Brothers Born in Adversity

by Cindy Combs

  Steven ran a hand over his hair, hating to have to call for help but knowing he was out of his league. "Yes."

  Twenty minutes later

  Jim stormed up to Lily's desk, Blair barely keeping up. The sentinel was becoming very annoyed with the person bothering his brother. However, his beef wasn't with the young woman at the desk. "Good Morning, Ms. Lancin."

  "Hello, Detective Ellison," Lily replied, subdued.

  Blair, reading the signs, asked, "How's Steven?"

  "He looks really tired. But then, he said he had some hang-up phone calls last night."

  Flames briefly sparked in Jim's eyes before he controlled his anger. "Have either of you opened the package?"

  "No." Steven stepped out of his office in time to hear Jim's question. "I thought there might be some fingerprints or something you could use."

  "Good thinking," Jim praised his brother, noting for himself the fatigue on the younger man's face. "Any progress on that Caller ID?"

  "It's all set up," Lily piped up. "I'll pick up the box at lunch." Steven gave her a grateful smile.

  "We HAVE to be ready before Gafkin arrives! You should have your people organized well enough to handle this!"

  "Don't worry about MY people. Worry about your own!"

  Steven groaned. Noticing Jim's eye on him, Steven whispered sentinel soft, "Jamison and Wilson. Gafkin is the company head." When Jim's eyes grew speculative, Steven sent a pleading look to behave.

  The first person around the corner was a man about Jim's size and age. His blond hair was slicked back, and the blue eyes held a determined, self-assured look. Jostling for space in the narrow hall next to him was an impeccably dressed woman of about the same age. Her dark head was held at an arrogant angle while her dark eyes were cold and just as determined. Stopping at the desk, she looked down her nose at Lily. "Another odd one, Ellison?"

  Steven barely kept from glaring. Blair suddenly realized that jaw clenching must run in the Ellison genes. "This is my new secretary..."

  However, Jamison had already dismissed the girl from her attention and turned to examined Blair and Jim from head to toe. For a moment, Blair felt like he was a dish of Jell-O on a dessert tray. "Who are you?"

  Before Steven could speak, Jim offered his hand, meeting her challenging eyes with a bland, arrogant stare of his own. "Jim Ellison, Steven's brother."

  Jake sent a puzzled glance at Steven as the woman purred, "I see good looks run in the family." With Jamison's attention held by Jim, Lily covertly passed the package to Blair. "May I ask why you're here?"

  "Just needed to talk to Steven about a family matter, Ms...?"Jim returned politely, but not backing down.

  "Ms. Dory Jamison. I'm one of the Vice Presidents of this company." She continued to study the large man in front of her. "In fact, I need to speak with your brother. We have an urgent meeting coming up."

  Catching the brief, startled look that crossed Steven's face, Jim realized that this was the first time the younger Ellison had heard of it. Jim tipped his head slightly in deference, though his eyes plainly stated it was by his good will alone that he was allowing her near Steven at all. "That's fine. My partner and I were just leaving. Come on, Chief." Blair quickly followed Jim's lead.

  Watching the two men walk down the hall, Jamison asked, "Partner?" with a slight sneer.

  "Steven's brother is a police detective," Jake replied, again shooting Steven a puzzled look.

  "That's right," Steven replied, struggling to keep the sharpness out of his voice. He hadn't liked the way she looked at Jim, nor the haughty sneers she'd given Blair and Lily. While normally he could ignore Jamison's rudeness, a part of him felt that family should be exempt. "He and his partner, Blair Sandburg, are two of the best detectives in the city."

  "Hmm," Dory murmured. Then she shook her head in dismissal, turning to glare at Steven. "We need to talk."

  Steven elegantly indicated his office with a hand. "After you." He caught Lily's sympathetic eyes before turning to follow.

  An hour later, Major Crimes

  "ELLISON! SANDBURG! My office, NOW!"

  Jim and Blair exchanged glances. "What now?" Blair asked, eyes wide.

  "You got me," Jim shrugged. They stood up in unison, then bravely walked into their fuming captain's office.

  Blair closed the door behind him. "Yes, sir?"

