Note: This is the sequel to "MissPlacement."
The crack of the bat from across the stadium echoed it loudly and was followed by an excited roar of cheers. With the ball flying in the air, nearly everyone in its general trajectory rose to be ready to catch it. Buried under a sea of raised hands and baseball gloves sat Detective Ned Ryburn, showing half the excitement of the moment. He wasn't a grump about it, nor misanthropic and unhappy to be there, but the spirit of his favorite sport wasn't there like it used to be, as his police buddies noticed when they and everyone else sat down.
Detectives Sally Saffron and Lou Giatti next to Ned declined to poke fun at his lack of enthusiasm; attending the game was their idea, to get their friend back into a positive swing after a supposedly-huge opportunity of apprehending a major criminal, and surprisingly-huge slump. Being the kind of cop to usually hold things close to the vest, Ned had been cagey about a lot of the details; it took their trained intuition to figure that he had his sights on a reputed mob lieutenant, Richie McClure, known in the area as virtually untouchable.
"You know you're going to get him eventually, Ned" Sally commented, consoling her friend she's known relatively long. "Guys like him always give second chances."
"And cops like you never give up," Lou added. "Patience always bring the good things. But don't miss out on the good moments, like right now."
Ned laughed at their words, outwardly brightening as he tried to acknowledge their efforts and hide his true feelings. He was happy his pursuit of McClung could easily mask the criminal he was really missing - Kelli Kennedy, aka MissPlacement. He'd forgotten how long it'd been since he'd heard any word of her, or from her. The infamous street hypnotist had gotten to him, twisted his thinking as easily as a bow being tied on top of a wrapped present, and how she loved to see his thread repeatedly tugged at and unraveling. Buried as deep as he possibly could, he had to hide how much he loved it too. Every drawing gesture, every lingering glance, every snap of his counterfeit-girlfriend's fingers.
The sound of another hit in the field caught his daydreaming mind again, happy to stay seated as others rose, ready to catch something. All he caught was an ability to note how similar the distant sound of a bat hitting a baseball was to a distant, crisp finger snap was, feeling mental and physical reminders of that effect. The desire to go blank for a short amount of time, even in public, went thankfully unnoticed, and he was more than thankful that evidence of arousal from that association was solely his to notice.
Ned stoically tried to steel himself, to focus on the intended purposes of enjoying the game, when another sound caught his attention. Light confusion shaped facial muscles as the sound was much more akin to a real finger snap, followed by another. And another. And another. Each was crisp and powerful, as if made from very-practiced fingers. Each one was a taunt, that barely anyone else noticed, until his eyes caught a woman wearing a blue-jean jacket, dark sunglasses, and a pleased smile borderlining a smirk. Further down Ned Ryburn's row, across from a staircase aisle, sat MissPlacement herself, someone that could remained altogether inconspicuous if it wasn't for her blatant staring. The snapping virtually stopped when they saw one another, raising a hand to wave politely at her old acquaintance.
"Hey Neddy Bear," red-painted lips mouthed, while giving one more teasing snap, to note who drew his attention, leaving his mind to race with questions, and his cheeks to blush at her irritatingly-cute pet name for him. Visibly tensing at the fresh wave of submission that flowed over him, it was akin to how a fluffy teddy bear must feel when hugged tightly, lovingly, affirming affectionate trust that complimented suggestive lust, promoting the desire to be toyed with. Thankfully for him, the wave wasn't nearly as strong as it used to be, allowing him to tense enough to fight the words. Ned knew more than anyone there the devious twinkle in her eye hidden behind the glasses, happy to see the effects she could still produce after a long absence.
Sally just happened to look over to see her colleague looking back in their direction. The woman staring in their direction raptly kept Ned's attention, and got him to hide a whole gamut of emotional reactions, reading the older cop's body language and attempts at seeming nonchalant. She seemed to give another little wave before rising to her feet, walking away from the stands and towards the concession area, or to make some provocative exit. It took a lot for Ned to get so flustered; Sally figured ex-girlfriend, or some kind of problematic character he wasn't too pleased to see. What seemed to catch Sally's attention more than anything was a white, snakeskin purse in Kelli's possession that wasn't on her person when she rose, and matched the outfit of the woman sitting next to the staircase moreso than Kelli's blue-jean look. That piqued Sally's curiosity enough, rising herself a minute later and heading in Kelli's direction.
Moving through what felt like a sea of people between innings of the game, the female detective surprisingly didn't have to go far before seeing Kelli. She was standing out in the open, near one of the lines for the concession stands. The way she stood, head unmoving, maybe staring at the food menu, or just off into space, made it seem like she was half-waiting for something else. Or someone else. The white purse she clutched under her arm didn't look that uncoordinated to her blue denim outfit, and had she never paid attention to the stylish woman in white near their seating, she might've never made the connection. But Sally let her police instincts take over as she got behind Kelli. Intuitive person that she was, the hypnotist smiled to herself, cocked her head a little bit to the side, and turned it to see who had finally approached her.
She looked only slightly shocked to see Ned's companion behind her rather than Ned herself; years of disciplined showmanship kept her from acting too surprised.
"Oh, hello," Kelli greeted Sally. "Are you...one of Ned's friends?"
"I am. Sally Saffron, nice to meet you..." She extended her hand, and Kelli turned to grip it gently, with a slight but noticeable firmness to it. "Kelli Kennedy. Nice to meet one of Ned's friends."
"Likewise," Sally said evenly, keeping her skepticism internal.
"Are you doing the concession line? I'm not sure myself. I'm not even sure the line is moving." Kelli looked ready to move out of the way so Sally could get in line.
"I might. I do need to eat something eventually," Sally admitted, trying to keep the exchange friendly at the beginning.
"Yeah, you might concede to hunger before long," Kelli smiled. The way she said it almost puzzled Sally before her new acquaintance interjected the thought. "How long have you known Ned?"
"Oh, quite a while; we came up together through the academy."
"Oh, cool. You're a police offer too? A detective like Ned?"
"I am," Sally enjoyed how subtle Kelli seemed to be at innocently probing for information.
"Even cooler. I do wonder why there aren't more women detectives out there; we arguably have a much better eye for detail."
Sally smiled appreciatively, looking thankful for the compliment while using her eye for detail on the complimenter.
"What do you do, Kelli?"
"Oh, I'm a street hypnotist."
The detective's subtle blink and the slight holding of breath made Kelli smile inwardly, her own detecting eyes twinkling behind the sunglasses, grinning at the tale-tell signs of yet another person showing reactive, subconscious interest in her skills.
"Really?" Sally tried sounding nonchalant.
"Really. It's a very fun, fulfilling profession, to be able to show people the power of their own minds, how interests and thoughts can be narrowed, how focus and deep introspection can slip into one singular thing that keeps their attention and let's the rest of them, and soon all of them, relax and enjoy..."
Kelli loved letting those words hang in the air, letting considerate minds absorb and soak up their meaning, silently embodying them.
"Granted, it's not as fun as being able to tell people 'Freeze!' and 'You're under arrest!' all day..." Using a compelling, seductive voice with a touch of dominant intonation to utter the typical police commands struck Sally more than she was expecting, momentarily standing stark still with arrested senses. "But it's still fun."
"Y-yeah, that-" It took her a few seconds longer to recover than the detective wanted, centering herself on the purpose of their meeting. "A really interesting way to make money. Nice purse, by the way."