by Allen, Sara
Jones couldn’t believe his ears, let alone his eyes, as he sat across from her an hour later, cradling a cup of coffee that he’d made for himself. He’d called in a favor and had a locksmith at her door before he’d had a chance to lead her further into her cramped apartment. He was shocked that the strong, independent woman he had taken to lunch that afternoon was now a trembling bundle of nerves, sitting across from him nursing an identical cup of coffee to the one he had. She gripped the cup so tightly that he thought it would shatter any second.
“Relax, Val. Tom is changing the locks. No one will be able to get in. Okay?” he tried to reassure her.
“It’s not that. I don’t even know why I'm like this. I mean really, you’d think we’d had the greatest relationship in the world, the way I'm reacting, but it wasn’t like that,” she said, wiping at her face, absent-mindedly.
The slight tremble of his heart when he heard her confession concerning the sorry state of her relationship caused him to want to jump for joy. He didn’t know if he should be quite so glad that she’d got rid of the guy, leaving the way clear for him, or if he was feeling jealousy that someone else had had her before him. Even though the first reaction was entirely valid, the second reaction was utterly ridiculous because he’d only just met her.
He shook his head in denial, but of which theory, he didn’t know. All he knew was that there was more to their budding relationship than his initial reaction warranted. She moved him, touched him in ways that he hadn’t felt before. He knew they fit together, perfectly, but he couldn’t push her, not when she was so newly accessible. With the connection to her that he felt, he imagined her tucked up neatly beside him, where he’d decided she belonged the moment he saw her smile.
Tom came into the sitting room. “Jones, I finished with the locks. Simple job really,” he told them.
Jones jumped out of his seat, following the locksmith to the door. “Thanks. I owe you one.”
“What, another one?” Tom laughed.
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.” Jones cautioned.
“Whatever, mate,” Tom said as he gathered up his tools, placing them in the carry case. “Here are the keys. I put a unique double safety on there. You couldn’t get in even if you had a key when this is locked from the inside. This is my type of lock,” Tom informed him proudly.
“Excellent.” Jones patted him on the shoulder and turned him towards the door. He wanted to get the guy out of the door fast, “I’ll call you.”
“No problem. Bye,” Tom said as he left.
Jones locked the door behind Tom and made his way back to the sitting room.
“All finished,” he told Val. He was anxious to reassure her that she’d be okay, but still Jones balked at leaving her there alone. She looked so vulnerable and lost, almost swallowed up by the large armchair she sat in.
“I need to take a shower. Will you wait? I don’t feel safe in my own home anymore,” Val asked him softly.
“Hey, babe, I'm here, all right?” He gave her a look that made her pull in a deep breath, as though she needed to get rid of the heaviness in her heart. “You take all the time you need. I'm not going anywhere. Okay?”
Val nodded and walked out of the living room. He ran a frustrated hand through his long, shoulder length hair, pushing the strands together behind his head and tying them off with a hairband he’d found in his pocket. Sometimes, he left his hair just how it was, but other times, like now when he had a lot on his mind, the long hair annoyed him, getting in his eyes and lying annoyingly on his muscular neck.
He picked up the two discarded coffee cups and took them into the kitchen. He found the mess disconcerting, but he didn’t want to judge. He knew that she had a full-time job, and maybe housework wasn’t as important to her as it was to some people. He put the cups in the sink and washed them out before placing them in the dish drainer. He began putting other things away, mainly to give his hands something to do while his mind wandered over Val’s current situation.
As he put away jars and packets of food left strewn around on the kitchen counters, he heard a noise behind him. As he spun quickly, he caught sight of Val, post shower.
Her hair was damp from the shower and hung down her back in large spirals that framed her face and made it look smaller than it was when her hair was up and away from it. Her skin glowed red under the caramel color, giving her a healthy sheen. Her eyes had brightened, and she looked more aware and alert than she’d looked before. Her fragrance captured Jones in a spell, causing him to forget everything he’d been doing.
He took his time to scan the rest of her body appreciatively. She’d put on loose fitting jogging pants, teaming it with a tank top in the same gray, marl color. Jones noticed the inky blackness of a tattoo on her left upper arm. A vine was inked, which snaked upwards from her elbow to her shoulder, sprouting flowers, small birds and other things in its intricate embrace. The design was so complex yet stunning that he hadn’t even realized that he was staring until Val cleared her throat.
“I wouldn’t have imagined you having a tattoo,” Jones told her.
“Oh? And why is that?” Val asked.
“Because… you’re just too… You’re going to want to punch me, but I have to say it,” he said, smirking, “You’re not ‘rebel’ enough to wear ink.”
She grinned. “Well obviously I am, as you can see,” she replied, lifting her shoulder.
“May I see?”
“Sure.”
“What’s in it?” he asked as he moved to her left side to get a better look at the tattoo she wore.
“My parents, grandparents and other things that are important to me,” she told him.
“Why?”
“Isn’t one question enough for you?” she asked him, her face registering slight shock.
He laughed. “You really need to ask me that?”
