Into The Light

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this fic!

Chapter Twenty-Eight

It hadn't been the most restful night. There had been too many thoughts swirling through her mind. But Trixie actually felt refreshed from the few hours of sleep she managed to get. With the morning sun streaming through the windows, dousing the room in its lovely golden glow, she pushed aside the covers and stretched, eagerly anticipating the start of the day. The alarm clock told her that it was almost seven o'clock. She jumped out of the bed. After years of living under her mother's regime, she quickly remade it. Standing back to admire her handiwork, she decided that it was adequate but admitted that Celia could have done a better job of it. Then she slipped out of her pajamas and started to get dressed for the day, as noiselessly as possible.

"What are you doing?" Honey complained sleepily from the other bed, awakened by the quiet movements. She lifted her head and glared accusingly at Trixie. "You have got to be insane. It's not even seven o'clock in the morning. Even worse, it's not even a school day, Trix!"

Trixie tugged on her jeans and smiled apologetically. "Sorry to wake you up, Honey. I was trying to be quiet. I have to talk to Sergeant Molinson. I want to call him as soon as possible," she whispered lightly. She turned her back to Honey and took off her pajama top. Then she reached down for her bra and her shirt. "There are a few things that he needs to know."

"Okay." The words didn't immediately register through her sleep-filled mind. She laid her head back on the pillow and closed her eyes, attempting to fall back to sleep. Then she popped back up, confused. Honey tilted her head to the side, wondering if she had heard correctly. "Wait a minute. Did I hear you correctly? Sergeant Molinson?" She tapped her ears. "Did you just say that you need to talk to Sergeant Molinson?"

"Hmm...mmm." Trixie pulled her yellow shirt over her head and ran a brush through her rioting curls. Shrugging her shoulders, she decided she had done the best that she could. Then she sat down on the bed and put on her sneakers. Forgetting that Honey didn't know the latest, she spoke in a rush, "I need to tell him about the new text message, plus a few other conclusions I came to last night when I was talking with Jim."

"You've got to slow down here. My brain's still moving in the slow lane." Honey drew her legs up and tried to shake away the remains of her sleep. As Trixie's best friend and partner, she was used to Trixie's whirlwind explanations but she generally had an idea about the reasoning behind them. She was lost in the dark this time. "You're going much too fast for me. When did you get a text message? What is this about new conclusions? And exactly when did you have time to talk to Jim?"

Already at the bedroom door, Trixie dropped her hand from the door handle and assured her, "Don't worry, Honey. I'll catch you up to speed in a few minutes. But I need to talk to Sergeant Molinson as soon as he gets into the station. He has to get started on something right away." She pushed open the door and called back over her shoulder, "Meet me downstairs after you get dressed. I'll tell you everything then." The last sight she had of Honey was of her throwing back the covers and standing up to stretch, a bewildered expression on her face. Grinning to herself, Trixie had a strong feeling that Honey would be ready and downstairs much sooner than she would normally be on a Saturday. Humming softly, she rushed down the hall, her overnight bag slung over her shoulder, and into the bathroom where she finished her preparations for the day.

Stepping back into the hallway, Trixie was brought up short by the sight of Jim. He was leaning against the wall, hands stuffed in the pockets of his faded blue jeans, and obviously waiting for her. The blasted flush attacked her face as she stared, wide-eyed, seeing him for the first time since their conversation in the early morning. Not knowing what else to say, forgetful of the task ahead of them, she settled for a low and breathless, "Jim."

The dark circles under his eyes told the story. He hadn't slept well, exactly as he had predicted, and she was the reason. "Good morning, Trixie," Jim responded easily and with a slow smile on his handsome face. He watched her carefully, as he had done for years, and correctly guessed the reasoning behind her nervousness. Pushing himself away from the wall, he took the necessary three steps that would bring him to her and stopped, right in front of her, and tripling the effect of the blush on her.

