DISCLAIMER: Quite simple: I do not own them.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The timeline for this story is mid season 3.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
Angels In Chains Again
By Tashe Dangerous Eyes
Chapter 19
"Fifty thousand dollars? I don't believe you, Bosley." Kris' flamboyant voice was a little too loud for Bosley since the perky blonde was sitting on the corner of his desk at the moment.
"Well believe it, furthermore, be grateful. You should have seen my competitor. Had he won the auction you would probably be feeding him his puree right now because I doubt he has many teeth left." Bosley said, feeling proud of what he had done for her. Kris made a face of absolute disgust at the prospect.
"That bad, hah? Those were my options, you and a relic?" Kris played the devastated damsel a little too well.
"Kris! Don't you realize what could've happened if if…"
"Calm down, Bosley. I was just kidding and I'm truly happy that you came to my rescue, or should I say Charlie? It was his money, wasn't it?" Now she was plainly toying with him.
"Well, yes, but I would've put my own money on the line to make sure you were safe." Bosley responded in a manner that was both sweet and serious and Kris felt her heart warm with his words. It was as if she had had an epiphany at that very moment; she was truly accepted and loved in this group, just like her sister had been and still was.
It was Tuesday afternoon and Sabrina and Kelly walked down the hall of the Charles Townsend Private Investigations in silent companionship. They knew the place like the back of their hands. Every entrance and exit, every picture adorning the walls, every piece of furniture and decorative antique…Even the sounds and smells were known to them as if they were in their own homes. In a sense they were home because they spent as much time there as they did in their houses, and the people they worked with were their family. However, the short stroll towards the office felt quite different this time around because unlike other occasions when they would come to be briefed for a new case or get together to discuss an ongoing case, they were coming back after a case that tested both their capacity as detectives and their very will to fight and to live. They were able to succeed on both accounts however, especially Sabrina who was going to be battle scarred for a while still.
None of that mattered much to Sabrina though for at the end she had received the biggest reward of her life; Kelly's love. She knew she would rise above her dark experience, above the bad memories and the mistreatment she had received, because she had Kelly in her life and they would be together always.
Now in front of the office's door Kelly and Sabrina shared a look. "Are you ready?" Sabrina took a deep breath and nodded.
"Well, hello there." Bosley greeted the pair as soon as they entered. Kris' back was to the door and she turned around quickly when Bosley spoke.
"Good afternoon." Sabrina greeted back.
"Sabrina!" Kris exclaimed, like she hadn't seen her in ages and rushed to her for a hug. Sabrina saw her coming and flinched in anticipation. "Don't worry, Bree, I'll be careful." Kris proceeded to hug the much taller Angel with as much care as she could and for a long time. "I'm so glad you are better."
"Thank you. Hey Bos." Sabrina said when she saw Bosley coming her way as well.
"Hey right back at you. How are you feeling?" Bosley repeated Kris' gesture, but he ended his hug quickly.
"A little sore, but much better. The painkillers are really doing their job."
"The doctor said she needs to rest for a few days. The inflammation and the swelling are totally down now and she is breathing normally." Kelly explained, closing the door behind them. Both Kris and Bosley looked at Sabrina's bruised face and saw that even with the bluish and black patches she did look much better and her countenance spoke of vibrancy. Kris of course knew where from Sabrina's vitality was coming, but Bosley was pretty much in the dark.
"You know, Sabrina, you could have sat this one out. Kris, Kelly and I can handle this briefing." Bosley said as Sabrina moved to the sofa to take a seat.
"I told her that, but she insisted and I can't really blame her for wanting to see this through to the end." Kelly sat next to Sabrina on the sofa and Kris did the same at her other side.
"Kelly is right, Bosley. Besides, this won't take that long and then she can go back to resting."
"I was just saying." Bosley checked his wrist watch. "Mr. Benson should be here any minute now. Charlie will be calling in a few minutes."
"Bree, why don't you lie down until Charlie calls?" Kelly suggested.
