Back to part 8

Who Says Timing Isn't Everything
by Sammi M.

"Absolutely nothing pertaining to the case, Captain." The younger man sighed in frustration. "For the last five minutes, they've been *discussing* the difference between work-related stupidity and personal stupidity. I'm sure she knows I'm listening. It would almost be hilarious if this whole thing wasn't so screwed up."

Simon could feel the turmoil in his detective, but he was resolved. A man was dead and it was going to take an awful lot to convince him he wasn't looking at the perpetrator. "I left word for Lloyd to get here ASAP. I told him we had some new developments, so hopefully he'll come in soon. I don't think he'd appreciate missing this." He flipped on the switch and the argument from the other room could be heard.

"How could you condone what he did? It would seem he used you just as much as he used me."

"Jim didn't use anybody."

"But, he said…"

"That was his tough cop routine. He pulls it out at the drop of the hat whenever something gets too close to him. If you had just listened after you flounced out, you would have heard a different tune. Instead, you had to do your Bette Davis routine and what was about that last line? You're usually not the dramatic type."

"It was good, wasn't it? I've been working on it. Paulie says I need to toughen up or no one's going to take me seriously. He says I'm about as intimidating as a drowned rat. Of course, after he said it, he found himself on the floor with a slight concussion, … but my size and my demeanor are what these people rely on when they make these sucker bets. If I had the size and gruffness of my father or grandfather, I'd pull in half of what I normally make."

The men on the other side of the glass glanced at each other with the most perplexed looks as Simon flipped the switch off. Jim shrugged and nodded back to the room and both hoped an explanation would soon be coming as it was switched on again.

"Not since Hannah."

"Why the devil didn't you tell me? I've been assuming everything's cool and you've been walking around like nothing's wrong. Does Richard know you're only on half power?"

"Oh, and how am I supposed to explain that? He doesn't know the full story and it's too late in the game to tell him now."

"Schuy, you're worse than Jim. … Are they totally gone?"

"Not quite. They cut in every so often and give me a good scare, but they're there."

"Well, we're gonna have to run…"

At that moment, Joel stuck his head into the listening room and Simon turned the switch off. "A Richard Erricks is here and he's asking to speak to Miss Sandburg. The man won't say, but he's oozing lawyer."

Jim and Simon joined the other man as they returned to the bullpen. A man of Ellison's height and build stood in the middle dressed in a suit and tie and carrying a heavy briefcase. He picked up on Banks' authority immediately and walked towards them. "Captain Banks," he greeted as he shook Simon's hand. "I'm Richard Erricks. Schuyler Sandburg called me to meet her here for her questioning."

"Are you her lawyer, Mr. Erricks? Not just anyone can go in and see her."

"Though I'm not practicing at the moment, I am authorized to practice law in fifteen states, this one included. If the only way I can see Miss Sandburg is by declaring her my client, then so be it. But, I was under the impression she was *only* here for questioning. Am I to understand you are formally charging her?"

Jim offered his hand and introduced himself, "I'm Detective James Ellison. Miss Sandburg hasn't been charged yet, but that's pending on the results of blood and powder burn tests."

"I see." He smiled at all of them, "Well, I'm sure we can get this all cleared up before those come back and I can get the paperwork started on the harassment charges before morning. I'd like for everyone involved in this case to be present as I talk to my client. That won't be too much of a problem, right?"

Simon had bristled at the mention of harassment charges and he was looking forward to Mr. Erricks falling flat on his ass when they locked Schuyler Sandburg up. So, he bit his tongue and plastered on his most ingratiating smile and motioned for the man to follow as he turned and headed back the way they came. "The man most responsible for the evidence hasn't made it back in from questioning informants," he explained as he opened the door, "so, if you want everyone involved you'll have to wait a little while longer."

Schuyler stood as soon as she saw the taller man. When he was firmly in the room and had placed his briefcase on the table, she walked into his outstretched arms and embraced him. "It's about time." She smiled up at him. "I thought they'd have me tried and convicted by the time you showed up."

"You know I got here as fast as I could, Kay. Ever since Blair's call, I have been in the air. Do you know how long it takes to hop from Australia to New York to here? I suppose I could have had Vic fax the papers, but I thought these guys would only believe the originals." He held out his hand to the man standing on the other side of the table without releasing the girl. "Hey, Blair. Thanks for looking out for the kid."