  "Sit." Simon Banks waited until they were in front of him, then waved a folder. "What's this about fingerprints off of a video tape? Which case is this?"

  Jim and Blair glanced at each other. "Actually, sir," Jim began as he sat up straight, unconsciously fallen into his 'military mode'. "That is a case I'm working on for my brother."

  "Brother?" Simon questioned. "Steven?"

  "He's being stalked, Simon," Blair jumped in, wanting to put their leader in a sympathetic mode. "He doesn't know who she is, and she's escalating."

  "For Steven to even come to me means he's nervous," Jim added. "And after reading those letters, I don't blame him."

  It worked. Simon frowned worriedly, remembering the soft-spoken young businessman. "Where are these letters? And what's a video tape have to do with it?"

  Blair jumped up to get the letters as Jim explained, "It arrived at his office this morning. We're hoping to get some finger prints or some kind of a lead, so we can at least identify this woman."

  Simon glanced at the report. "There are a couple of partials, but we'll need someone to compare them to, or we're just shooting in the dark."

  "I know, sir," Jim replied. "But it might help later when we need hard evidence pinning her to the crime."

  Blair returned, carrying both folders and a video. "Serena just returned the tape." He handed the folders over to Simon. "May I pop it in?"

  Simon nodded as he began to read.

  Blair turned on the TV and VCR, slipped the tape in, then punched play. An image of a building burst onto the screen. "Ah, Jim..."

  "That's Steven's apartment building," Jim confirmed.

  They watched as Steven pulled into his designated spot, parked his BMW, and climb out. "Jim, isn't that what Steven was wearing last night?"

  "You're right, Chief." Jim continued to focus on the image as it followed his brother up the sidewalk and into his building. The screen briefly went black before showing a large piece of paper with the words, "Where did you go last night?" written in a shaky scrawl.

  "God, Jim." Blair's eyes were wide with worry. "She really is trying to keep close tabs on him."

  Simon cleared his throat. "Okay, you two. I won't assign you new cases this week. Just finish up your current ones, and concentrate on catching this pervert."

  "Thanks, Simon," Jim replied gratefully as they stood up.

  Tuesday afternoon, Burbank Complex

  "It's not our problem some fancy businessman is having trouble with a girlfriend." The pale, flabby man who was head of security shrugged. "We have more important things to do."

  "More important than the safety of the people in this building?" Jim growled menacingly.

  "Jim," Blair hissed under his breath, knowing his sentinel could hear it.

  The head man, apparently not realizing the danger he was in, waved Jim off. "We have to keep this whole building secure. Which is too big a job to be chasing after some poor, heartsick woman."

  This time, Blair grabbed Jim's arm before he could lunge. "This isn't doing any good. Let's get out of here."

  Jim gave the man his deadliest, feral glare. In a voice cold enough to freeze nitrogen, he stated, "I'll leave with this warning: If anything happens to my brother in this building, your ass is mine."

  Blair shook his head as they left the security office. "Oh, that's a good way to win them over."

  "I don't care if I win them over. I just want the airbag to protect Steven."

  Blair sighed. "Maybe he's more competent than he sounds."

  "I doubt it." Jim glanced around the bank of computers. "Now, which tower is this 'Community Lights Foundation' in?"
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  Blair quickly consulted his notebook. "Southeast. Are you ready to talk with them?" Having watched the sentinel grow tenser and angrier as the day worn on, Blair wasn't sure how much Jim would take without exploding.

  "Yeah." Jim rubbed his face a moment. "This is the one I really want to talk to."

  Blair nodded as he followed his partner into the elevator. "Yeah, considering how much info Steven would have given for the background check."

  "Plus they're in the same building," Jim pointed out. "In spite of the airbag's whining, once you're past the front lobby, security isn't that tight. Anyone from any of the towers could take an elevator to the second floor, walk across to another elevator, and ride up into another tower without question."

  "Especially if they are charity employees," Blair replied thoughtfully.

  "Right."

  Getting off on the ninth floor, the partners followed the signs to the Foundation's office. Stepping through the door, they were faced immediately with the receptionist's desk in the cramped office. In direct contrast to Steven's petite Goth secretary, the Foundation's secretary was a tanned body-builder. Dressed in a casual short sleeve, baby blue blouse and dark blue slacks, the blonde woman ruled her desk. Blair briefly wondered how fast she could break him in two, though the way she was checking Jim and him out, he didn't think 'hurting' them was what she had in mind. "May I help you?"

