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"A strand of pearls"
By (Our very own!) Griddy
Email: griddysmall@skynet.be
Rated: G

"Lt. Sloan? There's someone here to see you!"

Steve turns at the voice of the officer escorting a female visitor to his desk.

The woman smiles in anticipation as Steve gets up to greet her.

"Karen?"

"Hi Steve! - Thank you sergeant, I'm much obliged. I would never have found him!"

"You?" Steve shakes his head at her. "You would have. You've always been Ms. Super Sleuth."

"Sure, I had the best teacher ever!" She pauses and sees his eyes lighten up, she thumps him and adds: "Your father!" - "YOU!" Steve and Karen snigger, as he draws her into a hug …

"So what brings you here?" He studies her face and recognizes the indomitable tomboy has changed into a somewhat more feminine looking person. Her sparkling eyes, are still ready to tease him and face him straight on.

"Ah, I was in town and I thought, why not look up my favorite arresting officer?"

"Karen…"

"No - don't try it! I will never forgive you… You gave me the third degree and I was innocent."

"Innocent?" Steve shakes his head at her. "When have you ever been innocent?"

"Cute Steve, cute! - Say, got a date tonight?"

Steve stammers at her directness. "Uhm, no - Do you?"

"Yes - with you! We're going to a reunion…"

"Reunion? Karen? NO WAY!" She walks out off the office…

"Pick me up at six? I'll treat you 'linguini' at Luigi's tomorrow… the address is on your desk. See you, Detective!" Steve stands perplexed. How did he get himself into this mess? He hates reunions, and what reunion is it she taking him to, anyway? She never told him…

*****

Karen steers her car into the Community General parking lot. She notices the free spot, holding a sign reading: "Dr. Sloan". Karen decides to stay and wait for her old friend to drive by.

She gets out her vanity case and decides to start on her hair and make-up. Nothing's good enough for her good old friend Doctor Mark Sloan.

*****

"Needle, scissors…"

Jesse impatiently holds out his gloved hand to Mark. And accepts the items. Dr Sloan looks over his young assistant's shoulder and corrects him:

"No Jess, you need to stitch it up, away from the edge! - Ah look, that's better! No need for plastic surgery here!"

"Mark, please… I'm nervous enough as it is. Look at me, you got me shaking!"

Dr. Travis holds up his trembling hands.

"Jesse - I told you to be confident on this one. You are a good surgeon, so why wouldn't you be able to do an 'Orloff-roast'?"

"Mark will you look at it? Half the cheese is hanging out… I may be a surgeon but I'm no cook!" Jesse is making a hopeless face at his mentor as he takes off his surgical gloves.

"I know Dr. Travis, and could you remind me not to let you operate on me?"

"Ok - WHAT? Well thanks for the vote of confidence, Doctor. And look at the time we should be heading back!" Jesse reaches for his car keys and starts out the door.

"Let's take my car, you are too shaky my friend!" Mark grins as he takes the young doctor's keys from his hands and puts them back on the table. "Come on, Jess!"

The drive to the hospital is a short and smooth one. Mark pulls into the lot and notices a rented car in his spot. "Well, what do we have here?"

He airs to Jesse, who answers: "Oh, never mind. I see the driver is still there. I'll go ask him to move…" Jesse runs over to the car and knocks on the side window. There is no answer so he opens the door. A limp body falls half out of the car, the woman's face is covered with burns. "Mark, I need help here! Her pulse is raging!" Dr. Sloan rushes over to assist his friend. "She's going into shock!" Jesse urges him.

"No, I don't think so!"

Mark points at the accidental smile on the victims face. He gestures Jesse to play along.
"Cardiac arrest is more like it. Better administer the right shots straight away…"

The woman responds immediately. - "No you will NOT, you spoil sport!"

Mark leans over to her and touches her fake blisters. "Hi Karen. Looks like you are getting good at this…"

*****

"Yeah, and next the director said I made the 'ghastly bite' look too scary real, and he fired me. Do those guys know what they want…"? Karen is entertaining her friends whilst they are walking her to the Doctor's lounge for a cup of coffee. Amanda is in there reading a book, she turns when she hears the familiar voice.

"Karen? - KAREN! Hey- hey…"

"Amanda!!!!!! How have you been?"

Both girls hug each other.

"Whew - Karen you look, hahaha … Awful!"

"Oh NO! Doc! You had me walking all the way through the hospital, blistered like this? Karen smiles as she finds her reflection in a window. She makes a silly face at a surprised orderly walking by, and takes off the blisters, handing them to Jesse. "Here are some for your collection! - You are a good sport, better than him over there," she points at Mark Sloan, "he wanted to operate!"

