by Rita Hestand
"Thanks," she raised her head and moved her curls from her face. "Tony up yet?"
"Nope. Just as well, it's too cold to be running around the house." He smirked.
She went into the bathroom and brushed her hair and washed her face, then came out and began hunting for something to cook. She decided quickly on oatmeal.
"Now that's good, as cold as it is, that will warm our tummies." He chuckled softly.
"I love oatmeal." She said and rubbed her hands together. "And I’m making some oven toast. So good." She wrapped her arms around herself and hugged herself, hoping to warm up a bit.
He turned the television on and decided to watch the news. He wasn't a news watcher because it was seldom good news.
There were lots of accidents in the bigger cities and some calamities.
They showed kids not going to school because they closed them down, instead they were home playing on homemade sleighs.
She dipped up the oatmeal. "Aren't we leaving some for Tony?"
"No, I'll make him some fresh when he gets up, it gets too thick if it sits for a while. We might as well eat it. Hope you like cinnamon in yours."
"To tell the truth I haven't had oatmeal like this since my mother was living." Dan told her.
"How long ago did she die?"
"Years ago, I was ten."
"And your father?"
"He died just a couple of years ago." Dan said. "So tell me, were you and your dad close?"
"In some ways, yes. He's a very controlling sort of man though and once he found out he couldn't tell me how to live, we locked horns a lot. But we are close. I admire him, and respect him. But I refuse to let him run my life."
"And your mother?"
"She died a long time ago. I hardly remember her."
"I'm sorry, what did she die from?"
"Cancer."
"Man that's a rough way to go." Dan shook his head.
"My dad, worked, took care of her when he wasn't working and me all at the same time." She said, as though thinking about those times.
"Gotta respect someone like that. Must have been tough on him." Dan remarked. "Who took care of you while he worked?"
"When I was real young I had an aunt that stayed with me. She lived with us a while, until she got too old and we had to put her in a home. Dad hated doing that to her as good as she was to me."
"Yeah, that's a rough thing to have to do to anyone." Dan finished his oatmeal and drank his coffee.
"By the time she went in a home, I was old enough to fend for myself until he got home. If he worked late I went over to a friend's house and stayed."
"Has he always been in politics?" Dan asked leaning back in the chair and putting his hand behind his head.
"Mostly, except when him and mom were very young. He worked in insurance for a few years, then decided to go into politics. He sure did it with gusto. He'd majored in political science and law, so it wasn't like he was going into it blind. He loves it."
"And why did you become a teacher?" He asked, trying not to ogle her. She was so darn pretty in the mornings, before she got herself together.
"I like kids, and I wanted to do something worthwhile." She sipped her coffee, and ran her finger over the top of the cup methodically.
"Why'd you become a cop?" She asked now as she stared at him intently.
"I witnessed a robbery at thirteen. It was a jewelry store and I was right outside when these guys with guns came running out. The owner came out too, behind them, shooting at them and they turned and killed him. It made a huge impression on me, because…I couldn't take my eyes off the man. His expression was unbelievable. I saw the blood leaking out onto the sidewalk and I just stood there. The cops came and interrogated me. I couldn't describe any of them for them. I just kept staring at that poor man. Right then I decided I would try to help people like that. People who wanted to do right, but became victims."
"That's quite a story. Where were your folks at the time?" She asked.
"Down the street, in a little shop. When they heard the sirens they came looking for me."
"Must have made quite an impression on you." She said quietly.
"Yeah, it did."
Tony came trudging in, and Gabby got up to fix him some breakfast too. She picked up their dirty dishes and did them.
Tony was barefoot and obviously cold.
"Can't we light the fireplace?"
"No, afraid not. So put extra clothes on, I turned up the heat, but there will be cold spots through the house."
Tony ran back to get some socks on his feet.
"So," he ran a hand through his wayward hair, "why is it so cold in here?"
"It's snowing outside." Dan told him.
"No kiddin'. Wow, no school today, I'll bet."
"Yeah, they were just talking about it, on the news." Dan laughed.
"It figures I'd miss a no school day." He chuckled.
But suddenly Harry was on television, and Dan's head jerked about to watch as Tony grabbed the remote and turned it up.
"Hold it Tony, don't change that," Dan instructed, "That's Harry."
"So Chief," The reporter was saying and throwing the mic in front of Harry. "Since Beaton's death have there been any more arrests?"
"No, not at this time."
"Do you have any leads to go on. We figure it has to be bigger operation than just Beaton." The news reporter thought he was being clever.
"No comment." Harry got tight lipped.
"Is this still an open case?"
"Yes, it is, now if you'll excuse me. I've got work to do." Harry walked off from the camera.
"They haven't caught them yet?" Gabby came to stand beside Dan as he watched.
"No, and that's not good. These are bigger fish so to speak and they want all of them when they round them up. It takes time to set up operations. At least they are being thorough though, that's good."
Dan wasn't going to tell them that they were taking too long. They could figure that out for themselves.
"I feel like we've just become the family of the year here." Gabby remarked.
