Chapter 10 Home Soil

A fortnight later Stanley Wolfe loomed over Jennifer's desk. "Oh come on Sarge," she whined quietly. "It's not even 10am!" She laughed and looked up at him. The huge amount of work coming her way these days was incredible, and she had become used to Stanley's frame posing a threatening shadow over her desk whenever Homicide was under the pump to get things done. She knew he only loomed when he needed a report, or a file, or a result from her. He didn't even need to open his mouth anymore. She would just rush through another report or hurry through a team meeting, working to the Wolfe timepiece.

A rare friendly, smiling face looked back at her as Stanley replied. "Calm yourself Detective," he soothed, taking off his glasses as he stood at her shoulder. "I just came by to tell you that help is on its way. The extra member they've been promising for months is starting today. A sergeant."

"Really?" Jennifer sat back in her chair, folded her arms and looked at Stanley in disbelief. She had been begging for another pair of hands for the best part of a year, but had always felt like her pleas were going ignored.

Stanley nodded, still smiling. He made his way back into the privacy of his office. "He'll be here at eleven."

Jennifer smiled, thrilled at the thought of some extra help coming her way, and the chance to let someone else delegate and run the team alongside her finally. She allowed herself to have a few moments to speculate over who it might be and what they might be like before she buried her head back into her paperwork again, determined to get as much done as possible before the new member arrived, so it didn't look completely like she was in struggle town with her position. She wanted to make a good first impression.

In just sixty minutes, Homicide had completely turned on its head, going from a peaceful office where just the sound of keyboards typing and quiet conversations amongst pairs of detectives broke the sound barrier to a place of chaos, with phones running off the hook, drawers being slammed, and far too many people milling about in a hurry. It was a madhouse, and made Jennifer completely forget all about the new member arriving. It wasn't until she finally had two minutes to herself to go into the kitchen and make a coffee that Stanley's promise came back into her head. She stirred her coffee and smiled to herself, feeling the relief a new member would bring before he'd even arrived.

"Jen?"

She spun around at the sound of such a familiar voice.

Matt stood in a relaxed pose at the doorway, his hands in the pockets of his pants, his elbows pushing back the tails of his long overcoat. He leant against the door and smiled a smile she had never seen from him in all the time she'd known him.

"Matt!" she almost squealed, so genuinely pleased to see him. She rushed over and threw her arms around him a lot more eagerly than either of them expected. But he gladly wrapped his arms around her too and picked her up in an earnest hug.

When he put her down she rested her hands on his forearms, still infinitely close to him. But it didn't feel weird - in fact she suddenly felt good for the first time in weeks. "What brings you to this neck of the woods?" she asked, unable to get the grin off her face.

He was almost bursting with the news. "I'm back on home soil Jen," he informed her. "Back in Melbourne. Back in Homicide. Back for good." He waited eagerly for her reaction.

"You're my new member?" Jennifer was incredulous.

Matt nodded happily, feeling such a sense of home envelope him already. He wasn't just happy to be back. He was thrilled. Perth had been all right while it lasted, and it had done the job for him personally that he'd needed it to, but now it was time to go home. Back to Melbourne, where he belonged. This was where he truly fitted in – now that he was a more capable sergeant, thanks to a few solid years spent honing the skill at Arson in Perth, and now that he had finally gotten over his crush on Jennifer and his grief over the discovery of his mother's body and Emma's departure from his life. He'd sorted a lot out while he'd been away, and was ready to be part of Homicide again. He'd flown back into Melbourne with a clear head and a spring in his step. All he'd needed was time.

Country roads

Take me home

To the place I belong