Chapter 9

As it turned out Mom and my sisters left me alone, and didn’t rake me over the coals regarding Gerry. They were more interested in the current events in my life. They had given up on me having a man in my apartment –let alone a dead one!

I told them I could not say much regarding the case in progress. However the police were doing every thing they could. With that aside, they moved on to my employment status. I reassured them that things were looking up, as I was starting a long-term assignment the next day. Mom reiterated as she does all the time that if prospects ever dried up, there was always a place open for me at The Moose Burger Emporium.

My mother was a firm believer in female independence while her daughters were single. We were each encouraged to go out and find careers. However, the minute we got married, she thought the careers should stop and baby-making time begins. She never got the clue that women could be happily married wives and mothers, as well as providing for the family. In fact these days it’s a necessity, we keep telling her. On this point Mom remains a non-believer.

As my sisters and I cleaned up after dinner, Gerry took the men out to admire my rental. By the time they had finished drooling over my car, it was time to go home as I had an early morning. The trip back across the city was uneventful.

We were just rounding the corner on to my street when we saw the police cars in our front parking lot.

I figured the day had gone way too well. For me to get through twenty-four hours with out some sort of drama was too much to ask. I got out of the SUV and approached Gibbons.

“What happened this time?” I asked in disbelief. This person was making a career out of stalking me, and yes I was getting really freaked out.

“The decoy was involved in a minor scuffle. Some one tried to mug her, but she dispatched him quite handily.”

“Okay, kudos to Janice for the take down. Is this attack related to the other things going on?”

“Can’t be sure unless we talk to the perp. He’s getting patched up at the hospital. After which we will question him.”

“Where’s Janice?” I asked, looking around.

“She had a few battle scars from the incident, but we were more concerned that she would go and kick his ass even more.”

I could picture Janice doing that. The girl has skills in ass kicking.

Gibbons looked at me and said he would usually not bother with these kinds of calls, but was concerned because he couldn’t reach me on my cell when the call came in.

I must admit, his concern was touching.

“Well, we were at my parents for dinner and they have a no cell rule. So I am sorry I worried you. I had to turn it off.”

I was sincerely hoping that this incident was not connected to the case. I was getting tired of all the negative attention brought to my doorstep. I would never wish anything bad to happen to anyone due to a missing car, a dead debt collector, and mysteries surrounding both. No matter how much protection I have around me. I have really had enough of all this.

“Thanks Gibbons, I appreciate your concern but I really need to get inside and go to bed. I told him that I was starting back at the collection agency the next day.

“Do you want us to patrol the area or have some one follow you back and forth to work?”

“Yeah sure, but nothing too obvious. I really don’t want any negative attention at work. I am concerned that my employers will see this as a major liability to the agency. Too much police presence might be a threat to the other businesses in the area.”

Here I am in danger. I am being stalked for reasons I don’t know, and I am more concerned about how it will affect others. I feel like I am losing my mind and that the case is growing cold, as we speak.

Chapter 10

I had said goodnight to Gibbons, and headed for the building. Gerry stayed behind to talk to the Inspector. I just wanted to go inside and bury my head in a hole, wishing that the incident had never happened. I was standing at the kitchen sink, refilling the water jug when Gerry walked in.

He came up behind me, and put his hands on my shoulders. I turned around and Gerry took me in his arms. I realized he just wanted to comfort me, but what happened next shocked both of us. Before we knew it, our clothes were scattered on the floor, and we found ourselves doing the nasty on Gerry’s couch. Gerry was doing things that I never imagined in a million years. I knew he had a sensuous mouth but wow I never thought…

I think it was the movie Speed, where Annie and Jack were stuck on the runaway train. Jack uttered the line about sexual relationships based on traumatic events were doomed to fail. That’s what I felt at that point, but hell, I didn’t care. I was living for the moment. Whatever happened next didn’t matter.

I only remember what I was feeling when Gerry was kissing me from head to toe and when he entered me, how at that point it was the best sex I ever had. Nothing mattered. For one night I forgot my troubles. We fell asleep together, curled up on the couch. We got up in the morning. I showered, and got ready for work.

I asked him point blank, “Have you ever considered getting a new couch? This one is in really bad shape.” Gerry was up an hour before me. To my surprise, he had made me a lunch for my first day at work.

The big shock came when he kissed me hard on the lips, as I headed out the door.

“Did ya think last night was just a wham-bam kind of thing?”

“I am still not sure what I thought about last night. We do have to talk about it; just not now.”

