The Mentor, Chapter 4

The morning after

Tommy slowly opened his eyes when he felt something stir beside him. The memory of the night before came back to him in a rush. He had to pinch himself to make sure this beautiful, warm woman entangled with him in his bed was really Barbara.

Tommy wrapped his free arm around her and pulled her tight against him. Barbara softly sighed in her sleep and nuzzled her nose deeper into Tommy's neck. An overwhelming feeling of love shot through him. The intensity of it caught him off guard and his eyes filled with tears.

Last night had been the most wonderful night of his life. In their haste to get to the bedroom, they had torn at each other's clothes leaving them strewn in the kitchen and up the stairs.

Their initial coupling could only be described as raw and urgent, but it had been glorious. Tommy had never felt such a release, and from the cries of pleasure Barbara made, he guessed she hadn't either.

The rest of the night they sweetly explored each other and made love slowly and tenderly several times until they were both too exhausted to do anything but sleep.

He was overwhelmed by Barbara's beauty, her body was exquisite. It seemed to be made just for him. He knew she had very little sexual experience, but you would never have known it. She was fiery and passionate and seemed to know exactly what to do to drive him wild. He had never known such passion with any woman. He attributed it to the fact that he had never truly been in love before. There were no words to describe the feeling of making love to the woman you love...adore…worship. Everything about her…everything between the two of them, all of it just felt so right. He made a vow to himself right then that never would another night go by without her by his side.

When Barbara had whispered "I love you Tommy" he thought them the sweetest words he'd ever heard, and he had repeated his declarations of love over and over throughout the night.

...why didn't I tell her years ago. We've wasted so much time. Tommy had every intention of making up for that lost time at every opportunity that presented itself.

Barbara sighed, rolled onto her back and stretched.

"Good morning my love" whispered Tommy.

Barbara smiled..."Mmmm...mornin' to you too." Barbara opened her eyes and gazed at Tommy..."my love."

"How did you sleep…after we actually slept" Tommy grinned.

"Never better, like a baby. But if I'm being honest I'm dead knackered. And it's all your fault you know Lord Asherton."

"It was my pleasure….over, and over….and over."

Barbara swatted Tommy on the arm and pulled him on top of her.

"Well, milady it seems you're not totally knackered. Now that you're awake, I'm sure that there is something I can do to help you pass the time."

Barbara hurried down the hall, it was half past 10. After they had made love this morning, Tommy had insisted she have a lie-in and come into work later. They had both agreed that they would have to be careful at the office. Hillier would not look kindly on the two of them having a relationship. It was strictly against the rules for partners to be romantically involved.

As she approached the squad room she could see Zahra coming down the hall toward her. Oh great, what am I going to do, she's going to know something happened as soon as she sees me.

Zahra stopped dead in front of Barbara and barred her way. "Good morning Barbie. How is every little thing this morning?"

Barbara opened her mouth to speak, instead a huge grin spread across her face.

Zahra burst out..."I knew it! I knew it the minute I laid eyes on you. You and the DI did 'it' last night didn't you….you have the sex glow." Her face lit up and she raised her eyebrows.

"Shhhhh." Barbara looked around to see if anyone had heard her. She took Zahra by the arm and marched her into the ladies room and locked the door.

"I do not have the sex glow….I'm just…feeling good this morning."

"Oh I bet you are, but not as good as you were feeling last night. The DI cannot wipe the goofy grin off his face this morning. You must have treated him to something very special last night."

"Zahra, please"…Barbara stopped mid-sentence…."Oh Zahra, it was so much more than special. It was the most wonderful night of my life. I never knew I could feel like this, I never thought I would feel like this. I feel like I may burst from happiness."

Zahra pulled Barbara into a hug…"Oh Barbie, I'm so happy for you. You deserve to be happy. When you're in love, the sex is incredible isn't it? You know it's about time the two of you came to your senses. Everyone in the squad can see that the two of you are in love, it's pretty obvious."

"Oh no, this can't come out. You have to keep this a secret, if Hillier finds out, he'll split us up and I have no intention of letting that happen."

"My lips are sealed….I know nothing. So really... how was it? He does have a reputation for being quite the 'BIG' man on campus, so to speak. Was it good?"

"Zahra! I have no intention of discussing my sex life with you….Barbara's look turned dreamy….'but it was more than good, it was incredible, unbelievable, amazing."

"I guess all the rumors are true then….lucky you Barbie."

Barbara smacked Zahra and turned her around. "OK Missy, that's enough of that, I'm supposed to be setting an example for you 'little sister;".

Arm in arm the two of them giggled the whole way down the hall.

Tommy was perched on the side of Winston's desk. They were looking intently at some CCTV footage. They both looked up when Barbara and Zahra walked into the squad room. "Well, good morning ladies. So glad you could join us." Tommy's tone was sarcastic, but he gave Barbara a wink.

