My apology for the late reply. I have a new job and I finally finished the chapter where Storm finds out about Sally. Thanks for waiting. Have a wonderful and safe holiday!
~!~
The blocked number showed on her phone before it went dead. The call came through again and again she did not pick up. On the third call, she accepted the call but said nothing.
"Someone is looking into her background. Have you heard anything?" asked the person on the line.
"No. Were they looking for something specific?" asked the person who answered.
"Nothing so far but the search is from law enforcement. Whoever is doing this is trying to do a deep search into her background. I have an alert on any information they retrieve."
"No one can find out about the money. Her life would be in danger if they do?"
"Her life is already in danger. She's very smart and not easily manipulated."
"Can she trust Storm?"
"Yes, I think she can. They haven't met yet so he knows nothing of her."
"Good. I'll let you know if anything suspicious triggers on this end,"
"Yes, please do."
~!~
"Someone is looking into your records," said the woman on the phone.
"Do you know who and why?" Sally asked.
"No but I'll find out what I can. Have you met anyone new recently?"
"Yes, a guy by the name of Mitch Brookman. He's my study partner and he's in my class. I sometime give him a ride home from lab."
"You should have told me about him. Stay away until I have him checked out."
"Thanks but it seems strange that someone is looking into me after all these years. The time seems a bit suspicious."
"Yes, I understand. I'm sure you have nothing to worry about but I think it best to err on the side of caution."
"Yes, I agree. Thank you. Please let me know what you find."
"You are almost there. Just a few more months and you won't have to hide anymore."
"I don't think there'll ever be a day when that doesn't happen. Thanks for your help and the heads up. I will let you know if anything suspicious happens."
"Good."
~!~
"Hey how is the relationship between Sally and Rhonda," Mike asked.
"Don't know if they've spoken since that night. Why?" Storm replied.
"I need to find out if Sally knew where Rhonda was yesterday night. There was another robbery. The house was cleaned by her and Katie a two weeks prior."
"Do you think it's a coincidence?"
"No, I don't. I think both Rhonda and Katie are robbing the houses. I just don't think they are doing it by themselves. Someone else is helping them. "
"I'll ask Sally when I see her tonight."
"Thanks man, I appreciate it. We'll catch up soon."
"Yeah."
~!~
"Hey what are you doing for dinner?" Storm asked Sally.
"I'm having it right now, well so to speak, why?" Sally replied.
"Oh, I wanted to have dinner with you tonight."
Suddenly Storm heard, "Mitch, do you want to sit outside? It's not too hot."
"Who's that? Who's Mitch?" Storm asked.
"Oh my co-worker. Hey do you mind if we speak later? We're getting something to eat while we go over some lab work and notes." Sally took her bottle of water and walked to the table. "Thanks Mitch," she said to her friend before returning to the call, "Storm?"
"Yes, you're having dinner and studying? Why don't you take the break and just have dinner with me? I'll get you back in time."
"Sorry Storm, I can't, not tonight. I'll try and stop by after work, okay?"
"How late are you working until?"
"Not sure but I'll send you a text. Hey I have to go. Talk with you later."
"Call me when you get home tonight."
"Will do."
As Storm drove home, he thought about Mitch. Who was he? Where did he come from? Storm was experiencing another emotion he was unfamiliar with, 'jealousy'. He was jealous that another man was spending more time with his girlfriend than him. He was jealous that he was getting to know her better...working, having dinner, sharing jokes, all the things he should be doing but couldn't. He wanted her to have a successful career. He wanted her to complete her degree with honors. He was going to be there at her graduation to claim her to everyone. But with each mile of road his tires covered, his jealously was making it more and more difficult to see straight.
~!~
"Hi, how are you doing?" Sally asked Rhonda when she answered the call.
"Hey, what's up?"
"Are you still sleeping?"
"Yeah, I got in not too long ago. What's up?"
"Haven't seen or spoken with you in a while so just wanted to see how you're doing."
"Tired."
"Okay," Sally hesitated, "do you want to meet-up and have lunch sometime?"
"Yeah sure, just tell me when. I'm going back to bed. Later."
"Yeah, sure...bye."
As Sally ended the call, she thought again about what Storm said about her and Rhonda. Could Katie really be jealous of her? To her, the thought was preposterous. To be jealous of someone, you have to want better for yourself and willing to work for it, not Katie. She believed the only way to get something was to steal it just like what she did so many years go.
"Hey Sally, want to come to the mall with me and Katie?" Rhonda asked.
"No, I have homework to do." Sally replied.