"Thank you, but no thank you. I was just discharged from the hospital and I feel like I've slept an eternity already. I'm just a little sore, but I'll survive." As soon as the words were out of her mouth a knock on the door announced the arrival of their client and Sabrina felt lucky that she had stated the truth.
Bosley welcomed their client into the room and proceeded to introduce to him the three women who had done so much for him, but especially for his boss. "Right this way, Mr. Benson. Allow me to introduce Kelly Garret, Sabrina Duncan, and of course you've already met Kris Munroe." The Angels all nodded at the mention of their names.
"It's a real pleasure to finally meet you. I can't begin to express how grateful we are for the job you have done. The Mayor wanted to be here, but all the corruption you three uncovered has him pretty busy. He wants to make sure he doesn't let anyone have the time to hide anything if there's anything to be hidden still." The handsome man tried to pay equal attention to the women as he spoke, but irremediably his eyes landed more often than not on Sabrina whose face demonstrated how difficult the task he had hired them for had been.
"Hello again." Kris was the first one to speak.
"How do you do?" Kelly said next. Sabrina just nodded.
"We are especially grateful to you, Miss Duncan, for not giving up even after you had to deal with some extracurricular obstacles, as I understand. We were absolutely horrified after learning how close you came to losing your life." Kristopher Benson was behaving quite apologetic and even remorseful and Sabrina decided to stop his torture since he seemed to want to continue with his heartfelt apologies.
"I thank you for your concern, Mr. Benson, but as you can see it takes way more than bullies with knives and nasty drugs to get rid of me. It's just one of those things that come with the territory. Although I wouldn't mind if we only get cases about fraud or misplaced property for the next year or so." Sabrina said smiling at him. The other two Angels laughed a little and nodded emphatically in total agreement.
"Well, I can see that Mr. Townsend wasn't kidding when he said that hiring you was my best bet. Not only are you efficient but you are three of the bravest women I have ever met."
"Thank you very much. It's nice to be appreciated." Kelly said politely.
"Would you like something to drink, Mr. Benson?" Kris offered, standing up already.
"I would, but I can't. I have to meet with the Mayor later on." Kris took a seat again, choosing one of the armchairs this time.
The phone rang and Bosley put the call through the speaker. "Good afternoon, Angels."
"Good afternoon, Charlie." Just like the last time, the Angels' chorus lacked its usual enthusiasm, but Charlie understood. After all they went through it was expected. What was not expected though was to recognize Sabrina's voice amongst the others.
"Sabrina, is that you?"
"Yes, Charlie, and I've already been put through the grinder for being here, but like I said, I'm fine. So, why don't we just talk about the future of Gallagher and company?" Sabrina said, smiling all the while.
"Very well, Angel, but for the record, I'm glad to have you here with us." Bosley, Kris and Kelly shared Charlie's sentiment and once again smiled at Sabrina with content looks on their faces. Kelly added a soft rub to Sabrina's shoulder for extra emphasis.
"Charlie, Mr. Benson is here with us." Bosley announced and went to sit at his desk. He gestured to the other man to sit down, but Benson refused politely.
"Hello, Mr. Benson."
"Mr. Townsend, I was just telling your associates what a wonderful job they did."
"Indeed. The Mayor called me a few minutes ago and asked me to pass along his gratitude. He is quite impressed with all you were able to accomplish in so little time. So am I and I'll never get tired of saying how proud you make me."
"Thank you, Charlie." Came the unison of voices.
"Now, let's get down to business. After the police raided the mansion Saturday night there were twenty three arrests. That includes the Warden, that guard Miranda, and Carl Gallagher who immediately started to recite the law, but was quickly stunted into silence after learning that the Mayor brought in the former president of the Supreme Court to handle this case and he'll be assigning the prosecutors personally."
"Suddenly 'The Hunter" becomes the prey." Kelly said mockingly.
"Not only that," Interjected Benson. "…his presence will make the suits' lives a living hell because they won't be able to buy their way out of this mess."