"Hi," she responded, feeling nervous around him for the first time ever. She ran her hands through her curls and tried to dredge up something to say, anything at all. But speech, as well as relevant thoughts, was almost beyond her. Lost in the sea of emerald eyes staring back, all she could do was stare. Unsure how to respond, not after the encounter in his bedroom, she couldn't come up with anything else to say. In the bright light of the day, she wasn't even certain if she had come to the right conclusion about their embrace or if it had all been her own wishful thinking. Hoping he couldn't read her face, she pinned on what she prayed for passed as a normal smile and waited for him to respond.

He could always read her like a book but Jim didn't clue her in on that one, realizing it was a skill that would come in handy with her. Correctly interpreting her nervousness, he made the next move to break the ice. Cupping her elbow with his, he started forward and down the hall, bringing her with him, and spoke with forced easiness, intentionally overlooking the awkwardness of their first meeting. "I spent most of the night watching the clock, waiting for the morning to come around," he admitted to her as they neared the stairs. "I didn't get that much sleep."

It was reminiscent of their walk to the kitchen only a few hours earlier, when it seemed like they were the only two people in the large house. "Honey was curious why I was up so early," Trixie shared after a long moment of silence. She had trouble keeping her eyes off his face and felt the hated blush start to work its way across hers, while visions of the last time she had spent with him danced in her head. It wasn't exactly uncomfortable but it wasn't their normal familiarity, either. She didn't know how to catalogue it or how to respond to it. She only knew it was different.

The shift in their relationship was hard to ignore. Knowing he was responsible for letting her see a glimpse into how he really felt about her, he decided that he wasn't going to let her be nervous around him and quickly introduced a subject that would keep her mind occupied and on other things. "Sergeant Molinson is usually in the station at seven. He should be there by now. Let's go downstairs. We'll make the call in my father's den." He didn't relinquish his touch, even during their descent down the stairs.

"That's a good idea." Trixie focused on what needed to be done instead of the butterflies that were swarming in her stomach. She couldn't ever remember feeling so affected by his mere presence. Grateful to be able to think about something else, she added, her voice growing stronger while she focused on something easier to her senses, "It'll be the perfect place to talk to the sergeant. What do you think he's going to do?" She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, curious about what he would say, and glad that they were making it through and finding their usual friendliness.

He noticed the way the tension seemed to flow out of her body, relieved. She wasn't going to let it damage their relationship. She also wasn't running for the hills, which was a very good thing in his mind. "He'll probably give you a hard time at first," Jim guessed astutely, bringing them back to the topic at hand. "We both know how Sergeant Molinson can be, especially when it involves a case that you're working on. But I think you'll be able to persuade him to come to your point of view quicker than normal. He's taken everything seriously, right from the beginning. I doubt that he'll have any trouble starting the next round of investigating." Their combined steps ate up the carpeting swiftly. He looked at her slyly, wanting to make her smile. "He may even thank you for giving him a nod in the right direction."

"That'll be the day." Laughter bubbled up and over, filling the hallway and chasing away the last of her nerves. She happily settled back into the way things have always been between the two of them. "Oh, there's no chance about that, Jim. I certainly won't be holding my breath. If anything, he'll give me his famous 'stay out of it and let the police handle everything' lecture. He'll still manage to look sternly at me, even over the phone. You'll see."

"And you'll look contrite, just like you always do." He couldn't even begin to count the number of times he had seen her with her face down during one of the sergeant's lectures and chewing on her bottom lip. "That comes with the territory. You should be used to that by now." They reached the door to the den. Jim opened it and ushered her inside, just as Honey came flying down the stairs.

