Pete and Edie own each other. I just use them as playthings every once in a while, just like Blake Edwards did!
The Cop Meets the Girl
The tall neon sign advertising Mother's cast its bright light down on Lieutenant Jacoby as he stepped out onto the curb and swung the door of his squad car shut behind himself. He gave a tired stretch before slowly strolling up the sidewalk and entering the jazz club. Peter Gunn's unofficial office seemed to be hopping tonight, a full house giving their attention to the combo playing a classic beat up on the stage. Jacoby looked around at the tables but didn't see the private investigator anywhere so he ambled over to the bar, removing his hat as he did so. Barney looked up from washing a glass and gave him a friendly nod.
"Has Pete been in tonight by any chance?" Jacoby asked the bartender. He was pretty sure that was the PI's car parked at the corner curb.
"He was in earlier," Barney nodded. "I had to make a run to the liquor store and he was gone when I got back. Mother might know where he went." He nodded again, this time indicating the tall woman who had walked up behind the policeman. "You happen to know where Pete is, Mother?" He shelved the glass he'd finished with and picked up another.
Mother eyed Jacoby up and down as she parked her big frame on the stool by the cash register. She wondered what he wanted with Pete tonight. Whatever it was it was bound to get the detective into trouble. That's the way it usually worked when the cop showed up. Though come to think of it he really hadn't been around that much during the past few months.
"He went to supper," she said, placing two glasses and two bottles of beer on a tray and sliding it toward Betty as the waitress hurried up to the bar. "Should be back in half an hour or so," she continued, giving Betty a pat on the shoulder as she headed away with the tray.
The policeman looked at his watch and frowned.
"Any idea where he went?"
"Probably up the street to Rosie's Diner. I heard him mention something about steak and that would be the closest and the quickest for that."
"Okay, thanks." Jacoby put his hat back on his head and gave a wry smile as he turned back toward the door. "I'll just make a little trip up the street and see what I can do to interrupt his meal like he always manages to do mine. Maybe give him a nice case of heartburn to go along with it."
Stepping back out onto the sidewalk Jacoby looked up the street, past the bakery and movie theater and a few other businesses, to the eatery a few blocks up and across. He glanced at his car then down at his relatively flat stomach, pulling it in dramatically while holding his breath, then released the breath and decided to leave the car where it was and get a little exercise by walking the short distance to the diner. After all, if he was planning on celebrating Independence Day this coming Friday at his in-law's annual backyard barbecue he needed to get in shape for all those wieners he planned on eating. He slowly walked along the sidewalk, crossing a couple streets at the light or the stop sign, then stopped and looked both ways before walking across in the middle of the block to get to Rosie's.
Jacoby looked toward the diner as he reached the curb, searching the well-lit windows for the nattily dressed dark-haired presence of his friend. And there he was, second booth from the corner. With a client no less. The policeman paused next to a bench on the sidewalk. Neither Mother nor Barney had mentioned that Pete was out to supper with a client. Maybe they weren't aware, he thought with a mental shrug. As he stood there, undecided about going in and interrupting, Pete raised his eyes from his plate and glanced out into the evening, his gaze resting briefly on the policeman before returning to the woman sitting across the table from him. Realizing he was caught, and really in need of getting a snippet of information from the PI about a current case, he took the few paces to the door and swung it open. The little bell above the door tinkled, signaling his entrance. He walked slowly down the aisle between the counter and the booths until he was standing next to Pete's table. Jacoby stuck his hands into the pockets of his dark brown suit jacket and nodded at the PI.
"Hi, Pete."
The other man just looked at him and gave a nod as he cut into his steak. Jacoby moved his gaze to the woman. A very pretty blonde. Figured. The vast majority of Peter Gunn's clients seemed to be pretty if not always blonde. This one gave him a slight smile, which was better than his friend had done, her blue eyes inspecting him over the rim of her coffee cup as she took a sip. The rim was well smudged with light red lipstick and the cup was full so it must be her second Jacoby surmised, ever the cop. Her plate was empty and Pete was on the last few bites of his steak. As Jacoby continued to stand there Rosie herself approached the table and verbally listed some dessert options in case her patrons needed something to help wash their coffee down, grinning at her own joke old as it was. She picked up their empty plates as Pete pushed his away and pretended to consider the offer of dessert.
"Mmmm. I don't know if I could eat another bite," he lamented, leaning back in his seat. Rosie knew better and so did Jacoby when it came to dessert. Pete raised an eyebrow at the woman seated across from him. She set her cup down and gave Rosie a big smile.