  "I'm Detective Ellison and my partner, Detective Sandburg. May we speak with your boss?"

  Her eyes widened. "Is Betty in trouble?"

  "No, ma'am," Blair assured her politely, giving her one of his best smiles. "We just have a few questions for her." He quietly studied the office filled with boxes and filing cabinets. Next to him, Jim suddenly sneezed hard. Blair handed Jim a kleenex as he noted the dust clinging to the nearby boxes.

  The woman turned. "Terry, could you take these men back to Ms. Lesley?"

  It startled Blair for a moment when a short-haired figure in a dark blue sweatshirt and jeans stood up from among the boxes. "Yes, Ms. Lundy." Dark eyes studied them a moment before waving them to follow. Blair was glad for a guide, considering the winding path through the boxes to the back office.

  Terry knocked on the door before opening it. "Ms. Lesley, there's some cops here to see you."

  A petite, nervous woman glanced up. "For the policeman's ball? Heavens, that's not for at least another five months!"

  "No, ma'am," Blair replied respectfully. "We'd like to talk with you about the bachelor's auction."

  "Really?" Ms. Lesley turned around and gazed at them speculatively. "Did Commissioner Mathews finally agree to send me some bachelors?"

  Blair's eyes grew wide as Jim smoothly interjected, "No, ma'am. My brother's one of the bachelors to be auctioned off--"

  "And he convinced you to join up?" she interrupted eagerly.

  Blair smothered a snicker as Jim's cool nearly broke. "No! Actually, we'd like to discuss your procedures for the auction."

  The woman frowned. "Whatever for?"

  "My brother, Steven Ellison with Griffin Enterprises, has been bothered by someone sending him strange letters. We're trying to track down how information about his life was given to the letter writer."

  "Another one?" Then Ms. Lesley looked up. "Terry, that will be all. Continue working on that flyer for me."

  Once the silent employee had reluctantly left, Blair carefully prodded, "Another one?"

  Ms. Lesley waved a hand. "Apparently there are a lot of psychos in this town."

  "Well, just in case we're talking about the same psycho, could you please give us the names of any one else who's had letters?"

  "And scare off my bachelors?" She flipped several of her dark braids over her shoulder. "I should say not!"

  Noting the flash of anger in his partner's face, Blair quickly replied, "If you still want Steven Ellison in this charity function, you need to cooperate with us." That seemed to cool the woman down a bit. "Steven said that you collected information to do a background check?"

  "Of course," Ms. Lesley answered, still perturbed. "After that 'Marry a Millionaire' scandal, we've been extra careful about who we allow in the show.

  "Who has access to the background check information?" Jim asked.

  "Myself. My staff: Joanne Lundy, Suzie Craig, and Terry Hudson. And the nice police officer who does the checks for us. Commissioner Mathews set it up."

  "May I have the name of the officer?" Blair requested. After a haughty glare, Blair explained, "Just so we can make sure no one at his end gave the information to anyone."

  "All right. But if ANY ONE of my bachelors drops out at this late date due to you, I WILL call the Police Commissioner. I'm friends with the mayor and his wife, you know."

  "Yes, ma'am," Jim replied through gritted teeth as Blair flipped over a clean sheet of paper.

  Tuesday evening, Steven's office

  "Have you found those files yet?"

  Lily pulled her head out of a filing cabinet. "I finally found the hard copy, but I can't find the electronic one."

  Steven closed his eyes a moment, forcing his weary mind to work. "Okay, that was the week Mrs. Brennon was here, and I seem to remember her accidentally deleting a whole directory."

  "A WHOLE directory?" Lily repeated, eyes wide. "Couldn't she recover it?"

  Steven shook his head. "That woman destroyed everything she touched."

  "Well, I can look through the backups."

  "Never mind. Give me the hard copy, and I'll type in the section I need at home tonight."

  Lily walked over to her desk and picked up a diskette. "Here's all the updated info on the Parkstreet Station renovations and the Turner project. I can make up pie charts and bar graphs once I know what you need."

