Disclaimer: This story is fictional and was written for my own entertainment, and the entertainment of other Adam-12 fan fiction readers. These characters are not my characters, except for the one or two that were created in my own mind for the purpose of making this story work.
The Past Comes Calling
Los Angeles Police Officers Pete Malloy and Jim Reed, partners and best friends, were taking a final pass through the streets of their district, scanning the neighborhood for any signs of maliciousness or unrest. It had been a quiet day up to this point and they had spent most of their time engaging in idle chit-chat as they were cruising through their assigned area. Their shift was just about over and they were ready to head back to the station and call it day. Both were looking forward to a much coveted three day weekend and were anxious to finish up their shift and head home.
"Jean wanted me to make sure that you're still on for dinner tomorrow night." Jim said.
Pete had become just like one of the family in the Reed household. Despite, being an only child, he had easily fallen into the 'big brother' role to both Jim and his wife, Jean. A role that he found he really enjoyed. His feelings for the Reeds ran deep and he was pretty sure that they felt the same way about him. Still, it had come as a total shock to him when they had asked him to be little Jimmys' godfather and honorary 'uncle' when the tyke was only a few weeks old. It was gesture that touched Petes' heart like no other and he readily accepted the honor.
"Of course! I wouldn't miss out on a chance to see and play with my godson. I haven't seen him in over a week; I hope he still remembers me!" Pete replied as he was turning into the station parking lot.
Jim couldn't help but laugh at that statement, saying "Yeah, like that's going to happen." Both of them knew that it wasn't likely that Jimmy was going to forget Pete in a weeks' time. When Pete would visit the Reeds' house, two year old Jimmy was never far away from his favorite 'uncle'.
"What time do you want me to come over?"
"You know that you are welcome to come over whenever you want to. Jean said that dinner will be ready at 6:00. I know that you'll want to have some play time with Jimmy before we sit down at the table. Besides, you know that he won't settle down until the two of you have had time to play cars and building blocks."
Pete had to smile at the images he was conjuring up. His godson loved to play cars, mimicking the vroom, vroom sound of the engines as he would roll them and crash them into whatever conglomerate of blocks that he and Pete had stacked up. He loved to hear his godsons' deep belly laughs as the blocks came tumbling down while he himself would feign both shock and surprise at the happenings. Nothing gave Pete greater joy than seeing his godson happy.
Pulling himself out of his thoughts, he replied "Sounds good. What can I bring?"
"Just bring yourself and a hearty appetite. Jean's making meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans and biscuits. She was baking apple and cherry pies when I left this morning, and she made it perfectly clear that I am to stay out of them since they are for dessert tomorrow night."
"Mmm; sounds like a feast fit for king." Pete responded. "How about if I stop by the store on my way over and pick up some vanilla ice cream to go with the pie?"
"Hey, that'd be great!" Jim replied, and then quickly added "Oh yeah, Jean wanted to know if you are bringing anyone with you?"
Pete just rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Don't you two ever let up? I wish you guys would find someone else to match make for." They had done this song and dance routine more times than Pete could count.
Jim couldn't help but laugh at the disgruntled tone of his partner's voice; a tone that he was used to hearing anytime he brought up the subject of girlfriends to Pete.
"Anyway, in answer to your question, no, I don't have any plans to bring anyone with me." Then, sparing his partner a quick glance and seeing the satisfied smile on his face, he continued "Come on, give it up, what exactly are you and Jean cooking up now? I suppose it's another blind date? I'd think that by now the two of you would've run out of out of friends to set me up with!"
"C'mon Pete, it's nothing like that!" Jim nearly shouted. Then realizing how abrupt that he sounded, he took his voice down a notch and, choosing his words carefully, said "She just wanted you to know that it was alright if you wanted to bring someone along."
"Uh-huh, like who?" Pete asked.
"Well, anyone that you might want to bring with you. I mean you could bring…well, it would be kind of nice if we could finally meet…"
Pete sighed. "Reed, just spit it out. Who does Jean want me to bring over to the house for dinner?" As if I don't already know the answer, he thought. They had spent a fair amount of time in the past month dancing around this issue, as well.