"The pecan pie," she said, and held her hand up, thumb and forefinger this much apart. "A small piece," she stressed. Pete held up two fingers as their hostess gave him another look. With a nod and a smile she went after their desserts, making stops at a couple other booths along the way.
"Something I can do for you, Lieutenant?"
Jacoby pulled his attention away from Pete's companion, a small wrinkle above his nose indicating the beginnings of a frown, deciding their interaction seemed a little personal for a business relationship. But then again, this was Peter Gunn. He was the best there was because he got things done in sometimes unorthodox ways. Maybe the girl was a witness to something and he was wining and dining her to get some information. But at Rosie's Diner? His gaze went to the detective. Pete was staring at him, his expression bland, just the tiniest bit of a smile straightening his lips.
"Umm... Yes, as a matter of fact there is." The policeman removed his hat and held it in one hand, letting it swing gently against his leg as he spoke. "I wanted to ask you a few questions about the arson fire at Heffernin Electronics." He hoped the girl didn't have anything to do with that case but he figured if she did Pete wouldn't have opened the conversation, such as it was, to something that might concern police business.
"Not my case," the detective told him, thanking Rosie as she placed two pieces of pie on the table and slipped the bill under his plate. "So I'm afraid you're barking up the wrong tree tonight, Lieutenant."
"That's funny. My sources all told me you'd been asked to take the job and the consensus was that you had."
"I was and I didn't." Pete's attention was more on his pie than on Jacoby.
"Are you well, Pete?" The Lieutenant's voice was soft with a humorous lilt.
"What's that supposed to mean?" His fork stopped half way to his mouth.
"That arson fire is big news and it's causing big trouble for the Heffernin family already. I figured the old man would beat a path to your door and beg you to take the job. He's got the money to hire the best. That kind of paycheck is nothing to sneeze at."
Pete lay his fork down and leaned back, folding his hands in his lap as he stared at the policeman.
"I don't like finding out a client is guilty after I've already taken a case. I'm definitely not interested in taking one when I know it ahead of time."
"Pete, you may not be working the case but you obviously know something about it." Jacoby turned his hat over in his hands a few times before settling it back on his head and adjusting the brim. "So I'd still like to pick your brain about it. So to speak."
The detective shrugged and picked up his fork and went back to his pie and looked at his companion. She had finished her sliver of pie and was back to sipping her coffee as she glanced between the two men and listened to their back and forth conversation. The corners of his mouth tipped upward as he smiled at her, his eyes once again admiring the pretty blue dress she was wearing and the shiny dangling earrings partially covered by her soft blonde hair. She smiled back against the rim of the cup. Pete glanced at his watch as he chewed another bite of pie. His slice was much larger than the girl's had been.
"I'll be back at Mother's in about twenty minutes if you want to wait."
"Fine." Jacoby nodded. "I'll be the chubby guy at the bar nursing the glass of milk." As he turned to leave he glanced back over his shoulder, his sardonic brown gaze touching first on the blonde then on Pete. "I'll let you get back to your business."
Peter Gunn could sense Edie Hart's gaze on him as they slowly strolled back to Mother's through the warm July night. He liked the feel of her hand wrapped in his, her slender fingers entwined with his larger ones. He couldn't believe it had been three months since he had first laid eyes on this woman. Three months since that cool early April evening when he'd wandered into Mother's to the sultry sound of her voice and her captivating smile. Mother delighted in regaling them both with her description of how Pete's eyes had glazed over while he watched her from a back table and how Edie's smile grew each time her gaze landed on him. Well, she enjoyed telling them the story once she figured out that they'd ignored all her warnings and that things seemed to be working out fine between the two of them. Prior to that she didn't have much to say one way or the other.
"Why didn't you introduce me to your friend the Lieutenant?" Edie asked curiously while they waited for a crossing light to change. She studied his profile as he watched the light and gave a little shrug.
"I just like having you to myself, I guess." His blue gaze met hers as they stepped off the curb and into the street. "For as long as I can. I like it being just the two of us."
"Everyone at Mother's knows we're seeing each other," she reminded him.
"Everyone at Mother's isn't nosy and doesn't butt in and doesn't ask personal questions," he reminded her right back, slowing their pace as they approached another curb. "That's one of the reasons I've always felt comfortable there. They don't need to know every little intimate detail of my life and I don't need to know theirs. And we all get along just fine." They crossed again before another car approached the stop sign. "They're not judgmental about who a man is or how he earns his living or how he lives his life."
"And Lieutenant Jacoby is?"
"No." He grinned at her as they stepped into the street to cross to Mother's. "He's just a little straight-laced."
