The Body Hunters (2 page)

 
A modern forensic psychic, twenty-eight year old Danny as she liked to refer to herself, was able to use her psychic abilities to help those in need which resulted in a career in law enforcement and a brief stint as an FBI consultant. She had been free of the bureau's influence for nearly two years and in New York for three months working a desk job with the NYPD.  She was renting a studio apartment that wasn't fit for the roaches when she met her best friend, Stephania
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     “My necklace! She has stolen it! All my stuff!"The Sicilian woman at the night sergeant's desk exclaimed
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"Ma'am calm down I'll write a report for you." The portly sergeant didn't even look up from his paperwork. "Just have a seat over there." He pointed with his pen to a row of chairs
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The chestnut-haired Sicilian walked over to the chairs and sat down, crying softly. Danny was sitting at her desk typing up another report when she heard the woman's crying. She felt compelled to walk over and comfort her, especially since she heard her say that her necklace was missing. Danny talked to the desk sergeant, and seeing that he wasn't terribly empathetic she grabbed a clipboard and sat down next to the girl
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           “I'm Officer Labouleaux. I'm going to take your report, OK? Can you follow me to my desk?" The woman nodded yes and walked behind her. Danny offered her the seat next to her desk.

 
              "OK, let's start with your name." Danny readied herself at her computer
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          "Stephania Amanato." she said with a very heavy Italian accent
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           "That's a very pretty name, but, um, could you spell your last name for me?"

 
           "A m a n a t o. You say like ah man ah toe. My accent, I'm sorry, I'm learning better speaking.
"

 
           "Don't worry. I understand hard to pronounce last names, see?" Danny placed her name plate in front of Stephania.

 
           "Ah! La boolow!" Stephania pronounced it correctly much to Danny's surprise
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           She couldn't help laughing. "How did you know how to say it? No one does!"

 
           "I am a flight attendant I go all over Europe. It's you Americans that butcher the foreign names!" Stephania said, smiling for the first time.

 
           Danny was happy to see she had stopped crying.   She continued with the report documenting all the items that were stolen, especially a 14-karat gold cross and diamond necklace that Stephania's mother had given to her before she left to work in the U.S
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           "Mama gave it to me knowing I would be gone for a long time. She didn't tell me she was dying. She knew I would never leave to come to New York. I am studying fashion too, here at NYU. The rest of the stuff, I don't care. Let that thieving Maria take it. But my necklace means so much.

 
          "Maria?" Danny asked
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           "My roommate see she is younger, you know, I start college late so I don't graduate till next year. I'm practically old lady in my village."

 
           "I doubt you're that old! You're from Italy you said?"

 
           "Oh, Mio Dio no! I'm from Sicily, not the boot as you Americans say!"

 
           "My apologies!I didn't know there was a difference.
"

 
          "It's like, how can I put it, um ... American south and American north, much different." Stephania explained
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           "I gotcha girl! I'm from the south so I understand now."

 
           "See you understand now! OK. How do we get my necklace back? Maria she took off now, I don't know where."

 
           "Don't worry about it; we'll do the best we can, OK?"  Danny knew the odds of Stephania seeing any of her items again was minimal to nil.   She felt a real strong connection to her. The cross necklace she herself wore was given to her by her grand mere, and she would have been just devastated if it went missing.

 
           Danny finished the report and seeing it was at the end of her shift asked if the classically beautiful Sicilian woman with the long model legs would like to get a bite to eat. Danny really didn't have any friends in New York, and the friendly Sicilian flight attendant seemed nice enough. A little later the two women found themselves in a little Italian restaurant around the corner from Stephania's apartment. The hole-in-the-wall restaurant was, as Stephania put it, the best and most authentic Sicilian food in New York.  She went into more detail about the story of the missing necklace and then showed Danny a picture of her mother wearing it.  The young woman's mother knew that her illness would keep her from emigrating to the U.S., and she gave her daughter the necklace the night before she departed Sicily.  A heartbroken Stephania received the news that her mother had died three weeks later. Danny and her newfound friend talked for three hours about everything: men, their jobs, and Stephania's roommate from hell like they'd known each other their entire lives
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              It was late and Stephania who actually owned a little red Fiat, a rarity in New York, offered to drive Danny home. The parking garage was only a block away, and Danny did not want to take the subway home at this late hour so she gratefully accepted the offer. When they pulled up to Danny's apartment building, Stephania's reaction said it all. The dramatic Sicilian let out an audible gasp at the sight of the rundown building in this very sketchy neighborhood. She didn't even have to see the apartment to know it was not where anyone should live, let alone a single woman. She asked Danny to meet her the next day and gave her the address to her apartment so she could give her another picture the police could have of her stolen items. She agreed, not knowing Stephania had other motives.

 
             The next day Danny arrived at Stephania's lower east side apartment. As it turned out, the apartment had two bedrooms and was rather large for a New York apartment. What's more, it was rent controlled. Stephania gave Danny the pictures as promised but then confessed and told her she did need a new roommate and really wanted Danny to be it. Danny was taken by surprise. She told her new friend that she needed her privacy and that she did have some money but she chose to live in the rundown apartment because she had plenty of solitude. Stephania, on the other hand, was not going to take no for an answer
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She told Danny that she was hardly ever home, since that is the life of a flight attendant, and that it would probably be a rarity that the two were ever together. Two days later Danny was officially her new roommate.