"Wait for me!" she called out breathlessly, uncertain if she should be surprised or not by the sight of Trixie and Jim together. Arching an eyebrow, she noticed that Trixie was standing extremely close to Jim, with hardly an inch of space between them, and that he had a hand on her waist. Neither seemed to be aware of the fact that they were in such close proximity to each other. Filing it away to be analyzed later, she sprinted the last few feet to the doorway and quickly slid inside. "Wow! I think I set a new record. I can never remember getting ready this quickly before." She dropped on the large leather sofa and thumped her heart dramatically, feeling its rapid beating. She had put herself together in record time. "This had better be good, Trix. I had planned to sleep in until at least eight this morning."

Trixie was already dialing the station's number. She knew it by heart. She accepted Mart's cell phone back from Jim with a grin, knowing that she would have to give him the newest number. After telling her name to the dispatcher, she was immediately patched through to the Sergeant.

Honey leaned forward and grabbed Jim's arm, tugging him down until he was sitting next to her and forcing him to look at her. "Trixie hasn't told me what's going on yet," she informed him in a hushed voice. "You're going to have to tell me what's going on. I'm practically ready to die out of sheer curiosity here. All she mentioned to me was something about getting a text message last night and having a talk with you."

Jim kept one eye on Trixie, who was speaking urgently into the phone. She was looking down at the cell phone. He realized that she was giving the sergeant the newest number to track down. He answered absently, almost as if he was reciting a homework assignment, "She got the text last night, right before midnight, if I remember correctly. Trixie came out into the hallway. That's where she showed it to me."

It was hard to miss the fact that he didn't seem to be able to take his eyes off of her best friend. Honey wondered what else had happened last night between the two. She couldn't put her finger on it but her intuition told her something momentous had. But then his words sank in, chasing away her suspicions, and she shivered. "Oh, that's awful. Another text? She was feeling so good about having Mart's cell phone. She thought was safe from the hang-ups and texts, at least." Then she studied her brother, a little too closely for his comfort. Her finger tapped against the glossy top of the coffee table. "You're going to have clear something else up for me. How did you manage to meet her in the hallway, in the middle of the night? I was fast asleep. I didn't hear anything."

Jim had the grace to flush and explained hurriedly, his attention finally focused only on his sister, "She bumped into the table outside of your room. You know, the one with the vase that Celia always puts fresh flowers in?"

Leave it to Trixie to cause a commotion in the middle of the night. Honey reluctantly let it go, although she continued to look knowingly at her brother. He wasn't fooling her, not for a minute, but she would get to that at a later time. She had more important discoveries to make. "Well, enough of that, for now. Let's focus on the text. Like I said before, Trixie didn't think the stalker knew her new cell phone number. She was feeling safe, at least from that threat."

"He couldn't have known it," Jim murmured back, trying to listen in on Trixie's conversation but he couldn't hear a word she was saying. She was talking too low. "Last night she figured out that the only way he could have discovered the switch was by eavesdropping in on the three of you at lunch yesterday. She gave you the number when you realized it wasn't programmed into your cell phone."

Honey's mouth dropped open. It took her a full minute before she could speak. "But…but…but that would mean that the stalker would have had to have been in our school! Not only in our school, but also in the cafeteria!" That knowledge somehow made it worse. Dropping back against the sofa, she picked up a throw pillow and started to play with its fringes. Realization dawned, slowly but completely. "She thinks that the stalker is at our school."

"Yes," he replied shortly. He kept his words hushed and quiet, listening to the sounds of Trixie's voice a few feet away. "Trixie thinks that he must work at the school and possibly even at the Country Club. She's convinced that there's a connection between the two places. She also believes that he has been listening in on your conversations for a while now and that's how he was able to show up at different places, like during our ride last Saturday where he got her hat." Had he only been home for a week? It was hard to believe. So much had happened. Then Jim motioned towards the object of their conversation. "That's what she's telling Sergeant Molinson now. She wants him to start searching through the employee records at both places."

"That's interesting." Honey contemplated the information, refusing to feel the small stirrings of jealousy that her best friend and partner had discussed the information with someone else besides her. It couldn't matter, she reasoned swiftly. Not when so much was at stake. And it wasn't like Trixie had intentionally blocked her out but it still hurt, despite her best intentions. "Leave it to Trixie to make that connection."