The younger man happily shook his hand and shrugged, "I had to. It's in my brother contract. So, how bad were the flights? I remember this one I did …"

Simon was fit to be tied. "Enough with the reunion! Mr. Erricks, I would suggest you persuade your client to take this whole thing seriously so we can get down to business. There are some serious charges pending against Miss Sandburg and I think you should be advising her to cooperate."

Richard glanced at the two Sandburgs and they shrugged simultaneously. He almost smiled until he realized two cops were glowering at them and one seemed to be spaced out. "If you insist on getting down to business, I suppose we must." He pulled out a seat for Schuyler and after she sat, he proceeded to pull out some papers and place them in front of the girl. "Kay, I need you to sign these so that I can start the work on filing harassment charges. Since I'm sure they've had you under surveillance, there's a loophole in the Washington Code that I can sneak a stalking charge in there as well. If you can think of anything else…"

That was the last straw. Before Joel or Jim could stop him, Simon had lunged for the paperwork and was up in Richard's face, "I am sick and tired of this game you people seem to be playing. A man is dead and I have every intention of seeing your 'friend' put away for it. Now either you take this seriously, or I'll have you booked on an obstruction of justice charge."

A transformation seemed to take place over the lawyer as the captain continued to speak. Gone was the easy-going, mild-mannered man of before. In his place stood a statue – pure stone with no heart to speak of. "Forgive me, Captain Banks, but I was taking this situation very seriously. I was trying to make sure my client realized her options. I wanted her to know that if she wanted, by the end of this week, she could have your badges as well as own most if not all of Cascade. You see, in your eagerness to pin these robberies and this murder on my client, you overlooked some pretty obvious things and those things are going to haunt you for an incredibly long time."

During most of this exchange, Jim had stood quietly monitoring what was going on but not focusing on it. For the first time, he set aside everything Lloyd had brought to the table and only looked at the things he knew and what he'd seen and heard. As the pieces started to fall into place, a light dawned and Jim realized they were in trouble. "Omigod."

"Are you okay?" Joel asked beside him.

"We have been the biggest fools," he spoke loud enough for everyone to hear. Ellison looked at Schuyler for the first time with clear eyes. "L.A. was a special offer, wasn't it? You took it on at the last minute."

She didn't even try to pretend to not understand. "I went to school with Mukogawa-San's daughter and he asked me to see what I could do since I was down there for business. It wasn't scheduled and I offered him a major discount because I considered him family."

"That's why there wasn't a robbery this time. You weren't scheduled to be there. Your last scheduled stop in California was San Francisco; you threw them off by going back to Los Angeles and doing the Mukogawa job." Jim hoped his eyes were conveying his apologies. He could feel everyone else's shock at the conversation, but there were only two people he was concerned about what they thought. "It's your initials on the Jag, right? What's your whole name, Schuyler?"

"Schuyler Kaelleigh Symmonds Sandburg. My friends and family call me Schuy; my colleagues, associates and employees call me Kay. It makes it easier for the business not to have too many names confusing people. They want Kay Symmonds' company to do the same quality work it's been doing for the last fifty years then that's what they get."

If possible, Simon blanched as he realized what had been said. "You're Kay Symmonds?!"

"Since I was sixteen and could take over where my dad and Richard left off." She shuffled the papers around in front of her in embarrassment. "My grandfather was the first and my dad took over when he died. Luckily for him, Dad was grown when his father passed away. I didn't have that luxury and Naomi wanted me to have some semblance of a normal childhood, so she told Richard to 'bugger off'. After she realized that wasn't going to happen, she contacted him and they agreed to see what I could do when I turned fifteen. It was pretty obvious I was a natural and so I trained after my classes and learned all I could about security systems and took over two days after my sixteenth birthday."

During the explanation, the Captain had to take a seat as it hit him how much this was going to cost them. "And everything you've done has been perfectly legal because…"

"Her company has been contracted to beat their security systems." Richard seemed to be the only one enjoying himself. "Now, just in case you aren't willing to believe the verbal explanations, I have with me all of the original paperwork showing the transfer of the company to Miss Sandburg as well as her last ten contracts from previous jobs proving she had a legal right to be on their premises. In addition, I have full bank statements that give detailed accountings of who and why she received payments. If you need more, I'm sure I have those as well. Just tell me what you need and…"

Simon interrupted, though a lot nicer this time, "That won't be necessary, Erricks. Obviously, a grave error has been made." He turned to Schuyler. It was obvious he wasn't comfortable with this role, but to save his department, he was willing to do it. "Miss Sandburg, I would like to offer my apologies for any unnecessary stress we might have caused you. Please understand, we were only trying to protect the public from a threat and the evidence leaned strongly towards you."