Mark shakes his head at her. "No, I would not have!" He rubs her shoulders as he hands her a cup of coffee. "So, Karen, what brings you here?"

She laughs: "Same question, different Sloan!"

"Oh you went to see Steve, didn't you?"

"Yes, I still love a good banter with a cop, doc! Do you mind? I told you I like him!"

"Still having problems, coming out of that shell of yours, haven't you?" Mark gently whispers at her.

*****

5.55 pm - The Pelican Motel.
There is a knock at the door.

"Come on in. It's open!"

Steve opens the door shaking his head at the gloomy motel room and its guest's carelessness.

Karen comes out of the bathroom; her appearance smothers his remark. "…more careful." Is all he mutters.

"What's that?" she wonders.

"Uhm, maybe you ought to consider locking your door?" He whispers squeezing her hand and kissing her on the cheek. "You're looking great!"

"Oh, come on Steve what is here to be stolen? The only thing valuable is right here in my hand." Steve tries to draw his hand back, but she squeezes it, revealing what she is holding in her other hand. "These pearls, silly! Could you put them on me?"

"You still have them?"

"Sure! And check the safety lock, will you?"

"They are fakes, Karen! The experts told you that these were imitation." Steve takes the strand of pearls and puts them on her.

"Yes, so what? The story behind them is so dramatic and wonderful, I cherish them! - Locked?"

Steve double-checks the safety on the necklace and reassures her: "Yes. Locked!"

"OK," she turns on her heels and looks him over.

"Gee, Steve, you are dressed to the nines! Whew. I'd almost fall for you, if I hadn't before and hurt myself, that is…"

Her broad audacious smile leaves him no choice. "Karen, you look gorgeous but that mouth of yours…"

She swings around him and puts a finger over his lips, then gently traces his chin as she tells him:

"We'd better get going."

"Hang on a second," Steve doesn't give in as easily as she imagined, "WHERE are we going?"

"Oh … Didn't I tell you? I've been hired to do the make-up on a new movie, and this is our chance to meet the producers and all..." She heads for the door, but Steve's hand is faster, he catches her arm, and holds her back wondering, "wasn't this supposed to be a reunion?"

Karen giggles at him. "Did I say reunion? Ah - Reunion, meeting, get together… no time to correct grammar, Stevo!" She grabs his tie and strings him along. "Let's go! Our ride is here!"

*****

A Hollywood event! Of all the parties in the world she is taking him to a Hollywood event! Steve is not happy in the back seat of the limo. Karen is telling him "on- and off-set" stories and all he has the stomach to is to give her a polite 'yes' and 'no' every now and then. She eventually gives up and silently lets him lead her into the classy Colonial style mansion the party is held at!

"Nice place, hey Steve? I invited you cause you are familiar with the Malibu crowd," she whispers as they take their first sip of Champagne. Steve almost chokes and tries to recompose himself. 'Why do I always give in to her' he wonders, 'ah, well at least the food is wonderful,' he comforts himself as he takes another shrimp.

Karen drags him off to meet each and everyone; she is a completely different woman. Not the wild thing, he secretly adores, but acting like a stuffy yuppie starlet on the up. He shudders at the mere thought. Karen suddenly tells him: "I will be in the bathroom."

"That's ok, I'm not going anywhere." Steve inspects one of the abstract paintings on the wall and continues wondering what he is doing here.

*****

"Sloan what are you doing here?" Steve turns to find his old buddy Tony voicing his thoughts.

"Uhm, to tell you the truth, Tony, it beats me!"

"Hahaha - could it be a lady?"

"Well some people might call her that at first sight…"

"Sounds interesting. Maybe you could introduce us?"

"Sure and have your wife upset, no thanks!"

A high screeching female voice sounds through the house. Tony and Steve act upon their reflexes and head in the direction of the scream. In the bathroom, they find a woman staring at Karen. She is bleeding like hell. Steve grabs a towel, applies pressure and checks for a pulse. "She is alive! Get an ambulance in here! FAST!" He caresses Karen's neck and realizes her strand of pearls has gone. He snaps out of his reverie and back into cop mode. Still applying pressure to the stab wound, he flashes his badge and orders: "Everybody out of this room! Nobody leaves the party. Tony. I need a list. All guests and staff, and I need it NOW."

*****

"Karen? It's Jesse. You've been very lucky. The blade did not touch anything vital."

"Lucky… Jesse? Where's Steve? The pearls, no fakes, Steve - wrong - knew it."