"Oh," Edie murmured, nodding her head sagely. "Now I understand." She slanted her blue gaze at Pete as they approached the opposite curb just behind his parked car, then was pulled to an abrupt halt as he stopped and swung her around to face him.
"You understand what?" he asked mildly.
Edie slowly looked him up and down as they stood beneath the neon of Mother's sign. The bright full moon hung overhead, casting its own magical glow and helping to turn the darkness into daylight. She kept the expression on her face serious but couldn't help the amused gleam in her eye.
"You're ashamed to introduce me to him." She said it as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"What?" His alarmed expression almost made her burst into laughter. "Edie- Why would you even think something like that?"
"He'd probably disapprove of you dating a girl singer who works nights at a seedy jazz club." She gave him a playful frown and a little shake of her head. "Not to mention her undoubtedly loose and tawdry past. You know what they say about those music people, with all their groupies and hangers on." She pursed her lips and gave a dejected nod. "I don't blame you for feeling ashamed." Those same lips began to tremble with a laughter she tried hard to hide.
The man stared at her as if she'd lost her mind. Then he grabbed her by the shoulders, pulled her into his chest and planted a long, hard kiss on her lips. A very long and hard kiss. By the time they pulled apart both were out of breath.
"Does that show you just how ashamed I am?" he asked roughly.
Edie grabbed at his lapels and laughed.
"I don't know about that but it certainly provided a show for those people gawking at the windows."
Pete's eyes shifted sideways. She was right. The smiling faces of several regular patrons were visible at the couple of windows that adorned the front of Mother's club near the door. His gaze moved back to Edie, his eyes narrowing as he took a step toward her, and then another step, backing her up against the big bumper of his '58 Chrysler DeSoto. Her breath caught in her throat at the warm strength of his body so close to hers.
"You really are very silly, you know that?" He gave a bemused smile as he grabbed her hand and pulled her onto the sidewalk and then began guiding her around the corner toward the back entrance. "Come on, Silly. We'd better get inside before your groupies come looking for us."
True to his word Lieutenant Jacoby sat at the bar nursing a drink. Coffee not milk, though. Peter Gunn's twenty minutes were just about up when Jacoby spied the man through the half open curtain of the the window next to the front door of the club. Jacoby straightened his back and stretched his hunched shoulders and was then able to see through the top of the window of the door because the blind had been raised. Pete was crossing the street with the blonde in tow. He was beginning to wonder what in the world the man was up to when the detective and the girl came to a sudden stop behind the PI's DeSoto parked at the corner curb in front of Mother's. From his vantage point it appeared they might be arguing. He couldn't see the girl's face but the expression on Pete's face was absolutely priceless. Jacoby wished he could read lips. He wondered how much longer it would be before the girl launched a smack right across his –
That was not a smack. At least not the kind he was anticipating. And it wasn't the girl who launched it.
"You have got to be kidding me," Jacoby murmured. His head spun around to Mother and Barney, neither of whom appeared to be paying attention to anything other than the light sounds coming from the combo on stage.
"Who is she?" the policeman asked.
Mother and Barney just looked at him, then at each other, then back at him again.
"Who's who?" Mother asked with a frown.
Jacoby nodded toward the couple outside on the street. The blonde woman had hold of Pete's jacket and seemed to be laughing. Then the detective had her by the hand and was dragging her out of sight.
"Oh. You mean Edie?" Barney pulled a bottle of Lawson's Scotch Whiskey from a shelf as Wendy came to the bar with an order. He smiled engagingly at the waitress and filled two glasses and then set two bottles of Budweiser next to the filled glasses. The waitress gave the Lieutenant an odd look as she passed him by on the way to a table.
"Edie." Jacoby tried out the name. "So you know who she is?"
"Of course I know who she is," the bartender replied impassively. "Why wouldn't I?"
"Who is she? Some witness he's trying to schmooze information out of?"
"She's my main attraction, that's what she is!" Mother frowned again. She seemed to do that a lot when Jacoby was around. "Just what rock have you been living under lately?"
The policeman gave her a bewildered look.
"She's Pete's main attraction, too," Barney added knowingly with a cheeky smile.
"Barney!" Mother gave her good friend and bartender a reproving glance. "Who do you think you are? Hedda Hopper?" Her long rhinestone earrings swung from side to side as she shook her head in disgust.
"It's not gossip if everybody knows. And everybody knows Pete and Edie are an item."
Barney replenished Jacoby's coffee. The Lieutenant rubbed his hand over his head and down his neck. He felt a headache coming on.
