A sly smirk played on the detective’s lips as he very sneakily peeked from behind the corner and spied his girlfriend, Gemma Taylor as she stood in the kitchen making coffee, her back to him. The morning light shone through the living room window and cast the illumination across the entire room. Lizzie, his faithful and protective bulldog, lay on her side, sleeping heavily. Great protection dog that is! He shook his head as he spied Gemma. This was another night that she had decided to stay over and again another morning where she got up before to him make coffee. He had told her before that would like to surprise her with coffee for once but she kept beating him to it.

Now would be his payback. And he was in the mood to be mischievous. While normally this meant he would have used his abilities to make the cold water faucet spray up at her, unfortunately her nullifying field cut him off from that route. He would have to takes things into his own two hands.

Silently the detective tip-toed out from behind the hallway, dressed down to just his dark blue, NYPD issue sweat pants and a pair of socks. His chest bare, stepping into the light of the morning reveal all the imperfections, namely, the several scares he had received through his tour of duty as a police officer. The old gunshot wound to his shoulder, the knife wounds in his side and arm, plus others that were simply received from tussling with criminals or being knocked around. He was a mosaic, living proof of the hard type of life that officers have.

But still there was a smile on his face as he crept across the living room. It did not occur to him that this would probably be the first time she saw these scars. The only thing on his mind was how he would go about scaring her.

Sure she could get mad at him for it, but it was her own fault for leaving her back turned. Never do that in the house of a police officer. Especially one named Jorge Cervantes.

Step after step, inch after inch he crept into his own kitchen and spied that Gemma was pouring the coffee into the filter. A slow grin crept over his fact he found himself edging closer to her. So far she had not turned to notice him. Guess those eyes in the back of your head to keep an eyes on misbehaving kids is myth after all he laughed in his thoughts as he pushed up close.

Slowly he reached out, ready to hands reaching out for her sides to tickle and startle her. It was a good way to say good morning. At least to him.

Gemma finished pouring the coffee. It was a nice early morning ceremony; one of them would get out of bed and go make coffee, something that both of them needed, especially on work days. They both had jobs that required them to be fully awake, and even though sometimes they didn't have time to sit in bed and drink it like it was meant to be, it was a nice start for a day.
Gemma liked spending the night at Jorge's, not just for obvious reasons, but also because those were the nights when she could actually get some rest. In the school, she was always on duty, even at night, and although kids rarely ever bothered her at night, sometimes her help was needed, or there were questions to be asked at weird hours, and all in all, she felt like she used to feel when her kids were babies. She slept with her eyes half open.
So, every now and then, when she needed real sleep, feeling safe and comfortable, she spent the night at Jorge's.

Gemma finished pourng the coffee, and turned around just in time to come nose to nose with her boyfriend.

"You'll have to do better than that, officer, if you want to sneak up on a mother of two." she smiled; reaching behind her she picked up one mug of coffee and brought it up between them, almost touching his bare chest, and she smiled through the steam "You wouldn't want me to drop your morning coffee, would you."

The detective was primed and ready to strike. Gemma had made no motion that she knew he was there so he was ready for it. Hands out, ready to tickling and jab her when she least expected it. It was going to so sweet…then she turned around to face him. The unamused, but somehow still managed a grin on her face, look was enough to make him pause.

>> "You'll have to do better than that, officer, if you want to sneak up on a mother of two…You wouldn't want me to drop your morning coffee, would you."

“No…that definitely would not be good.” he flashed her a smile as he reached up and gently relieved her of the coffee mug that she held much too close to his bare chest. Had he stepped forward, he was sure to have gotten a nasty brand on his chest. Seeing himself caught though, the detective was quick to switch topics and flashed her a brilliant and happy smile. “Good morning.”

He chuckled as he leaned in to kiss her softly. It had been a long time since someone had regularly stayed over at his place. The few girlfriends he had before never really lasted that long for him to grow accustomed to and the only one to stay for any reasonable length of time was his sister when she was inbetween jobs. To be honest the latter was not the most pleasant of experiences. Still he smirked as he leaned back against a counter and sipped the coffee she had just made.