He gave up trying to hear Trixie's end of the conversation. It wasn't working anyway. Jim sat back against the sofa. "He knew Mart's cell phone number, as well as the fact that you two were having a sleepover. There's only one way he could have found that out, too."

She knew immediately. "Yesterday, at lunch." Honey recalled their lunch and frowned, thinking back to it. Nothing stood out to her, other than the fact that she had programmed in Mart's cell phone number, and Di hadn't been able to come. "We are never that quiet when we talk," she shared tentatively. "It would be easy for someone to overhear us. It's entirely possible that it happened that way."

"Trixie thinks so, too. That's why she's calling him. She really believes that there is a strong correlation between the school and the Country Club." He was proud of the way she had puzzled things out and hoped that the sergeant agreed with her. With his help and assistance, it could potentially bring an end to the situation sooner than anyone expected it to end. "She wants the sergeant to start the ball rolling as soon as possible."

"That's why we're up so early." Honey put her hands on her knees and leaned forward. "He'll find something. Trixie's hunches are rarely ever wrong. Even when they are wrong, they are not completely wrong, if you know what I mean. There's generally a strain of truth to them." Honey found her friend, who was now staring at the floor with slumped shoulders and biting her bottom lip. She had to muffle a giggle. It was a sight she was familiar with. "Look, Jim. She's getting her mandatory lecture now."

They exchanged grins. "Nothing unusual in that," Jim noted with a low chuckle.

Trixie felt the two of them looking at her. She narrowed her eyes at them and then hung up the phone. "He's going to get right on it," she explained without hesitation. "He has to get the approval from the superintendent and the director at the Country Club first and then he'll start going through the records. He'll call and tell my parents what he finds out."

"Good." Honey popped up from her seat and threaded her arm through Trixie's. Jim saw that they needed a few minutes alone and quietly disappeared through the door. Honey caught his departure and threw a grateful smile at his back. Then she addressed Trixie. "Jim explained everything to me while you were talking to the sergeant. Let's go get some breakfast. I'm starved." As they headed towards the dining room, Honey admonished softly, "You know, you could have woken me up last night, Trix. I wouldn't have cared."

"Sorry about that," Trixie answered uncomfortably, realizing how it looked to Honey. She sighed deeply. "I didn't mean to leave you out, Honey. After I got the text, I needed to get out of your room and into someplace different. I didn't seek Jim out on purpose. I, well, I…'"

"Don't worry. He told me you bumped into the table and that brought him into the hallway." Honey squeezed Trixie's hand. "I'm not mad at you or upset or anything, Trix. Believe me, I know how fast your mind works when you get ahold of an idea. Just remember to keep me in the loop, all right? I don't want to be forgotten." Honey couldn't keep the hurt out of her voice as she led the way into the dining room where breakfast was waiting for them on the table.

"I promise I'll keep you informed of anything that happens," Trixie assured her truthfully, hating the fact that she had upset her friend, no matter how unintentional it had been. She dropped her overnight bag against the wall and followed Honey to the table, which held an assortment of different breakfast foods. "If you're not with me, I'll get in touch with you the second I suspect anything, no matter how tiny or insignificant it may be."

"Good." Honey took her seat at the table, feeling better. She gave Trixie a brilliant smile to let her know that all was forgotten and then blew it with her next words. "And I'm going to sound like Sergeant Molinson here but don't go off on your own, Trixie. Got it?"

Trixie rolled her eyes. Honey was right. She sounded suspiciously like the phone call that had just ended. "I'll send notes, I'll call, I'll text, I'll even send up smoke signals if anything happens, no matter what it is." She crossed her heart in the school-yard promise. "You'll be the first I get in touch with."

"See that you do." Then Honey giggled, her good mood restored, and joked playfully, "I was just imagining you trying to send me a smoke signal to get my attention. The funny thing is I wouldn't be at all surprised if you could actually do it!"