"I didn't," he finally said. "Obviously."
Barney shrugged and exchanged a glance with Mother.
"How long?" was Jacoby's next question.
He couldn't believe one of his best friends had gotten himself involved in a relationship with a woman and he didn't know anything about it. So it couldn't have been going on very long, right? It had to be something relatively new. The PI hadn't been part of any cases that the police had an interest in for two or three weeks so Jacoby had seen very little of him lately. Pete had probably started going out with her around the same time and it just hadn't come up in conversation.
"Well, Hedda?" Mother asked sarcastically, looking at Barney with raised eyebrows.
The bartender shrugged his shoulders again and scratched at his small mustache and thought really hard.
"About three months I guess." He looked at Mother for confirmation but she just shook her head and rolled her eyes at him and moved behind the bar to ring up a sale.
"Three months?" the policeman mouthed silently, staring at the bartender.
Edie Hart smiled blissfully as the kiss ended, her boyfriend moving his lips instead to that special place between her neck and shoulder, tracing a trail of smaller kisses along the sensitive skin behind her ear and then along her jawline.
"Mmmmm. That was nice."
He was her boyfriend, right? She couldn't believe it had been exactly three months since she'd first seen him, sitting with Mother at that back table the night she had auditioned. She guessed that meant it was an anniversary of sorts even though it had been another week before Emmett had introduced them and their first real date hadn't been for another week and a half after that. But they'd been together ever since. Not together together. They hadn't crossed that line yet.
"Pete?" She lay her head against his shoulder, eyes half closed as he continued his seductive ministrations.
"Hmm?"
"Am I your girlfriend?"
Placing one last kiss on the tip of her nose, he raised his head and looked at her with an indulgent smile.
"You're a girl, I'll certainly give you that." His hands slipped from her waist to her hips as he gently pulled away, her hands flattening against his chest as she looked up at him.
She smiled almost shyly at his soft teasing.
"As for the friend part," he caught his bottom lip between his teeth for a moment as he returned her gaze, "I don't think that even begins to cover it."
"Is that a yes?" Her hands moved up from Pete's chest and along both sides of his neck to frame his face as she studied his expression.
"What do you think?" He have her that little smile she loved so much.
She smiled a big smile in return.
"Crazy."
She took the initiative, one hand cupping the back of his neck and her lips pressing against his as she leaned into him, knowing she'd have to get back inside soon for her next set. If she didn't get a move on Emmett would be out here looking for her, but it really was hard to pull herself away from this man. He ended up doing it for her, his hands landing on her hips again as he gently pushed away from her, telling her he needed to head inside to talk with Jacoby and she needed to go sing pretty.
Jacoby heard footsteps behind him as the combo began another number, then felt Peter Gunn's tall frame brush against him as the PI settled himself on the stool to his left. The policeman made a show of pulling back his cuff to look at his wristwatch. Pete's twenty minutes had expired ten minutes ago. He turned his face toward his friend and grimaced.
"What's the matter, Lieutenant?" Pete thanked Barney as the bartender popped the cap off a small bottle of Coke and passed it to him. "Swallow a fly?"
"Where have you been?" His voice was soft but irritated.
"That's what I like about you, Lieutenant. Always happy to see a fellow."
"I've been waiting for half an hour."
"Been counting the minutes until we'd be together again?" Pete smiled around a swallow of Coke. "I'm flattered."
"Don't be." Jacoby leaned back and pulled a pen and a small notebook from his jacket pocket. He opened the notebook to the next blank page and placed it on the bar. "Now tell me what you know about the Heffernin case."
Pete told him. He had heard whispers from several of his contacts even before old man Heffernin's attorney had contacted him with the offer of a sizable fee if he would do the legwork of an investigation. The attorney had seemed surprised when he had declined the job opportunity and had questioned his reasoning. Pete had merely reiterated his disinterest and said goodbye.
"What kind of whispers and which contacts?" Jacoby asked.
"Tsk tsk, Lieutenant." The PI reached into his shirt pocket for a pack of Lucky Strikes and lit one up. "I can't do all of your work for you." He gave Jacoby a playful look as he blew out a stream of smoke and returned cigarettes and lighter to their assigned pockets. "Isn't that what the taxpayers of our fair city pay you for?"
Jacoby released a disgruntled sigh and began jotting down a few notes. When he glanced back up to ask Pete another question he found himself looking at the detective's well-attired back. Pete was turned away from him, his attention focused on the stage. Jacoby turned his own gaze in that direction. There she was again. The blonde. Mother's main attraction and apparently Peter Gunn's main squeeze. He watched as she stepped up to the microphone, unable to fault the man when it came to the woman's looks. She was very pretty, he had to admit that. She had a nice smile and a very nice figure. And she could sing. Oh boy could she sing.