"Well, uh, I think she kind of wants to meet your new neighbor. Actually, we'd both like to meet her. That is if you want to bring her over, I mean." Jim knew this was a tired subject with his partner, the confirmed bachelor, but he and Jean really did want Pete to find someone special; someone that he might someday settle down with on a permanent basis. Maybe this was the girl, maybe this wasn't. Either way, it couldn't hurt to meet her. After all, she was Petes' neighbor and he did seem to consider her a friend. In fact, it seemed to Jim that Pete had sort of taken it upon himself to help Jillian become acclimated to the area since her move from Maine to L.A. over a month ago.
"I'll think about it; but if I do bring her along, understand that Jillian and I are just friends; neighbors to be more specific; nothing more, nothing less. She's not my type." Pete stated firmly; and then, remembering their first meeting, he threw in "Besides, as accident prone as she is, I'd have to have as many lives as a cat to survive any other type of relationship with that girl!"
Jim couldn't help but grin when he thought back to the story of his partners' first encounter with the 'five foot catastrophe,' as Pete had dubbed her. Their introduction had landed Pete in the emergency room. As Jim recalled Pete hadn't been too happy about spending the better part of a week on desk duty thanks to the swollen eye and stitches that had resulted from that first meeting.
As Jim continued to stare at Pete, waiting for a more committed answer, Pete finally relented and said "Fine. I'll ask her when I get home."
Having accomplished what he had set out to do, and unable to keep that sappy, smug smile off of his face, Jim said "Good! Jean will be happy about that. She has been dying to meet the girl who finally made you fall at her feet." He dared not look at his partner after that quip or he knew he would burst out laughing for sure.
Pete clenched his jaw and spared a quick glare towards Jim, and then in a stern voice, quickly retorted "She didn't make me FALL at her feet; she KNOCKED me off of mine…TWICE, I might add!"
Hearing Jim's gut busting laugh, and refusing to acknowledge the huge grin on his partners' face, Pete pulled the squad car into an available parking spot behind the station. He didn't need to be a mind reader to know that Jim was replaying the story in his mind and finding it, once again, very entertaining. Now he wished that he would have made up a story about the black eye and stitches instead of giving his partner a full arsenal of ammunition to hold over his head.
Both officers exited the vehicle and began unloading their gear and other equipment. They quickly performed the routine check to make sure nothing was left behind in the squad car before turning in the keys and the shotgun that they had signed out.
Since they hadn't had too many calls, they didn't have a lot of paperwork. They made short work of giving a quick once over to the forms that they had to turn in and then they were able to hit the locker room and change before heading out for the weekend.
Just the knowledge of three days off was enough to put an extra spring in Pete's step as he and Jim were heading out to their cars.
"Now don't forget to ask her." Jim yelled to Pete as they parted ways in the parking lot.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah" Pete muttered as he waved casually to Jim and got into his car.
Right now all he wanted to do was go home and have a nice, relaxing evening in front of the television. Maybe catch a few winks while his t.v. dinner was baking in the oven. These were the kinds of evenings that Pete like to refer to as 'bachelorhood at its best'.
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It was nearly five o'clock by the time Pete pulled his car into a space behind the apartment building. The late afternoon sun was beginning to go down on the horizon and the mid-October weather was beginning to cool down for the evening. Nice weather for sleeping with the window open, thought Pete.
He could see that Jillians' car was in the lot, so he knew she was home. Her second floor apartment window was open and she had her stereo turned up a bit louder than normal. She was singing along at the top of her lungs and he couldn't help but grimace when she hit a sour note; a really, really, sour note. It wasn't the first time he had heard her singing off key and he made a mental note to himself to buy a set of earplugs.
Pete couldn't help but chuckle as he thought, I wonder how long etiquette dictates that I be acquainted with her before I can diplomatically tell her that she can't carry a tune and shouldn't be singing out loud where everyone can hear? He knew he would never say anything like that to her face. If he did, she'd probably 'accidentally' get even with him somehow.
I may a well get this over with, he thought, as he neared her apartment door. When he got closer to her door, he could hear a second voice blending in with Jillians' and crooning out the words to a popular love song. Surely he couldn't be hearing what he thought he was hearing! The second voice sounded just like that of his landlady, Mrs. O'Brien. Prim, proper, Mrs. O'Brien.
