I'm very excited for this weeks episode! Updates have been a little bit slower with finalslooming, but hopefully you guys can expect another chapter Wed...I could be convinced to update Tuesday if there are a lot of reviews.
Chief Vick stared angrily at the psychic in front of her. She still couldn't believe what they had told her; but she didn't seem to have much choice but to go along with their hair brained scheme either.
The sigh she let out sounded more like a growl. "Fine, Mister Spencer. You can go," She waited as the two friends jumped up and down, victoriously, "BUT there are a few conditions," the two groaned dramatically but nodded and listened when she glared at them murderously. "One, you will not inform Detective Lassiter of your suspicions unless there is something concrete to tell him. I don't want a repeat of the Blow Dart Incident of '03," Shawn cocked his head, trying to fathom what that could possibly have entailed, "And two, you will inform Detective O'Hara the second you arrive." Vick seethed.
Shawn grinned, "Chief are you actually ordering us to lie to Lassie?" the mischievous glint in the psychics eyes instantly made Vick regret her words.
She grit her teeth, "Yes," she mustered. If anyone needed a retreat it was her head detective, and she wouldn't have him abandon his vacation without concrete proof.
Shawn turned to Gus excitedly, "This is going to be the best case ever! The two of us. All alone. Behind enemy lines, unable to trust anyone but ourselves."
Gus shook his head, "I don't think this is quiet like that movie Shawn."
Vick's grip on her desk was starting to turn her knuckles white. She was never letting Henry Spencer take a vacation again. "You are not going to be on your own Mr. Spencer. I refer you to my condition number two. You will inform Detective O'Hara as soon as you arrive."
Gus frowned, "Why don't you just do it?" It wasn't like her to trust them-well Shawn-to actually listen to orders.
Chief closed her eyes, "Apparently, the cell service in that area is…non-existent. No one has been able to get through to the lodge." She sighed. This entire thing was a nightmare. Sinking into her chair exhausted she looked to the two private detectives who were just staring at her, "Go," she ordered with a wave of her hand, sending the duo scampering out of her office.
Shawn grinned, "Dude, before we go we need to make a small pit stop." Gus felt the knot under his shoulder tighten-that smile couldn't mean anything good for his health or his wallet.
Later and Elsewhere:
Juliet was pretty sure her back was broken.
While technically the junior detective knew that if that assessment of her injuries was accurate she wouldn't be walking around, she definitely felt like her back had been broken. At least all of her ribs were broken.
Trust activities were her new definition of Hell. And trust falls. Lassiter had dropped her. Twice. She winced as she tried to push open the giant wooden doors to the lodge, surprised to see most of the detectives-who had arrived a good 10 minutes before her since she was moving so slowly-congregated in the middle of the lodge. Their tour guide and instructor, Edwin, had been the only one kind enough to help her trudge back to the lodge.
Now Edwin left her side, trying to crane his neck to see around the hoard of significantly taller detectives. The wiry man pushed his thick and narrow glasses back up his nose with a finger before running his hand through his hair; after putting her through the hells' of the day, Juliet wasn't inclined to like the guy, but she had to admit, he had hair that even Shawn would be jealous of.
"Jules!" She heard suddenly, startling her from her thoughts. The mass of detectives seemed to part so that she could see her favorite fake psychic, who was grinning excitedly as he waved at her, a large smoothie in his hand.
"Shawn. What are you doing here?" Juliet asked, moving further way from Edwin and faster then she had all day towards the ball of chaos that had just been unleashed on the lodge. She saw her partner duck quietly into the bunk rooms; no doubt hoping to avoid the psychic and enjoy his reprieve from the man's antics for at least a few more minutes.
"The Chief realized Gus and I would be desperately needed for the campfire sing-along harmonies," he grinned as she pulled him away from the crowd. She cocked her head to one side, not believing him at all. Seeing her expression, Shawn pursed his lips, determined to distract her, "Don't worry Jules, we brought enough smoothies for everyone," he assured her, pointing to the two giant red coolers Gus was struggling to pull up the steps. Shawn took a long sip of his smoothie; ordering from the smoothie stand near the office had been a much needed pit stop before they'd hit the road.
Juliet folded her arms, shifting into her 'I'm not buying it pose' biting back a wince; at the very least all of her ribs were fractured…maybe just bruised. "Shawn," she warned.
Shawn sighed in defeat. It was getting harder and harder to keep up a charade around her. Besides, he was going to do what Vick had instructed; he just hadn't planned on letting her in on it quite this soon. "Ok," his shoulders deflated slightly, "The truth is-"
"Shawn! Shawn Spencer?" Juliet turned in confusion as their guide Edwin came running up to them.
"Edwin?" Shawn asked with a laugh. "How are you doing man?" Shawn added as the two hugged. Juliet glanced between Shawn with Edwin and Gus who was staring at the pair in confusion. Gus shrugged when Juliet caught his eye; he didn't know who Edwin was to Shawn either.
The two men were chattering excitedly. Gus marched over with a practiced casualness that made Juliet smirk. Gus didn't like it when people got too buddy buddy with his best friend. Gus coughed loudly, causing the two men to turn their attention to him.
Shawn lit up instantly, "Oh, right. Gus, this is Edwin Getty. Edwin, Gus."
Edwin laughed, "Ah, the infamous Burton Guster," he clapped Gus's hand excitedly, "I've heard a lot about you." Edwin chuckled again.
Gus laughed too, insincerely, "I've heard absolutely nothing about you."
Edwin seemed unfazed. "Shawn, what are you doing all the way out here?" He seemed to notice Juliet for the first time and paused, "Are you with the department?" Edwin sounded confused, "I thought you couldn't work for them after-"
"Wellll," Juliet frowned as Shawn blatantly cut off Edwin, "I work as a consultant to the department with Gus," Shawn smirked with practiced arrogance, "We own a psychic detective agency. We've closed over fifty cases for the SBPD."