“Well, in celebration of your first day back at work, let’s do pizza in the Beaches later on.”

“Great, I’ll meet you back here later.” and I headed out the door.

My first day on the job was uneventful. People had heard that Hodges had been killed but they didn’t know the details on where he was found. No one seemed to miss him much. I heard a lot of talk about shaking the hand of whoever did the deed. I wasn’t feeling the love of the dear departed at that point.

It felt good to be working again. I had time at lunch to ponder the events of the night before. I relived making love to Gerry. Some people would call what we did frustrated frenzied sex. I happened to look at these things in a more romantic light, and that’s probably my downfall.

I can keep things cool and casual in a relationship, at least until the sex happens. Then I fall hard. That’s a mistake I don’t want to make with Gerry. We have been friends for seventeen years and nothing wrecks a friendship faster than sex, no matter how freakin’ fantastic it is. I could fantasize all day about another wild night on the couch, but alas lunch was over.

After work I got a pleasant surprise. Gerry was waiting in the parking lot for me.

“What’s the occasion?”

“Just thought I’d meet up here instead of at home.” Gerry hugged me in seeming accordance of the new dynamics of our relationship.

“Hmm thanks, but I didn’t realize you knew where I worked.”

“Well duh, I can read a phone book, you know.”

Before we could continue the discussion, my cell phone rang.

“Hello? Oh hi Inspector. You what? You need to discuss an idea with me. When, now? No, no real problem. Gerry and I are about to go have dinner. Hang on, I’ll ask him. He’s here.”

I turned to Gerry. “Gibbons needs to talk to me. He wants to know if he can join us.”

Gerry frowned as if his date was going down the tubes. However, he decided to be a gentleman, and shrugged it off. “Sure, tell him to meet us at Pizazzos on Queen at seven.”

I hung up with Gibbons. “Sorry,” I said to Gerry. “He sounded like it was important.” I wasn’t sure what the fine officer had in mind, but I am sure we would find out soon enough.

“Oh by the way;” I said, “He was glad to see that you followed his directions okay.” I winked at Gerry. I told Gerry to follow close, and said I’d meet him down there.

Some days it really pays to check your tires before getting in your car. Under my present circumstance I should have it in my head to check the tires for slashes, and the car for general ticking sounds for bombs I have even for searched dead bodies in back seat or trunk. For that matter, an innocuous parking ticket against the window could easily be a threatening note on dashboard. I keep looking for suspicious cars following me on the highway. I have become hyper alert.

Pardon the hell out of me for being paranoid, but after the last few days I feel it necessary to be very careful. Considering the previous events in my life, it came as no surprise to me when I heard my back tire go thumpity-thump.

“Damn,” I said banging my fist on the dashboard. I quickly engaged my emergency lights and got out of the car. I was immediately thankful that at least this hadn’t happened on the Parkway. I managed to flag Gerry down and then called for a tow truck on my cell.

“Why call for a tow?” Gerry asked. “I thought you were a master mechanic.” I pointed at my dress and said well duh pointing out the obvious.

I went back to the rear of my car and got my emergency kit out of the trunk.

“Besides, I bet you dollars to donuts that this is not your average everyday flat.”

I went to the front tire on the passenger side, and we both stooped down to examine the Goodyear. It had indeed been slashed. I did a cursory check of the other three and found them to be okay.

“The reason I am calling for a tow is twofold. One, considering my attire, and two based on the fact that my front tire has been sabotaged, I wanted it examined by the police.”

Gerry considered this for a minute. “Hmm, sounds like a good plan. Tell you what. We’ll get this puppy to the police pound, and then dinner is on me.”

I made a quick call to Gibbons cell to let him know we were running late and to wait for us. I told him about my theory regarding the flat tire, and he agreed that it should be examined to rule out suspicious activity. I got instructions from him to give the tow truck driver where to take the SUV.

“Hey, you're paying anyway. The date was your idea.”

“It stopped being a date when you in invited the cop to sit in.”

“Okay we’ll do a rain check on the date issue, but I will kindly take you up on your offer to pay for dinner.”

“Technically speaking, Gibbons should be paying for this meal. He invited himself”

While Gerry is generally a generous guy, sometimes his stingy Scottish side took over. The tow truck showed up within fifteen minutes. Meanwhile cars skirted around us, honking horns and flipping the bird at me. I flipped back with a few quips of my own. I realize that standing on the side of a busy street in heels and a skirt, extending my middle digit is not at all lady like, but I really didn’t give a damn about etiquette at this point.