"Very true, and that includes a certain rich man who could've helped, but decided to play hardball and now, after all these years, he is going to end up in jail again. The prison raid produced fewer arrests, but they got everyone. From Becker and Cain, to a few other guards who knew what was happening and/or participated in some way, to the inmates that were producing the new experimental drug. The prison's doctor had to admit to some partaking in the corruption as well since one of the leads, a serial number on a plastic case, led right to the prison's infirmary. And last, but definitely not least, Renee and her group. By the way, Sgt. Larkin of the LAPD wanted me to thank you for having them neutralized already." Charlie informed them.
"You should thank Sabrina for that." Kelly said.
"Don't you mean Becker? She was the one who put them in solitary." Sabrina corrected her.
"Yes, but it was because of you she did." Kelly rejoined quickly.
"And it was you who took down Becker."
"I just finished what you started." Bosley and Kris shared amused looks at their colleagues' debate.
"Yes, but it was Sabrina who left them in such a state that they had to be taken to the hospital. So, solitary confinement or not, they were in no shape to resist arrest." This time it was Bosley making the statement.
"Ha! I won." Kelly expressed with satisfaction and Sabrina just looked at her shaking her head, thinking that that had been the most ludicrous argument of her entire existence.
"Yeah, Kelly, but who was it that blew up the kitchen and adjacent areas?" Kris asked the question with the sole purpose of pushing the other Angel's buttons, making Kelly's celebration a very short one. Kelly's face turned bright red. After the fact, it seemed to her that her actions might've been a bit too exaggerated, but she always changed her mind every time she looked at Sabrina and remembered why she had done it and why she would do it again.
"Don't worry, Miss Garret. That prison might be old, but it is structurally sound. There were no major damages that cannot be easily repaired and the basement is quasi hermetic which allowed the flames to be suffocated before they could consume the entire rudimentary drug lab. Thus, we have enough evidence of what was transpiring down there." Kristopher Benson appeased Kelly with the information, allowing her to finally stop worrying about the matter.
"And rudimentary it was. After some initial testing of the lab and the drugs produced in it, forensics has discovered that the inappropriate conditions of the basement, the humidity, the mildew, the lack of sterilization of their equipments, etc, resulted in the contamination of the drugs. It didn't matter how much they revised the way they made it the results were always the same because they had no way of knowing that they were including a secret ingredient." Charlie explained.
"And the results were quite devastating, as I had the misfortune of witnessing." Bosley was taken back to the moment he had discovered the bodies and the state they were in. The image was still quite clear on his mind and he doubted he would be able to get rid of it any time soon. He thought of how close Sabrina came to meeting the same fate and felt sick to his stomach.
"Charlie, where did those women learn how to make the drug in the first place?" Kris inquired.
"All of them had been involved with drug dealers or drug producers in the past and were taught different aspects of the drug producing process. Only one of them knew the entire process and she was put in charge."
"Charlie, would I be right to assume the reason for these women to do what they were doing, whether it was making drugs or killing inmates, was that they were promised part of the profits?"
"You would be absolutely right, Sabrina. All of these players had bank accounts in their names and were making money steadily. It wasn't much, the people on top were not fair, but the women were going to be in a very good position once out of the prison, financially speaking." Charlie answered her and the three women shook their heads, finding it difficult to believe that money could make human beings lose their humanity in such a way that they became unrecognizable.
"Those women and the rest of the gang are going to be charged with new felonies which will extend their sentences for very long years. Officially, Rita and her two accomplices were the ones who killed Sandy Whitman. The order was given by Sandra Becker, the chief of guards, after she was informed of the conversation Sandy had with her lawyer. It turns out that Sandy, in an attempt to protect her cellmate Janet Eastwood from being taken to the mansion, decided to risk it all by telling on them about the operation. She threatened one of the guards with the possibility and Becker put spies on her from that moment on until the conversation happened." Benson paced in front of the Angels while speaking.
