chapter 145

word count: 1456

as buzz meandered through the squad room,, arm still protectively around priscilla’s waist,, the hum of the gossip machine could already be heard churning.. as they walked, priscilla allowed the instinctive air of celebrity to take over,, and added just a little more swing to the sashay with which she already walked.. 

buzz could feel the little exaggerated movement of her hips as he guided her through the maze that was homicide ground zero,, and couldn’t help but wonder if he hadn’t committed yet another female faux pas by bringing her here..  

“damn it.” he said aloud, before he knew it.. 

“what was that?” priscilla asked innocently enough,, although she had heard him loud and clear.. 

“oh nothing.” mumbled buzz.. “just trying to sort out adam’s involvement in all of this..”

with that,, buzz over anxiously opened his office door,, and motioned for priscilla to proceed him in entering..  the sooner he got her out of view of the squad room the better.. 

“have a seat.” he more instructed ,, than invited her,, as he quickly took to drawing the dark wood venetian blinds that would cover the fish tank like plate glass window that was the front wall of his office, thus making it impossible priscilla to further entertain the troupes while he was reviewing the tapes from the dump,, and questioning the only witness to the day’s events there..  

since the majority of priscillas secret service training had centered around her ability to read facial expression and body language,, she could see that buzz was more than a bit anxious.. priscilla was not in any way, naive enough to believe buzz when he said his anxiety at the moment was tied into adam’s involvement in this diamond situation.. 

no, she had been able to discern early on,, that buzz had few if any real emotional ties to adam,, in fact judging by the way he had failed to so much as make an attempt at physical contact with the boy when they went over to the foster parents home to question him about the diamond,, she was quite convinced he had never had any emotional ties to the boy at all.. 

‘pity..’ she thought to herself as she made a distinct mental note of her observations,,‘that boy is going to grow up never having known a fathers love. surely it will serve to have a negative impact on him as he crosses over into adolescence and beyond..’

her internal discourse surrounding adam’s psychological profile was abruptly interrupted, by buzz admonishing her yet again to take a seat.. 

“go ahead,, have a seat.. i gotta get a move.. i got people waiting for me..” he said as he slid the most comfortable seat in the house,, his well worn but ever so comfy desk chair, in her direction and headed for the door.. 

“i’ll try to make this as quick as possible,, but no guarantees.. there’s a coffee pot on that side table over there,, feel free to brew a pot..” he instructed her as he attempted to make a fast get away,, nearly swinging the door closed behind him before priscilla had a chance to interject one last question..

“the loo?” she queried. “i mean, where is the bathroom?? i know if i start to drinking coffee i will be needing  to be making use of the facilities as well..”

buzz stopped and pointed to a narrow wooden door at the rear of the office.. “right over there.. you don’t even have to leave the office.. now sit tight,, i gotta get rolling here.” 

with that he closed the door,, with just a little too much enthusiasm,, and was off.. 

“damn it.” priscilla said into the stark phosphorescent glow of the florescent overhead lighting.. now she was going to have to think of another plausible excuse to escape the confines of this office if she was going to be able to probe into the inner workings of the 45^th st precinct... 

but first things first.. she began thumbing  through the generous stacks of papers on buzz’s desk. surely he must have some information concerning the thugs in question in here somewhere..  if she could just secure the names,, she could obtain the mug shots through her own sources.. 

at this point,, any little tidbit of information would prove invaluable in giving she and her fellow agents the definitive edge they needed.. as it stood right now,, the thugs in question had no idea that she and her fellow’s even existed,, let alone that they too had a gilded interest in recovering the diamond.. and priscilla intended to keep it that way.. 

***

“whew!!.. that was a close one!!” erik said once the boys knew that john and lisa were out of earshot..

“well we made it through round one,, but i have a feeling adam’s dad is not gonna give up that easy.. i wouldn’t put it past him to have those undercover guys he has stationed outside the house haul us all in for questioning. we've go to figure out what our next move is.”

“we gotta get rid of the diamond,, i mean hide it somewhere till this thing blows over.” adam was quick to interject.

“yeah, somewhere outside of the house.” elliot followed up adam’s train of thought. “but how we gonna do that with those cops out there?? we’ll never be able to get out of here without them seeing us..”

“you’re right about that, bro.. so we gotta think of somewhere.. there’s gotta be somewhere in this house.. somewhere they would never think to look,, because i know if they get a search warrant they will tear this place apart!!” erik was beginning to get a little over excited.. 

“boys!!” lisa was calling to them from the bottom of the stairs.. “come on down.. dinners ready !!” 

“i’m hungry..” adam huffed as he stood up ready to go downstairs and take lisa up on her offer to eat dinner.. 

it had been a long day,, and none of the boys had eaten lunch in all the commotion that had surrounded their trip to the dump earlier in the day.. 

“we all are!! but first we gotta figure out what to do with the diamond!! for all we know those cops could come busting in here at any minute!!’ erik fired back..

“that’s it!!” elliot exclaimed. “give me the diamond erik,, hurry up,, give it to me!!”

“what’s it??” erik gave elliot a puzzled look.. “and why should i give you the diamond?”

“because,," elliot over emphasized the word, “because,, i am gonna swallow it!! don’t you see?? i am the perfect hiding place!!” there’s no way they will be able to find it then,,  even if they do tear this place apart!! not if it’s hidden inside me!! and so far, no one has even asked me anything about it.. for all we know,, i might not even be a suspect!!”

“that is freakin’ perfect!!” adam exclaimed,, careful not to do it so loudly as to allow it to be over heard by john and lisa..

“you, my brother, are a fuckin’ brainaic!!” erik added as he handed the still dirt encrusted diamond over to elliot.. 

“eeww!!” adam interjected as soon as he caught sight of the filthy thing.. “don’t ya think you better wash it off first??”

“no time.” said elliot as he popped the ring,, dirt and all into his mouth,, and swallowed it without so much as a second thought..

“boys!!” lisa yelled up the steps yet again,, this time much louder so that she knew there was no way they could escape hearing  her.. “c’mon!! dinners ready!!” 

with the diamond safely tucked away,, at least for the time being,, the boys felt quite empowered.. 

“all for one!! and one for all!!” erik cried out as he lifted his imaginary sword into the air.

“all for one!! and one for all!” both adam and elliot followed suit, hoisting their imaginary swords into the air as well,, as they shot each other smiles of deep satisfaction..

“the three musketeers!!!” they yelled out in unison as they bounded down the stairs like a pack of hungry wolves.. 

as the boys rushed to take their respective places at the dinner table,, john shot lisa a look of genuine contentment.. lisa returned that look in kind, and mouthed the words, “i love you” silently to john,, over the boys heads as they settled in around the table..

an air of normalcy surround them at the dinner table that night.. an air of normalcy they would not be enjoying again for quite some time to come.. but tonight,, none of them were any the wiser.. 

in fact in the future, as each of them would look back on the time they spent together around the dinner table this particular evening,, they would all agree,, it was indeed one of the best moments in each of their lives!!