Chapter
5: Brand New Day, Brand New Life
Morning.
The sun had just barely risen above the horizon as Sara walked down the steps of
her apartment building holding only a single backpack which contained some of
her most personal stuff, family pictures, CD’s, and other personal effects to
name a few. She had decided against leaving that night, thinking that getting
some sleep before her three day cross country drive. If she was lucky, she’d
make it in two, getting as little sleep as possible and drinking as much coffee
as her stomach could hold in one sitting.
Sara
strapped her helmet onto her head and started the engine of her Buell. It was
only six in the morning, but she was ready and raring to go, the four cups of
coffee she drank just before leaving the house circulating through her system.
The only thing Sara had to worry about now was going to the bathroom. She knew
all that coffee would hit her, but when was impossible to tell. With one last
look at her building, she was off.
As she
roared down the street and onto the major road, Sara’s thoughts fluttered
through a checklist of things she should have taken care of before she left,
like making sure the place was clean, turning off the water and power, and
cutting off her phone line to make sure her answering machine didn’t get
flooded while she was gone. With everything said and done, Sara’s mind drifted
to other things, like what her new partners would be like and how she was going
to adjust to living in
Passing
through all kinds of scenery, Sara grew to love the beautiful country she was
driving through. The air was fresh, warm, and clean, with no scent of gasoline
or car exhaust. The country soon changed to mountains as she roared through the
That day
passed just as quickly as the one preceding it. The scenery changed from
mountains, trees, and rolling hills to plains and deserts. It continued to be an
awe inspiring journey for Sara. The last time she had taken a vacation outside
of
*~*~*
Ian had
arrived in
Billie
Chambers and the rest of her crew had checked out clean. Now all Ian had to
oversee was the warehouse that Sara referred to as the Candy Store. Its location
proved to be hard to find, but once it was located, he made a mental note of its
coordinates. Arriving at Irons’
After the
initial sweep of the property, Ian was off again, this time to check out the
Candy Store and wait for Sara to make sure she had arrived safely. He would
follow her for the rest of the day to see where she would be staying until she
returned to work. The Candy Store proved to be a safe location. It was hard to
spot, therefore hard to find, situated behind several buildings in the downtown
area of
*~*~*
"Van!
Deaq! Get in here!" Billie yelled as she hung up the phone.
Startled and annoyed, Van let go of the ball and it watched it roll down the
court as he slowly headed for her office with Deaq.
"God,
what do you want now Billie?! I didn't even do anything this time!"
Van whined. The last time he had talked to her was when she caught him
browsing through personal files. He cringed as he thought about how she
had hit the roof.
"Sara
is in
Hearing
the roar of an approaching engine, Billie made her way to the door of the
warehouse and pushed the button that opened the door automatically. As the door
slid open, a motorcycle slide in and screeched to a halt. The rider
dismounted, taking off the helmet and letting her long dark chocolate brown hair
float around her shoulders. Deaq stole a glance at Van and inwardly
chuckled as he swore he saw him drool. He did take the time to notice how
beautiful she was. A little too much time, he was afraid.
Billie
greeted Sara with a warm smile she almost never gave to the guys. "Sara
Pezzini, welcome to the Candy Store," Billie said in a kind voice, causing
Van to whisper to Deaq, "I didn't know she had a good side." Deaq
began to chuckle quietly.
The two
women walked past the line of cars towards the two still chuckling officers.
"What's so funny?" Sara and Billie asked together.
"Nothing,"
Van squeaked before going into full blown laughter.
"These
two clowns are your partners," Billie regretedly told Sara. "Seeing as
how you two took a little look at Sara's file the other day, I think you already
know who she is."
Sara knew
that her partners where sneaky little bastards and that she would have to keep
an eye on them every minute. "So, you like to make trouble huh?" she
asked, offering a little laugh. "Do you two just stare all the time?"
Sara added, noticing that the boys hadn’t taken their eyes off her.
"S-s-s-sorry,"
Van stuttered causing her to laugh.
"Is it me making you talk like that or is it a habit?" she jokingly asked.
"H-h-habit,"
he tried again, but ultimately failed to keep his words from stumbling.
"So,
who is who?" Sara asked, trying to see if she could break them out of their
trance. Both men where basically the same build and height, the only
difference being one was caucasian and one African American.