As the song came to an end he watched the woman acknowledge the audience and then direct a smile in Pete's direction. He couldn't see the detective's face but he was clapping his hands enthusiastically. Pete must have given the singer some kind of signal because she raised her eyebrows slightly and gave a little nod before stepping off the stage and disappearing into the back. The detective spun around to face the policeman.
"Any more cases I can help you solve, Lieutenant?" This time it was Pete who looked at his watch. He retrieved his cigarette from an ashtray for one last drag before stubbing it out. "If not I have places to be and people to see."
"Always the comedian. You should take your act on the road." Jacoby placed the pen and notebook back in his shirt pocket, his shrewd and now somewhat amused gaze never leaving his friend's face. He picked his hat up from where it lay on the bar and placed it on his head, giving the brim the tweak that had long ago become habit. "Nice shade of lipstick by the way. Trying out something new?"
There was no change in Pete's expression as he reached into the breast pocket of his gray suit jacket for his handkerchief. He was wiping the lipstick from his mouth – he decided the light red color was indeed fetching – when he felt Edie's presence beside him. Her amused expression exceeded that of the policeman as she glanced from Jacoby to Pete.
"I'm sorry. Did I leave some evidence behind?" Her voice was a tease but she managed not to smile too widely. She had a light blue sweater draped over her bare shoulders, the color accentuating the darker blue of her dress and highlighting her blonde hair.
Jacoby bit down on his lips to keep from smiling. She apparently had a sense of humor too. He watched as Pete returned the handkerchief to his pocket and then placed his arm around the girl's waist, drawing her closer to his side where he still sat on the stool, his hand resting comfortably on her hip as he smiled at her. The policeman could tell he was quite obviously smitten with the girl. So much so that Jacoby decided Pete had all but forgotten he was even there. He cleared his throat, gaining his friend's attention and a glance.
"Oh, uh... Edie, this is Lieutenant Jacoby." The man in question stood up and removed the hat he'd just put on, a droll little smile curving his lips at his friend's brief out of character bit of discomposure. "Lieutenant, this is Edie Hart."
"Very nice to meet you, Miss Hart," Jacoby nodded, turning his hat over in bis hands a few times as he acknowledged her.
"Lieutenant," Edie smiled slightly, her blue gaze inspecting him in much the same way it had earlier in the diner, her expression a little more reserved than usual.
If Pete noticed anything amiss, if he noticed that his best friend and his best girl didn't appear to immediately hit it off, he didn't let on. Instead he slid off the stool and gave Edie a quick kiss on the cheek, saying he had a client to meet ten minutes ago.
"If I'm not back by three have Emmett drive you home."
She nodded, her smile widening for him, then watched as Lieutenant Jacoby donned his hat and tilted the brim to his liking. She acknowledged the nod he gave her as he told the PI to wait up, he'd walk him out. Pete's quick wink as he looked back while pulling the door shut behind him lightened her heart.
Pete made it back to Mother's by two-thirty and he drove Edie to her apartment house, hoping for an invitation to come up for coffee. Or something. Maybe both. Coffee first and then something, or maybe the other way around. He was taking this thing slowly. This thing between him and Edie Hart. Which was interesting considering how quickly and seamlessly their relationship had begun. But he had all the time in the world. His first date with her had been his last first date, he knew that with every fiber of his being. And the really good part about it was that she seemed to know it too. So he was in no hurry to cross that line, to eliminate that final barrier that would take them from a dating relationship to a sexual relationship. Okay, that wasn't quite true. He had been ready to take her to bed since the first moment he laid eyes on her. But there was something to be said for patience and honor and virtue and all those other qualities a good gentleman espoused. Because Edie Hart was it for him. He planned to spend the rest of his life with this woman and he wanted to prove to her that he was worth it, worth the gamble she was taking by getting involved with him and his job and his life.
So tonight it was coffee and something. The something became a bit more involved than usual but that line still wasn't crossed. They had coffee and split the last piece of a lemon meringue pie from Edie's refrigerator while sitting primly beside each other on the sofa. Edie took their dishes back to the kitchen and returned to seat herself not quite so primly next to him. One thing led to another – isn't that how it always happens? – and suddenly she was beneath him on the sofa and his shirt tails were out and the top three buttons on her pretty pink blouse had somehow come undone. And his hands were going places and doing things they shouldn't be going or doing if that line was to remain in place. When Edie suggested in a breathy voice that her bed might be a little more comfortable – just for what they were doing and nothing more! – Pete knew he should have put up some sort of resistance but what was a man to do? His shoes and tie came off along the way and the last of her buttons were mysteriously undone by the time they landed on top of the covers. Suddenly he was down to his boxers and socks. My goodness she had quick hands! And she was down to not much more. There was kissing and touching and more kissing and touching by the time Pete decided he had to end it before all his hard fought resolutions came to naught.