"I'm not all that fond of playing with fire," Trixie replied with a shudder, remembering some of her close escapes with fire. One of them had occurred here, at the Manor House stables. It wasn't something she hoped to ever have to go through again. "On second thought I think I'll leave the smoke signals to the professionals."

There were still laughing when Jim entered the dining room. He took a minute to appreciate the good moods of the girls before he stepped back and let the newest arrival in. "Look who I found on our front step," he said. He pointed at Dan. "It's our lucky day. Somehow we've managed to pick up another Bob-White along the way."

"'Morning, girls," he greeted them cheerfully. Neither man mentioned that he was there to help Regan exercise the horses, not wanting to remind Trixie that she was not able to go riding with them. His dark eyes rested for a moment on her, trying to ascertain how she was handling the latest intrusion into her private life. During their walk to the dining room, Jim had quietly shared the latest information with him. She looked fine, he decided with relief. She wasn't letting it get her down.

"Come on in." Honey pointed to an empty spot at the large dining room table. "You haven't missed anything yet, Dan. Our cook has made a large breakfast. She must have known we would have a lot of guests today. We're just getting started." She disguised a chuckle with a small cough when her brother unobtrusively sat down next to Trixie. Honey met Dan's amused look with one of her own.

Dan took a seat across from the girls and started filling up his plate, lifting his eyebrows at Jim's choice of seating. He imagined that Jim was counting down the minutes to her graduation. "I'm surprised to see all of you up and about on a Saturday morning," he said in-between bites of the delicious omelets the cook had made for their breakfast.

Trixie glanced at Jim. He gave her a nod, letting her know that he had already told Dan the newest. She smiled in appreciation, grateful that she didn't have to go through it again. She imagined she had only one more telling. "I have to get home soon. I'm sure Mart is about ready to kill me. Bobby had Larry and Terry over last night for a sleepover."

Dan gave a sharp bark of laughter. Mart had told him stories of what could happen when the three of them got together. He doubted if they were exaggerated. "Oh, you're definitely on his list, then," he assured her jokingly, imagining that Mart would be ready to pull his hair out, if he didn't keep it cut so short. "Mart's not going to let you live this one down."

"No, he's not. I imagine he'll blow out the door the second I go through it. Not that I can really complain." She rolled her shoulder. "After all, I had a wonderful evening here. I don't think that Mart and Brian or Moms and Dad can say the same thing." She closed her eyes to block out the sight of all the chores that were cheerfully awaiting her.

Jim liked the way that she had said 'a wonderful evening,' correctly interpreting that he was a large part of the reason why it had been so wonderful. He didn't say anything, continued to eat, but felt content with the way she saw her stay here, even with the advent of the newest text message. His fingers itched to touch her. Giving in to the impulse, he reached under the table and closed his fingers over hers.

Trixie jolted at the contact, startled, but then she slowly wound her fingers together with his. Again, they had held hands numerous times before but it was different. Everything seemed to be different between them. The contact had always been comfortable, not as exhilarating as it was now. She didn't look at him, not wanting to draw any attention from their friends, but she didn't let go, either.

Honey stared questioningly at her brother and Trixie, wondering why they were suddenly so quiet. "Did Mart update you on the shenanigans last night?" Honey asked Dan during a lull in the conversation. "I'll bet that he needed an outlet. Trixie said he that he wasn't looking forward to the evening at all."

Dan had a pretty good idea what had made the other two so quiet. He couldn't stop the spread of the perceptive grin across his face and had to bite back a chuckle. "No. He wouldn't have been able to get in touch with me. The regular phone line to the cabin is out. An old tree limb fell on it yesterday. The phone company is supposed to come and fix it today. And you all know how cell phone service is around the cabin," Dan added sardonically. "It's practically non-existent. It's just about the only place in Sleepyside that doesn't get any service. Sometimes you can get a single bar of service when you're outside but that's only when the weather is just right."