"Van
Ray" Van said a bit angrily but quietly. He politely took her hand for
a second before letting it go. She couldn't help but notice how flustered
he seemed to be today.
"Deaqon
Hayes but everyone calls me Deaq," Deaq said before he took her hand
and shook it politely making eye contact with her and giving her a warm friendly
smile.
"Nice
to meet you both," Sara said and left to go into Billie's office. This
place was totally not what she expected.
As Sara
sauntered into Billie's office, she noticed her looking in a drawer for
something. "If you don't mind, can I have your badge while you are
here?" Billie asked. This whole thing had been explained to her in
"Sure,"
Sara replied as she took it out of her pocket holder. The two of them walked
into Billie’s office where Van and Deaq were already waiting, Van pissed look
and all.
“So far,
this is what we have on Gallo,” Billie answered as she turned to the wall
screen, which showed a recent picture of Gallo with four of his thugs. “He’s
in town hiding out for a little while because apparently he’s been connected
to several murders out on the ease coast. He has a lot of merchandise to move,
and very little time to move it in. Van and Deaq managed to have him deliver
several hundred pounds of four different kinds of drugs to Club Ryde this
evening. I want you to accompany them.”
"Excuse
me, but don't you think Gallo will recognize me from our previous run ins together?”
Sara questioned.
“We’ve
got it covered. You are going to get a total makeover, and not just clothes and
makeup. A few of my connections have set up an appointment for you at a salon in
“WHAT?”
Sara yelled, a mortified look on her face.
“And to
compensate for not telling you earlier, I’ve put you in charge of the case
until I come back from a well deserved vacation,” Billie said.
It was
Van’s turn to yell. “WHAT! When the hell were you planning to tell us
this?”
“Today,
after Sara arrived. I thought it would be the best time considering that all of
you would be in the same room together. I also thought that there was less of a
chance that you’d do something stupid,” she innocently answered as she began
to walk out of the office. “I’m going to
“Okay,
this is all bull shit! You barely even know her! How do you expect her to take
over something she doesn’t even know?” Van continued to yell as he faced
Billie at the entrance to the office.
“Because,
Van, she knows Gallo, and she has been in a position of authority before.
She’s a detective, higher ranking than both of you and with a lot more
experience. Sara is perfectly qualified for the job,” Billie answered in a
very direct tone.
“Deaq,
aren’t you gonna back me up on this?” Van called to his partner. Deaq looked
up at him and shrugged his shoulders indicating that this was not his fight and
that he agreed with Billie. “Fine! I’m out of here.” Van walked out of the
office and through the warehouse to the exit doors. He had had enough of this
conversation.
“He must
have a problem with authority,” Sara said as she turned to Deaq.
“You got
that right,” he replied. “He’s always been the live wire.”
As Sara
looked at his face, she realized that he looked familiar. “Don’t I know you
from somewhere?” she asked.
“That’s
what I’ve been trying to figure out for the last few days,” Deaq answered.
“Where in
“
“Wait a
minute, you’re Sara Pezzini, the Sara Pezzini, daughter of James Pezzini?”
“Yeah!
How do you know my father?”
“One of
my friends at the 15th Precinct had the privilege of working with him
before he… you know,” Deaq tried to stay away from the death subject because
he didn’t know how Sara would take it.
“Was
murdered?” she replied without too much hesitation. “But how do I know
you?” Sara was trying to figure out where she had seen him before.
“1999
drug bust, the biggest the city ever made. Almost 10,000 pounds of marijuana
stashed in a warehouse in the
“That’s
right. I saw it on the news. Everyone at the precinct was talking about it. Nice
work,” Sara commented. “So, about Van…”
“Oh,
don’t worry about him. He’ll be back in a few hours, after he simmers down.
He’s probably out surfing or something,” Deaq replied.
Outside,
Van was making a b-line to his Mustang, fuming as he went over the afternoon’s
events. It was hard for him to accept working for someone else even though he
knew Sara had the qualifications to perform the job well. He had read that part
of her file also. After all, she had been training a rookie before she left
After
getting into his car, Van pulled away from the parking lot and headed towards
the beach. His surfboard was already stashed in the back, and all he wanted to
do was ride a few waves before heading back to the Candy Store and confronting
everyone about his behavior.
Little did he know about the car that followed him.