"Are you trying to seduce me?" he grumbled, chest heaving, lifting his head and peering down into her heated gaze.
"Is that possible?" She smiled impudently up at him.
"No."
She wiggled her hips a little, making him even more consciously aware of his body's instant physical response to her ministrations.
"Yes."
Edie gave a little chuckle and watched as he pushed himself to a sitting position on the side of the bed and began looking for his clothes. She stared at his slim body as he stood up to pull his t-shirt down over his head, eyes lingering on the still evident bulge in his boxers. Pete caught her glance as he pulled his shirt on, trying not to let his eyes stray to the thin wisps of her bra and panties.
"Can't you put something on?"
His brow furrowed in a mock frown as he stepped into his pants and began tucking in his shirt. His comment elicited another low chuckle but she did get up from the bed to find her robe and wrap it around herself. Pete found his shoes on the floor and slipped them on and discovered his tie on a chair in the living room. He looped it around his neck and began tying it as he followed Edie into the kitchen to help with their few dishes.
"You're getting awfully dressed up just to go home and get undressed," the blonde observed, reaching out to help straighten the knot.
"Wouldn't want to give your neighbors the wrong impression," the man grinned.
"Most of my neighbors aren't awake at four-thirty in the morning." She handed him a plate to dry. "And just what other impression would they get at this hour anyway?"
He smiled again as he grabbed his suit jacket and headed for the door, leaving her with a final lingering kiss and a promise to see her tomorrow.
Peter Gunn could feel Edie Hart's gaze on him as he lifted his cigarette from the ashtray and took a long drag. Leaning back in his chair, he stretched out his legs to settle his feet on the seat of another chair as he watched Emmett and the other guys run through some of this evening's sets. Still a half hour away from opening time, Mother and Barney and the two regular waitresses, Betty and Wendy, were bustling around getting things ready for a typical Wednesday night crowd. Edie was taking a break, done with practicing the songs she and the combo had selected, and was sharing a ginger ale with the PI at a table near the stage. She had something on her mind. Pete could tell. So he waited her out, not certain whether it was something he wanted to hear but knowing she would tell him anyway.
"I don't think Lieutenant Jacoby likes me."
"What?" Pete's eyes shifted from the stage to her face. That one had certainly come out of left field. Yes, he'd noticed the Lieutenant had been a little cool toward Edie yesterday when he had introduced them, but that was just Jacoby. His naturally suspicious nature, the thing that made him such a good cop, didn't turn off when he wasn't around crime. Sometimes that made him seem aloof or disinterested or distracted. That's what Edie saw in the cop yesterday, nothing else. And Pete told her so.
"No, it was more than that," Edie disagreed, eyebrows coming together in a puzzled frown as she gave Jacoby's attitude further consideration based on Pete's comments. "I was awake half the night worrying about it. I think he sees me as competition for your affections."
Pete coughed and almost choked on the mouthful of ginger ale he had just swallowed, his feet hitting the floor as he dropped his half-smoked cigarette into the ashtray. Barney, who had been pushing a dust mop along the floor behind Pete, stopped and pounded on the detective's back a few times with his fist as he continued to cough. Finally finding some relief, Pete straightened in his chair and grabbed his drink and took a long gulp.
Barney leaned against the mop handle and gave the PI a good hard look, then continued about his business, shaking his head and wondering what had caused that little fit.
Pete stared at Edie. She looked so serious it was almost funny.
"What?" Again. At times that was all he could think of to say to some of her ideas.
"They say that fear of losing an important person in your life to someone else can cause extreme jealousy along with intense competition for the affections of that person." The words slipped blithely off her tongue, as though she'd memorized them.
"They who?"
"The people who wrote the book I've been reading," Edie answered back. Her tone of voice seemed to suggest he should know what she was talking about without her having to give an explanation.
Edie and her books! Pete liked to read as much as the next person, but this girl picked the oddest books on the strangest topics by the weirdest authors he'd ever heard of. He slowly shook his head and raised his eyebrows in the question he was afraid to ask.
