Brothers Born in Adversity

by Cindy Combs

  BROTHER BORN FOR ADVERSITY

  Production No. BPP-602

  written by:

  C.L. Combs

  edited by: Claire, Mary Ellen M, Kelly Meding

  A friend loves at all times,

  And a brother is born for adversity

  Proverbs 17:17

  Monday afternoon

  The beehive of activity that was the Major Crime bullpen swirled around Detective Jim Ellison. With a concentration born from experience and necessity, the senior detective was able to filter out and ignore most of it as he worked on his report. Yet underneath, the sentinel was still aware of his surroundings, of who was there and alert to possible trouble. It was that instinct that urged Jim to raise his head in time to see his brother Steven enter the large room.

  Jim frowned as he glanced at his calendar. He didn't think they had lunch scheduled, and Steven was way too busy a businessman to just drop in at the station. Leaning back in his chair, he studied his brother as he approached. Steven looked tired and stressed, faint lines new to his face sprouting around his eyes.

  Worried, Jim stood up and greeted, "Hi Steven. You okay?"

  A faint smile graced his brother's face. He should have known his older brother would guess that something was up. "I'm sorry to bother you, Jim, but can we talk a minute?"

  "Sure," Jim replied, even more concerned. He pointed to the chair next to his desk.

  Glancing around at the activity, Steven quietly requested, "Is there somewhere a little more private?" Jim's frown deepened, pushing Steven's insecurity button. "Or I could come back some other time."

  "No," Jim shook his head, sensing that whatever Steven needed to talk about was important. "I think one of the conference rooms is free."

  A few minutes later, the two brothers were seated at a table, a mug of coffee tucked into Steven's hand. "Okay, spill it," Jim ordered gently.

  Taking a deep breath, Steven paused, then sighed. "It's probably nothing."

  "If it's got you this worked up, I doubt it's nothing." Both Ellison boys were raised to be strong and independent. Jim knew that it was a huge step for Steven to even come to him.

  Taking another moment to gather his thoughts, Steven finally began. "About three months ago, I started getting these little, well, notes. Sometimes with gifts, and other times not." Jim raised an eyebrow. Steven shrugged. "The first was a red rose with a note saying 'You caught my heart'. It was so out of the blue, I even checked with the front desk to make sure it was suppose to go to me. Another time it was a mug with a packet of my favorite coffee, the note saying I was working too much overtime."

  "Doesn't sound like much of a problem," Jim replied cautiously. "Why haven't you mentioned these notes before?"

  Steven shot his brother an uncomfortable look. "Because I didn't know who they were from and usually forgot about it until the next one showed up a week or so later. I mean, at first I thought it was someone's idea of a joke, so I didn't want to give it credence by reacting to it. Then when they continued coming, I thought maybe someone in the office was just being nice. There didn't seem to be any steady pattern in the beginning. After about the fourth one, I began asking around, trying to keep an eye out, but I couldn't figure out who was doing it. If I still had Mrs. Clark, I'd have sent her digging, but since she's retired, I haven't had a secretary long enough to even meet everyone yet."

  Jim gave his brother a smirk, trying to lighten the heavy mood. "Oh yeah, what number are you on now? Five or six?"

  "Seven." Steven faintly returned the smirk. He had entertained Jim and Blair for several hours last month with his outrageous secretary stories. "Actually, I think this new one has potential, especially after I convinced her to leave the nose ring at home."

  Jim chuckled as he tried to picture his brother handling that discussion. "So I guess we can leave out your secretaries."

  Steven nodded. "Actually, it was the new one, Ms. Lancin, who suggested I might want to contact the police about this."

  "So what made you decide this isn't just someone being nice?"

  Running a hand through his hair, Steven reached into this briefcase. "They've been appearing more regularly and becoming increasingly more personal. More, ah, comments about my appearance and how much I work. And this last one..." A faint splash of color danced across the younger man's cheeks as he pulled it out.

  Jim took the letter printed on a rose pink sheet of paper.