I gave the driver Gibbons instructions. Gerry and I got in his truck and headed off to meet the inspector as arranged. Gibbons was waiting for us and had ordered himself a coffee. I really could have used a beer at this point but I needed my head on straight for our discussion. I settled on a fully loaded pizza and a large diet coke instead.

While we waited for dinner to arrive, Gibbons launched into his proposal, “When this all started I didn’t get the media involved.”

“Why?” I asked.

“I was more concerned about getting preliminary findings from the crime scene, and there was your safety to consider. However, I'm afraid this case is lukewarm at best. What we need is some media attention, to weed out some possible witnesses around the delivery of the body. Maybe your neighbors noticed something weird going on that weekend.”

The idea had merit. However, I had concerns, and Gerry’s reaction was dubious at best. “What if getting media involved enrages the criminal element involved, and endangers me even further? Also, it's possible getting the public's attention could cause those involved to go further underground, and nothing further will be forthcoming."

It was Gibbons’ theory that, sooner or later the persons of interest were going to screw up and try something dumb, thus showing their hand.

“What the hell. Go ahead, try it,” I replied. I had my own theory in this case.

“When in doubt try anything!"

Gerry looked at me with sincere doubt that I was in touch with my faculties. “Are you friggin’ nuts?"

“No, I think it’s a good idea. I'm already a sitting duck; maybe getting the media involved will open some new doors. Go ahead, Jeff,” I said. “Tell this doubting Thomas your grand idea.”

“Thank you, Laura. At least one of you has an open mind,” he replied, while shooting Gerry his best scowl.

“Gerry was just expressing concern for my safety. He didn’t mean to offend any one.”

“Yeah, like she said, didn’t mean to offend,” he replied, still scowling.

“So, here’s my suggestion. We ask the all the city networks to show a picture of Hodges, stating that he is in fact deceased. We offer a reward to any one with any information regarding this case. Sure we might enrage the people involved, but like I said before, someone is bound to make a stupid move. We may also get some strange sightings and people coming out for the money but hey one of the leads might be legit and open things up wide.”

I thought this, while possibly dangerous on aforementioned accounts, was the best way to get a move on the investigation.

“I say go for it. We have nothing to lose, except maybe my life.”

“Great,” said Gibbons. “I’ll get right on it.”

We enjoyed our pizza, and a few beverages. By 8 pm I was ready to get going. Gibbons said they would check my tire, and replace it for me. However, in the meantime, I would need a ride to work. I could take the TTC but it would take an hour to get there and I do like the drive in, it gives me time to enjoy a coffee on route and to listen to my tunes. Gerry said he would drive me back and forth ‘til the car came back.

Gerry and I left the restaurant. I noticed he was being unusually quiet on the way home. When we got in the apartment I confronted him.

“Okay spit it out. I can tell you are pissed about something.”

“You let that cop railroad you back there.”

“No I didn’t. I agreed that getting media and public support was important to solving the case.”

“And what was this Jeffrey this and Jeffrey that routine; since when are you on a first name basis with Senor Inspector back there?”

“Aha, this is not about the case at all! This is about the green eyed jealousy monster rearing his ugly head.”

“No it’s not,” he denied vehemently.

“To quote the Shakespeare dude, ’I thinkest thou protest too much!’. Further more, if you think that getting in my pants the other night gives you the right to dictate my life, think again!”

“So this is really about the sex then? You were on that couch with me, Hon and I seemed to think you weren’t complaining. Was that for real or was it just stress sex?”

“It was for real, and I really did enjoy myself. My point is this, just because we did it doesn’t mean you own me okay?”

“I didn’t think I was doing that. Now come here and kiss me before I resort to angry sex.”

“It’s better than no sex at all. However, we should really determine some things here. Do we have something or is it just lust?”

He pulled me to him, stating that the matter required further research and before we knew it, we were at it again.

“So," I said, lying beside him, "Was that make up sex?”

“I didn’t know we were fighting.”

“I’m serious Gerry? Is this just because we are living together for the duration of my protective custody? Do you really feel things for me or what?”

“Oh-oh we are at that let's talk about our relationship stage already?”

“Nope but there should be some agreements in place so no one gets confused or hurt. You know, let's be realistic about what’s going to happen after we go back to our normal lives.”

“Fair enough. I just thought we could live in the moment for now.”

“I hear ya, but sooner or later, when this is over, I have to go back to my apartment."

“Can we still have conjugal visits?”

“We’ll see.” I got up and headed for the shower. I had to get some sleep for work the next day.