1stolen10

STOLEN
Part One: Lovesick

Chapter Ten: Phoebe's Plan

"Excellent."
Phoebe skimmed through the datebook, setting it down on the bedside cabinet of the small hotel room and casting her companion a smile. "You've done well, Stefana. This is precisely what I need to put the final part of my plan into operation."
"Well, that's nice for you." Stefana snapped back, tossing herself into a chair and fixing the Stinger with a glare. "Do you have any idea how close it was last night? I don't expect to be hiding in air vents and crawling through ducts to get away from security staff! The stakes are too big, Phoebe - I want paying and I want out of running errands like that one. I'll write to Jason again - one more time! - but I'm not doing anything else. If they had have caught me..."
"They did not catch you." Phoebe interrupted, pulling open the drawer of the cabinet and extracting a wad of notes, handing it over. "Here. For last night."
"That helps." Stefana snatched up the payment, counting it and pocketing it. "But I mean it, Phoebe. I dropped one of your lenses and I don't know where. I don't want to be putting my neck on the line any further - if they implicate me for one thing they might implicate me for several and I've already used the plea bargain card once in the last twelve months. I don't see as they'd give it me twice over."
"I see." Phoebe's expression was thoughtful, though amusement danced in her eyes at her companion's bravado. "As it happens, though, I will not need your services again, after you write to Jason. You have something to send him, I trust, as proof of Copper's affection?"
"Yes." Stefana pulled the earrings from her pocket, dropping them down onto the bed. "Right from the girl's purse."
"Perfect." Phoebe's eyes glittered. "Then you must not waste any time in sending them to him. Leave him a note telling him to meet me at Rebel Records late tomorrow night. I will speak to him then - on Copper's behalf, of course. You have served me well, but I can handle the remainder of my plan without your assistance."
"I expect paying for this letter." Stefana warned her.
"You will be paid." Phoebe dismissed this with a wave of her hand. "I have not broken my word to you on that score yet, so you have no reason to believe I will do so. Besides, you have a handsome sum in your pocket now, and..." A slight smile touched her lips, "I understand from this morning's press that you did not go unrewarded for your troubles last night, either."
"Fifty bucks is nothing considering what I almost had to deal with!" Stefana shot back. "I damn well deserved it and every cent of what you gave me, too! If they trace that lens back to me..."
"They won't." Phoebe shook her head. "They have nothing to link you with the crime, Stefana. The only way they will find out about it is if one of us speaks - and how would that possibly benefit the other? No. You have nothing to fear."
"How can you be so sure? I don't know where the lens was dropped!" Stefana snapped. "If it was in the dressing room..."
"When I read this morning's paper, I got in touch with a friend and asked him to discover what the police had on the intruder." Phoebe smiled complacently. "Sullivan has worked for Rebel Records for a long time, and Sophie has been my partner in crime for many years now. I asked her for his contact information and she obliged without a single question. He is the sort of man who finds things out, Stefana. They have not found the lens. Wherever you dropped it, it was not at the scene of the crime."
"Sullivan?" Surprise followed by recognition flashed into Stefana's green eyes. "But he's Rory's spy - he flushes information out for Rory, not Sophie!"
"Rory and Sophie are common law man and wife, not to mention business partners here." Phoebe chided. "You underestimate Sophie's guile, my dear. Have no fear. Nobody knows what really happened last night except you and I. The police believe they are looking for some mystery fan - which is why I must act speedily in making my rendezvous with Jason. You must write to him at once. Express concern for his safety and tell him to meet me here. The rest...you can leave to me."
"What do you plan to do?" Stefana looked suspicious. Phoebe laughed.
"It's better the fewer people know until it's actually taken place." She said evasively. "But you can rest assured that it will have a dramatic impact on Jewel and their current wave of success."
"I suppose I'll have to take your word for it." Stefana looked displeased. "I'll write the letter and send it out this afternoon. But I hope you know what you're doing! Jewel have an uncanny way of falling on their feet and if someone was to find out what we had been planning...or if they were to get a hold of Jason before tomorrow night..."
"In a city as big as Los Angeles? Please. You underestimate the skill of an obsessive to remain undetected." Phoebe smiled. "Go, enjoy your money and don't worry about a thing. Jewel might come out on top against Rory Llewelyn, but they're up against me this time. And believe me, it takes a different kind of skill to outwit Rapture!"