Schuyler really looked at the man judging his sincerity. When she was satisfied with what she saw, she answered, "I accept your apology and I do understand your actions. It's going to take a while to *forget* them, but they are forgiven." She handed the papers to the lawyer. "These aren't necessary; I won't be filing charges." Seeing his glare. "You *have* my decision; I know what I'm doing, Erricks." Schuy returned to Simon. "I do have one request, though. You and Blair and Jim have all mentioned the involvement of another detective – the one who supposedly brought in most of the evidence. I would like to see him and this so-called evidence."

"Detective Lloyd hasn't made it in yet," Joel came forward, "but I have the file here if you'd like to see." He gently placed the folder in front of the younger Sandburg. "The front part contains detailed surveillance reports. The rest are photos taken at various places."

While Schuyler continued her perusal of her file, Jim decided it was time to ask his Guide the question that had been eating away at him. He quietly pulled the younger man over to a corner. "I'm sorry for doubting you, Chief. I should have followed my instincts and ignored Lloyd."

"You did what you had to. Just like I did."

"I understand your protecting Schuy, but this could have been nipped in the bud a long time ago if you'd just said something. Why didn't you tell me who she was?"

Blair tried to look everywhere except at his Sentinel, but finally he had to give up. "You don't understand the nature of her work. Schuy picks a building out of numerous requests and she learns it's security backwards and forwards, up and down. Then she picks a time and goes at it. If she's working the building and not the other teams, she never lets them know which one she's working or the time she'll be there. That way if there's any mistake, she's the one at fault. It's more dangerous, but it makes her job easier." He sighed and pulled back his hair and tucked it behind his ear. "Every person in her organization signs an agreement they will not disclose to *any* source who Kay Symmonds is. Before they implemented the program, one of the B-team people let out who she was and they lost a *big* account in Chicago because the cops were staked out at the four possibles. Another time, while she was in college, the cops in Baltimore found out and harassed her at her hotel room until she finally gave up. Her job tends to make you guys look bad and no officer wants one of his fellow cops to have egg on his/her face." He shook his head sending curls bouncing. "I couldn't take the chance you or Simon or Joel or whoever wouldn't feel obligated to warn someone. If I had thought the other group could kill someone, I would have…"

"I know you would have told, buddy. I know."

A small gasp floated to the Sentinel and he quickly turned towards the girl. It was obvious to him she was trembling, her heart was beginning to race and her breathing had increased. He nodded towards Schuy and he and Blair moved to her side. The younger man kneeled beside her. "Snip, what's wrong?"

"The photos … their dupli-duplicates … They were sent to me …" Fear shone in the eyes turned to the men. "He sent these to me. Blair, he's *here*."

Sudden comprehension hit Ellison right between the eyes as he listened to the girl struggle with thoughts of her demon. *Oh God, the bear!* He stood and faced his superior who was watching them with curiosity. "Sir, Lloyd's the stalker Sandburg told us about."

"What? Are you out of your mind, Ellison? I know you don't like the man, but that is a really serious charge you're throwing out."

"I know this sounds crazy, but think about it Simon. He's the one who turned us on to Schuyler. He provided all of the previous photos and he even brought in a lot of the new stuff. He supplied us with the dates and times of he hits and correlated them with Schuyler's presence at the sites. He knew about the damn bear. Why didn't we see this?"

"Are you telling me Harriston's here?" Richard asked from his position beside the girl. "He's the one who started this whole fiasco?"

"It would seem Harriston dropped his last name. Blair told us his initials were C.L.; it's not too hard a stretch to come up with Carl Lloyd. What I can't figure is how he's in good standing in San Francisco. We saw the photo with the check; it's him."

The trembling increased as the girl fought the tears. "He's a detective in San Francisco?"

"Yeah, why?"

It was the lawyer who answered instead, "That's been Kay's base of operations for the last two years. Hannah was from there and her fiancé lived there. That's where he killed her."