His curiosity peaked, Pete knocked on Jillian's door. He was curious to see what the two women were up to. He had no sooner finished knocking and the door flew open, thankfully inwardly.
The sight before his eyes caused him to put a hand up to his mouth and feign a half cough half laugh. He dared not look Jillian in the eyes for fear he would laugh out loud.
There she stood, all five foot of her, in an oversized man's shirt and sweat pants, holding a paint roller that bore the end traces of green paint. The shirt, knee length on her petite frame, had purple, blue, red and green paint splatters all down the front. Speckles of the same colors adorned Jillian's face, hands and short dark brown hair. Just behind her, Pete could see Mrs. O'Brien wearing an equally oversized man's shirt over her dress. Her silverish white hair, with several strands hanging loosely from the bun atop her head, looked like a rainbow of colors, as well; her paint roller held traces of blue. Both women were grinning from ear to ear.
"Hey, Pete! Come on in and join the fun!" Jillian said.
Having quickly recovered from his initial reaction, and hoping that his face was now void of any expression, he could only think Oh, brother! What have I walked into now?, as he stepped through the doorway.
Looking at the walls in the sparsely furnished apartment he once again had to consciously close his mouth and bite his lower lip in order to keep from laughing out loud. He felt like he was in a commercial for crayons or watercolors. Everything was so…bright…and colorful…and primary. From his vantage point he could see that each wall of the living room, had been painted a different color, from floor level to about six feet above floor level, leaving about three feet of white up to the ceiling. Obviously Jillian didn't have a ladder or she just hadn't gotten around to bringing up the one that Mrs. O'Brien kept in the basement of the apartment building.
Trying his best to stifle the laughter that was threatening to come forth, he looked toward the floor as he acknowledged the two women standing in front of him "Uhm…Hi Mrs. O'Brien; Jillian."
"Oh, hello Pete" chimed in Mrs. O'Brien as she offered a grandmotherly smile towards him. "I'm sorry that you missed all of the fun! We've just finished up painting for the day and I'm on my way out." And then looking towards Jillian, she said "Jillian dear, I'll wash this roller and bring it back later this evening so you can use it again tomorrow."
"You don't have to make a special trip back up here, Mrs. O'Brien. I can pick it up tomorrow when I drop by your apartment and pick up the basement key. I'll need it so I can get the ladder."
"Oh, well that will work too, I suppose."
"Thanks again, for everything, Mrs. O'Brien. I couldn't have ever gotten this much done in one day on my own." Jillian stated as she was seeing her landlady out. "Good evening, now."
"Good evening Mrs. O'Brien" Pete said in a mildly amused voice.
"Toodles; you kids have fun, now." she said. And with that, Mrs. O'Brien walked spryly out of Jillian's place and headed back to her first floor apartment.
Toodles? thought Pete. If he didn't know any better, he'd swear that Mrs.O'Brien had been abducted and brainwashed by aliens. No, thought Pete, not brainwashed by aliens, brainwashed by Jillian. In the eight years that he had rented from her, he had never known his landlady to run around singing to the radio and painting walls. Come to think of it, he had never seen her look so 'unkempt' either. He was used to seeing her hair piled in a neat bun on the top of her head and her dresses and sweaters looking as if they had just come back from the dry cleaners. Jillian certainly does have a way with people, he thought.
Turning his attention back to Jillian, "Doing some redecorating or just perfecting your 'painter's outfit' for Halloween?" quipped Pete.
Jillian, not missing the sparkle of amusement in Petes' eyes, quickly retorted "Redecorating. I already have my Halloween costume made, how about you?"
Choosing to ignore her question he let out a small chuckle.
Looking around once again, he was not able to stifle his curiosity any longer, and he asked "Okay, I'll bite; why the rainbow of colors?"
"Well, it's like this; I do freelance photography and when business is slow, I do portraits. These colors are the most requested background solids so asked Mrs. O'Brien if I could paint this room so I would have a place to work, when needed. She thought it was a terrific idea and even graciously offered to help me paint. In my book, painting ranks right up there with having a root canal done and I was ready to call it quits by the time we had the first two walls finished. She, on the other hand, was on a roll and having the time of her life; she kept insisting that we could get the other two done by dinner if we kept plugging away. I don't mind telling you that she wore me to frazzle! That woman has spunk!"