“Point taken.” Then she finally answered his question, “Because I didn’t want to lose the things that were important to me.” He raised his eyebrows at her, still seeking clarification, so she gave it to him. “Because, as life goes on, we tend to forget where we came from, and I didn’t want to.”
He touched a picture of an older woman, noting the resemblance to Val.
“Which one is the grandmother?” he asked, still holding her arm. It was warm in his grip, and he felt a slight shiver from Val as he gave her arm a gentle squeeze. He placed his other hand on her flat stomach, wanting to bring her closer to him, but he knew that her moment of weakness had passed. The contact made him feel good, nonetheless.
“Above the picture you're touching,” she said, breathless.
Jones had been caressing her arm, watching the play of goose bumps as they chased his finger around her arm.
“Sorry, my home is a pig-sty,” she said, stepping away from Jones and putting much-needed space between them, “I don’t even know if there is anything to eat in this kitchen.”
“Oh…”
“Don’t tell me you think I live like this?” she asked him in embarrassment.
“Well, I thought that since you work long hours and-”
“Stop! Don’t say another word,” she cautioned him. Val rummaged in a drawer, looking for a takeaway menu. “Chinese?” she offered, holding up the pamphlet.
“How about I take you out to dinner?” Jones offered.
“No,” Val said a little too quickly, “Look, I don’t feel safe at the moment, and I don’t think I'm gonna feel any safer if I have to come back here alone after being out for a few hours,” she told him.
Jones raised an eyebrow. He knew that something was going on, but he wanted her to disclose her concerns to him. He didn’t like to assume, even though he had a pretty good idea of what the problem was.
“So…?”
She breathed out, long and slow, pushing her hair behind her ears while she thought about how to say what was on her mind. Jones saw the struggle racing across her delicate features, solutions and problems marked clearly i
n her beautiful eyes.
“Just say it. I won’t say no to whatever it is, I promise,” he told her soothingly.
“You’re gonna think I'm losing my mind…”
“I promise you, I won't.”
“I don’t want to stay here. I don’t feel safe. Can you take me to a hotel? I don’t have a car, remember? Otherwise I would take myself,” she breathed, expelling everything in a rush.
“Okay, now don’t think I am being too forward, but… How about you spend a few days with me? I can help you find a new apartment because I think that’s what you want to do-”
“Why do you say that?” she asked.
“Because you’ve been jittery since I got here,” he told her, not missing the wince of shame. “Look, pack a bag, come and stay in my guest room, and tomorrow, we’ll find you a new apartment. Leave your things here. We can come and get whatever you need another day. What do you say?” Jones told her hopefully.
“I don’t know what to say. But I do know that I can’t stay here. Not tonight.” She bit her lip, trying to suppress her anxiety.
“Pack a bag, babe, and let’s go. We can pick up food on the way, okay?”
“Okay.” She marched out of the kitchen with determination and returned a few minutes later, shrugging on a hoodie that matched her pants.
Jones smiled at her slyly. “That was quick.”
“Don’t be an ass! I packed the bag before I even asked. Don’t get any funny ideas, or you’ll be taking me to the nearest hotel.”
He held his hands up in surrender. “I wouldn’t dream of it. Do I look like a complete fool?” His smile grew wider by the second.
Val snorted, keeping her response to herself.
“What?”
Val laughed out loud, opening the door to exit her apartment as the tension fell away from her hunched shoulders.
Four
22:30 p.m. October 12, 2004
“Let me try your chicken?” Val asked. Her feet were up on the seat that she sat in, her posture relaxed. All the tension of the last few hours had fallen away from her, and she could finally breathe easier.
“Then I wanna try your beef,” Jones told her, eying a piece he’d been looking at for some time. He speared it with his fork and then popped the morsel into his mouth quickly before she could change her mind.
Val shook her head. “Childish… Tsk!”
He’d spent one entire day with her, making him feel as though he’d known her his whole life. Jones wanted nothing more than to tease her and watch the smiles she’d been hiding all evening, play across her beautiful, sexy lips. He wanted to capture those very same lips with his own and explore how soft they were. He watched as she ate from his plate, her mindless chatter droning on in the background of his thoughts. He didn’t care if she ate the whole thing, so long as she kept smiling; her teeth a stark contrast against her darker skin, making the perfection a special delight.
Jones reached over the table tentatively, his finger touching the side of her mouth to remove the small drip that hung suspended from the side of her lip. He cocked his head to the side as he felt her smooth skin. He couldn’t fathom what had made him do it, and he certainly wasn’t going to let on he had been moving with instinct.
Jones shook his head, as though waking from a dream, watching the quirk of her lips as she looked at him.
“What was that all about?” Val asked him.
“You had something on the side of your mouth. Just being a gentleman and removing it for you. Problem?” he queried.
“Not for me. But I think you might be having a few, by that look on your face.” Her chestnut colored eyes darkened with a sensual, amber glow.
“And what would you know about me having problems? Unless you think that creating a few will achieve an outcome.” His steely blue-grey eyes grew intense as he looked at her across the narrow table.