"I know it's frustrated Mart a time or two when he's needed to get in touch with you, especially since Mr. Maypenny doesn't like answering the phone anyway," Trixie put in, joining in the conversation, her hand still held snugly within Jim's bigger one. "I hope your regular phone line gets fixed today."

"It hasn't bothered me too much. I've never minded the peace and quiet of the cabin." It was true and suited Dan much better than the hustle and bustle of the city. Somewhere along the way he had become a country boy.

"Isn't Mr. Maypenny's nephew getting married soon?" Honey wondered aloud, seeming to remember him talking about it the last time she had visited him while she had been exercising Lady. "He wasn't happy about having to go to the wedding but he didn't want to hurt his nephew's feelings. He would much rather have stayed home."

"You're right. He's complained about it since I've been home." Dan nodded. "The wedding's today, actually. Mr. Maypenny hated doing it but he actually stayed over in a motel last night since he was invited to the rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner. He won't be back until later tonight."

Jim heard the front door open, then the sound of two very familiar-sounding voices floating their way. He dropped Trixie's hand and reached across the table to nudge his sister. "I think you've got your wish, Honey."

Honey turned in her seat, listened to the newest arrivals, and let out a squeal of pure delight. "Mother! Daddy!" she cried out happily. She jumped off of her chair and was out the door, her breakfast forgotten, and eager to see their parents. It had been too long.

"They're home earlier than we expected. The weather must have cleared up sooner than the weather forecasters had predicted," Jim explained to Dan and Trixie. He put down his fork, finished with his breakfast, and looked forward to seeing their parents, too. "She's been waiting for them to come home for the longest time."

"It's perfect! She's missed them dreadfully. " Trixie neatly stacked her napkin and silverware on her plate, the only cleaning up she needed to do as a guest at the Wheelers, and stood up, ready to face whatever was waiting for her at home. "I think it's time to see if Crabapple Farm is still standing after a night with the three amigos."

"I'll take you home, Trix," Dan volunteered after sharing a brief look with Jim. He knew that Jim would have offered to take her home himself but that he needed to spend at least spend a few minutes with his adopted parents. He pushed himself back from the table and waited for Trixie. She walked over to the doorway and picked up her overnight bag.

"Thanks, Dan." She prayed that Sergeant Molinson found the link soon. She hated having to rely on others for transportation. Then she glanced up at Jim, suddenly feeling uneasy again. Dan made it a little easier by leaving the room, sniggering the entire way. Trixie gawked after his retreating back, unable to see what he found so amusing. "I'll see you later, Jim."

"Call if you hear anything," he told her quietly, his emerald eyes probing her sapphire ones. "I'm here for you. We all are."

"Of course you are." She allowed herself one last look at him. She wished she knew what she was looking at but she couldn't define it. All she knew was the way he looked back at her filled her with feelings she couldn't begin to decipher. Her voice came out as soft as whisper. "Thank you. For everything."

He wanted to do more but couldn't, not with his parents in the next room, and certainly not until after her graduation. Instead, he settled for an old favorite. He reached out and tugged a soft curl, watching the way it bounced back into place. "No problem, Trix," he responded huskily. "It's my pleasure."

All she could was nod. The sounds of the others were getting closer, letting them know that they didn't have much more time alone. Trying to think of something else to say, finally coming up with something she believed to be trite and inadequate, she mumbled, "Have a good day, Jim." She smiled, a smile that deepened the blue of her eyes, and then she slipped out the door, on her way to greet the others and then go home.

He stayed in the dining room for another moment, along, thumbs hooked on the loops of his jeans, and stared at the ceiling, realizing with blinding certainty that the next few weeks were going to just about kill him. "Time had better find a way of moving faster," he muttered fiercely, unsure if he would be able to make it through to the promised deadline, and strode swiftly out of the room.