She's not the only one with spunk!, he thought.
"So I see. Judging by your clothes and your uh…colorful hairdo, I'd say you got just about as much paint on you as you did on the walls, though. Uh… by the way, are you going to finish around the top, or leave the three foot strip of white?" Pete's dry sense of humor was shining through loud and clear.
"Oh, I'm leaving that part white all of the way around each room. It adds a touch of panache, wouldn't you say?" Jillian shot back, causing Petes' eyebrows to shoot up. Jillian had to laugh at the expression that crossed his face. Sometimes I just don't think he knows quite how to take me, she thought, smiling to herself.
"Of course I plan on painting all of the way up. If I didn't finish it off I'd be in trouble if anyone taller than six foot wanted to stand up for a picture. It's just that I'm scared to death of ladders and heights so I am putting it off as long as possible."
"Somehow I can't imagine you being scared of heights, or anything else for that matter!" He had seen her try all kinds of different things that none of the other women he knew would ever try. He had even seen her changing the oil in her car the other week. He wasn't quite sure just how that endeavor had panned out for her, but after watching her for awhile, he was pretty sure that she would never again forget to put the oil plug back in before putting in the new oil. He couldn't help but laugh when he thought about the look on her face when she realized the oil was going straight through. For the most part she certainly appeared to be very self-sufficient. He wondered if her whole family was like that.
"Oh, I assure you, the fear of heights is very real for me; if I even think about putting on high heels I get lightheaded and really freak out!" Her eyes were as big as saucers.
At this, Pete laughed out loud. He wasn't sure if she was joking or if she was really serious so he played it safe and said "Well hey, I'm off for the next three days so tomorrow I'll get the ladder from the basement and help you finish off around the top." As soon as he said it, he found himself wondering why he was offering. He hated to paint, and he certainly didn't want to spend his day off doing just that. Besides, as much as he had ribbed Jim for always painting on his days off, he knew that his partner would really chew on this for a long time to come. Well, if he was to find out, that is.
"Wow, thanks. That's really sweet of you." Jillian replied as she turned to walk across the room and put the paint roller down in the roller tray. I really need to do something nice for him, in return she thought.
"No problem; it's always a pleasure to help a damsel in distress."
"Oh gag! Pull yourself out of the 'knight in shining armor' mode, huh? I'm hardly what you'd call a 'damsel in distress';" at least not over some unpainted walls, thought Jillian. "Seriously though, I do appreciate the offer, and I'll take you up on it if you'll agree to let me fix you dinner in return." I hope he doesn't think I am hitting on him, she thought.
"Done!" said Pete. Being a bachelor usually meant t.v. dinners or fast food on an almost daily basis so he rarely turned down an offer for a home cooked meal. He knew that she could cook, and a lot better than she could sing, because she had already brought over a few different dishes to share and they were wonderful.
"So, what'll it be? Spaghetti, fried chicken, baked fish?" I can have dinner ready by 7:15 if I get started right away."
Taking another look at the disarray that both she and her apartment were in at the moment, Pete suggested "How about if I take a rain check on that dinner and we order a pizza and eat at my place?"
"Are you sure you want pizza?" asked Jillian. "It really wouldn't be any trouble for me to fix something."
She looked a bit tired and he figured that she had smelled enough paint fumes for awhile. Getting out the apartment for a couple of hours would probably be good for her. He knew that there would be another day for that promised home cooked meal. "Actually, pizza is what I have been craving all day." said Pete.
"Okay, pizza it is, then. I'll get cleaned up and be over in forty-five minutes. Is that too soon?"
"Forty-five minutes it is" said Pete.
Turning to leave, Pete suddenly stopped and turned back around, causing Jillian to run smack into him. Pete let out an exasperated sigh and said "Why do I always feel like I should be wearing a protective layer of bubble wrap when I am around you?"
"Hey buddy, I'm not the one that stopped without any warning!" Jillian easily shot back. The smile on her face gave very little credence to any annoyance that she had hoped to project.