The atmosphere in the room became charged, with neither willing to be the first to lower their gaze. Neither was ready to admit that there were charged emotions that needed to be dealt with. A steady flame had ignited in the tense atmosphere, taking their budding friendship to a deeper level.
“I think it’s time for me to go to bed… alone,” Val said, as she removed her feet from under her and stood.
“Look, Val. I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable here. You can stay as long as you want, no strings attached.” Jones stood, pushing his long-fingered hands into his pockets. He wanted to do more with his hands than hide them away, but he also understood the situation he had just removed her from. The last thing he wanted was to be the rebound guy. Jones wanted all of her, not a small part that may still be reeling from emotional damage.
“I have to go to work now, anyway, so I’ll see you in the morning.”
“But you haven’t even slept today,” Val told him.
Jones belatedly realized that he’d taken no more than an afternoon nap, when he’d called her because she was on his mind.
He smiled at her and asked, “And how would you know that?”
“Because… I don’t know. Maybe I'm assuming.” Her features smoothed, as she looked him up and down. “Anyway, you’re a big boy. I'm sure you can handle yourself; sleep or not.”
Jones said nothing. He didn’t want to go down the road where that conversation could lead them on, or he would be forced to show her just how big a boy he really was. And there was no time for that.
Val coughed. “Right. Let me let you go… Do whatever it is you have to do.” She waved her hand around in the air aimlessly.
Jones’ grin grew wider.
“Stop! God. Men… always able to change any innocent comment into something else.” She walked past him and out of the room, making her way to the guest room, mumbling to herself as she went.
Jones couldn’t help himself. He liked to tease her, just to see her reactions. His favorite so far was the almost-smile she gave when she thought he wasn’t paying attention. He was a police officer, and she had to realize that not much passed his notice.
He went into the bathroom to take a much-needed shower. He needed to wash away the fatigue and desire, or he would be too distracted from doing a proper job that night.
Jones pushed back his shoulder-length hair, which dripped down over his face, covering his slightly crooked nose and the scar on his eyebrow. He wouldn’t win any prizes at a beauty contest, but he wouldn’t come last either. He was a working-man, and beauty wasn’t going to help him catch criminals.
He breathed out a frustrated sigh. This damn case was leading them in circles, as though the bastards had a handle on everything they were doing. He didn’t want to think that one of their own on the inside was passing information out. He couldn’t be sure and he couldn’t dismiss it either. Worse, he couldn’t tell anyone! It was a worst-case scenario, as far as he was concerned.
To have a suspected leak in that position made their jobs all the more difficult, not to mention, dangerous. Any insider would know exactly what they were doing, the when, why and how of it, leaving them vulnerable, especially as these guys didn’t seem to have a conscience when it came to wiping out their enemies or their friends either.
He adjusted the towel he’d wrapped around his waist, opening the door and leaving the bathroom to cross to his bedroom directly opposite. He looked up, coming face to face with Val, standing dumbstruck in the hallway.
“Uhh… Sorry. I thought you’d left,” she stammered, looking away from his naked chest that was directly at her eye level.
“I needed a shower to wake myself up,” he explained. “Sorry for the towel. I'm not used to company.”
“No. My bad. I'm the intruder!” She looked at his feet, gulped and swung her eyes back up to his face. “Plus, I took your room with the en-suite bathroom.”
“Well, as much as I’d like to stand here and chat. I need to dress... and leave.”
“Shit… I'm so sorry. Please go on.” Val waved him past her to his room doorway and walked down the corrido
r to her room. Jones could hear her muttering about being an idiot, from what he could catch of her lowered voice.
Jones smiled to himself. Yes, he thought, this is going to be interesting.
****
00:45 a.m. October 13, 2004
Jones stepped into his office cubicle, noticing the pile of papers on his desk. The papers hadn’t been there that morning, and a quick glance caused him to groan when he saw that they concerned the incident of the previous night. Looking around his cramped office space, he took in the full-length windows that showed the outside world; a world he had joined the force to help keep under control. But here he was doing absolutely nothing! He wasn’t doing a goddamn thing to fight the crimes he’d signed up to fight and that pissed him off.
Jones paced to the window, looking out into the darkness of the night, seeing no one moving on the blackened streets. The street lamps alone shared their company with the few nocturnal animals that roamed the inner city streets after dark. He laid his palms flat on the window, scanning, looking for a clue or anything to help clear up the dilemma they had going on.
He was sick of all the red tape, the constant slapped wrists if he stepped out of line, the black marks and setbacks, the “do nothing” mentality that pervaded the police force in recent years. He had better things to do than stand there scratching his balls for entertainment while the real culprit was out there getting away. As far as he was concerned, this was a fool’s game, and he wasn’t prepared to be a puppet for anyone.
He and his partner were the lead detectives on this case, and his bosses had him tied to a fucking chair like a toddler!
“Hey, I see they got you doing paperwork… again!” Doug quipped.
“Doug!” Jones warned.
