Bishop's Run

by B. D. Gates

  I was on a roll and I went with it, my voice rising. "As for why I'm 'chummy' with a police detective, it's because she's one of the first people I met when I got here, and I like her. She's...she's...a good friend." I flashed on the memory of her waking me from the nightmare, but then, strangely, little bits and pieces lit up in my mind as well, of Tess climbing into bed with me, holding me, gently rubbing my back.

  Penny leaned back to get a clear look at my face. She had touched a nerve and she knew it.

  "Look, Lisa Baxter, I just want to know the truth, before I get into some mess I know nothing about. I don't like being lied to and I damn sure don't like feeling like I'm being played."

  "Penny, I'm not. I'm not lying to you and I'm certainly not playing you, I swear."

  I couldn't persuade her otherwise, so I did the first thing I could think of to stop her questions and accusations. I threw it back on her.

  "Okay, Penny, answer me this. You think I'm working at a job that I'm over-qualified for, and yet, you, well, you take fantastic pictures, but you're a gofer for someone else, I'm willing to bet for someone not nearly as good as you, for almost eight years. So tell me, what are you doing here? Why aren't you running your own studio?"

  That hit home. Penny sat back, folded her arms across her chest, got quiet, still, and I felt her mentally pull away from me.

  Oh, yay for me, for deflecting her questions by striking out at her. I felt mean, and I hated it. I didn't need to worry though, the effect didn't last.

  "Don't turn this back on me! There is something going on!"

  "Penny, come on, there is nothing going on! Now...let it go!"

  "Baxter, look, you're lying to me, I know it. You're lying! I do not want any shit in my life, I don't want any part of whatever it is you've got going on. Do you understand?"

  "Penny, I've got nothing 'going on.' There is no shit!"

  Things had gotten a little out of hand, and the tension between us was palpable. I stood up. Which was the wrong thing to do, because Jacks had decided to join us on the dock, but not before running at us full-blast as if she was going to push us in. My standing up threw her off and she didn't stop in time, knocking me into the water.

  The really, really cold water.

  I broke the surface, gasping with surprise and shock from the cold. I looked up at the dock, as Penny and Jacks, now joined by Bridget, stood on the end, shock on their faces as well.

  "Baxter, damn, I'm sorry," Jacks called.

  I swam to the ladder on the side of the dock and climbed out. Penny met me, wrapping me in the windbreaker, still warm. It felt good.

  "Bax? Are you okay?" Penny held the windbreaker closed, holding me as well, searching my face for an answer. The dunking had certainly taken the tension out of me.

  "Fine," I replied. "Peachy."

  "Come on, let's get you up to the house and get those wet clothes off you," Penny loosened her grip on the windbreaker and turned me towards the trailer.

  "Baxter, man, I'm sorry, really," Jacks continued. Bridget took her by the arm and shook her head, signaling Jacks to keep quiet.

  We made our way up to the fire, passing the group, who, having heard the splash and the subsequent yelling, had gone quiet as well. No one said a word as we continued up to the house. My wet shoes squeaked as my steps squished out the water. I stopped at the porch and took them off.

  "Not much I can do about your shoes," said Penny. "But I might have something you can wear."

  I just looked at Penny. We are not even close to the same size.

  Penny steered me back towards the shower. "Just take your clothes off and get in the shower. I'll have something for you by the time you're through."

  I walked on around the corner to the bath, stripping off the wet clothes. Penny picked up the dropped items as we went. I stepped into the shower and started the water, while Penny pulled a fresh towel and wash cloth from the cupboard under the sink. She tossed the cloth to me as I got into the sprays, then turned and left.

  27

  While I was under the water, I recalled our conversation on the dock. Penny was smart, there was absolutely no doubt of that, and she did not want to get involved with someone who would lie to her, who could drag her into a mess, that much was true, but I kept returning to my memories of Tess, in bed and holding me. I could practically smell her perfume, feel her hand stroking my back.

  It had to be a dream, it had to be. But how could something as unreal as a dream feel so real?