Knowing that he wouldn't win, Pete threw up his hands in surrender and laughed. "Okay, you win that round. Anyway, I was just going to ask you if you have any plans for tomorrow evening?" I hope she doesn't think I'm making a play for her, thought Pete. He could feel himself blushing and quickly added "My partner and his wife asked me to come over for dinner tomorrow night and they really want to meet you. If you want to go along, that is…I mean, I would like for you to go along…again, that is if you want to" Pete was stammering over his words now and Jillian thought that he looked a bit uncomfortable. He sure was cute when he got flustered!
He knew he sounded nervous and he could see that Jillian was enjoying his discomfort just a little too much, but he couldn't seem to make his feet move toward the door until he had an answer from her.
Why should I feel this nervous about asking a friend to go to dinner? I wish these butterflies would go away!
Jillian, caught off guard by the sudden loss of self confidence that Pete usually projected, managed to answer "Sure. I guess so. That was very nice of them to ask."
Even as she answered she could almost feel her own sense of panic settling in. She really did want to meet Petes' friends; especially Jean. It would be nice to have another female close to her own age to talk with once in awhile. Since moving here a month ago she had been very careful about going out into public any more than necessary, usually limiting her outings to quick trips, such as to the grocery or to the post office to pick up her mail. She couldn't explain it, but she couldn't seem to shake this feeling that she was being watched every time she did leave the apartment. She hadn't seen anyone suspicious or anyone resembling Calvin Hartford, her ex-boyfriend, but never the less, she hadn't wanted to take any unnecessary chances. She didn't think Cal had found her, and she wasn't sure if he was even looking for her, but she felt that she needed to take precautions and lay low for awhile longer. In essence, making new friends hadn't been on her list of top priorities.
Hmm, she looks a bit nervous, too. Wonder what that's all about?
"Dinner is at 6:00 so we'll head over there about 5:00. They don't live that far from here, but I'd like to get there a little early so I can spend some time with my godson. You'll love him. He's a two year old bundle of pure energy!" Jillian could see and hear the pride in Petes' eyes and voice when he mentioned his godson.
"Sounds like it'll be a fun time. I'm looking forward to meeting everyone." Her smile didn't quite reach her eyes and Pete couldn't help but detect a note of nervousness in her voice. She suddenly seemed very vulnerable and for some reason that bothered him a lot more than it probably should have. Just 'cop instinct' kicking in, he thought.
"Well, I guess I'll see you in a little bit" he said as he was going through the door.
"Yeah, okay. See you in bit" answered Jillian as the door was closing.
Jillian walked over to the sofa and sat on the arm. She briefly closed her eyes, and thought why couldn't I have met someone like him instead of that jerk that I hooked up with?
Jillian quickly pulled herself out of her little self-pity party and busied herself with cleaning up the paint roller and getting herself presentable. She made quick work of her tasks and was soon knocking on the door of Pete's' apartment.
Pete hollered that the door was open and for her to come on in.
Catching a whiff of the pizza as she went in, she suddenly realized that she hadn't eaten since breakfast. Much to her dismay, her stomach let out a long, low growl. She had hoped that Pete hadn't heard the embarrassing sound, but immediately knew that he had, whe he chuckled and rolled his eyes.
She went to the kitchen and pulled down two plates from the cupboard. She didn't need to ask where anything was at since she been over to Petes' apartment a few different times and pretty much knew the layout of the kitchen. His apartment was, after all, a mirror image of her own apartment.
Pete busied himself with getting the drinks while Jillian put several slices of pizza on a plate for him and a couple of slices on a her own plate.
After placing the two plates on the coffee table, she headed back to the kitchen for napkins. As she was passing by the front window, she glanced down at the street. Staring up at her was Cal Hartford. He held her gaze for what seemed to her like an eternity, but in reality it was only a few seconds. The move he made next made her blood run cold. He pointed his finger at her and made a shooting motion and then walked to the corner and turned out of sight. Letting out a sudden gasp, Jillian moved quickly away from the window.
Pete, who was coming from the kitchen at that same moment, couldn't help but hear the gasp and catch Jillian's' reaction to whatever it was that she saw on the street below.
"Jillian, what's wrong?"
"Pete, he's here. He's in L.A. I just saw him down there; on the street." Jillian sounded spooked and looked as pale as a ghost.
"Him who? Who'd you see?"
