Tori had set up some business opportunities before she approached Marcus to discuss some of them with her. Sarina went to work, while I talked to some of my moms realtor friends to try and find a house, but also show me apartments. The houses we discuss in the office and they are aware not to let any information out about the houses. If anyone comes asking they can say all they want about the apartments I'm looking at.
So I was driven around looking at apartments, discussing the actual houses that were near the areas of the apartments. She drove me in routes that would go by the houses that we could before going to the next apartment. There were only a few homes that she was able to drive me by in that manner, but I thanked her profusely for doing so. When I offered to pay her for her time, she refused, telling me that she was happy to help out my mom in any way she could. Also the commission from us buying a house through her would be well worth it.
I was surprised when Sarina started discussing the budget for the new place. She said we could afford up to two point five million, but would prefer it under two. She was confident in the money she had and the money she'd be making from the sale of the apartments that we could afford it. Then once her parents place would be sold, that money would be going straight to the new place.
Now, being able to see what we could afford with the money, I was a little gob smacked. Some of these places were bigger than my parents home and a part of me wishes we could have bought it, but then we would have to deal with the HOA. Which that was something we would not be doing. However, the way Sarina handled that asshole from my parents place... I guess it wouldn't have been all that bad.
We get back to the realtor's office and I thank her and leave. I stop by the grocery store and pick up a few items that I know we needed, before heading back to the house. To make things look good for anyone who's possibly still following us, I pull out boxes that I picked up to start packing items in the house.
The day drags by, Lirael calling to check in on me, filling me in on what Lance has been doing for us on his end with the private investigator friends he has.
"You'll never believe this, but we know which private investigators office that was hired to follow Sarina and you." Lirael says sounding exhausted.
I try not to get too excited. "Really? You're sure?"
She sighs, "Oh yeah. Frank, he was talking with one of his buddies to try and find out, just throwing out some feelers, saying some one had him do a weird case, following a chick and her boyfriend. The guy admitted he's on a similar case and that he's been asking for the weirdest pictures of empty places, following the woman around and having him take pictures of her as much as possible. I guess he let slip she worked in a jewelry store. Coincidence? Right?" She laughs.
"So who's the agency that the guy works for?" I inquire, wanting to see for myself if this is the guy who came into the office.
"Lance will be stopping by with pictures when he gets off work. He'll have the rest of the information and has already forwarded it to Joseph to help create more of a case. He wants me to wait till he's talked to you first. Sorry, Brian. "
I can feel Lirael's apology through the phone and tell her not to worry about it. Lance will be getting off work soon enough. I can wait till then. When I hear Richard fussing in the background she lets me go to feed him and I decide to try to get something started for dinner.
I cut up a steak and have it simmering in a rich French onion soup broth until its dinner time. I find myself bored after that and turn on music to start packing up stuff around the house that isn't necessary. As I'm packing some of my stuff from my office up, something drops from one of my brothers books.
It's a picture. I lift it to look at it and there sits my big brother all smiles, holding me as a happy baby in his lap. He seems to be reading or trying to show me the pictures, but I'm just enthralled with him. Flipping the picture over I see my moms handwriting.
-Richard and Brian-
Proud big brother and happy baby brother
I open the book it fell out of and am shocked to find the book held a few more pictures and even some pages with my brothers writing. All the pictures are of just me and him growing up over the years, playing together, hanging out as we got older, there's even one when we had poison oak rashes and were sitting in the creek to get some relief from the itch. My dad is in deeper water but you can see him in it too.
I chuckle at the memory, my ass still kind of itches looking at it.
Reading the paper, I find it's just notes on the topic of the book, page numbers and what not. I look to see what's on those pages and find the hotel in Switzerland Sarina and I had stayed at and even the Amalfi Coast is one of the page numbers he wrote down. On the last page marked there's a poem about traveling and enjoying the wonders and finding peace within yourself.
I place the picture back in the book and set it to the side. It can stay out a little longer I think.
I hear the front door close and step out to see Sarina setting her purse and stuff down. Her shoulders heavy.
"Hey there, beautiful. Did you have a rough day?" I ask her coming up behind her to wrap my arms around her waist.
She turns tearfully to me and just starts bawling in my arms.
"Sarina? Baby? What's wrong?" I hold her close as she just bawls. "Sarina, you're scaring me. What's the matter?"
She says something inaudible through the her sobs and I pull back, "I'm sorry, please repeat that?"
Her racking sobs cut through each word, "Bleed...ing... Doctor.... tomo...rrow.. Scared..."
My heart drops from my chest. "Oh Sarina. No. Baby. Don't, don't be scared. I know easier said than done. Is it a lot of blood?"
"I don't know.." She starts to wail and I pick her up and take her to the couch in my arms. I just sit there and hold her, letting her cry. She cried for a about twenty minutes before a knock came at the door.
The door opened a crack and Lance's head poked in, "Hey..." He stops when he sees Sarina in my lap crying. "What happened?" He steps in and closes the door behind him, rushing over to us.
I shake my head and scoot us to the edge of the seat to stand and take her to our room, but Sarina gets up herself.
"You can tell him." She mumbles and walks to the bedroom and shuts the door.
I cradle my head in my hands and take a few breaths and I feel Lance's arm wrap around my shoulders.
"She's bleeding. She has an appointment tomorrow." Is all I have to say for Lance to grip my shoulder and make me meet his gaze.
"Hey, that doesn't mean anything. Some women will bleed a little. Don't let it be something to worry about, until the doctor says otherwise." He attempted to reassure me and I had to agree.
"You're right. You're right." I say patting his knee and sitting back on the sofa. "So Lirael called me and said you may know who it was." I let out a heavy breath and try to focus on something I can control at the moment.
"Yes, tell me... Is this the guy that stepped into your office that day?" Lance pulls out his phone and shows me a picture of guy that I don't recognize.
"No. However, send it to me. I might be able to find out if this is the one that was taking pictures of my apartment. My upstairs neighbor saw the man who was doing that."
Lance sends me the picture and then starts to show me all the employees that work for that office but no one I recognize is shown to me. The private investigator was checking with photo editors and photographers that could have worked with Marcus.
I let Lance know about the pictures that were real and how Sarina's therapists office may have footage of it. That it could help identify the others involved with the set up. I also inform him about me 'searching for an apartment' but really looking for a new home for us to move into.
"That's awesome. I should probably let you guys know how to lose someone if they're following you. I imagine that you're going to want to go to the doctor with her tomorrow right?"
"Of course."
Lance smirks, "Okay can she pull up into the garage? You can ride in the back seat while she goes to a crowded area, like a mall and enter it and before they enter the building, you duck into a corner out of sight and make your way to a different exit as quickly as possible. She could also get on the freeway and get off immediately, taking a few corners to get out of sight quickly and get back on the free way in the opposite direction. If we can identify the vehicle or person, we'll be able to get a step ahead of them quicker. Also, we need her car in the garage anyways. I need to scan it for bugs."