"Well, so what did the police have to say?"
Sadie glanced up from where she had been relaxing on the lawn, casting her bandmate a reassuring smile. "Any news? Any leads to go on?"
"None." Copper sighed, dropping down onto the grass with a grimace. "There's no trace at all. They know he was there and that he escaped somehow - possibly through the ventilation system, since one of the grilles was disturbed, but that's it. Nothing else."
"What's all this?" Sadie's companion, a tall, sandy-haired young man in his late twenties cast Copper a questioning look. "Sadie told me about last night - is that what you're talking about now?"
"What else?" Copper sighed again. "Yes, Alex. Though why they're bothering I don't know. Nothing that was taken means anything to me - it's just the fact that someone broke in there at all that has me creeped. I don't understand how they did it, or why. He's stopped writing - why do something like this?"
Alex pursed his lips.
"What do you know about this fan?" He asked at length. "Anything to go on?"
"His name, and he sent me his picture, though I lost that in the mess when I was looking for my bracelet." Copper spread her hands. "I gave the letters to the police this morning but I don't honestly expect anything to come of it. Not yet. Los Angeles is a big city, and I don't have an address. The letters are hand-written but still...I wish I could find that photo. I wish I hadn't ransacked my room for the bracelet but it just didn't occur to me."
"I don't suppose there is anything you can do, Al?" Sadie cast hopeful blue eyes at her boyfriend, who frowned, then shook his head.
"Not officially." He replied at length. "It's a LAPD case, and there's nothing in it to warrant FBI involvement. I'm sorry to say it, Copper, but it's only a minor theft case at the moment."
"What do you mean, at the moment?" Copper drew her knees up to her chest, hugging them protectively. "You don't think that this is the end of it?"
"I didn't mean to make you more nervous." Alex looked apologetic. "What I meant was that unless there are clear developments - such as the suspect skipping state lines, for example - there's no reason for the bureau to get involved. We've just closed the book on a messy homicide case this week as it is - if we began doing the LAPD's job for them then we'd get no free time and they'd have nothing to do! Besides, they're a competent lot. They'll track him down. You must find that photo though. Whether it's real or a hoax picture, it's important evidence."
"I know. I'll have another look later." Copper admitted. "And it's all right, Alex. I don't expect you to drop everything and help out just because you're Sadie's boyfriend - it wouldn't be fair on the families of the victims of the big cases. And the policeman said last night that he chose a moment when I wouldn't be there. So maybe he doesn't want a confrontation with me. He hasn't actually asked me to meet him. Maybe it's just what the cop said - a keepsake."
"More than likely." Alex nodded his head. "Though he still needs to be caught."
"How will they do that if there aren't any clues?" Copper sighed. "No prints, no DNA, no fibre evidence that they can find. Some unclear footprints in the dirt which could be anything, apparently...and nothing else to go on. Just some remenants of the night's concert which could have been dropped by anyone. There are no leads. They pretty much told me that their best chance of catching him is if he tries again, and I can't help thinking that means him coming here."
"Cynthia will make sure nothing happens to you here. So will the rest of us." Sadie said confidently. Copper shrugged.
"I hope so." She admitted. "He got past Cynthia last night. She was right there and she didn't even detect him."
"I suppose she didn't expect it." Alex reasoned. "Here she will be on her guard." He grinned. "Is Cynthia your security guard, then? Is that why she stops here?"
"Sort of." Sadie smiled. "She's very good at the security thing and our premises are protected by one of the computer programs she, uh, created."
"I see." Alex winked. "So I should be careful not to upset her, in case she stops me dropping by. Correct?"
"Sure, but you're the law." Sadie squeezed his hand. "So I think she'll trust you."
"I'm gonna head inside and grab some lemonade, then go hunt round my room again." Copper sighed, getting to her feet. "Hopefully this time I'll find it. As it stands it's the only lead we have."
"Oh! Copper, did the letters have envelopes?" Alex cast her a quizzical look. "There could be DNA on that."
"They did, but all but one I threw out and the one I didn't was sealed with tape and hand-delivered." Copper grimaced. "So not much help. They've dusted for prints but again, nothing. This guy knows what he's about."
She tucked a curl of hair behind her ear. "So I have to find the photo. It's the only thing left."
Sadie watched her bandmate head inside, closing the patio doors behind her, then she frowned.
"Copper is right. Whoever it is does know what they're doing, if they're not leaving any trace." She said at length. "I remember back in England...well, when we wanted to hit a place we always wore gloves and took precautions. But we'd still get caught from time to time. This guy has covered his tracks - he must be a professional."
"Do you think there's something more to this than a simple fan obsession?" Alex cast her a questioning look. Sadie shrugged.
"Hard to know what's going on, just something doesn't make sense." She replied. "Listen, let me run through it with you and you tell me what you think, all right?"
"Okay." Alex nodded, settling himself more comfortably. "Shoot. If I can help off the record you know I will."
"Well, first Copper got a letter from this guy - his name was Jason, I remember that. It was your average over the top obsessive fan letter, and he sent a picture." Sadie began. "And she got other things too - flowers, a necklace, chocolates...it really bothered her. He even came to the Starlight and dropped a button. Then, suddenly, the letters stopped. Just as suddenly as they began."
"Somewhat strange." Alex frowned. "Go on."
"We thought maybe he was that fickle that, since he'd had no reply from Copper, he'd given up." Sadie replied. "Then last night happened."
"Hang on." Alex's eyes narrowed. "He was at the Starlight? And he dropped a button?"
"Yes." Sadie nodded.
"Has Copper given that to the police, too?"
"Copper doesn't actually know he was here." Sadie admitted. "I suppose one of us should drop it by there this afternoon - she'll probably have to know now."
"Yes." Alex pursed his lip, then, "That doesn't add up, you know. When you found the button, what else did you find?"
"Footprints in the dust but nothing else." Sadie replied. "Nancy and I checked it out so I saw them for myself. Why?"
"But you said that last night there wasn't a single trace left of this person's breaking in." Alex said thoughtfully. "They tracked the means of escape but nothing to tie someone to the scene. Nothing personal. The work of a professional, even."
"So what are you saying?" Sadie looked startled. "That last night was nothing to do with Copper's admirer?"
"I don't know about that." Alex admitted. "Because this is entirely speculation on my part. But I would not be surprised if the person here at the Starlight was not the person who broke into your dressing room last night. Is there anything else you can tell me?"
"Yes...now I think about it, Copper also lost a bracelet." Sadie nodded. "She thought she had it in a local restaurant rest-room, only it vanished and she can't think where it went to. But if her fan had been in the rest-room, she would have seen him. You don't get guys in women's rest-rooms as a rule."
"I don't know. I've investigated my fair share of them." Alex looked amused. "But you're right. A guy in a girl's rest-room would look out of place."
"So you're saying that if the bracelet was stolen it must have been a woman. And if it was a woman, it could well have been one last night, too." Sadie looked thoughtful. "Somehow this is starting to sound suspiciously familiar."
"Oh?" Alex eyed her keenly. "Go on."
"Do you remember Stefana Ranieri?"
"All too well." Alex nodded his head. "Why? Do you think this is her doing?"
"Well, she hates Copper enough. Maybe she set the whole thing up." Sadie grinned. "That being so I can breathe a little easier. Stefana is strange but she does have her limits."
"Well, if she was involved she'll wind up behind bars." Alex said categorically. "Noone is going to pleabargain her twice."
"No, true, but still, if it is her Copper mightn't press charges, so long as she gets her stuff back. We don't want bad blood with Diablo." Sadie said. "I...oh wait, no. No, I'm wrong. It can't be."
"I'm sorry? Did I miss something?" Alex looked confused. Sadie nodded.
"The morning that Copper's bracelet disappeared, Diablo played on Dean's TV show." She said quietly. "I know that because I was watching it. It airs live. Stefana was on television in front of a zillion people when the bracelet was stolen. So it can't have been Stefana. I'm wrong."
"Then Copper needs to find that picture." Alex said quietly. "Because the answer to the case might well be wrapped up in it!"