Jesse is not surprised at her incoherent talk and tries to shush her. "It's okay, Steve will be over as soon as he has secured the scene."

Karen dozes off due to the medication when Mark rushes in. "Jess, I was in surgery, what happened?"

"We have one lucky stab wound victim! Looks like half an inch and Steve's pressure would not have stopped the bleeding. Looks like the perp hit her over the head, too. Or she must have tried to fight him off, and hurt herself? I have her under sedation."

"Good thinking, knowing Karen she might be running around the hospital before the night is over."

"Yeah, I figured that out!"

Mark and Jesse leave the ER and run into Steve and Amanda. She is trying to calm him down.

"Steve you know better than I do that this is not a murder case and you are way too close! They had to take you off the case!"

"Sure Ms. M.E. After you felt the urge to tell them how sorry you were this happened to our friend Karen! Lt. Watson has the case now, and with a name like that you'd expect a detective instead of the petrified wood he is!"

"Steve, let him handle it and stay out of it, or you will get suspended!"

"See if I care!"

Steve turns away from Amanda and walks up to his dad: "How is she?"

Mark senses Steve's frustration and tries to ease his mind.

"She will be fine. Jesse patched her up."

Steve pats Dr. Travis on the back "Thanks Jess".

"You're welcome, Steve. Don't worry, she will be fine! Looks like the perpetrator used a special kind of dagger, curved or something, or she must have obstructed him while he stabbed her."

"Yes, we noticed the wound was inflicted from her left hand to her right hand side, so you might be dealing with a lefty!" Amanda adds

"Hang on!" Steve takes hold of Amanda's arm and pretends to stab her with an invisible knife.

"This way?"

"Supposedly." Mark studies the scene and shakes his head. "But then again, he could have grabbed her from behind, which would make him -- right-handed?"

Amanda presents herself and leads Steve's left hand to her diaphragm. "No this does not add up!" she settles. "Jesse? You said the laceration was made from her left hand side to the right? And the mugger might have grabbed her from behind …"

"Guys, that bathroom had all mirror walls! She must have seen her assailant? Can I talk to her?"

"No son, we have her under sedation. Why don't you go get some sleep, huh? It is 3 am. You can do your snooping in the morning."

"Yeah, I guess so. - I'll see you in the morning, then."

Steve reluctantly leaves his doctor friends to deal with their patients and drives home. He decides to make a little detour and stops by Karen's motel room, before he heads off to bed.

The Pelican motel is quiet. Steve picks up the key at reception and goes to the room. The place is as clean as they left it … "Well what is clean?" he grumbles. He notices a little box on the dresser; he opens it and recognizes the matching earrings to the necklace. He smiles and remembers the banter, Karen ordering him to double-check the lock. She must have forgotten to put them on. Steve decides to take the earrings with him. "These are safer with me," he reassures himself. Steve switches off the lights as he leaves the room. When he locks the door, he senses a sharp pain, everything goes dark…

*****

"How is she?" Mark is checking up on Karen, when Amanda walks in. "She will be fine, Amanda!"

"Good! I don't want Steve at my throat again, for telling the truth! - What is going on between them?"

"Oh my dear. I wish I knew! Steve and Karen have been at it forever. They used to play all kind of boy games together, and then all of a sudden she turned so female on him, he lost a pal and he gained a - uhm - a love interest!"

"You mean?" Amanda looks at Dr. Sloan as if she won't believe her ears.

"Well, Karen's body turned into a woman, but she was still Steve's buddy, in her mind! She teased him, set him up with dates and he got mad at her for fixing him up with the wrong kind of girls… Ah you know Steve. I think deep in his heart he has more than a crush on this girl…"

"But Karen won't let him?" Amanda's sigh sounds in unison with Doctor Sloan's.

"I doubt it he stands a chance!"

*****

The patrol car pulls up the Pelican Motel drive way. Two police officers responding to a 911-call check up on a '459 - breaking and entering'. They carefully open the door to find a man asleep on the sofa. One of the officers points a gun at him. "Hey, George. Look at the bottles in this rat-hole and smell this!"

"Yeah, Mister here, has been out on the town!" -

"Yeah supposedly lost his key and broke into his room. Now what?"

"Wake him up?"

"Do you really think he will make sense?"

"No don't think so. Here, grab these covers."

"Call in a 12?"
"yes, false alarm. I don't want to do a full report on a drunk wretch who forgot his room keys. The guy is asleep, so, let him sleep it off…"

"Yeah!" The two officers close the door on their way out and leave the scene. Leaving Steve to sleep off his 'stupor'.