  Steven gave her a weary smile as he took the disk and the folder from her. "Thanks. I should have that pulled together tonight."

  "Hey, Steven."

  Steven and Lily looked up to spot Blair and Jim entering the office. "You about ready to go home?" Jim asked.

  Steven's brow wrinkled in puzzlement. "Why?"

  "Because it's nearly seven, and I thought I'd ride home with my brother," Jim quietly told him.

  "This have something to do with the video tape?" Steven asked, his gut tightening. He had been too busy during the day to call Jim about it.

  "Yeah, we'll discuss it once we get to your place." Jim could see the strain increase across Steven's shoulders.

  To break the tension, Blair glanced at the stacks of folders on Lily's desk. "What's up?"

  Steven ran a hand through his hair. "The heads of the company are flying in from Europe on Thursday, and everyone has to present status reports on the various projects."

  "Ouch," Blair winced. "That doesn't give you much notice."

  "Can't be helped," Steven replied with a shrug.

  "Are you about ready?" Jim asked. Steven had deep circles under his eyes. His older brother's concern rose another notch.

  "What about your truck?" Steven asked.

  "We came over in my car." Blair gave his partner a smirk. "Since Jim does strange things in the passenger seat because he isn't allowed to drive my car, it'd probably be better if he rides with you."

  Lily glanced at Blair. "Why can't he drive your car?"

  Giving her one of his charming smiles, Blair suggested, "Why don't I walk you to your car, and I'll tell you about it on the way."

  Returning the smile, Lily grabbed a couple of folders and her purse. Yanking her cape off the coat rack, she replied, "Sounds like a deal."

  Steven lifted an eyebrow at Jim. "You aren't allow to drive Blair's car?"

  Jim gave his imitation of a stone wall. "Sandburg holds grudges."

  "Grudges for what?" Steven walked back into his office, picking his briefcase up from the floor.

  "I was driving his last car when it blew up."

  Pausing after tossing a couple of diskettes into his briefcase, Steven stared at his brother. "You blew the engine? Driving it in a
chase, I'd bet."

  Jim stared at the ceiling. "Actually, the perp had a rocket launcher."

  Steven snorted, struggling to contain his laughter at the image Jim just provided. "You mean, the car LITERALLY blew up?" Jim's shrug was enough to send Steven laughing. "No wonder Blair won't let you drive his new car." Steven led his brother through the office to the elevators.

  "Wasn't MY fault," Jim retorted. "It could have just as easily have been Blair driving."

  "So you do strange things in the passenger's seat to get back at him?"

  Jim finally smiled. "Actually, he was refering to the test drive..."

  The wild story Jim weaved about the Cobra's test drive had Steven chuckling the rest of the way to the underground garage. Then suddenly he stopped and stared, all the good humor flowing out of his body. His nicely detailed car was now a mess. Someone had written, 'Why is your brother after me?" in soap across the hood of his BMW. The rest of the car was covered in X's and O's, while the two tires Steven could see were flat. For a moment, he felt like he might become physically ill.

  Then a warm hand squeezed his shoulder. Faintly, Steven heard Jim talk softly over his cell phone as his comforting hand continued to rub the tense muscles. Then the same soft voice spoke directly to him. "We'll get her."

  "Yeah," Steven replied slowly, his eyes never leaving the car. "But will I still have a life by then?"

  Wednesday afternoon, Major Crimes

  Leaning on his elbows, Jim rubbed his face wearily. A soft voice asked, "You doing okay, Jim?"

  Jim managed a slight twist on his lips to reassure his partner. "Just tired. Any luck with the background check on Jamison?"

  "While the nicest thing anyone has called her is 'witch', her record is clean so far. Still waiting on some information, though." Blair lifted an eyebrow. "How about you?"

  "Turns out it was one of your old academy friends, Johnson, who did the background checks on the bachelors. He's a lot more helpful than Ms. Lesley. We found three more reports of 'volunteers' who received weird letters after signing up. I've contacted them all. Two of them only received a couple letters a few months ago, and one received three letters about six to eight weeks ago. However, none have received one in the last four weeks."