  My darling Steven,

  I noticed you stopped at Sprouts last night. Hopefully you are not falling ill or being hampered too much by your shoulder. It's probably just the stress of your job, since you're obviously in wonderful shape. Soon you won't need those alternative treatments. Once we are together again, I promise to kiss it and make you feel much better.

  Your Beloved

  Jim glanced at his brother. "Again?"

  Totally baffled, Steven lifted his hands and shrugged. "I haven't had a date since Debbie five months ago."

  Jim nodded sympathetically. The breakup of the sixteen-month relationship had been hard on his brother. "When did you go to Sprouts?" It was an herbal and health store his partner, Blair Sandburg, often went to.

  "Last night. I wrenched my shoulder at the gym last week and Motrin just doesn't seem to be working. A friend suggested a liniment they make there." Steven looked his brother in the eye. "I've never been in the store before. Heck, Paul had to give me directions."

  "When did you get this note?"

  "This morning."

  Jim didn't like what that insinuated. "She had to have been following you."

  "I didn't see anyone. But then..." Steven sighed.

  "You weren't expecting anyone to be following you," Jim finished reassuringly. "Have you received all these notes at work?"

  "All except the fruit basket last week. That was delivered to my apartment."

  Jim's expression was grim. "Has there been any other type of contact, like a phone call or visit?"

  "Just the notes, as far as I can tell. I've had a few hang-ups at home, but I figure they're just wrong numbers. Since I don't know who it is, I can't really say if she's been in my office, although I think she has."

  "Why's that?"

  "She just seems to know too much. She knows how long I work, what coffee I like, where the one flower she sent me was placed, and even that I hurt my shoulder. How could she know all that?"

  "Some people can be pretty ingenious when they want to find out something," Jim muttered worriedly. "Have you told anyone else about these?"

  "Ms. Lancin, since everything for me comes through her desk and she questioned me about it. My housekeeper, Mrs. Tillis, since she picked up the basket for me last week. And I asked building security to keep an eye out, but it was more like some big joke to them."

  Hearing the embarrassment and dejection in his brother's voice, Jim reached over and squeezed his shoulder. Peering into the pale blue eyes so much like his own, he assured him, "I don't think this is a joke. In fact, I don't like this at all."

  Steven still didn't look too convinced. "If whoever this is likes me that much, why doesn't she just introduce herself?"

  "This isn't about real love; this is about delusions and stalking."

  "Damn." Steven buried his head in his hands when Jim named his fear. "I was afraid of that. I just don't understand it. Why me? It's not like I'm famous or a model or something."

  Jim could only shake his head. "I'm not sure why she's fixated on you. That's Sandburg's area of expertise; maybe he can tell you. But she has, so all we can do now is find out who she is and see if we can resolve the situation." Jim tilted his head as he continued to study his brother. "Would you like me to investigate?"

  Steven raised
his head and nodded. "I don't think she's going away anytime soon and it's just getting too weird."

  Just as long as it doesn't turn violent. Jim pushed away thoughts of Rebecca Schaeffer, the young actress killed in her home by a stalker. He didn't want to scare his brother needlessly. "Do you mind if I bring Sandburg into this? This is more his kind of thing than mine."

  Steven paused, thinking. "Okay."

  Jim felt himself relax slightly. While Steven had been much more understanding about the incident over Blair's dissertation than their father, Jim wasn't sure if his brother totally trusted his partner yet. "Okay, I want you to make up a list of everyone and anyone you've contacted in the last three months. New companies, co-workers, neighbors, clients, stores where you shop, anything you can think of. Especially anything new around the time this started." Expecting his busy brother to complain, Jim was surprised when Steven immediately agreed. Damn, he's more scared about this than he's letting on.

  Then Steven glanced at his watch. "Damn, I've got a meeting in twenty minutes."

  "Why don't Sandburg and I drop by your office around 6?" Jim suggested. "We'll go out to dinner and discuss our plan of attack."

  The first real smile since he had arrived stretched across Steven's face. "That would be great. Thanks, Jim."

  "Anytime, Steven," Jim returned the grin, then grew serious again. "Just keep an eye out for any car following you or anyone showing a lot of interest."