*****

"Steve - the pearls, the pearls…" Jesse ties to calm Karen down. "It's okay Karen! Steve is not here, but you are safe!"

"No Jess, no! Steve isn't, he doesn't know… Can I get something to drink? I have to get to the Pelican, I left the earrings, oh my…" Karen tries to get up but the sedative won't let her legs carry her. "Where is Steve, I have to warn him? I knew all along." Karen's spirit is so strong that she still manages to fight off some of the drugs, and she begs Jesse. "Get Mark in here, now?"

*****

The motel parking lot is as peaceful as before, Mark is taking out the room key as he and Amanda walk over to the room. Dr. Sloan sticks the key in and opens the door. Amanda switches the light on, and both doctors smile relieved, when they see Steve peacefully tucked in on the couch. Then Mark spots the dark spot on Steve's shirt, he rushes over. "Amanda, get my bag! Steve? Son, are you okay, wake up come on!"

"Oh no dad, I want to sleep in… not now!"

"Come on Steve. Wake up."

"No, mom said I could sleep in, -- no school today, no school…"

Steve's incoherence makes the diagnosis easier on Mark Sloan. "Concussion, definitely! And somebody has been forcing booze on him too. We'd better move him to Community."

"OK - let me get Karen's stuff."

Amanda looks around to find the little blue box, her friend described, but she can't find it.

"Sorry Amanda, we'll come back later. I want Steve out of here."

"Okay." Amanda reluctantly leaves the bathroom and assists Mark to carry Steve to the car.

*****

Two days later -

"Nurse? I need to talk to the head of internal medicine. I want another room!"

"Sorry, detective your father has assigned you to this room and I cannot accommodate you elsewhere."

"This is an outrage!" Steve's temper is getting the better of him. The giggles of the patient in the other bed are not helping. "Karen, will you stop it? Karen - ?" Steve jumps out of bed skids over to the other side of the room and yanks the headset out off her ears. "Karen!"

"What?" She innocently flashes her teeth at him. "Are you okay, Steve?"

"No, I am not. I hate this place and I hate you singing to this stupid tape what is this? A kid show?"

"Hey Mister 'go fly a kite', I know my classics. 'My Fair Lady', 'Mary Poppins', 'Kiss me Kate'… Kid shows? You need to brush up your Broadway, sir."

"I don't care what it is you are listening to, stop humming to it and talk to me!"

"OK - Steve. What do you want to talk about?"

"HUH? What do I want to talk about? Guess."

Karen shrugs her shoulders and grabs her headset. She attempts to put it back on, but Steve is quicker. "Look, I haven't slept in the last 48 hours, I need my peace and I want to talk to you!"

"Sure, no problem" Karen fluffs her pillow, scoots over a bit and taps the bed, thus inviting Steve to sit comfortably with her. "I need to know what happened, Karen!"

"Well, it is the same old story, Steve. Remember those fake pearls I bought in Berlin? You told me I had to stop raving about them, and that your forensic guys were right about them being an imitation of the original set worn by Katharine the Great. I told you I knew about them being replicas, but you never listened to my explanation. I only wanted to find out why someone would make such a perfect replica of a historical set. When I bought them on that flea market back in 1979, you told me I was nuts for paying that amount of money for fakes, but they were so special Steve."

"Ahuh"-- Steve yawns and stretches out into the pillow as Karen continues her story.

"The fact is that I never wore them but to special occasions. Then that one day at the airport I had my bags searched, cause they thought I had some sort of electronic device on me. But they said it was a technical glitz, cause I only had my clothes and some jewelry in the bag. I locked the set back into the safe when I got back and forgot about the incident, till my sister's wedding. ---You know she is married to mister 'Genius Wiz the Global Position Systems monitor developer' or whatever, don't you? Well. He felt like showing off his Beemer, and took us for a spin through the Arizona desert right after reception. His Super ego-trip became fun as his GPS faltered and he had us touring the reservation over at Mesa Three for 4 hours! A good thing I remembered our desert adventures and I told him to head out for the green spots, which were supposedly close to the river and I made him follow it till we reached civilization… Well - Anyway…"

Karen stops at the soft snoring sound of the man resting on her pillow and arm… she sighs. Ah - I guess I'll tell you when you're awake, sleep tight…" she gently brushes the hair from his temple and rests her head on his shoulder…

*****

"Hey Mark! Been to the 3rd floor yet?" Jesse catches up with Dr. Sloan.

"No, why?"

"Well I hear our dear Steve was screaming for another room. I had lunch with Bonnie; she gave me the full story. She said we'd better move those two apart or we are in deep trouble."