Instead of looking impressed like most did when they heard this information, Edwin simply looked confused, "I don't remember you being a psychic."
Shawn's grin faltered as Juliet's ears perked up.
"Well, Edwin, "Shawn stuttered, almost tripping over his words, "I was obviously, much less comfortable with my gift when I was younger. I was psychic, I just," he grimaced, his gaze flashing quickly to Juliet to gauge her reaction, "was much less open about my psychicness." Shawn winced; that could have been smoother.
Edwin looked unconvinced, "Oh," he said simply before shrugging it off.
"Yeah Shawn, what are you doing up here? You were working a case," Juliet asked, a small smile tugging the corners of her lips. She wasn't entirely convinced that Shawn and Gus hadn't skipped up here on their own just to bother Lassiter.
"Well Jules, we closed the case and Chief invited us to join you for this delightful event," Shawn smiled broadly. He liked Edwin, but he wasn't going to tell Jules about the case unless they were alone; he didn't want to risk being overheard.
"You closed the Connell case already?" The look she gave him told him clearly saying she didn't buy it.
"Yes, Jules, and it turns out he was dead the whole time," Shawn grinned, his hands fisted in his pockets.
Edwin frowned, "Was that a Sixth Sense reference?"
"Shawn, what does The Sixth Sense have to do with the case?" Juliet frowned.
"Absolutely nothing. But," he turned to Edwin excitedly, "As it actually turned out Connell was deeply involved in a ring of elephant thefts."
"Elephant theft? Really," she couldn't stop the smile from forming on her lips.
"Yep. Like I told you Jules, it's a major problem," Shawn grinned, "Got him killed."
"I see."
Edwin chimed in.
"Shawn, that's so awesome! Hey, if you are out here we need to catch up man. I don't get off work for another hour, but," he turned to Juliet and Gus, "How about you, Gus, and Detective O'Hara join me for drinks in the lodge bar later? Say, in an hour fifteen? We have a lot of catching up to do," Edwin grinned in delight and without waiting for an answer ran off, waving at the group over his shoulder.
Gus stared at his best friend with a sour glare on his face, "Shawn, who was that?"
Hearing the slight edge of jealousy in his best friends voice Shawn sighed, "Gus, don't be a rotten Sour Patch kid. That's Edwin. I just introduced you to him. I worked with him at Disneyland the summer after high school; he worked the Jungle Cruise," the psychic explain with a role of his eyes, as if Gus should just know.
"You worked The Jungle Cruise?" Gus frowned; he thought he had known all of Shawn's crazy odd jobs.
Shawn scoffed, "Pft, no. I worked Space Mountain," he said proudly, before turning to Juliet, significantly more subdued, "Jules, you know you don't have to come to drinks with us," Shawn said, trying, with forced nonchalance, to make the invitation sound as boring as possible.
Juliet grinned, her ribs were feeling significantly better; maybe she had only bruised one or two after all; there was no way she was missing this. The fact that Shawn didn't seem to want her there just made the entire situation all the better.
"No Shawn. It'll be fine," she waved off his fake concern with fake naiveté, "besides, I didn't really have any other plans tonight," which was true; her plans for the evening had consisted of her and the Jane Austen Book Club.
Back at the SBPD:
Chief Vick pinched the bridge of her nose, biting back a scream. Never again would she let the Mayor pressure into allowing her detective a retreat, not as part of his election campaign at least. All of her best detectives were off in the middle of the woods, leaving her with a bunch of vice detectives to pick of the slack. McNabb, bless his heart, was the most experienced officer she had in the field. This was an absolute nightmare.
A small part of her took pleasure in knowing that after this stunt, the Mayor might not have another opportunity to strong arm her into something like this. She forced the smile off her lips. She'd been left with a mountain of paperwork with the detectives gone. Which was why she almost didn't pick up the phone when it rang.
She wished she hadn't.
"Vick."
"Why did you send my son on the police retreat?" a very angry Henry Spencer responded, cutting all pleasant formalities as he cut straight to the reason or his call.
Karen bristled. She respected Henry more than anyone knew, but she was the Chief of police and certain levels of respected were demanded from all employees, no matter who they were.
"As an employee of the Santa Barbara Police Department Mr. Spencer goes where I tell him to," Most of the time anyways. Well, sometimes.
The underlying edge in her tone must have gotten through because Henry's response was significantly more subdued.
"Karen, I told you before I left that Shawn shouldn't be put on any cases right now," she could practically see him taking off his dirty ball cap and running a hand across his face as he said this. She smiled.
"Shawn is one of the best detectives this department has-unorthodox tendencies aside-and his services were required Henry. Ultimately, that's my call, not yours," she reminded him, well aware that for Henry, the line between employee and son was still incredibly difficult to differentiate.
Henry's sigh sounded exasperated even through the phone, "Karen, I know that Shawn is…useful. But something is wrong with him. Very very wrong. He shouldn't be in the field right now. He especially shouldn't be off the radar on his own doing God knows what to solve this case."
"Detectives Lassiter and O'Hara are right there. Nothing will happen to him."
"It doesn't matter," Henry shook his head, she wasn't getting it, "I'm cutting my trip short and I'm going up to that lodge place. I'm not letting anyone get hurt because Shawn is reckless and off his game."
The phone line went dead.
Vick sighed as she put the phone back in its cradle and sank deep down into her chair. She never should have hired Henry to come back to work. One Spencer was more than enough.
Last chapter I totally forgot to mention that someone from Shawn's past would show up. I was sorta focused on all the Shules headed your way.
HInt-theres a lot in the next chapter. :D
Review and enjoy!