STOLEN: PART ONE

Prologue: Downtown Los Angeles
Chapter One: A Special Task
Chapter Two: A Bitter Heart
Chapter Three: A Fan Letter
Chapter Four: A Valentine Surprise
Chapter Five: Cynthia's Advice
Chapter Six: Interception
Chapter Seven: Test Of A Friendship
Chapter Eight: Rendezvous
Chapter Nine: Cat Burglar
Chapter Ten: Phoebe's Plan
Chapter Eleven: Copper!

DISCLAIMER: PLEASE NOTE
Copper, Nancy, Sylva, Anna, Blade, Raesha, Sirena, Topaz, Aaron, Sophie, Justin, Elliot, Rosita, Luis and any other characters in this fiction which do not appear in the animated Jem series are copyrighted to me (E.A Woolley) as of January 2002 <unless otherwise specified> and are not to be reproduced without permission ANYWHERE. Jetta, Pizzazz, Stormer, Roxy, Raya and all other original Jem characters are the copyright of Hasbro Inc, Sunbow, Christy Marx and the other writers of the Jem series. The future world of Pizzazz, Raya, Jetta, Roxy, Stormer, Clash, Synergy, the fate of Jem and her memorial are all copyrighted to me. The future world of Kimber and Shana is copyrighted jointly to myself and Gemma Dawn.
The concept of 'Jewel' is entirely my own, and any apparent link with any fictional or actual person or persons of this name is entirely coincidental. Equally the characters in this fiction are not based on any real life individual.
The concept behind the future world of Danse, Aja and Craig, the idea behind Jerrica's futureworld and the split of the Holograms is copyrighted to Gemma Dawn, whose Teenangel Outsiders fiction is directly twinned with Just a Dream. The character Sammi and any of the other Teenangel Outsider characters mentioned in this fiction are entirely copyright to Gemma Dawn and appear here only with her permission.
Pay her page a visit!

STOLEN: PART ONE