"Abnormal Psychology in Association With the Human Male Personality," she reminded him, watching him exhale a stream of cigarette smoke. "I was reading it in my dressing room the other night when you barged in and disturbed me."
"I disturbed you? Is that what you're calling it now?" Pete grinned and ground out his cigarette as his mind wandered back to the disturbance she was referencing. "Pardon me if I don't even recall you were reading, much less the name of the book."
"Don't change the subject."
"I wouldn't dare." He crossed his arms on the table and gave her an amused look.
"Lieutenant Jacoby perceives me as a threat to your relationship," Edie continued. "And because of that he doesn't like me."
"He likes you just fine."
"He doesn't even know me so how can he like me?"
"He just does. Trust me." Pete was itching to light up again but controlled himself.
"Pete-"
"Edie. Honey..." he soothed, interrupting her, his hand reaching out to cover hers. "It doesn't make any difference to me whether he likes you or not. I like you. That's all that matters in my little world."
Pete watched as the most beautiful smile he had ever seen in his life slowly curved his girl's lips. To say he was mesmerized wouldn't come anywhere close to describing the feelings that coursed through his body at that moment. It was just like the sun coming out on a cloudy day. Her smile made him feel alive, as though he'd been living in total darkness and had finally seen the light.
"You've never called me that before." She looked down almost shyly to where his hand covered hers, turning hers over to lace their fingers.
"Hmmm?" He felt drugged. How could a mere woman do this to him?
"You called me honey." Her bright blue gaze caught his. Happy laughter trembled on her lips. "That's nice, Pete."
Catching on he feigned a frown and stood up.
"We can't have that can we? I'll be sure to watch myself in the future."
As Edie frowned in protest at his words he leaned down and laid a kiss on the tip of her nose, telling her he had some errands to run and would be back later. She shook her head and stuck her tongue out at his back as she watched him walk away
Peter Gunn lounged on the small couch in Lieutenant Jacoby's office, his back against one overstuffed arm, his Italian leather encased feet resting on the other. He flipped through several sheets of paper bound in a manila file folder, the cigarette in his left hand in danger of losing its ashes onto the policeman's obsessively clean floor. At the cop's warning he reached over and lay the cigarette on an ashtray sitting on a corner of Jacoby's desk.
"You haven't made much progress," the detective dryly observed.
Jacoby stood and grabbed the folder on the Heffernin arson case from his friend's hands.
"Unfortunately we haven't received the cooperation of certain citizenry," he gave the PI a pointed glance, "who might be able to aid in the investigation."
"Tough world we live in." Pete sat up and reached for his cigarette, tapping the ashes before bringing it to bis mouth for a final drag. He stared at the short butt, wondering how he always managed to waste so much of every pack, then ground it out in the ashtray.
Jacoby tossed the Heffernin folder into the tray on the right hand corner of his desk before dropping back into his chair. He began scribbling a final few notes for the case file he'd been engrossed in when Peter Gunn had interrupted his early evening, glancing every once in a while at his friend. Pete sat on the couch, elbows on his knees, hands clasped beneath his chin, staring at the floor in thoughtful concentration. The policeman wondered what was going on in his head. Then again, he was probably better off not knowing.
"What has you loitering around my office anyway? Don't you have a case of your own to work on?" Jacoby grumpily wondered.
"I'm taking a few days off." Pete glanced up. "And as a taxpayer I'm paying your rent on this place so you better be nice to me while I'm here."
"Uh huh." The policeman's response exhibited an astounding amount of disbelief. "The day you take any time off will be the day the world comes to an end." He ignored the last part of Pete's comment.
"Friday is Independence Day." Pete leaned back, crossed an ankle over one knee and gave his friend a smirk. "I'm declaring my independence."
"Speaking of which." The Lieutenant looked up briefly before returning his gaze to his paperwork. "Janet's parents are having their regular Fourth of July barbecue on Friday afternoon. You know you don't need a formal invitation. Her folks always enjoy having you drop by and the kids would be excited to see you."
Pete stared at Jacoby thoughtfully. And he waited. Surely his friend would tell him to bring his girlfriend along, that she was welcome too, right? He had laughed Edie off earlier when she had given him her amateur psychoanalysis of Jacoby's reaction to her, but his mind couldn't seem to stay away from what she'd said. There was no way he could be jealous. Men didn't get jealous of other men's girlfriends. That would just be... well, off the wall weird.
"I thought I might take Edie to the fairgrounds Friday afternoon. She's never been." Pete leaned forward and picked up a paperweight from Jacoby's desk, his fingers turning it over and over as he watched the colors change. "We'll probably go to lunch beforehand. Then in the evening we're going down to the river to watch the fireworks."