Mark frowns at his friend and wonders: "Why is it that hospitals bring out the worst in Steve?"

Both doctors get on board the elevator.

"Can't be the food. He is used to it!" Jesse taunts.

"Hey - easy will, you? We do have dinner at home! Every now and then, when I do get him out of that cafeteria." Mark and Jesse chuckle at the thought.

"Hey maybe you can wheel him down to the cafeteria? Make him feel at home?"

"Will you…?"

Mark pushes the door open to Steve's room to find him soundly asleep in Karen's arms. Both doctors wonder if this was the riot the nurses referred to? "Tension…" they utter in unison.

"Let them sleep!"

*****

"Well Sloan, what do you suppose I'm gonna do about a silly story like this? So, your new sidekick has some sort of a gadget. Allegedly a transmitter packed in a necklace, which almost has her killed and which is stolen, and what am I supposed to do about it?"

Watson relaxes at Steve's desk, his feet up.

Karen grinds her teeth at Watson's indifferent and sexist behavior. She attacks him head-on: "Detective Watson. I'm sorry but I am not Detective Sloan's new sidekick, as you so nicely put it. I am an old friend to the family who got her hands on a valuable replica that apparently seems to be missing from someone's collection. The way I see it. It might belong to MI5 or Interpol, since I bought this beauty on the European market back in 1979. The 'gadget' is way ahead of its time. It interferes with modern day GPS."

"GPS?" Watson wonders.

"Global positioning systems, Watson," Steve explains, "it is a satellite system used to tell you where exactly you are on the globe, a very useful device for all armed forces!"

"All this technical mumbo jumbo is leading us nowhere, Sloan! Your GP or whatever is missing and there is no way to get it back, is there?"

"I think we have a pretty good idea where it is." The door opens, and a man walks in the room followed by Mark Sloan. "Detective Watson? My name is Wyler. I'm with Internal Affairs and we have solid proof that you are the assailant who took the necklace."

Watson laughs out loud: "What is this charade? I have what?"

Karen explains. "You see, the necklace came with a set of earrings, a wonderful set. When you attacked me at the party. I did not have the earrings on, since Steve arrived early and we left immediately. After Steve checked up on me at Community, he dropped by my motel room. You followed him there, and when he left, you hit him over the head, and tried to make him look drunk…" Steve continues.

"What you did not know was that I had put the earrings in my pocket. I didn't want to take the box, so I took them out, and put them away just like that. When you hit me the box was back on the dresser. So you thought I had missed it, and you took it without checking. Then you made your next mistake, you used your own radio to call in a burglary over at the motel, but you never realized your calls were monitored by IA."

Watson counters the accusation with his regular indifference:

"Ok, so I allegedly took an empty box of earrings… try to make that stick. Sloan was on my team he wanted the earrings for his woman. That, or whatever story I come up with, will be good enough for the judge. You can't prove a thing!"

Mark Sloan steps forward: "Oh yes sir, we can. You see, when you planted the poniard into Karen's chest. She fought you off. The model you used is of Northern African origin, like a miniature scimitar, sickle-shaped. Her dress was smudged by your blood and I am sure your left arm will show us a laceration… And your record shows that you used to live in Tunisia, where all men wear this kind of dagger."

Watson knows his game is over. "How did you find me? All these clues are circumstantial. They could never have led you to me?"

"Sorry Watson, but these earrings…" Steve holds up the jewelry. "They are the listening device. You stole the transmitter and your broadcasts set us on track." Steve plugs the earrings into a small box and reveals the procedure. The beeps on the little black box get louder and more frequent directing Steve to the hiding spot, a closet, right in his very own office.

"And that was music to our ears!" Wyler concludes as he takes the necklace from Steve. "Book him!"

"And I feel like singing 'Let's go fly a kite' -" Karen turns at Steve who is right behind her. "Oh pardon my kid songs, Steve."

Steve grabs her shoulders and rubs her arm. "I doubt it you could sing, or fly a kite, with that sore side? But I do know just the spot to fly one! And I would let you help."

"Are you serious?" Karen puts her silly grin on hold and looks him straight in the eye.

"Yes I am!" Steve rivets his eyes on her as he watches her snap back to good old Karen.

"I need to find you a woman, fast! I'd hate to see that package go to waste…"

Steve stands puzzled again.

"Stevie, did I ever compliment you on how great you look in an operating shirt?"

Mark bursts into laughter as he sees Karen take Steve's arm and lets him lead her outside.

"Poor Steve," he chuckles, "poor Steve!"