“You know, I’m going to get you one of these days,” he said referring to the almost fright that he could have given her. “It’s coming.” He winked as he set his coffee down then started to pressed in closer to her. But just as he leaned in to give her another kiss his cellphone began to ring. With a sigh, and not ready to face the morning shift already, he reluctantly picked it up from the kitchen counter and mouth an “Sorry” to Gemma before he then answered. “Hello?”

Jorge than began to pace about the room as he talked. It was discussing a case and he was obviously a little irritated by what was happening. A mutant girl, a teenager was found dead a few days back and the case still had everyone stumped. So far it looked like there was no signs of struggle of physical violence, but whatever had happened to her, ultimately resulted in her death. Jorge shook his head as he asked for several results, getting nothing useful back and merely on the arm of his sofa. Rubbing his forehead. This case was really beginning to irritate him.

“Alright, call me back once the tox-screen is done. Thanks.” He said wearily as he tossed his cellphone on the sofa cushions. He moaned as he rubbed his face in agitation before he glanced up to see Gemma staring at him. “Sorry, real tough case landed on our laps and –“

Cellphone Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!

With another sigh, he hung his head as he reached down, plucked up the cell phone and answered it without looking at the caller ID.

“Cervantes here. You better have good news fo –“ he suddenly paused in mid-sentence as the a look of recognition appeared on his face. “Jayda? Sis! ¿Como estas?”

>>“You know, I’m going to get you one of these days. It’s coming.”

"Sure" Gemma agreed in an overly cheerful grin. He could always try. It kinda developed into a game between them; she had no doubt sooner or later Jorge would manage to sneak up on her. But not anytime soon.

She kissed him back, and of course the cellphone had to ring. Gemma chuckled as she picked up her own coffee mug, and watched Jorge pace up and down the living room as he talked on the phone.
Once the conversation was over, she walked up to him, putting a hand on his shoulder; he was in for another long and tough work day.

>> “Sorry, real tough case landed on our laps and –“

Cue the cellphone.
She sighed, and sqeezed his shoulder gently. Apparently, this morning was not one for drinking coffee in peace.

>>“Cervantes here. You better have good news fo – Jayda? Sis! ¿Como estas?”

Gemma blinked as she saw his face light up. His sister? He'd told her about Jayda, but they never actually met, and Gemma had to realize she didn't know all that much about the woman. In addition to all that, she also realized she'd never heard Jorge speak Spanish. It was kind of obvious that he did... she just never heard him. It was a funny thought.

Sitting down on the couch, she watched him and smiled. Maybe the morning was not all about work after all.

Jorge smiled back at Gemma as he stood up from the sofa, pacing back and forth, talking to his sister with a combination of Spanish and English. The conversation was hard to follow as they caught up, the looking of happiness to hear from one of his family members clearly evident on his face. He chuckled, laughed and argued in the “brother/sister” way with Jayda on the phone as he paced. But…as the conversation seemed to come to a close, Jorge started to shake his head and as he listened to the rapid talking on the other end of the line.

“Jayda, no. Don’t you dare.” he said seriously as he stood still, phone held intently to his ear. “Jayda, I don’t have the room here. I need notice you can’t just….Yeah I know. No… No Jayda I’m not going to let you sleep in a dumpster.” he said with a roll of his eyes. “You sound like Madre more and more…” he winced then as he held the phone away, another rapid series of shouts and arguing coming from the other end of the line. Finally he sighed as he put the phone back to his ear. “Jayda, I don’t care how far you’ve ridden, you ride your happy butt back down to Florida and call me when…what?” He hung his head, shaking it no. “Fine, I’ll text you the address. Bye…Looney.”

He muttered as he snapped his phone closed and shook his head. There was a combination of happy and irritation on his face as he paced, running through the argument inside his head. The morning was going to be so well, then work called…and now Jayda, is very sister. He wanted to smack himself for not being sterner with her, but it was too late now. How was it that no matter when he spoke to her, he always ended up on the losing end of the argument.

Then he noticed Gemma staring at him.