"Cal; my ex-boyfriend. He's found me! What am I going to do?" Jillian looked frightened and Pete could've sworn that he saw her visibly shake at the mere mention of Cals' name.
Pete was at the window in three long strides and was visually scanning street below, but not seeing anyone around now. "What's he wearing? What does he look like? Which way did he go? Did you see him get into a car? Is this the first time that you've seen him?" the questions were fired fast and furious.
He kept thinking that he should have gotten a description of him when Jillian first moved in, but the likelihood that the jerk would follow her out here seemed overly presumptuous so he just let it slide. Now he wished he would have pushed a bit more when he'd first met her and she had shared her reason for moving out here. Maybe he could have gotten her to open up a little more about the ex and he would have a better handle of what they could be dealing with. After all, anyone who would follow someone three thousand miles couldn't be playing with a full deck. Pete had a really bad feeling about this.
Crossing the room and sitting down on the sofa she answered "He had on a green army jacket and red baseball cap. He's about your height and has coal black hair. I didn't see his car out front, but he was turning the corner when I looked out. He looked right up here. I know that he saw me. He knows where I live now. What am I going to do?" by now she was rambling and the haunted look in her deep brown eyes, coupled with the paleness of her face, really unnerved Pete. She was scared. Genuinely scared; this was a side of her that he hadn't seen before. What did that jerk put her through?, he wondered.
Going over to sit beside her, he gently touched her shoulder and in a patient and kind voice, the one he normally used when dealing with children, he said "Jillian, you need to tell me everything that happened back in Maine. If he is here in L.A., the more we know about the past, the better equipped we'll be to protect you."
"You can't protect me. He wants me dead, Pete. When I broke it off with him, his parting words were 'You're as good as dead, bitch. If I can't have you, nobody else will, either.' He wasn't kidding, Pete, he will kill me if he gets the opportunity. That's why I don't go anywhere that isn't necessary. He has me running scared. He's a control freak who gets his thrills out of invoking fear in people." by now Jillians' voice was low and strained and Pete could tell that she was very close to the breaking point.
She took a couple of deep breaths and he could see that she was fighting hard to keep the tears from spilling over.
It nearly broke his heart when the first tear drop did spill over. With that fallen teardrop, all of her reserves gave way and the floodgates opened up. Jillian put her hands over her face and began to sob.
An entire months worth of fear and worry spilled forth with such a shaking force, causing Pete to do the only thing that seemed natural. He gathered her into his arms, and holding her tightly, he began to rub her back with his right hand, while he kept telling her over and over that it would be all right, and that he wasn't going to let anything happen to her.
He had always felt at a loss when a woman cried. It made him feel uncomfortable, helpless, almost. It was worse when the woman was someone that he knew and cared about; as Jillian leaned against him, with her face buried in his shoulder and continuing to sob he realized that he had come to care quite a bit about her in the short time that they had known one another. He couldn't exactly put into words what his feelings were towards her, but he did know that they ran deeper than the 'just friends' type of feelings. This realization hit him like a hard punch in the gut.
"C'mon now, you have to try to calm down." Petes' voice was soothing and after several minutes of softly spoken encouragement, Jillian was able pull away from him to sit by herself on the edge of the couch. As she sat there, the fear never leaving her eyes, he could see that she was still struggling to come to terms with all that was happening.
Wanting to give her some time to compose herself he went over and got a couple of tissues for her and then he went to phone and dialed his partners' home phone number.
He wanted to get Jillian away from the apartment and the sooner the better. He knew that the Reeds would welcome her into their home; he also knew that Jim would help him keep her safe until they could catch this guy and put him in jail.
"Reed residence" answered Jean on the third ring.
"Hi Jean, this is Pete. Is Jim in?" he asked; his voice strained.
"Yes Pete, he's right here. Is everything all right? You sound upset." Jean's voice was full of concern.
"Jim can explain everything after I talk to him."
"Sure Pete. Here he is"
When Jim got on the phone, Pete explained why he was calling. Jim was quick to offer just what Pete knew he would; bring Jillian over; she was welcome to stay at their house for as long as needed.
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My thanks to all who have taken their time to read this story. This piece is still a work in progress. I hope to add a couple of more chapters, but in the meantime, please enjoy this first part, and please review.