"How is it that you know all of these details?" Sabrina was intrigued with how the pieces of the puzzle were finally coming together.
"Take your pick: the guards and the inmates pointing fingers at each other, the other inmates who are now more than willing to talk since they are not afraid anymore, or the Warden's very detailed journal. It's all in there. That reminds me, the exhumation of Sandy Whitman's body won't be necessary now that we have the evidence of who killed her."
"Also, you'd be glad to know that thanks to that journal the FBI was able to find and recuperate the two missing women. The Warden was kind enough to name the men who bought them."
"That's great, Charlie." Kelly exclaimed. The Angels were indeed very pleased to hear the news which they demonstrated with mouthed 'yes' and quiet applauses.
"The other two women who died of drug overdose were killed by Renee and Cain. It was another testing gone wrong." Charlie continued.
"Speaking of tests gone wrong, Tony and the other young men who died at the warehouse were all local drug distributors as well as users. Lester Wolf was trying to open a market in Los Angeles and extend his business which is originally settled in San Francisco. Of course, now that the photos I took place him in that very warehouse the San Francisco police finally has ground to pursue a very aggressive investigation into all of his businesses and I'm sure he'll be a jailbird in no time."
"Yes, Bosley. I must say that you were very proficient in this case as well." Charlie congratulated him sincerely.
"Thank you, sir." Bosley said, fixing his tie and feeling quite proud of himself.
"I second that, Mr. Bosley. Your rendition of Thomas Sheridan was very convincing. I actually believed that you were a wealthy, highly educated dirty old man." Benson joked and Bosley, who had been putting his chest out with the praises, deflated quickly at other man's last remark. The Angels all laughed at his expression of mortification. "I'm sorry, Mr. Bosley, I couldn't help myself."
"Don't worry, Mr. Benson. Bosley is a good-natured man and he knows you were just joking." Sabrina looked at Bosley pointedly and he softened his features.
"Of course! No harm done." Bosley acquiesced.
"Mr. Benson, what about Janet Eastwood? Do you think you can do something for her, you know, for helping us?" Kelly felt the need to do something for the woman that, even though at times irritated her to no end, had come through for her after all.
"Yes, I'll do everything within my power and I'm sure your statement will help as well. We'll see if we can have her sentence reduced."
"Thank you." Kelly said and Sabrina squeezed her hand, showing her approval and support.
"You know, Kelly, you never told me what Janet did." Kris commented.
"She was sentenced for two counts of armed robbery."
"Ah."
"There are still things that need to be investigated," Benson continued. "…but that investigation lies now in the hands of the prosecutors and I'm sure that no matter how long it takes, at the end we'll be able to right all of these wrongs. Ladies, make sure to make yourselves available for the prosecutors that are going to come to get your side of the story, the details of what you went through so they can seal these cases." Perhaps without intentionally wanting to do that, all eyes fell on Sabrina who was the one with the most to tell, but it was not about the quantity but about the difficulty.
"We'll do that." Sabrina said valiantly, as if the environment hadn't turned tense, even if it was for just a matter of seconds.
"Good. Mr. Townsend, I have to be going now, I'm due at the Mayor's office in half an hour, but I have to say it again, you have three precious ladies here and I'm glad they were able to help us."
"It was our pleasure, Mr. Benson. We'll be in contact." Charlie said in his usual polite manner. Kristopher Benson nodded once more to the office's occupants and left.
"Sabrina, Kelly, Kris and Bosley…to show you my own gratitude I feel I need to compensate you with a lot more than just a simple thank you. That is why I'm going to do two things for you. One, I'm not taking any more prison cases. We have our fair share of close calls as it is." The three women looked at each other, raising their eyebrows in disbelief, but said nothing. There was nothing to say because they couldn't agree more. "And two, I'm sending you all on a Caribbean Cruise for an entire week, so pack your bags. You're leaving next Monday." Kris and Kelly jumped out of their seats with excitement at the good news and hugged each other, their voices screeching with delight. Sabrina remained in her seat not able to join in the celebration with the same enthusiasm, but cheered just the same, as did Bosley from his own seat. Kelly and Kris ended their hug, feeling there was something missing in their celebration and went to the sofa where they both embraced their friend. "I take it you liked that idea."