"I'm sorry Sir, I had some things to do this morning that couldn't be put off."

"I hope they were worthwhile."

"Very much so, Sir".

At her desk behind them, Zahra rolled her eyes and smiled.

The progress on the case was going slower than Tommy liked. They had canvased the area of the last murder with no promising leads. The only thing they had was an extremely grainy image of a man in a hoodie coming around the side of the building by the river where the body had been found.

"Winston, can you zoom in on that section there?" Tommy pointed to the torso of the man. "It looks like there is some kind of emblem or insignia on his hoodie. Winston get that enlarged as much as you can, and let me know if we have anything there."

"Barbara, can I see you in my office please. I need to clarify some of the notes we wrote up last night to make sure you and I are on top of things."

Zahra mumbled..."on top of things for sure." Barbara shot her daggers.

"I'll be right in Sir, let me grab my notepad."

Barbara came into Tommy's office. "Could you shut the door please, we need to concentrate on what we need to go over. Winston, Zahra, you two keep on with what you're working on, if something of interest comes up, buzz me please. Thank you."

Tommy closed the door and locked it. "And now, Sergeant Havers, let's see if we can clarify what we discussed last night."

Tommy swept Barbara into his arms and kissed her savagely. "I can't get enough of you, I'll never have enough of you. Oh Barbara."

Barbara eagerly returned Tommy's kiss. "I know how you feel, I could just rip your clothes off here and now and have my way with you."

"Oh, you sweet talker, you. You can do that and so much more tonight when we get home. For now I want to talk to you about something. I have no intention of ever being without you again, so I was wondering if you want to move in with me. Or we can stay at your place, I don't care where, as long as we are together. We said the most important things to each other last night, but I want us to plan our future together."

Tommy gently ran the back of his hand down Barbara's cheek. "I love you Barbara and I want to be with you always. I want us to be married, the sooner the better, what do you say?"

Barbara's eyes welled with tears. "I say…what took you so long?"

Tommy swept her into his arms and spun her in a circle.

The enlargement of the CCTV footage showed that the hoodie had an insignia of a shipping company located on the docks. Tommy dispatched Winston and Zahra to their offices with copies of the pictures to see if anyone there could shed some light on who the man might be.

"While you're down on the docks, you might as well do another canvas of the area and talk to anyone that we haven't previously spoken to. Barbara and I will meet you back here this afternoon to compare notes. We are off to forensics to see what they've found on the victims clothes and body.

When they met back in the squad room at 3:00 Winston and Zahra had a good solid lead. The supervisor had recognized the man in the footage and given them his name and address. His name was Harry Jenkins, and he lived on West Street, a few blocks from the river. Tommy told them the night team would set up surveillance at Jenkins' residence and watch his movements overnight. He told Winston, Zahra and Barbara they'd start fresh in the morning.

Tommy had made them a simple supper of scrambled eggs, bacon and toast. "I really can cook more than just this, but I've been a little too preoccupied by someone to stop and pick up anything…like groceries."

"That's alright, I'm not with you for your cooking skills, I'm into all your other skills." Barbara gave Tommy a wicked smile.

There would be no clearing of dishes or washing up tonight.

After they had made love, Barbara lay on Tommy's chest. Her fingers lazily twirled the hair on his chest.

"Tommy, I have something I need to tell you. Please don't get mad."

Tommy kissed her forehead. "I could never be angry with you darling girl. At least not for long."

"Zahra knew right away this morning when she saw me what had happened between the two of us last night. She promised she'd keep our secret."

"Well, first off, I guess I should pat myself on the back if my lovemaking creates such a glow in you that it lasts well into the next day. No, of course I'm not angry sweetheart. I know how close you and Zahra are. I would have been surprised if she didn't notice something was different with you today, she knows you so well. You really like her don't you?"

"Oh Tommy I do, so much. I love her like a sister. In fact she feels like a younger sister. We've gotten very close. I've never really had a good friend like Zahra. It feels like I've know her forever. She's more than my apprentice, she's my best friend. She is very special to me."

"I know she is. You've really done a wonderful job mentoring her Barbara, I'm very proud of you. I know you had reservations at the beginning, but I can see this has been a good experience for you both. Even Hillier has noticed all your hard work has paid off, Zahra is becoming a top notch detective. Do you think she's ready to take her sergeant exams yet, I know you two have been studying pretty hard."

"I think she's ready. She's a very smart cookie. The exams will be a cinch for her. She just needs more on the job experience. She is still a little wet behind the ears. If anything she needs to be more cautious, I think she just charges in sometimes and thinks later. She can be a little bit of a loose cannon, but that will settle down the more time she has on the job. She'll develop better instincts the more situations she exposed to."

"She reminds me a lot of you when we first met. I think I loved you from the first day I met you, you feisty little firecracker."

"Come on over here big boy and I'll show you feisty."