Part Two
And I took you by the hand
And we stood tall,
And remembered our own land,
What we lived for.
And there will come a time, you'll see, with no more tears.
And love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears.
Get over your hill and see what you find there,
With grace in your heart and flowers in your hair.
Jack pulled into the parking space in front of Florence's villa and pulled up the handbrake. He turned off the jeep, leaned over to the passenger side for his carrier bag, and jumped out onto the driveway. Taking his keys out of his pocket, Jack unlocked the front door and stepped inside, letting the door close behind him with a thud.
"I'm back," he called through the villa.
"I'm in the kitchen!" Florence's voice echoed in response.
Jack walked along the hallway, the handles of the carrier bag cutting into his hand as it hung from his grip, and into the kitchen where Florence was waiting to greet him at the sink. He placed the bag on the countertop and turned to Florence, her hands submerged in the soapy water.
He approached her from behind, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her cheek. "Hi," he said gently, his voice whispery and sensual.
"Hi," Florence replied, letting him nuzzle her.
"Are those your new shorts?" Jack asked.
"Mhm."
"Your bum looks amazing," he told her, grabbing her by the hips and stepping back to admire it. Florence smirked, drying her hands on a towel, and turned to him. "No, don't turn around," he pretended to protest, hands still on her waist.
"But I want to kiss you," Florence pouted, turning in his grasp.
"Oh, that's alright then," he smiled, pursing his lips for her to kiss. Her arms hung off his shoulders as she kissed him sweetly, his hands snaked around the curve of her hips. "I got some more coffee from Kris's Kafe and I picked up some more washing powder like you asked. And…" he teased, hanging onto the letters. "I saw that your favourite orange chocolate was discounted in the supermarket."
Florence gasped excitedly. "Thank you," she said, kissing him again, then reached over to the bag and began unpacking the items, putting the washing powder under the sink.
"So, the new episode of Baby Girl Lost is on tonight," Jack said, sitting down on a stool at the counter.
"I have it ready to record in case we miss it," Florence replied, filling up the coffee pot and discarding the packaging into the bin.
"Should I have got more snacks?" Jack asked. "I think they had crisps on deal."
Florence eyed him. "The answer is yes, always more snacks," she countered, taking her bar of orange chocolate, and putting it in the snack cupboard.
"True," Jack nodded with a laugh. "Although it looks like we have enough?"
Florence giggled as a bag of crisps fell out onto her head. "Maybe we should eat some tonight – to make some space!"
"I'm curious to know which one of us is right about our theory," said Jack, spinning a little on the bar stool.
"I know it's going to be me," Florence smirked, turning to him, and leaning forward on the counter. "I know that she ran away because of her stepfather. I know it."
"You could be right," Jack agreed. "Or maybe she ran away because she never existed at all?" He teased, wiggling his eyebrows.
"Jack, it's called Baby Girl Lost. Not Baby Girl Who Doesn't Exist!" replied Florence.
Jack laughed. "But maybe neither of us are right."
"I always figure these things out," insisted Florence. "Remember when we watched In Your Mind and I was convinced by episode two who the killer was. It was so obvious."
"It was quite obvious," said Jack, remembering.
"Do you want to watch it here?" Florence asked, pointing to the lounge.
Jack smiled to himself. "I have every week."
"You really should just move in," scoffed Florence. "I don't remember the last time you went back to the Shack."
Jack sighed. "I know. Are you bored of me?"
Florence reached her hand across the counter and took two of Jack's fingers in her grip. "Never," she insisted.
"We can't even use it as a romantic getaway," Jack went on. "Everyone knows where I live. At least if I'm here I have a degree of anonymity," explained Jack.
Just then, his phone rang. Jack sighed, pausing for a moment to let it ring, to keep their life of domestic bliss alive for just a second longer. Eventually, Jack reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.
"JP, you okay?" he asked.
"Fine, Sir, but we have a body," JP replied.
Jack and Florence locked eyes.
"Where?"
"At the disused railroad. Suicide apparently but I'm not so sure. It looks like it's been dumped," explained JP.
"We're on our way," said Jack and hung up the phone immediately. "I guess Baby Girl Lost will have to wait," he said, getting up off the stool and wrapping his arm around Florence's shoulder.
"But I have to know what happens," she protested, letting her head flop to his shoulder.
Jack let his arm fall and grabbed her hand, half yanking her towards the door. "Come on," he insisted. "Now we're going to a real-life mystery, and I want to hear your theories."
ooo
The sun beat down on them as it set over the fields by the disused railway. The flies jumped through the long grass that waved in the wind as Jack and Florence stood over the body. It had been left across the tracks where, if a train had come, it would have driven straight over it, decimating any evidence, and making dental records the only way to positively ID to the body.
"Definitely a murder," Jack mused, then crouched down to inspect the corpse further. "The angle of the bullet hole is all wrong and I think there are traces of sticky tape around the wrist," he said pointing with the end of his pen as JP appeared over his shoulder and took a picture. Florence scribbled away in her notebook, taking down his words as he spoke them.
"I saw some tire tracks on the dirt road as we came in, Sir, so I've taken some casts," explained Ruby, who appeared behind them through the grass.
"Good work, Ruby," Jack nodded. "And please, scrape under the fingernails for me to see if we can get any DNA."
"Yes, Inspector Mooney," said Ruby, who went back to the bike for her kit, flattening the grass with her feet as she went.
"Okay, JP, I think that's everything. Can you release the body to the paramedics please?" instructed Jack.
"Yes, Sir," said JP. "I'll get you the contact details from the dog walker who found the body too."
"I think we can question him tomorrow," mused Jack. "I don't think he's connected at all. I've seen him a few times walking his dog along the main road around this time."
"That's good, Sir. I'll let him know to expect a call tomorrow."
"Thanks, JP."
JP turned on his heels and left, wading through the grass.
"Once we get an ID on the body then we can reach out to their next of kin, try and find out what happened," Jack said to Florence.
"That will be tricky," Florence replied. "No wallet or phone on him. We may have to resort to dental records."
"I was afraid of that," Jack said gravely. "The longer we wait, the further away the killer could get," he sighed, with his hands on his hips. "Come on, let's go. We can worry about all that tomorrow."
Florence pocketed her notebook and she and Jack began walking through the wavy grass that tickled their legs, back towards the dirt path. As they left, they turned to wave to JP and Ruby, carrying on down the hill. Once they were out of sight, they snaked their arms around each other. Jack's around Florence's shoulders and hers around his waist. Jack felt a joyful skip in his heart as they descended further down onto the main road where the jeep was parked. It felt as though today was the first day of summer, or that he was going somewhere exciting. In truth, he was only going home with Florence, but that feeling was exactly the same to him.
"Have I told you I love you recently?" he said in her ear.
Florence smiled up at him. "You told me this morning," she replied.
Jack tutted. "That's not recent enough for my liking."
"Okay, tell me again," she replied, skipping out of his embrace, and taking both her hands in his, almost dancing around him.
"I love you, Florence Cassell."
"I love you, Jack Mooney."
"Take me home so we can watch TV and eat snacks like the boring couple we are," he smiled as they approached the jeep.
"Yes, I'm just going home with my boyfriend," Florence teased. "To sit on the couch with my boyfriend and snuggle up with my boyfriend."
Jack pulled her into his arms and nuzzled the tip of his nose against hers. "Oh, that's never going to wear off," he told her, then kissed her deeply.