3 MONTHS LATER
Jake had been to see the company psychiatrist more than a few times since the auto theft ring bust. Life was returning to as normal as it could get when one had suffered such a tragedy as losing someone you loved. He'd been pulled off of duty until Monica and Frank felt he was fit to go back out on the line... and judging from the skeptical looks they kept giving him, it wasn't going to be any time soon.
"Tell me about her Jake."
"I already have. What more do you want to hear?" His voice was getting a little irritated. So was he really. This was the umpteenth time that the shrink had asked him to tell about Marissa. How many more times would he have to talk about what little he knew about her?
In reality, Jake didn't know that much about her. True, she was a legend. True, she was the best at what she did. True, she was beautiful. And she was loved... both by him and countless other individuals in the greater Chicago Metro area.
"Dozens of odd people showed up at the funeral. Her mother and father had disowned her, calling her a disgrace for being a lifetime criminal. So the crew she ran with all chipped in and paid for a modest funeral. I chipped in too, I think the rest of the team did too... I tell you, it was like a 'who's who' of car boosts. Even Johnny B showed up to pay his respects to her.. and he hated her for stealing his business."
"Do you still go to her grave?"
"Now and then, when I think I've forgotten what she looks like. I find myself trying to remember the smell of her skin right at the curve of her throat. But I'll never forget those eyes." Jake looked off out of the window in silence. Those eyes... they haunted him. He dreamt about the way her eyes looked when he held her at the end. Fixed and distant...
--
Jake put his overcoat on to ward off the higher winds of the early autumn air as he stepped out of the psychiatrist's office. He stood there on the street, watching the people go by around him. In the short while with Speed, under her tutelage, he picked up on what a car boost was, how they operated, and what their world was like. He had a trump card that most law enforcement didn't - he'd been one. Not technically, he WAS, after all, undercover at the time, but when undercover, one assumes the life,mannerisms and identity of the assignment. In the months that followed, he had asked himself more than a dozen times of falling in love with her was part of the assignment or if it was real. It was a question he asked himself again as he started to walk, heading for home.
The brisk air tousled his hair and toyed with his coat as he walked. It also cleared his mind and allowed him to just not think anymore. He was tired, tired of Monica asking how he was, tired of Frank asking him if he wanted to talk, tired of the shrink asking him to think about this and that and then tell about it. Doubts had begun to creep into his mind as to whether he'd ever get over this enough to go back into duty. He didn't feel bad, didn't feel numb, wasn't angry or sad or bitter or resentful... he just didn't feel anymore. Jake Shaw had always been passionate about who he was and what he did. And this scared him. What scared him even more is that he didn't know if this would end or if he'd feel hollow for the rest of his life. By the time he'd reached his apartment building, he'd come to the conclusion that he was just normal and this is what it felt like to lose someone you loved deeply. And he'd come to the decision that he did truly love Marissa Fian Randall - even though he'd met her eight years ago when he arrested her and then truly only known her a week. It was more than that to him. On a deeper level they had known each other all their lives, like they were connected on a plane that few people were ever aware of. Alex had it with Carlos. He had it with Marissa. Both he and Alex lost the ones they loved...
Jake was deep enough in his thoughts that he didn't pay much attention to the street surrounding him. If he had, he would have noticed a silver and black 1967 Shelby GT 500 parked in front of his building. He also would have noticed the blonde woman getting out of the driver's side as he climbed the steps to the main door.
"Agent Shaw?"
He froze in his steps. That voice... Slowly he turned around to see who was speaking to him. If a man had ever come that close to fainting, Federal Agent Jake Shaw would have right then and there. The woman was roughly 5'9 in heighth with pale blonde hair that just reached her jawline. It was classy looking, but still with the odd twisted locks of hair scattered throughout dred style. She was wearing a pair of black slacks and a long duster coat in leather that reached to her calves. The sunglasses hid her eyes from view but the tight cropped top drew his eyes down to the barbell that pierced her navel.
"Excuse me, are you Jake Shaw?"
That mouth... those lips... that voice. Jake was beginning to tremble. She stepped closer, the high heels of her boots clicking on the pavement as she neared him. ~don't take off the sunglasses... don't take them off... if you do I might lose it right here and now if you do~
She pursed her lips and reached up to remove her sunglasses. Her hands were neat, manicured almost and slender... just like Marissa's. Despite knowing her way around an engine compartment, Marissa had kept her hands immaculately clean.
The sunglasses came off and staring back at him was the second most beautiful pair of ice blue eyes that he'd ever seen.