Dan wrapped his arms around both of them, "Let's just stay cool, okay."
They both nodded and walked off.
He knew they were restless and that the monotony of living like this was really beginning to get to them. What could he do?
Later that day he knocked on Gabby's door.
She turned to look at him.
"I know this is hard. I'm sorry. I thought we'd be out of here by now. I'm sure you are wanting to get back to your life. Your boyfriend…"
"My—boyfriend? You think after all of this, that's what I'm worried about?"
He shrugged. "I don't know."
"You think I'd let you touch me, if I really had a boyfriend?"
"Well, you said you did, that's all I know…" Dan looked confused.
"We work together. Before I left the school, we'd talked about Tony. He had him in a class of his too. We were both concerned about him. He wanted to go check on him, but I figured a woman checking up on him would be less conspicuous than a man. So I went instead of him. I knew he'd be worried that I went and didn't come back, that's why I called him. We weren't really involved with each other. He had eyes on the assistant principle. We just worked together is all."
"Then why did you say he was your boyfriend?" Dan asked with a slight smile.
"I don't know, just thought I'd seem a bit more hip if I did."
"You care what people think of you?"
"Don't you?"
"Not really. What do you care what I think about you?" He asked moving closer.
"I-I…don't!" She stared.
"Liar!" He came to take her into his arms and he kissed her so softly, so tenderly that she moaned raggedly and wrapped her arms around him once more.
He was so involved in the kiss; he didn't hear Tony coming to the doorway.
"Did you hear that?"
They jerked apart, like two kids with their han
ds in the cookie jar. Tony chuckled. "Sorry. But I heard a noise…"
Dan moved away, not looking at Gabby but at Tony now. "Where?"
"I don't know…it sounded like it was coming from the roof, or the attic." Tony told him.
Dan frowned, "It's been snowing, why would anyone be on the roof?"
"I don't know." Tony looked up. The sound happened again and Dan froze for a second listening.
Then suddenly he relaxed, "It's either a rat or a squirrel."
"Are you sure?"
"I'd bet my paycheck on it." Dan sighed. "Come on, let's get the flashlights out, and get up there."
They were gone a long time and made little noise so Gabby was getting concerned.
She called their names out after a bit, and still nothing. She started to climb the attic stairs, when she heard them.
"We're coming down now." Dan smiled. "It was two squirrels playing on the roof."
Gabby sighed heavily, "Thank God."
Chapter Fifteen
A week later the frustrations had been growing between all three of them being cooped up so long with no one else to see or talk to.
Dan had adopted a hands off policy with Gabby, after all, when this was all over, she'd go back to being a Senator's daughter and teacher. He was sure she set her sights higher than some undercover cop.
Dan had slept late, intentionally. It made the day pass faster. When he went into the kitchen Tony was watching television and Gabby was at the kitchen table, reading a paper.
At first he didn't think anything of it. It seemed normal.
That is until he realized. Then he stared at the paper as though it were on fire.
"Where the hell did that paper come from?" He barked at her unable to control the building anger and frustration.
"On the porch," She explained innocently.
Dan's eyes widened. "The porch. You went out on the porch?"
"Not exactly. I heard a noise, someone had thrown a paper on the porch, I opened the door and reached to pull it inside. That's all. What's wrong with that?"
"What's wrong? Oh my God. All this time being here, no one has thrown a paper. The minute they do, you pick it up. Now they know someone is here. Don't you see, it was bait!"
He rubbed his forehead, and his eyes moved swiftly, as though he were trying to think.
"Oh…my God what have I done?"
He shook his head and touched her arm, "Nothing, don’t' worry about it." Dan's frustration simmered for a moment. "It's too late to worry about it. But I've got to think. Someone's been watching this place. They wouldn't have thrown that paper unless they really thought someone was here. Now they know. We have to move. The paper was just bait, to get us to come out of our shell. And it worked."
"Move! Again!" Tony and Gabby both hollered.
"Again! Yeah, and soon. I've got to contact Harry."
Gabby watched him closely, the guilt on her face registering.
Dan pulled her directly into his arms, kissed her on the cheek and smiled, "It's okay Gabby. We've been hiding out a while, one of us was bound to make a mistake." He winked as he phoned Harry.
Harry didn't answer so he left a coded message.
"He'll call back as soon as he can." Dan informed them.
"I didn't think." She admitted.
"It's okay, Gabby. It was bound to happen sooner or later. You can't live with other people that are practically strangers for so long and not screw up eventually. But I want you two to be ready when Harry tells us to go, we've got to go. Understand?"
"Yes," they affirmed together.
He walked away from them, leaving them to think it over. This put them in more danger than Dan wanted to think about. Someone had been watching the house, that was certain, but it could be others from the previous owner.
Either way, it was a danger.
Finally, Harry called back. "I figured you'd want us to move. Where to this time?"
"Bring them in, now."
"You serious?"
"We'll put them in the witness protection system and you can join the rest of us trying to nail these characters."
"Alright, we'll be in as soon as we can, then."
"Good."