             The two women got along as if they had known each other all their lives. On the nights that she was home Stephania, in her broken English, chatted away into the night regaling Danny with her travel tales and stories of horrible passengers she dealt with
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Danny had wanted to find a way to thank her new friend for all she had done for her.
   Not long after moving in, while Stephania was hundreds of miles away in the air, she went to see the thieving ex-roommate in Brooklyn. She arrived at the ex-roommate's new apartment armed with nothing but her NYPD badge. She confronted Maria and threatened to call Immigration and have her illegal ass deported if she didn't give up the necklace. Before the girl could slam the door in her face, the police officer jammed her foot inside the doorway and pushed it open. The girl was blatantly wearing the necklace like it belonged to her. Outraged, Danny snatched it from her neck and dared her to try and get it back.

Maria by now was swearing at her in very guttural Spanish but decided not to put up a fight and slammed the door behind her.
  As she started down the stairs of the brownstone, the ethereal spirit of Stephania's mother smiled at Danny gratefully before mouthing 'Thank You'.  Stephania's mother had guided her to the location of the lost family heirloom, wanting the necklace to go to its rightful owner. When she surprised Stephania with the return of the necklace, the girl cried for almost an hour
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          It was a beautiful New York night, not long after the necklace incident, that Stephania walked into Danny's bedroom and placed on her bed the most fabulous red dress Danny had ever seen. From reading Stephania's fashion magazines; she knew that it was from the Valentino design house. She had seen it on one of the Hollywood starlets in Stephania's latest magazine
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"You may borrow it for tonight. It will go beautifully with your red Louboutin shoes!" Stephania remarked in her heavily accented voice
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          She had hounded Danny until she had purchased the designer heels a few weeks back at an upscale boutique. Sometimes having a roommate obsessed with fashion could be murder on your purse strings. The chic shoes had been purchased at a fairly reasonable price, and Danny had left them in her closet waiting on the right time to wear them
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          "Um, where am I going exactly?" Danny asked, looking curiously at her best friend. She had been sprawled comfortably across her bed watching a movie when her roommate suddenly barged in
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           "You must wear this tonight! It is very classy event you are going to. Good for you to get out of this apartment Danielle." Stephania said.  She never liked to call her Danny because she didn't like the use of nicknames
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           She continued telling Danny her plans for her for the evening.  "Go to fundraiser and meet wealthy men. I swear to you that you will come home married!" Stephania emphasized, laughing heartily
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           She told Danny that she had gotten the tickets from a frequent passenger, a wealthy male that she'd gotten to know very well. He was a buyer for an upscale women's clothing store, and due to an emergency meeting on the west coast he wouldn't be able to attend the event. She felt it time Danny mingled with other people besides those she worked with at the police department.

 
           "Mio Dio! It is no good for you to be around the negative spirit all day." Stephania zipped up the dress as she held Danny's shoulder length black hair.  "All the guns and shooting. It's no place to meet a nice man.
"

 
          Not wanting to dash her friend's hopes, Danny decided to go along with her plans. She had to admit that Stephania was right. Since moving to New York she had been so busy working that it didn't give her much of a social life. Maybe this night was all she needed to get back into the swing of things
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          "I can't thank you enough for giving me this ticket!" It was a heartfelt sentiment. She twirled around in the dress, admiring the way it complimented her body in the full length mirror. Unconsciously, she ran her fingers along the faint scar running down her chest. The dress was definitely low cut enough to hint at cleavage
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          "Just please don't forget to slip out before they start asking for the monies! Eat, drink, dance and leave them wanting for more of you!" Her friend advised, taking the time to appreciate her handiwork
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           "I won't forget. There's no way I can afford the minimum donation anyway, not on a cop's salary. Plus I don't have the stamina to deal with those wealthy WASP women!" Danny rolled her eyes and frowned at even the thought of making small talk with those types of women.  She had had a few run-ins with the type over the years and tried her best to avoid them.

 
           "Sit down now. I will now do your makeup, not that you need it."

 
           "Alright fine I'm sitting, I'm sitting!" Danny huffed and feigned protest as she sat in the overstuffed pink chair at the makeup table Stephania insisted Danny must have.  She always said she hated wearing makeup, but Stephania seemed to know the right amount and combinations to use and was determined to make her more feminine. Danielle trusted Stephania's judgment more than her own when it came to fashion. Besides, she had the feeling something special was going to happen tonight
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           Danny arrived at the large pretentious art gallery fashionably late, though not by choice.  She inevitably ended up in a taxi that acquired a flat tire after hitting a large pothole, nearly knocking her into the ceiling of the cab.

 
           "So much for a special night!" She mumbled aloud in the back of the cab.  She waited while the cabbie radioed for another taxi to arrive to take her to the charity fundraiser event, which of course she knew nothing about.  The ticket said it was for Angel Faces Organization. All she knew was it was a black tie and evening gown event
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           The new cab arrived, and soon she was walking into the gallery. She was greeted at the door where she handed over her ticket and soon found a glass of champagne in her hands from a waiter with a shiny silver tray.