"What are you a teacher's pet? You don't really think they care if you do the work or not right? It's not like they can fail you," Katie replied.
"Yes they can and I don't want to fail any of my classes. Thanks but I'm going to finish this."
"Come on Sally. You always stay home doing homework. When was the last time you went anywhere with me? Please we won't be long, just gonna look at some stuff."
Sally hesitated. She really wasn't a fan of Rhonda's new friend Katie and didn't want to be anywhere near her. Something about the girl made Sally weary. She had 'shifty eyes' or so the old folks back home would say. But Rhonda was her friend, her only friend. "Okay but I can't stay out long."
"We won't. Don't want to hear that hag's mouth."
"That was rude Rhonda, she's our guardian."
"She don't give a shit about me. She only cares about the money she gets from the state for us."
"That's not true. She gives you most of the money she gets as allowance."
"How you know that?" Rhonda asked.
"Yeah how do you know that?" Katie asked also.
Sally wanted to slap Katie for butting in but she was wrong for saying anything about the allowance. "Just makes sense. I don't think they give her much."
Sally knew it wasn't much. She'd heard Mrs. Chin give the social worker a verbal breakdown of her budget. Most of what she received for Rhonda, she gave to her as incentive to stay in school and attend classes. Only problem was it wasn't working. The social worker was there because of Rhonda had too many days missing from school. The skipping Sally felt was connected to Rhonda's newly found friend, Katie.
"Yeah well it's my money, I should get it all," Rhonda said.
Katie laughed, "I agree. Let's go. You coming?" she asked Sally.
"Yeah, I'll come."
While at the mall, they went to several stores. Sally followed behind not paying too much attention until one of the last store they went into, the attendant told Rhonda and Katie their bags were not allowed in the dressing room. It was then that Sally noticed that both Rhonda and Katie's bag looked at bit full from when they entered the mall. But before Sally could put the pieces together, Rhonda was yelling at her to run. She was grabbed by the store attendant and taken to security.
It was a few days later after the police came to the house for Rhonda that she was told by Mrs. Chin that her name was never mentioned and that Rhonda was going to do community service. She was happy that they knew she had nothing to do with the 'Rhonda and Katie' shoplifting spree. After all she had been honest with the security guard, providing all the information they asked for.
Rhonda was upset with her that she gave them their information and wouldn't speak with her for long while. Instead Rhonda got closer to Katie while Sally made it a duty to stay away. She also never went back to the mall, thinking she was forever branded a thief by all the stores there. Sally knew it was Katie's idea because she laughed about how silly Sally was standing there getting caught for a crime she didn't commit. Sally wanted to take the chance and beat her to a pulp. At least it was something she would have done to deserve a criminal record. Rhonda on the other hand, thought it was great that she was only given community service. In Rhonda's eyes, she and Katie were friends but Sally couldn't shake the feeling that all Katie saw in Rhonda was a puppet.
~!~
"Mr. Monsello, this is George from security and I have a Sally MacDonald here to see you."
"What? Send her up now please. Thanks George."
Storm was surprised. He and Sally had only spoken over the phone a few times last week. Each time he wanted to visit her apartment, she was exhausted from studying and working. He knew the first major test since beginning her internship was in a few days, and he wanted her to do well.
Meeting her at the elevator door, he drank in his fill of her. He couldn't believe he missed her this much. "This is a pleasant surprise."
"Am I disturbing you? I tried calling but it went to voicemail."
"Dara is out for the day and I was in a meeting earlier. What are you doing here?" he asked closing this office door behind them.
"We haven't been able to spend any time together so I wanted to see if you were available for lunch. I know you're busy but I was hoping..."
"I'm happy you're here. I was on my way to get a sandwich for lunch. What did you bring me?" Storm asked noticing the bag in her had.
"A sandwich," Sally smiled, "it was all I could think of on such short notice."
"It's perfect."
They both sat and unwrapped their sandwiches, smiling happily at each other, and relishing the moment.
Storm took a bite from his sub, "Mhhhh...you remembered. This is what I was going to get. Thank you." Sally smiled as best she could with her mouth filled with the bite from her sub. "So how's the internship going? You seem to be very busy; so busy that I can't seem to spend any time with you."
"Yeah, I am busy. It's a lot to remember and do. From the classifications to the procedures, and writing up the reports, logging the result, and then there's always the rush ones, and the precautions...it's just seems like it's everything at once. And trying not make a mistake so you don't get a bad report is difficult. It's not like school where I could retake a lab on another day if I messed up. This is now and most of the time, there are no do overs." She half laughed, "I want to sleep...it's okay," she said looking at him.