  "I will," Steven promised as he grabbed his briefcase. Jim watched as he wove through the crowded bullpen, looking every inch of the confident businessman that he was.

  Yet there in the conference room, Jim had seen his little brother. The little brother who had once looked up to him and would run to him when scared or unsure. Steven hadn't shown Jim his vulnerable side in a very, very long time. It worried the older man to see it now.

  Monday evening, the Burbank complex

  "...had to have followed him, Chief. There is no other explanation." Jim parked his truck a block from the large business complex that housed Steven's company along with several other firms.

  Blair nodded thoughtfully, noting the worried tone in his friend's voice. "Possibly. Although, did Steven pay by cash or credit card?"

  Jim glanced at him. "You think this woman may have accessed his financial records?"

  "What better way to track someone if you're interested in them?" Blair shrugged. "It just depends on how invested this person is in Steven at this point."

  Jim muttered darkly as he climbed out of the truck. Blair slowly followed, studying their surroundings. He had never been to the complex before. Four dark glass towers rose twenty floors towards the sky, all connected by a common first two floors. It looked sleek, clean, modern, and a bit intimidating to Blair. It also somehow reminded the young detective of Steven Ellison.

  With a start, Blair pushed away his own insecurities. While he always felt like the poor, dorky cousin when it came to Jim's brother, Steven himself had never acted that way towards him. Blair also felt guilty about the way the media had swarmed Steven when his dissertation about Jim's abilities surfaced. But this wasn't about Blair Sandburg. This was about his partner's brother, who was being stalked by an unknown predator. Perhaps Blair could make up for the previous incident if he could help Steven now.

  The guard in the large lobby pointed them to the third bank of elevators. Noting Jim's glare, Blair whispered, "We don't know who Steven talked to. Let's get the facts before you start busting heads."

  Jim shrugged as they got into the elevator. Blair covertly studied his partner. He was definitely in protective sentinel mode. Even worse than that, he was also in protective big brother mode. While Blair had been the recipient of that mode on more than one occasion, he rarely saw Jim in it for someone else.

  Jim quickly exited the elevator when the door opened onto the tenth floor. Blair followed him around the main desk of Griffin Enterprises and two quick left turns. Then Blair nearly plowed into Jim's back when he suddenly paused mid-step. Quickly stepping to the side, Blair spotted the cause. Steven had apparently gotten another new secretary.

  The slim young woman was dressed in a black blouse in the Goth style. Her hair was dark brown except for several dyed white locks. Dark purple lipstick stood out on her pale face, with her extremely long black nails completing the picture. At the moment, she was intently tapping away at her computer keyboard. She was definitely different from the last one whom Jim had described as a middle-aged blonde who wore a size 3X and liked pink. Upon further study, Blair noted that she really was quite pretty, in spite of her dark outfit. Looking up, she politely asked, "May I help you?"

  Luckily, Jim had managed to compose himself before their eyes met. "Ms Lancin?"

  Suspiciously, she replied, "Yes?"

  "Is Steven in?"

  Taking another look at the tall man, she asked, "Are you the policemen Mr. Ellison talked with earlier?"

  "That's right," Blair replied, trying not to chuckle. He always told Jim that his looks screamed, 'cop'. "I'm Detective Blair Sandburg."

  "And I'm Detective Jim Ellison," Jim added. "I'm Steven's brother."

  The young woman's eyes widened. "Really? Well, Mr. Ellison is in his office right now finishing up a report. I can buzz him if you like."

  Before Jim could reply, Steven stepped out of his office. "Ah, you're here." He turned to the young woman. "Ms. Lancin, I just sent the final report to you via email. Could you get that out in tomorrow morning's mail?"

  "Not a problem, Mr. Ellison," the young woman replied solemnly.

  "Then I'm leaving for the day," Steven replied with a weary smile. "Let me grab my briefcase and we can head out."

  While Jim hated to bring up the subject so soon with Steven looking so exhausted, he had to ask. "Do you have any of the other letters? I thought we could take them with us and look them over during dinner."

  Steven tensed slightly, but enough that his sentinel brother could spot it. "I only have that last one. I tossed the others."