"That's too bad. I'm thinking about taking a couple rod and reels over with me this year, maybe take a walk over to that little lake near the house and see if the fish are biting." Jacoby paused in his writing and glanced at Pete again, this time holding bis eyes. "I know for a fact neither one of us has been fishing since we drove down to Eagle Springs last fall." He resumed writing, his head bent over his case file. "I hear the lake's pretty well stocked."
Pete stared at his friend. He'd given him another opening. Jacoby could have told him to bring Edie along to the barbecue with him for lunch before going to the fairgrounds. But he didn't, instead glossing over his words with the lure of fishing. No pun intended. He started fiddling with the paperweight again, holding it so the light hit it and watching the colors dance on the floor. He couldn't believe it. Had Edie actually been right? Her and that abnormal psychology book! He had a good mind to take away her library card. Or maybe go down to the library and give those people strict instructions on what Edie Hart was allowed and not allowed to check out.
"Sounds serious."
It took a moment for Jacoby's soft words to penetrate Pete's consciousness. Tearing his attention away from the prismatic colors of the paperweight he raised his head to look at his friend. The policeman had closed his file and dropped his pen to his desk. He was leaning back in his chair, hands folded on his lap, a hesitant yet curious expression in his dark brown gaze. He read the question in Pete's eyes.
"You and this girl. It sounds serious," Jacoby repeated.
Pete put the paperweight back in its rightful place on the policeman's desk, then leaned back on the couch, unconsciously mimicking Jacoby's posture. He pressed his lips together and stared at his hands, one thumb tapping restlessly against the other as his thoughts went to the blonde woman who had turned his world upside down. He slowly nodded without looking at the other man.
"Yeah," he admitted. "It is."
"A singer?"
"Yeah. A girl singer." Pete's lips turned up at the corners. "Who would have thought?"
"Three months already."
"Give or take," the PI nodded, raising his eyes to meet Jacoby's gaze.
"You could have said something."
Pete gave a little shrug. How could he explain it to his friend? It was like he had told Edie yesterday. He just wanted to have her to himself, have it be just the two of them, for as long as possible. Jacoby should understand without asking. He had found a girl years ago, gotten married, made a family. He knew the thrill of new love.
Instead of trying to explain he said nothing. And Jacoby knew that was all he was going to get out of his friend. That's just the way Peter Gunn was. His private life was private, even to his closest friends. It wasn't anybody's business. He didn't talk about it. He didn't advertise his relationships. If people wanted to know something they could figure it out for themselves. Something Jacoby guessed he would have to do, at least in the short term. For the time being he could at least be supportive.
"I'm very happy for you, Pete."
The detective nodded his thanks and stood up to leave. As he opened the door he looked over his shoulder at the Lieutenant.
"You remember a fellow called Ditto?"
"The little fire starter who's been sent up the river more times than I can count?"
"He's got information on the Heffernin case. I'll let him know you'll be stopping by."
"Thanks, Pete." The policeman watched as the PI stepped into the hall and started to pull the door shut. "And Pete?"
His friend turned back, his head and shoulders reappearing around the door.
"I hope I get to know her better," Jacoby said. "Edie."
"Don't worry," Pete smiled. "You will."
The night was warm and sultry. Too much so even for the first week in July. The blanket was scratchy and the pillows felt damp even if they actually weren't. The girl's breath was sweet and warm on the man's cheek. The man's fingers were clasped tightly around the girl's hand. Their bodies fit perfectly together as if made for one another.
"Oh Pete..." Edie Hart murmured. "That was incredible."
"Better than you thought it would be?" Peter Gunn smiled in the darkness.
"Beyond belief," the girl admitted in an awestruck voice. "What about you?"
"I couldn't have said it better," he admitted. "I just wish it had lasted longer."
"Maybe next time," Edie told him.
"Will there be a next time?" Pete wiped at the sweat on his forehead.
"I can guarantee it," the girl said, stifling a yawn and turning her face into the pillow.
"Sleepy?" Pete kissed her cheek.
"I'm worn out," she softly answered, her lips searching for his in the night.
"I'm pretty beat myself," he said, kissing her, their lips clinging.
"I think we should call it a night," Edie decided.
"How about we go to my place and make some fireworks of our own?" Pete suggested.
The girl sat up and began gathering the blanket and pillows together. She smiled as the man took them from her and grasped her hand, leading her toward the Chrysler DeSoto parked on the verge of the road running along the big river. Independence Day couldn't have a better ending.
~ The End ~