walked back inside the shop and then looked back at her records. Kelly walked past her and quickly exited the shop.

Jill waited several minutes more, before setting her records down and leaving the store herself. She went the direction Kelly had taken upon leaving and looked around for her. She spotted her waiting by a street sign on the corner a block away and headed in her direction. As she got approached, she noticed a triumphant grin on Kelly's face.

"Kell! Are you alright?" she asked urgently, taking hold of Kelly's arm.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

Jill examined her friend anyway and was relived to see that she appeared to be unharmed. "So?" she prompted.

"We're in." Kelly answered. "I start tomorrow. The pay is alright, but it's really the benefits that seal the deal." she joked.

Jill laughed and steered Kelly in the direction of her car.

"So what happened in there. I about gave myself an ulcer waiting for you to come out." she asked as the two girls walked.

"Well, they were very persuasive. They gave me an offer I couldn't refuse." Kelly said slowly.

Jill narrowed her eyes in concern. "They didn't hurt you did they?"

Kelly laughed. "No, you saved me from that. Thanks, by the way. That guy was about to split my head open."

Jill smiled. "Yeah, I almost lost you. You and the slowest security guard in the world, and I almost lost you. I must be slipping."

"You lost us?" Kelly echoed with a horrified expression on her face. "Jill, I could have died happily without ever knowing that."

"Well, thanks to me, you didn't." Jill giggled

Kelly shoved Jill playfully and the two girls giggled as they got into Jill's car.

"So, mission accomplished here. I wonder how Sabrina's doing?" Kelly wondered aloud.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sabrina was on her very last ounce of self control. She had been groped, prodded, pulled and manhandled in every way possible throughout her tour of the facility. She wanted nothing more than to give Mr. Peralta a solid right hook across the jaw.

"And this is the conference room." Peralta continued, snaking his arm around Sabrina's slim waist. Sabrina held her breath and counted to ten. She made a mental note to never let herself be alone with him ever again.

"It's a lovely place, really." she forced herself to say.

Peralta nodded. "I just wish it was bigger, so I'd have more to show you. I really enjoy your company, Ms. Duncan."

Sabrina bit her tongue to keep from screaming in frustration.

"Me too." she said, batting her eyes sweetly at him.

"We'll have to get lunch tomorrow. On me, as a token of my appreciation for you coming on board with us." Peralta said with a wolfish smile.

Sabrina forced herself to smile and nod. "I'd like that, Art."

"Tomorrow then." he agreed. "Well, Ms. Duncan, I hate to part ways, but I must be off to tend to some things." He gave her a thick stack of documents. "Show these to the receptionist and she'll give you everything you need."

Sabrina accepted the file.

"See you tomorrow, Sabrina." he said, giving her an elegant bow.

She fought the urge the slam her knee into the side of his head.

"Goodbye, Art." she said, as she walked towards the stairs that would lead her to the receptionist's desk.

He turned and walked down the hallway. Sabrina headed down the stairs and paused for a moment. She shuddered. I need a shower, she thought to herself. Hopefully, she wouldn't have to be working here very long. She was more than certain that Peralta would be the type to oversee dangerous illegal activity and hoped they could prove he was dealing drugs and arrest him.

And if not, he should be arrested anyway.

She smiled at the receptionist as she handed her the stack of papers.

"Well, Ms. Duncan, welcome aboard." she said, examining the documents. Again, her tone conveyed the opposite meaning of her actual words. Another "go to hell" without words.

Sabrina waited patiently as the receptionist handed her a pass key and took her picture for a name badge. She handed Sabrina several forms to sign and then neatly stacked the papers and pushed them asie..

"We'll see you tomorrow, Ms. Duncan." she said in her usual manner.

Sabrina nodded. "Can't wait."

As she left, she snatched a bowl of paperclips off of the receptionist's desk and discreetly pocketed them. Her retaliation was childish, she knew, but it felt good. As she walked out of the front doors, she smiled to herself, picturing the receptionist and Peralta struggling wildly to maintain a storm of flying papers in a paperclip-less world. The image was soothing.

Still smiling to herself, she gripped the smooth ceramic bowl in her pocket.

Peralta, she thought to herself, this will be the first in a long series of disappointments for you.