There was an incredulous look on his face as he held up the phone for her to see. He displayed it as if it were some ancient artifact from the civilization known for being only a pain in the butt.

“That was Jayda. Who lives in Florida….and she is coming here.” Normally that is something good to say. Family member coming to visit and all. But that is when it normally done with plenty of notice, instead Jorge sighed as he walked over and collapsed onto the couch next to Gemma. “And when I say coming here…I mean she is coming…right now. She just rode up from Florida and passed into the city and now plans to crash here for the weekend.” he shook his head picked up his phone and flipped it open. “Maybe if I give her the wrong address that’ll teach her a lesson.” he said as he began to type it in.

>>“That was Jayda. Who lives in Florida….and she is coming here. And when I say coming here…I mean she is coming…right now. She just rode up from Florida and passed into the city and now plans to crash here for the weekend. Maybe if I give her the wrong address that’ll teach her a lesson.”

Gemma smirked as she watched Jorge type the message; he didn't look half as annoyed as he was trying to sound. From what he'd told her, Gemma could tell he loved his sister, despite the whole sibling rivalry thing. And to tell the truth, she was curious about her too.

"Well, maybe I should get dressed." she smiled. She was wearing one of Jorge's shirts, as she just got out of bed not so long ago. "I bet if she found us like this, you'd never hear the end of it." she added with a grin. Kissing Jorge on the cheek, she started towards the bathroom.

"Well, you've been weighed and measured by my family. I guess it's my turn now." she chuckled. Oh, she was looking forward to meeting Jorge's sister. She really was.

>> "Well, maybe I should get dressed…I bet if she found us like this, you'd never hear the end of it."

“That’d be an understatement,” Jorge said with a chuckle a he leaned back on the sofa and felt the tender kiss on his cheek.

He turned to look at Gemma and he had to smile. She was sitting there, mug of coffee in her hand and swimming in one of his t-shirts. That would definitely be a scandal for the family. Though he had informed them about her, he doubted they realized how serious this relationship was. Jorge was a private man, but his family had their ways of guessing. To be honest he would not have been all that surprised that was why Jayda was coming up in the first place. To spy and report back on him and his relationhip.

Nah, he immediately dismissed that thought. Jayda was never the type to play spy. No, if she were coming here, it was on her own accord…more than likely just to bug him.

>> "Well, you've been weighed and measured by my family. I guess it's my turn now."

Jorge shook his head because he definitely knew the truth. Because of Gemma’s personality and Jayda’s…well…that would be a volatile combination. It would either go the way of the pair of them absolutely love each other and now have a common punching bag in Jorge, or they will completely despite one another and Jorge will have to talk to one without the other knowing it, the rest of his life. Unfortuantely his sister…well…

The detective shook his head. He would let Gemma find out for herself. Some things are best left to be learned in person.

After typing in the last of the address and sending it off, Jorge sighed as she forced himself to get up. Not only did he have work today but now he was going to have to deal with his sister crashing at his place. But as he stood, he saw the small, white bulldog staring up at him with a big smile on her face (or what he translated to be), her tongue out and her tail wagging. It was obvious that she knew who was going to be over any minute. Jorge shook his head as she stared at Lizzie.

“I know that you’re excited. You better behave yourself, young lady.” he reprimanded as he walked over his dog. He knew Lizzie was different around his sister.

As he was about to walk into his room to change, Jorge suddenly snapped his fingers as he moved over to his dresser, grabbed his wallet and pulled out a pair of keys that were attached to a ring. They were freshly made yesterday. He pocketed this pair of keys before he dashed over to his closet and began to pull out his cheap black suit for the day. Thankfully before he tried to scare Gemma he had already showered. As he slipped on his slacks, Jorge moved over to Gemma’s purse and set the newly made keys into her bag and began to pull on his white tank top.

He then began the search for his shoes as he wandered out into the living room and called out to Gemma while she was still in his bathroom.

“Gemma, I made you a set of keys for the apartment and put them in your purse, okay?” the detective said as he had to dodge around his dog and grab his shoes from behind her dog bed. Once he did, he paused….thought for a second…and mentally smacked himself in the forehead. “Um…you know, in case of emergencies?” he quickly said through the door.