Blair couldn't help the shudder that raced through his body, "So, a murderer with a badge was able to get in on an investigation. … Another Lash." Jim was just about to comfort his partner when the younger man turned disbelieving eyes on him as his quick mind pieced things together. "I can see how this Lloyd was able to get in here. I mean, he was a brother-in-blue. But, that doesn't explain how he was able get past Schuy's security, does it Jim?" The older man couldn't look at him as he continued. "You gave him the information. After she put out the welcome mat for you, you turned around and gave him the key to her front door. How'd you justify it, Jim? Were you only doing your job? Was it because she was guilty so it didn't matter that you were giving out the very thing that made her feel safe? Are you telling yourself right now, it's not your fault because we didn't tell you the sources of her nightmares or why the security was so tight? Huh? Am I close?"

Simon felt compelled to jump in since Jim wasn't defending himself. "Sandburg, he wrote it up in a report for our eyes only. There was no way he could know Lloyd would use it for what he did. It was a horrible quirk of fate, that's all."

The Guide was almost completely ignoring the other man as he watched his Sentinel. Without moving his eyes, he motioned for Richard. "You have the limo, right?" Feeling him nod. "Good. Take her down to your car and do *not* let her out of your sight. I'll be down shortly." For once, Richard didn't have anything to say as he carefully guided the girl out of the room. When Blair was certain they were far enough away, his eyes moved to encompass the group left. "I'm gonna trust you to do everything you can to catch this guy. I am also going to trust you to provide protection for my sister *discreetly* until her own security group can get here." He closed his eyes and took several deep breaths. He finally opened the storm-clouded windows to his soul and continued, "As soon as her guys show, I want you to back off – *all* of you. If after that time, I see even one of you anywhere near her, I will make sure the charges are brought on you if I have to hold her up to do it. … Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to make sure a *victim* is protected."

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Those three days had been the loneliest for Jim. After he finally worked up the energy to head back to the loft, he wasn't too surprised to find many of Blair's clothes gone and the key on the table. There had been a note asking he leave a message with Schuy's service on when the rest of the anthropologist's things could be picked up. The detective was sure that would have hurt him more if he just weren't so numb.

He realized as he walked back into the bullpen from forensics that was how he had dealt with those seventy-two hours – he'd been numb. It had helped him function as he gathered as much on C.L. Harriston and Carl Lloyd as he could find. He hoped the feeling would continue until they had the man firmly in custody. Then, he would let all the pain and guilt he had suppressed rush out as he tore Lloyd to pieces. At the thought of ripping off all of the man's appendages and beating him with them, a small smile pushed it's way onto his face and stayed there until he saw Sandburg waiting at his desk.

"What are you doing here? I thought you wanted nothing more to do with me."

Schuyler looked up at the man towering over her and gave him a half-hearted grin. "Wrong Sandburg. I'm actually the one who can tolerate your presence without spitting." She leaned her head back to see all of him. "Would you mind sitting, please? If I go back with an aching neck Blair's gonna know I've been here. You guys are all like so tall."

Jim sat, "So, what brings you here against your brother's wishes and where are your bodyguards? Did you come to issue a restraining order against me so that when he moves in with you permanently, I can't get within the same time zone?"

"To answer your first question, they're downstairs. I didn't think Lloyd had the cajones to show back here." She tilted her head to look at him better. "And for your second, no-o-o way. Blair's not moving in with me. He already has a home." She shrugged. "That room is just a place to hang when something gets to be too much. Nothing more; nothing less. I'm sorry you thought differently, but there's no way I could live with Blair again – his tests bug me."

The detective's heart lifted just a tad as he listened to the girl, but his expression never changed. "Then why are you here?"

"Two reasons. The first is I was remembering the reports of those robberies. It suddenly occurred to me the patterns were familiar."

"Familiar in what way?"

"Familiar in the way that they came from my company."

"What? Are you saying *now* you are involved?"

"Not directly." She sighed and tucked a stray hair behind her ear. "Each pattern from each hit was one of several we developed for that building. For each building I decide to look at, I come up with five different ways of getting through it. If I decide to take on that building, then I force myself to come up with five additional patterns to follow. Out of those, I choose two – one for my primary and a second, similar one, as a backup. The ones I don't use are filed in a vault only myself and my higher-ups have access to. Every last one of the hits in your reports were from one of my patterns."

Jim was stunned, "You realize what this means, don't you?"

"After staying up all of last night thinking of nothing else, yes. Someone in the upper hierarchy of my organization is bad." Trying to contain herself. "I've thought of little else and yet I still can't believe it. I pay my people *extremely* well so that I don't have to worry about something like this happening. Either one of them doesn't think it's enough or he/she wants me to look bad. Either way, I want it stopped and I want you in charge of the investigation. Since we don't know exactly who it is, you'll be coordinating things through me and no one else – not even Richard."