****
Jake had been to see the company psychiatrist more than a few times since the auto theft ring bust. Life was returning to as normal as it could get when one had suffered such a tragedy as losing someone you loved. He'd been pulled off of duty until Monica and Frank felt he was fit to go back out on the line... and judging from the skeptical looks they kept giving him, it wasn't going to be any time soon.
"Tell me about her Jake."
"I already have. What more do you want to hear?" His voice was getting a little irritated. So was he really. This was the umpteenth time that the shrink had asked him to tell about Marissa. How many more times would he have to talk about what little he knew about her?
In reality, Jake didn't know that much about her. True, she was a legend. True, she was the best at what she did. True, she was beautiful. And she was loved... both by him and countless other individuals in the greater Chicago Metro area.
"Dozens of odd people showed up at the funeral. Her mother and father had disowned her, calling her a disgrace for being a lifetime criminal. So the crew she ran with all chipped in and paid for a modest funeral. I chipped in too, I think the rest of the team did too... I tell you, it was like a 'who's who' of car boosts. Even Johnny B showed up to pay his respects to her.. and he hated her for stealing his business."
"Do you still go to her grave?"
"Now and then, when I think I've forgotten what she looks like. I find myself trying to remember the smell of her skin right at the curve of her throat. But I'll never forget those eyes." Jake looked off out of the window in silence. Those eyes... they haunted him. He dreamt about the way her eyes looked when he held her at the end. Fixed and distant...
--
Jake put his overcoat on to ward off the higher winds of the early autumn air as he stepped out of the psychiatrist's office. He stood there on the street, watching the people go by around him. In the short while with Speed, under her tutelage, he picked up on what a car boost was, how they operated, and what their world was like. He had a trump card that most law enforcement didn't - he'd been one. Not technically, he WAS, after all, undercover at the time, but when undercover, one assumes the life,mannerisms and identity of the assignment. In the months that followed, he had asked himself more than a dozen times of falling in love with her was part of the assignment or if it was real. It was a question he asked himself again as he started to walk, heading for home.
The brisk air tousled his hair and toyed with his coat as he walked. It also cleared his mind and allowed him to just not think anymore. He was tired, tired of Monica asking how he was, tired of Frank asking him if he wanted to talk, tired of the shrink asking him to think about this and that and then tell about it. Doubts had begun to creep into his mind as to whether he'd ever get over this enough to go back into duty. He didn't feel bad, didn't feel numb, wasn't angry or sad or bitter or resentful... he just didn't feel anymore. Jake Shaw had always been passionate about who he was and what he did. And this scared him. What scared him even more is that he didn't know if this would end or if he'd feel hollow for the rest of his life. By the time he'd reached his apartment building, he'd come to the conclusion that he was just normal and this is what it felt like to lose someone you loved deeply. And he'd come to the decision that he did truly love Marissa Fian Randall - even though he'd met her eight years ago when he arrested her and then truly only known her a week. It was more than that to him. On a deeper level they had known each other all their lives, like they were connected on a plane that few people were ever aware of. Alex had it with Carlos. He had it with Marissa. Both he and Alex lost the ones they loved...
Jake was deep enough in his thoughts that he didn't pay much attention to the street surrounding him. If he had, he would have noticed a silver and black 1967 Shelby GT 500 parked in front of his building. He also would have noticed the blonde woman getting out of the driver's side as he climbed the steps to the main door.
"Agent Shaw?"
He froze in his steps. That voice... Slowly he turned around to see who was speaking to him. If a man had ever come that close to fainting, Federal Agent Jake Shaw would have right then and there. The woman was roughly 5'9 in heighth with pale blonde hair that just reached her jawline. It was classy looking, but still with the odd twisted locks of hair scattered throughout dred style. She was wearing a pair of black slacks and a long duster coat in leather that reached to her calves. The sunglasses hid her eyes from view but the tight cropped top drew his eyes down to the barbell that pierced her navel.
"Excuse me, are you Jake Shaw?"
That mouth... those lips... that voice. Jake was beginning to tremble. She stepped closer, the high heels of her boots clicking on the pavement as she neared him. ~don't take off the sunglasses... don't take them off... if you do I might lose it right here and now if you do~
She pursed her lips and reached up to remove her sunglasses. Her hands were neat, manicured almost and slender... just like Marissa's. Despite knowing her way around an engine compartment, Marissa had kept her hands immaculately clean.
The sunglasses came off and staring back at him was the second most beautiful pair of ice blue eyes that he'd ever seen.
****