Jorge shook his head as he slipped on his shoes. He really had to keys made since she was spending more time at his place, just in case she needed to get in here for emergencies and such. Still, he had to shake his head at the way he went about telling her.

Idiot… was all he thought as he slipped on his next shoe.

>>“I know that you’re excited. You better behave yourself, young lady.”

"I'll do my best, I promise" Gemma chuckled, hearing him through the bathroom door "You know me. Trouble all the time. I'll really try though, I promise."

Young lady. Gemma chuckled and shook her head. What a charmer.

>>“Gemma, I made you a set of keys for the apartment and put them in your purse, okay?... Um…you know, in case of emergencies?”

"Suuure" she answered, smiling as she wrapped herself in a towel. So now she had her own set of keys to Jorge's apartment. That could mean a lot of things; it was certainly a point in a relationship she'd never gotten to ever since she got divorced. It made her feel happy and a bit confused all the same time.
"I'll make sure it's an emergency every time I use them" she grinned as she emerged from the bathroom, heading to the bedroom to get dressed. She stopped as she saw Jorge putting on his shoes.
"Are you leaving already?"

>> "Are you leaving already?”

Jorge looked up, saw Gemma in the towel, managed to stop his brain from sweating, then nodded with a slight frown.

“Yeah, that’s what that call before Jayda was about. They need me down there to go over anything else from the crime scene that may have been missed.” He shook his head as he stood up. “Don’t worry about Jayda. I text messaged her that I would not be home so she could meet me at the department.”

Jorge actually sounded a bit proud of himself for having actually sent a text message without difficulty. Normally he was never good when it came to anything technical, but in this day and age, the man needed to learn, not only for his job but to be socially accepted. Gemma still cracked a wise remark about that darn old ringtone somebody at the precinct put on his phone, and especially because he had no idea how to fix it. Yet here he was, now seemingly becoming a master of technology.

It all started with a cell phone.

He smirked as he stood up, eyed her for a moment in the towel, then thought better of doing anything silly and proceeded to lean over and plant a small kiss on her forehead. “Hey, I can drive you back to the mansion. I have enough time for tha-“

Knock! Knock! Knock!

Jorge rose a brow as he glanced over his shoulder to the door. Normally he did not get door-to-door salesmen, especially this early in the morning. With curiosity on his face, Jorge gave Gemma a look that asked if she had any idea who it could be before he wandered off to his locked, front door. Upon arriving to it, the detective leaned in to look into the glass. The second he did and irritated smirk curled his lips as he banged his head against the door a couple times. Then he leaned back, glanced at Gemma with a sigh.

“I cannot believe her!” He said as he then unlocked and opened the door. “Jayda…what are you doing here?”

“That any way to greet your big sister?” a voice came out from the hall.

And instant later, Jorge stumbled back as a woman hugged him tight, sending them both into a fit of laughter as they moved back into the room. Jayda was a couple inches shorter than Jorge, but despite her size had that same “gimme-an-excuse” look about her. If anyone were the places bets on a fight between this brother and sister, it would be hard to pick a winner.

Jayda, dressed in blue jeans, a black tank top and a black leather jacket over it, smirked as she reached up and ruffled her younger brother’s hair. Her long hair was pulled back into a ponytail that had obviously been ripping through some type of wind. In her free hand she held a motorcycle helmet with a jaguar painted across the side. She laughed as she turned and then caught sight of Gemma.

Instantly he head tilted as she smirked. “Oh! Hello! You must be Gemma.”

One moment, everythingwas peaceful and quiet, with Jorge getting ready to go to work and offering her a ride back to the Mansion; the next, Jayda was bursting through the door. Gemma smirked as she looked at the siblings; they looked genuinely happy to see each other again.
Then she realized she was standing there in a towel, and started thinking about retreating into the bedroom. But just in that moment, Jayda noticed her and tilted her head with a smile.

>>“Oh! Hello! You must be Gemma.”