"Like it? We love it!" Kris practically screamed.
"I wanted to wait a few days before sending you on this trip to give Sabrina a chance to recuperate a little more. So, you better make sure she follows the doctor's indications."
"Don't you worry about that, Charlie. I'm not letting her out of my sight." For the rest of my life.
"All right, Kelly. Bosley will make the final arrangements for the trip. Until then, have a nice week. Goodbye, Angels."
"Goodbye, Charlie." There it was at last, the angelic chorus he was used to. Satisfied that things were back to normal Charlie hung up.
After her uttered words and thoughts, Kelly was sharing an intimate moment with Sabrina that was totally unguarded. Kris looked at Bosley to see if he had noticed it, but he was browsing through a drawer at the moment. Kris decided to break the silent conversation their eyes were having before they ran out of luck.
"Yes, Kelly," The name was said with briskness to attain the other Angel's attention, which she did successfully. "…I'll be more than grateful if you do that because I'll be a little busy for a few days."
"Really?" Sabrina asked, raising an eyebrow.
"It's not like I'm going to be completely unavailable, but if you don't mind…"
"And what are you going to be so busy with? I wonder." Sabrina continued to pry.
"Dan Tanna." Kris said almost sighing. "He's staying in Los Angeles for a few days and I was able to persuade him that it would be a shame not to enjoy the beach and the surf which is quite different here, as everybody knows." Kris stated with a false sense of expertise and Sabrina and Kelly nodded in coordinated unison, playing the role of understanding and conspiratorial girlfriends, condoning her logic.
"Well, have a wonderful time. You deserve it."
"Kelly's right. After all you've done during this case you definitely deserve this." Sabrina spoke the words lightly because it was her eyes that carried their meaning and Kris understood what she meant. She understood that Sabrina was thanking her for helping her and Kelly overcome the obstacles that were keeping them apart.
"What, aren't you going to contest her claim to the man?" Bosley interrupted the moment abruptly with his question as he approached them. "If I remember correctly you three all had that dreamy expression on your faces the first time you met him."
"Not me. Besides, I'm not exactly in my best moment." Bosley looked from Sabrina to Kelly.
"Well, how about you, Kelly? Are you just gonna let her have him?" Bosley insisted. Kris couldn't believe that Bosley wanted them to have such a discord just so he could amuse himself.
"Bosley, this is not a soap opera. Besides, Kelly is going to be taking care of Bree."
"Why don't you take care of Bree and let Kelly go out with Dan?"
"Because," Kelly finally spoke. "…after a while I realized he is not my type."
"And what is your type?" His interrogation was becoming relentless and Kelly decided it was time to bring it to an end.
"Strong beyond strength, brave beyond courage, with a heart more valuable than gold, with a soul more pure than an actual angel…With eyes that speak only truth and hands both capable of fighting and nurturing. One who leads when it is time to lead, but is willing to follow when the way is lost. One, whose love doesn't end, doesn't waver, doesn't give in or give up and only grows and grows till the end of time."
"Such a person doesn't exist. It is just not available, Kelly." Kelly smiled at Bosley, agreeing with him completely.
"Not anymore it isn't, Bosley." Kelly stood up and took Sabrina's hand, helping her to her feet. "Let's go home, Bree."
"Lead the way, Kel." Sabrina responded. They both winked at Kris and then silently left the office, leaving a very confused Bosley behind.
"What…"
"One day you'll understand, Bos. For now just let it go." Kris patted his shoulder comfortingly. She spotted her purse on the desk and went to retrieve it on her way to the door. "See ya, Bos."
"I'll say it again. I will never master it. Women's language is impossible for a man to understand." Shaking his head he went back to his desk to wrap up the last of his work for the day.