"What about Blair? He doesn't want C.P.D. anywhere near you."

Slate-grey eyes locked into his. "Blair knows enough to keep family business away from *my* business; he won't interfere. Now, shall we?"

For the next hour, Jim and Schuyler discussed various aspects of the case. By the time they were finished, both felt they had made sufficient headway in finding the perpetrator. The detective had noticed how easily they had slipped back into the friendly feelings they'd had before the shake-up; he hoped, it would continue. "So, what was the second?"

"Beg pardon?"

"You said you had two reasons why you came here. We've made some good progress on the first, but I have no idea about the second. Care to clue me in?"

Without preamble, "You care a great deal about my brother, don't you?"

Yet another stunned Jim-moment. "Well, … yeah. He's my partner."

"Well, that makes two of us. I care more about Blair than my job or my friends … or even Naomi." Three's the charm; Jim almost stopped breathing after that one. "Blair walked through the fire with me and when we came out, we were unbreakable. I would do *anything* to keep my brother happy and that's where you come in." She smiled. "When I first showed up, I saw how he looked at you like the sun rose and set with you. The first night he stayed over, we stayed up and he just talked about you and how you let him in and how you were always beside him. There was this light that surrounded him when he told me about you giving him a home and a friendship and a sense of belonging he hadn't had since the last time he'd been with us. To Blair, you were the big brother he'd always wanted and I figured, if you were a brother to my brother, then you were a brother to me. That's why I gave you full access to my home. That's why I told security to give you a key whenever you signed in, so that you'd have a place to get away to as well. I made you my family because that's what you were to Blair."

"And, I betrayed that."

"No, you didn't. You did what any good Sentinel would do – you tried to protect your tribe to the best of your ability."

This time, Jim couldn't even get anything out as his eyes widened and his heartbeat shot through the roof.

"Don't worry; he didn't tell me. I'm very good at putting two and two together and coming up with five heightened senses." Recognizing his confused look. "I tested you on two of your senses and the rest just sort of fell into place when I saw Blair. Ask anyone who's known my brother from his childhood on and they'll tell you, Blair has always been looking for something. He just had that air about him. When he went to college, he suddenly hit on what he'd been unknowingly searching for – proof of Burton's Sentinels. He still had the look but it was more refined. After I met you and saw him, I realized the look was gone and that could only mean he'd found his Sentinel." A peaceful look encompassed her face. "There was something else, too. For the first time, my brother was complete and that was because of you; he'd found what he was supposed to do with his life."

"You've got it backwards, Schuy. Blair made me complete."

"And that's my second reason. He's not how he was when I came and neither are you." She paused to catch a breath. "He called Mom to tell her what was going on and, as soon as she made it here, she knew with one look.

"So, I'm putting aside my petty anger and my child-like ability to *really* carry a grudge, so that my *brothers* can find their way back to each other. Mom and I have decided to have a family dinner party at seven tomorrow night. You're expected to be there and to bring a nice wine – Mom's suggestion; I don't drink. We're not going to tell Blair you're coming because he'll just hole up somewhere and sulk at our betrayal and I really don't have the time to try to set something like this up again, considering I have a traitor to find.

"You, on the other hand are being placed in the adult role. Should you choose not to show up, I won't give you another chance to forgive all and forget all. Are we clear?"

As Schuyler had continued to talk, a funny thing happened to Ellison. The numbness had slowly started to ease up and in its place, tiny slivers of hope had taken root. He knew there was still a long way to go – the stubbornness of one Guide to be exact – but he was now somewhat optimistic. *Hey, with two women like Naomi and Schuy on my side, Blair doesn't stand a chance.* "So, what kind of wine should I bring."

The girl – young woman, Jim corrected – shrugged, "Mom likes white; it doesn't clash with her hair."

Several heads turned at the sudden and quite joyful laughter that overtook the earlier sullen and morose detective. They all decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth because a happy Ellison meant an ecstatic Major Crimes.

"So, we'll see you tomorrow at seven." She bent over and kissed the top of his head. As she pulled back, the mischief returned to her eyes. "Just so you know, *Detective*, I've narrowed my prospects to four buildings within the next five days. I challenge you to figure out which two I'll hit on which two days. Happy hunting."

Jim was still chuckling to himself as she left.

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Sammi