"Indeed I am" Gemma smiled back, one hand holding the towel and the other held out to her "And you are the famous sister. Nice to meet you."

Once the introductions were done, she grinned at both of them. "I'll leave you two now, I need to get dressed. Excuse me for a minute."

With that, she retreated into the bedroom. A while later she appeared once again, this time properly dressed, wearing jeans and a blouse, and working on pulling her hair back into a ponytail. She almost felt like introducing herself again. She probably didn't need to, but at least now she was dressed like a person...

>> "Indeed I am…And you are the famous sister. Nice to meet you…I'll leave you two now, I need to get dressed. Excuse me for a minute."

“Oh, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you,” Jayda said with a wide grin and shook her hand encouragingly. Then nodded as Gemma excused herself and turned back to Jorge with an ‘Oh-My-Gawd’ look on her face.

“Don’t you even start Jayda.” Jorge tried to say in a reprimanding tone.

“Wow, Jorge I had no idea…”

“I’m warning you...”

“I mean DAYUM!” Jayda said with a smirk. “How did a loser like you get her?”

“Jayda, I swear I will arrest you if I have to.”

“Seriously, Jorge, she is hot! You tell her you have money or something?”

“Jayda!”

She smirked as she looked around his apartment and shook her head. “Cause it’s pretty obvious that you don’t.”

Jorge narrowed his eyes…Jayda narrowed hers. The two siblings seemed locked in a staring match that would have melted the flesh off faces the way the Arc of the Convanent did in the Raiders of the Lost Arc movie. For a moment they stayed frozen like this, glaring, their eyes daggers as they said volumes to eachother. Then Jayda was the first to break the tension by sticking out her tongue. Jorge, though he tried his best to keep it together, could not help but start laughing. He sighed as he pulled his sister in for another hug.

“God it’s good to see you. How’re things back home? The garage doing well?”

Jayda smirked a she unzipped her leather jacket. “Garage is good. We got some a bunch of new clientele so business is flyin. Mom sends her love. Wants pictures of Gemma since you’ve refused to send any.”

“I haven’t refused, I’m busy.” he replied.

Jayda nodded as she playfully punched her brother in the arm and headed back out to the hallway. She said nothing as she opened the front door, leaned out and grabbed something that had been leaning against the wall. When she reappeared, she was holding a large, brown paper wrapped package that was tied up with twine. Once she showed it her brother, Jorge’s eyes lit up when he saw it. Just then was when Gemma had returned to the living room.

“You didn’t…” Jorge said with a grin.

Jayda grinned and nodded, “I thought you’d be missing her by now.”

She smiled as she handed over the package. Jorge was quick to tear into the package, revealed that it was a neatly wrapped, old wooden guitar that had a couple of old stickers, some torn off, others faded along the side of it. It was worn bad in some places, but it was still good enough to play. He grinned as he leaned over and kissed Jayda on the cheek.

“This means a lot, thank you Jayda.”

Jayda shrugged. “I figured you could use it , especially since I’ll be crashing here.” She grinned as found her way back to Gemma while Jorge was taking the rest of the paper and twine off the guitar. The sibling smirked as she crossed her arms and looked over Gemma briefly. “So…seriously…did Jorge tell you tell you he was dying or something and that’s how he got you to date him? Causes he’s healthy, I know he is.”

“Jayda!” Jorge said, his cheeks red with embarrassment. This was going to be another long visit.

>>“So…seriously…did Jorge tell you tell you he was dying or something and that’s how he got you to date him? Causes he’s healthy, I know he is.”

"No, he didn't" Gemma grinned, returning to her coffee "He did tell me he was a god in a mortal body, though." she added, glancing at Jorge "But that was Halloween."

Inside joke. Jayda probably wouldn't understand it. But it was still fun to see Jorge's face.

"What he didn't tell me, is that he plays the guitar" she added with a smile, looking at the instrument "You'd think he'd be proud of that."

Now she was starting to wonder what else he didn't tell her. Not like she was worried about dark secrets in his past; she was just curious what other interesting things he had up his sleeve. She smirked.