Dan shrugged a strange feeling off his shoulders. It had never happened before, but he'd become attached to these two and now, they were going to disappear and he wasn't sure how he felt about that.
It was done, and there was no turning back. He knew better than to get attached. He'd been good at distancing himself before. He knew better now.
But a feeling of sadness swamped him and Gabby must have picked up on it when she came to sit beside him on the couch. Tony was in his room, watching sports.
"Something's wrong?" She said putting a hand on his knee, that he'd propped on his other leg.
He looked at her hand.
God, he wished she wouldn't touch him!
He hung his head. "No, not wrong. We're going in."
"In? In where?" She snarled her nose up.
"Headquarters. They're putting you both in the witness protection program." He said trying to sound upbeat, but knowing it didn't sound that way.
"Oh!" She stared at him.
"You and Tony need to get ready. We'll go in the middle of the night." He told her.
She nodded, but she didn't move.
"Well, you'll finally be rid of us, won't you?" Her voice sounded tight and strained.
"Yeah, I guess so." He didn't look at her.
He couldn't look at her. Because if he did, he'd want to take her in his arms and kiss her like crazy. And maybe even tell her how he felt about her. And that wouldn't be fair to her or to himself.
"What does this mean? Will I teach somewhere else, or what?"
"No, you won't teach at all. It would be too easy for them to find you, that way. You'll have a brand new career and a brand new life."
"And my father?"
"I don't know. I really don't know." He shook his head.
She put her hand over his, "Would you kiss me goodbye, now!" She said with a strangled voice.
His head whipped around and he stared into her tear-filled eyes.
"Gabby…" he whispered. And then she was in his arms and he was kissing her like there was no tomorrows.
She moaned and laid her head against the end of the couch as he continued kissing her with such passion, and love…
He raised his head, and looked into her eyes, "We shouldn't be doing this…"
"Make love to me…" she cried.
"Gabby…" he couldn't stop kissing her. He wanted her so bad he could take her right here in the living room.
"We'll probably never see each other again." He murmured between frantic kisses now.
"I can't help it. I want you inside me again." She challenged.
"Do you have any idea what you're saying?" He gasped.
"Of course I do," she whispered, and suddenly smiled. "I want you to make love to me, like you mean it, not have sex. Understand?" She murmured as her lips touched the back of his ear, and down his neck. He shivered.
He stopped, stared into her eyes, and in one lithe movement, he picked her up in his arms and carried her to her bedroom, shut the door with his shoe and laid her on her bed. He locked the door, and then he stared at her from the door. "Are you sure?"
"Yes. I've been sure all along. I just wasn't sure you realized you loved me…"
"Gabby!" He frowned, and then his frown melted and a slow burning smile lit his face. He came toward her now, and as he bent over her, he said softly, "But honey, we may never…"
"I know. But at least we'll have tonight." She murmured as her lips touched his.
"I don't want to hurt you Gabby," he said, kissing her all over her face, her neck. "I don't want to leave you with regrets."
She stopped, looked at him with a dreamy smile, "Then let's not have any regrets. Let's just share what we feel, and have memories…"
He looked into her soft greenish-blue eyes and smiled, "I
love you Gabby…."
"I know…and I love you!" She declared.
He took his time, kissing her into submission, then slowly he peeled her clothes away and began kissing her all over. She lifted his clothes away and suddenly their bodies joined. Flesh against flesh. But somehow this was a different experience for them both.
"You’re the most beautiful woman I've ever known, but it's not why I want you…"
She smiled, "It's not?"
"No, I've fallen for the sweet little lady that comes walking around the house in those cute little bunny slippers, and makes heavenly meals, and lets me paint her toes, and holds my hand at the most unreasonable times, and gives me that sexy come-on, when I know she hasn't done anything like that before. A woman that cares about children, about life, about her life. A woman who adapts to anything…like moving at a moment's notice without the slightest griping. My kind of woman…"
"I know we're crazy for doing this, but I don't want to live with regrets. And I do want to be one with you, even for a short while." She cried. "I want to be close, very close. I want you to crawl inside me and stay there."
"I don't know what took me so long to realize how I felt."
She smiled. "I'm glad it took you a while. If you'd have fallen so quickly I wouldn't have believed it real love. But when you got up and walked away the minute you realized I was a virgin, I knew." She said softly at his ear.
And then he entered her and it got very quiet for a while until a few moans echoed in the room.
The way he kissed, and touched and held her, set her on fire and she came alive beneath him as they plunged into the depths of their love, and an orgasm hit them both simultaneously, sending them into a heaven they'd never known before. He groaned from the exquisite torture, and she smiled so contently as she collapsed with him in her arms.
They slept for a bit, and then he woke and woke her.
"We've got to move now."
She nodded, and they silently got dressed.
As he was buttoning his shirt, she reached to touch her lips to his nipple, and he shuddered with little quakes running through his body. "I'm gonna miss the hell out of you, lady."
"Good. I'll be just as miserable." She smiled as her lips found his now.
The kiss went on and on until he had to break it off. "I don't guess there's time for you to kiss me, again is…there." She smiled seductively.