  "I saved the ones from the last two weeks," Ms. Lancin jumped in. She hopped out of her chair and walked over to the cabinet. Her fingers dancing over the tops of the hanging files, she missed Steven's surprised look. "I also accidentally found another folder one of the others kept with a couple of notes."

  Trying not to smile at his brother's expense, Jim tapped Steven's shoulder. "Let's get your briefcase, Sandburg can grab the files, then we'll head out."

  Catching Jim's eye as the older man steered Steven into his office, Blair walked over to give the young woman a friendly smile. "This is great that you kept them, Miss Lancin."

  The woman gave him a pained look. "You can call me Lily. I'm not use to being called 'Miss'."

  Blair chuckled. "I know what you mean. I'm still getting use to 'detective'. Anyway, we appreciate your efforts, Lily. We'll need everything we can get to help Steven out."

  Lily gave him a worried look as she handed over the folders. "I hope you can do something. Mr. Ellison's been really fair and honest with me so far, and I don't want to see him hurt."

  Blair, about to open one of the files, looked up sharply. "What do you mean?"

  Lily waved a hand over the files. "Those are some weird letters. They remind me a little of the ones a friend used to get from her ex-boyfriend who was stalking her. He's a real scary dude who just wouldn't let her go and even tried to kill her mother. But the worst part was how he had her looking over her shoulder all the time and afraid to leave the house so she wouldn't run into him. I was so glad when they tossed his butt in jail, but my friend's really worried about what's going to happen in another sixteen months when they let the creep out. But anyway, I'd hate to have something like that happen to Mr. Ellison. Why, he even said I could leave early Wednesday so I could go to the Morrissy concert. There aren't too many bosses who would be that understanding when I've only been here two weeks."

  "You got tickets?" Blair asked, eyes shining. "Cool. That should be a grea
t show."

  "I know, my friends and I have been looking forward to it for weeks. Which is why it was so nice of Mr. Ellison to let me go." She leaned a little closer to Blair. "I kinda worry about him since it sounds like she's following him. What if this weird chick has a gun?"

  Blair nodded, knowing her concern was all too real. "We're going to try our best to stop it, and these could help a lot." He gave her a reassuring smile. "Though there is something else you can do." He handed her one of his cards. "Give me a call if you hear or see anything you think is suspicious. I'd appreciate it, and I know Jim would, too. He's really worried about his brother."

  Lily looked worried herself. "I'll do anything I can to help."

  Jim stepped out of the office with Steven. "Ready, Chief?"

  "Yep. Let's go."

  Twenty minutes later, Lucille's

  Once they were tucked away in a corner table at Lucille's, Jim carefully extended his hearing. The high dividers with the mix of real and imitation plants gave a sense of privacy, but the sentinel wanted to make certain. First, he tuned out Blair's eager descriptions of the unique Cajun/American cuisine and related subculture. Then he concentrated on the tables around them. The family with three teenagers on the right was discussing football and an upcoming band competition. The couple behind him was in their own world, while the four ladies behind Blair and Steven were busy discussing writing techniques. Before Jim could scan any farther, a sudden crash sent a spike of pain through his head.

  Blair broke off in mid sentence when Jim's hands went to his ears. "Damn," he whispered, realizing what had happened. As a puzzled Steven watched, Blair gently rubbed his partner's shoulder. "Easy, Jim. I know it's hard, but find the dial. Take a deep breath. That's it. Visualize..."

  Realization hit Steven full in the face. The noisy collision between a busboy and a child must have hurt his brother's sensitive ears. After the media blitz and Blair's so-called public confession, Jim had admitted to him that he really was the sentinel Blair's dissertation had declared. At the time, Steven had been surprised that he really wasn't surprised. Deep down, he knew his older brother was gifted, just not the specifics of his gifts. He'd even teased Jim that now that he knew his 'trade secret', he might have to hire him to check on buildings being remodeled. While Jim had said the senses could be damn annoying, he still had been envious. But now, seeing the pain on his brother's normally stoic face, Steven realized that Jim had been downplaying the disadvantages, as usual.