"So, Jayda, you drove all the way here from Florida?" she asked, glancing at the helmet.

>> "He did tell me he was a god in a mortal body, though…But that was Halloween."

“Well, I always knew he had the ego, but really Jorge? A god?” she chuckled. “That’s a bit lofty, even for you.”

Jayda had to smirk at this as she turned and looked at the flush of red that had taken over her brother’s face. It was far too evident to Jorge that his sister and Gemma were enjoying this faaaar too much. He would have to make efforts to keep them further apart while Jayda was here. Maybe he would put his sister on a barge and send her off to the middle of ocean for a week? That seemed like the best option to the detective. Still, the idea that his sister got to him like this made him cringe. How many criminals had he faced and put away behind bars and it was the combination of Gemma and Jayda together that made him sweat?

He shook his head and eyed his sister closely. He would take care of her, oh yes. One way or another he was going to take care of that woman.

>> "What he didn't tell me, is that he plays the guitar…You'd think he'd be proud of that."

“I am! Just when I transferred up here, I could not bring everything and I left my guitar with Jayda to take care of. She’d been after it for years, I never thought she’d give it back.” he said with an appreciative smile. “I’m glad she did though, a lot of good memories.”

His musing was shaken when he noticed that Jayda raised a brow and grinned wide. Jorge shook his head no.

“Hmm, maybe he didn’t say anything because he didn’t want to jeopardize your guys’ relationship?”

“Jayda, I will throw you in lock up.”

“After all…it would be hard for any woman to take him seriously after learning that Jorge here was in a high school rock band that included…what was your last ensemble bro? Leather pants and vests weren’t they? What was the name of that band again?”

Jorge groaned when he saw the look on Gemma’s face and knew that there would be no way out of this one. He could only hang his head as he replied. “Iron Buttersquash…” he mumbled.

“Iron Buttersquash! That’s right! Epitome of rock and roll.”

Jorge eyed his sister and gave her the look that she would be dying very, very soon. He still could not believe that she was just spouting all this off as if it were nothing! Then again, should he have really been all that surprised? This was his sister he was talking about. She was not exactly a subtle person and she did make it her personal mission to torment him whenever she got the chance. Still though, he could not be happier to see that she was alive and well. There were many times that he feared that mouth of hers would get her into bigger danger than she would be capable to getting out of it. It was a very real danger and one that he did not relish thinking about. After all, she would never change who she was.

Nor would he want her to.

>> "So, Jayda, you drove all the way here from Florida?"

“Yup, straight shot all the way up,” she said with a smile. “Been awhile since I’ve been able to do a trip like this and I was inching for an excuse.” She grinned as she walked up to her brother and wrapped an arm around his neck. “And what better excuse to take one than to come up and mooch off my brother?”

Jorge nodded then shook his head. “Well, it’s been fun Jayda, but Gemma and I need to go now. We both have to get to work and I need to drop her off.”

“Nonsense!” Jayda said with another big Cheshire grin and patted her brother on the chest. “Leave that to me. I don’t mind taking her to work. Long as she doesn’t mind riding on my baby.”

Jorges eyes went wide as he glanced to Gemma and shook his head. He knew Jayda’s excuse for riding and if people, if any, could take a ride along with her. Only the bravest and most steel-stomached could stand it. It was not an ordeal he wanted to put Gemma through. Subtly he shook his head over his sister’s shoulder at Gemma, as if saying to her, ‘say-no-if-you-want-to-live!’ He only hoped she heeded his look.

>>“Well, I always knew he had the ego, but really Jorge? A god? That’s a bit lofty, even for you.”

Gemma watched Jorge turn bright red, and for a moment she actually felt sorry for her boyfriend. She shouldn't be having so much fun with embarrassing him in front of his sister. Or listening to him being embarrassed by his sister. Either, really.

>>“After all…it would be hard for any woman to take him seriously after learning that Jorge here was in a high school rock band that included…what was your last ensemble bro? Leather pants and vests weren’t they? What was the name of that band again?... Iron Buttersquash! That’s right! Epitome of rock and roll.”