  I warmed quickly, rinsed off the lake silt, washed up and stepped out of the shower. I toweled off, then wrapped myself in its fluffy softness and walked into the bedroom. Penny was going through the captain's drawers in the bed, looking for something, anything, for me to wear.

  "Aha!" Penny pulled an old, worn pair of navy-colored sweat pants out of the bottom of the drawer. "These will work, just give me a minute to find a shirt."

  Laying them on the bed, she moved around to the other side, opened the first drawer and began rummaging through the contents. I tried on the sweats. Not a bad fit. In a matter of seconds, she pulled a dark green T from that drawer.

  "Your clothes are in the wash." She looked over at me and nodded, approving of the sweats, joining me next to the bed.

  "Baxter, tell me, who are you, really?"

  I shook my head. "Penny, come on, there's nothing to tell."

  Penny climbed up on the bed, knelt next to me, then picked up the towel and wrapped it around my head, rubbing briskly to help dry my hair. I stood there, letting her tend to me, not protesting, since I assumed her actions were meant to establish a truce of sorts. When she had determined that my hair was sufficiently dry, she pulled the towel down and draped it around my neck, still holding the ends in her hands. I looked into her soft brown eyes, trying to read her thoughts. What I saw was a mix of emotions, but her actions were clear. She was intent on getting to the truth.

  She pulled the towel towards her, pulling me down to her with it, and kissed me on the mouth. I kissed her back, tentatively. She responded with a more ardent kiss, pulling the towel closer still, leaving me no ability to withdraw as she began tonguing me. I tried to pull away, but Penny had control here, holding me in check.

  She pulled me closer, tightening the towel, preventing me from moving any way but towards her. I did the only thing I could to loosen the grip she had on me. I wrapped my arms around her waist, pulled her close as she knelt on the edge of the bed. We held each other, neither of us willing to break free, or to relinquish our holds first.

  "Penny, what are you doing?"

  "Who are you?"

  I shook my head. I couldn't tell her. About anything.

  She didn't like my answer.

  "You're an asshole, Baxter," Penny whispered as she gave a jerk on the towel. "Tell me who you really are."

  "Penny! What the fuck!"

  "I don't like being lied to," Penny said.

  "C'mon, I'm not lying, besides, what does it matter? This is 'just for fun'," I reminded her, trying to defuse the situation.

  Penny did not think that was funny.

  She pulled the towel closer, tighter, her hot mouth firmly against mine. I ran my hands up under her shirt, gently caressing her back and sides, trying to bring softness to a situation that was quickly escalating.

  Penny continued kissing me, her tongue darting and probing. She switched her grip so that she could hold the towel ends with one hand, then slid her free hand into the waistband of my newly-acquired sweats, pushing them down to my thighs as she made her way around to my butt, lightly stroking and rubbing along the inside of my thigh to where it met my butt cheek, each stroke moving up and down, then lightly brushing over my center, her fingertips tickling as she teased me. In spite of our raised tempers, her kissing and touches affected me, bringing warmth and wetness between my legs. I groaned.

  Still tightly holding the towel, my head next to hers, she whispered in my ear, "Baxter, you want me, you're so hot for me, I've barely g
otten started, you know what I can do to you, you want me to fuck you, I can tell, but I want to know who you really are..."

  Her hot mouth on mine, tonguing, sucking, she slipped her fingers into my wetness, pressing and rubbing. I involuntarily growled as she continued to slide around my clit, as it responded to the sensations her fingers evoked, it was now pulsing with every movement she made.

  I shook my head, a non-answer, pulled Penny tighter against me, then pushed her sweats down, my hands at her buttocks, rubbing and caressing in the same way that she had rubbed mine. I split her buttocks apart, felt her heat, her wetness as I thrust my fingers up into her, entering her from behind, filling her hot, wet pussy with three fingers at once, pushing them in as deeply as I could, then popping my thumb inside her tight asshole. She gasped. Her legs began to tremble as I moved inside of her.