Gemma tried really, really hard not to laugh. Really. Hard.
She failed.

"Tell me you have a recording" she grinned at Jayda, silently shaking with laughter. The whole playing-the-guitar, rock-and-roll thing was utterly adorable. Gemma was never one to keep boyfriends as pets; it was just a moment of... cheerfulness.

Jayda offered her a ride on her bike to the Mansion. She arched an eyebrow; she hadn't done that in... a very long time. Jorge was looking positively scared, shaking his head behind Jayda's back. He probably knew something she didn't, but nothing she wouldn't guess from Jayda's attitude. Rules and regulations will be broken left and right.

"Sure, let's go" she grinned "If you are not in a hurry, we can stop somewhere for breakfast too. I'm sure we have a lot to talk about."

And it was probably better for everyone if Jorge missed the rest of the girl talk.

Gemma walked over to him and kissed him on the cheek. "Take care. See you tonight?"

The laughter hurt. It was something that pierced through the air and wounded his fragile male ego, but could he really blame her? Gemma, after all, had only known the Jorge he was now, the police detective for New York MRC who frequently threw himself into danger, but also could be very sweet and caring. She did not know him when he was younger, and a leather wearing, guitar playing “rebel” who dreamed of one day breaking into the music scene with his band. The band had only lasted maybe a year before “creative differences” broke apart that dream. Still though…he could have told her he played the guitar. Again, it was kind of hard to prove it when you did not have your guitar there with you.

>> "Tell me you have a recording"

Jayda grinned wide and nodded. “I have their ‘demo’ cassette somewhere. I’ll convert it a cd and burn it onto my laptop for you when you I get home. You have an e-mail address?”

Jorge looked lost as he watched his sister talking to Gemma about ‘coverting’ this and ‘burning’ that. “Hey, hey, those cassettes are private. Besides, computers don’t come with tape decks.”

A surprised eyebrow raise and Jayda could not help bursting into laughter as she shook her head. Jorge knew that he was technologically limited, but he did not think it was that funny.

“God baby bro, you really need to get with the times.” She said with a smirk and she turned around and punched him on the arm. “Don’t worry, we still love ya.”

>> "Sure, let's go…If you are not in a hurry, we can stop somewhere for breakfast too. I'm sure we have a lot to talk about."

Jorge was too shocked for words as Jayda agreed that that was fine. The two of them, would be out, talking about him? The detective really wanted to throw his sister into lock up now. If that was the only way to stop her wave of destruction, he was willing to do it! For the sake of his future with Gemma! But it was apparent that his girlfriend had no fears or qualms with riding with Jayda. That only made him more fearful. Did Gemma know what she was getting into? He was sure that she was pretty fearless, but still…Jayda could be a handful when she wanted to be. She never did keep that mouth of hers in check.

He wanted to warn Gemma more, but it was too late. There would be nothing else he could say to change her mind. Then she came over to kiss him on the cheek.

>> "Take care. See you tonight?"

“So long as Jayda gets you back to me in one piece.” he smiled as he kissed her back.

“And what is that supposed to mean?” Jayda intervened as she placed her hands on her hips.

Jorge looked squarely at his sister. “Big Pine Mall, 2002.” he said firmly.

Jayda looked aghast that her brother would bring up that location and date. “Hey, that was not my fault! That guy should not have cut in front of me just to walk his dog.”

“It was a seeing-eye dog, Jayda!”

“Whatever. He still flipped me the bird.”

Jorge shook his head as he leaned, squeezed Gemma’s arm and gave her a look like he prayed he would one day see her again. He kissed her briefly, then turned, walked up to his sister. The pair of them shared another silent, breathless argument as they went over safety precautions, warnings and threats. Finally Jorge relented and the pair of them hugged.

“Alright, I’m off. Be careful and make sure she doesn’t get into trouble.”

“I won’t, bro.”

“Wasn’t talking to you, Jayda.” He said then turned and shared one more look with Gemma. After a quick smile he exited out the door and prayed…PRAYED that Jayda would behave…even a little around Gemma.