  "It really doesn't matter, now does it, Penny, you want me to to fuck you just the same, names don't matter, not here, not now."

  I had her like she had me and, like her, I was not being as soft and sweet as in our previous plays. I lifted her up, then turned and fell back onto the bed, as I pushed further into her with short thrusts, sliding my fingers side-to-side so that I massaged the roughness of her G spot. She had withdrawn from me as I reached between her legs from the front, inserting two more fingers inside her as I rubbed her clit with the palm of my hand. I had her full attention now, and she let go of the towel, was braced on her arms over me, reflexively spreading her legs, humping and rocking against me, gasping, eyes closed, as her body convulsed, taking me deeper inside her.

  "Oh, god, Baxter," she gasped as she rode my hands. "Damn you."

  She bucked against me, and when I thought she was about to come, she stilled, tightened around my fingers as she shook her head and bit her lip.

  "Damn you."

  She dropped down on top of me and slipped her hand between my legs, took my clit between her fingers, feeling its hardness with her thumb and forefinger. I shuddered as she stroked me, her fingers sliding into me, made slick with my wetness, then over me, briskly rubbing as she made her way back to the base, repeating this move until I was thrusting against her, as I fingerfucked her with both hands, her body writhing against mine.

  We were no longer kissing, that required far more intimacy than we were capable.

  "Who are you, Baxter?" Penny persisted, her voice jagged, breathless.

  "For god sake, Penny, just let it go," I hoarsely whispered.

  Penny stilled again, her breath huffing through her teeth as she bit deeply into my shoulder, holding off her orgasm as she stroked me, and I growled again, this time in pain, as her bite held me in place.

  When I was on the verge of coming, I would zone out, taking it out on Penny, banging her harder as I tamped down my pending orgasm, growled against it, not giving in, not allowing her the satisfaction of making me come on her terms. She, in turn, would get right to the edge and do the same to me, sinking her teeth into my shoulders to strengthen her resolve. We fought as we fucked, about lies told, and untold, as we struggled against each other.

  Now in a showdown of sorts, one of us was going to have to surrender, something neither of us was inclined to do.

  In a final surge, we went at each other with everything we had, taking the buildup all the way, our bodies shaking and shuddering, both of us out of control as our orgasms crashed in a head-on collision, our bodies tangled together in a heap, our hands still buried in each other.

  Sex between us had become a nuclear war and we had just willingly annihilated each other.

  Withdrawing from her, then pulling her hands away from me, I laid there, not thinking, just breathing, as Penny began to stir. She opened her eyes and found me looking at her. She didn't look away. She didn't say anything either. We just watched each other, not speaking, or maybe not knowing what to say.

  I suddenly had the distinct feeling that I would not be spending the night.

  I rolled over and sat up, then stood up as gracefully as I could, considering that my legs were like jelly. I pulled on my borrowed clothes while I kept my eyes on Penny. She held my gaze but didn't say a word.

  "Really. What the hell happened to 'just for fun'?" I growled.

  I turned and walked out the door, closing it behind me. There was no one in the kitchen, which was good, because I damn sure didn't feel like talking. I grabbed my wet shoes from the back porch and jammed them on while I sat on the top step. I headed straight to the Jeep from there, not passing anyone.

  Once in the Jeep, I started breathing more normally. I was going home, to my safe house, and I was really happy about that. I cranked the Jeep, put it in gear and backed it out before turning on the headlights and heading for the highway.

  If anything was ever said about my leaving the party too soon, I never heard about it.

  *****

  Tess saw Bishop's Jeep make the turn from the secondary road as she passed by on the opposite side of the highway lanes. She drove another mile down the road, then turned at the next cut-through and headed north. Seeing the Jeep's tail lights come into view, she kept her distance. She reasoned that she was just curious, wondering where Bishop was headed and if she was alone.

  *****

  I made my way through town, turned into the now-familiar side street and crossed the intersection, pulling up to the curb by the carriage house. As I grabbed my phone and charger from the console, the parking lights of the Crown Vic lit up the Jeep. I was not in the mood for company, not even Tess, I just wanted to be left alone. I got out and stood next to the Jeep.

  Tess put her car in park and cut the lights, got out. I watched as she walked up to me.

  "What's up?" I asked. "Have a late call? Another break-in?"

  "No, no, just saw you out on the highway and wanted to make sure you're okay," she answered.

  "Yeah, Tess, I'm fine." I felt the disturbance in her aura as she stood next to me. "Are you okay?"

  Tess looked up at my face, reading me, a look of concern replacing a look that I couldn't name. She didn't answer my question. "Bishop, you're not okay. What's going on?"

  I was really, really tired, and I just didn't have it in me to have a conversation. I shook my head as images of Penny and me, both of us angry, battling each other flashed in my mind. "Tess, I'm fine."

  "You're not sick or in pain, are you?"

  "No, no, nothing like that."

  I was both.

  "Well, okay," Tess felt me holding her off, felt the wall that I'd put up. "If I can do anything for you, call me."

  "Thank you, I will, but I'm fine. Really."

  "Well, then...goodnight, Bishop."

  For the second time that evening, I said, "Goodnight, Tess."

  I turned and went inside the gate, the girls meeting me as I made my way through. Tess watched me go from the door of her car, then she got in and drove off.

  I headed for the shower to wash off the remnants of the unforgiving fucking I'd had from Penny. I glimpsed myself in the mirror before I stepped in under the stream and had to go back for a closer look. My shoulders and the lower part of my neck looked like I had been attacked by an animal.

  Truth be told, I had.

  Penny had a temper. She was fully certain that I was lying to her, and I was, but I couldn't 'blow my cover' by telling her the truth. Her anger was apparent but then, I had assaulted Penny in the same way. I should have stopped, I should have left before we'd gotten out-of-hand, but I hadn't. Why was I so angry?

  I gently washed, rinsed, and dried off, then pulled on a pair of loose-fitting boxers and a T. I gave the girls two dog biscuits each, waited while they ate them, then turned out the lights and went to bed. The girls snugged up against me and we all went to sleep.

  28

  Tess drove home, wondering what had happened to Bishop at her 'little something.' Obviously, it hadn't turned out to be as 'little' as she'd expected. Bishop was agitated, emotionally unsettled. Parking the car, Tess got out, then remembered
and reached back in for the fuzzy little bear. She smiled as she walked to the door, remembering what a nice evening it had been, at least at the beginning.

  Maybe Bishop was just tired and wanted to sleep in her own bed tonight, she rationalized. She was feeling a little worn out herself. It had been a long day, and night, for her, too. Seeing Ginnie and unloading her woes, even though there had been no solid conclusions, had made her feel better. The tears she'd shed were most likely due to the frustrations she felt in not knowing how she should handle her love for Bishop.

  She was in love with Bishop, there was no doubt of that. When she considered it, she wondered if she'd actually begun falling for Bishop in the first few weeks she'd been on her case. Bishop was so 'broken' in the beginning. Tess felt helpless as she watched her struggle just to move from place to place, not knowing if she should help her, if her offer would be rebuffed by Bishop as she worked to regain her independence.

  At first, Tess would only go so far as to get her a throw or a milkshake from the freezer when she'd joined the detective in the living room to watch TV, noting the polite but flat “thank you” Bishop would bestow on her, no eye contact made with the transactions as she placed the item in her hand. Later, she'd cooked for her until Bishop had progressed to regular food, and even after that, when Tess would make dinner for the fun of it.

  Maybe Ginnie was right, maybe she'd grown attached to Bishop as a patient, but Tess knew that it really was more than just that.

  Bishop had nightmares from the start, but she'd had dreams as well that did not seem to be related to the trauma she'd survived. Tess heard Bishop crying in her sleep the first week she'd stayed alone with her. She ventured into the bedroom, causing the dogs and Smokey to sit up and take notice. Bishop was still quietly whimpering. It was a cry of loss, of longing, and it broke Tess's heart when she heard it.