Arrival Overdue

Chapter 15
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Paulie went through the neighborhood after finding Jennifer's house to survey the area. He ended up parking on the next street and slowly made his way through a couple of yards undetected. He looked through a few windows in the back of the house and tried the side door to the garage and found it unlocked. He opened it and went inside unseen. He heard the phone ring unanswered and saw that there was no car in the garage. He tried the door to the inside of the house - it was locked.

"Dammit!" he thought to himself. He wanted to get inside before they got home and try to surprise them. That way there was less likelihood of any kind of struggle drawing attention from the neighbors. He thought about breaking into the house, but saw the elaborate alarm system alongside the door. He broke out in a sweat as he realized that even though the door from outside leading into the garage had been unlocked, it probably still set off the alarm to the alarm company and the police were probably already on their way.

He'd have to leave and come back later. He quietly exited the way he came in, careful not to disturb anything. He left the door open so that it appeared that it wasn't shut tight and the wind had blown it open. He heard a siren in the distance and quickened his pace back to his car. He watched through the yards as a police car pulled up at the same time as another vehicle. The second vehicle pulled into the driveway and he saw a woman and a man with a cane get out and start talking to the police officer. He surmised that it was the cop and the doctor that had returned home and noticed that, as the uniformed officer must have explained why he was there, Bosco reached to his waist out of reflex for his weapon, but it wasn't there.

"Good. He's unarmed," Paulie said to himself and smiled. "This'll be easier than I thought."

He watched for a few more minutes as the police officer checked out the residence and, finding nothing but the door ajar, left as the woman put the car in the garage and the two walked in the garage and closed the door.

Paulie decided to let things calm down and the police to get out of the neighborhood. He'd go have dinner first and return under cover of darkness.
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It had gotten dark and Bosco and Jennifer had just finished a light dinner.

"So, how long d'you think your daughter's gonna be pissed at me?" he asked her, remembering the pout on Jordan's face as they left her with her aunt.

"She'll be over it by the morning," Jennifer said, glancing out the back window from the sink into the yard. "I hope," she added after a moment and looked over her shoulder at Bosco who was sipping his coffee.

"Why don't you go in the living room and start a fire. It's a nice, cool night," she suggested and watched him limp out of the kitchen. "How's your leg feeling? You've been giving it quite a workout today," she asked him.

"It's a little sore, but nothing I can't live with," he said as he opened the flue and put some logs and kindling into the fireplace. He stood up and saw the fireplace matches on the mantle - next to a picture of Jennifer, Jordan and Jeff. She saw him notice the picture as she came up behind him.

"Seems so long ago," she said quietly, as she lifted the picture up and looked at it.

"Looks like happy times," Bosco said, trying to hide the jealousy he knew he had no right to feel.

She smiled and nodded her head. "Yeah, this was at the park at a family picnic," she said as Bosco left her side and sat on the couch, draping his arm across the back of the couch as the fire caught. "But, like I said, it was a long time ago." She put the picture back and came over to sit next to him, leaning against him, with her head on his shoulder. He moved his arm so that it was around her and on her shoulder.

They watched the fire for a few moments and they could each feel the other relax with the warmth. After a little while, she spoke.

"Maurice?" she said quietly.

"Mmmm?" he said as she brought her hand up and intertwined her fingers in his hand on her shoulder.

"I know it hasn't been that long, but I feel like I know you really well. We've had some long talks these last few days," she said, staring at the fire.

"We have," he acknowledged, letting her know that he was listening.

"For a long time I thought I'd never be able to... I don't know, move on - although I'm not sure those are the right words - after Jeff was killed." Bosco listened and hoped she was leading to where he was pretty sure he wanted to go.

"And now?" he asked her.

"I've dated some, but I've never felt as connected with anyone as I have with you. Sometimes I feel even more than with Jeff. Is that terrible?" she asked looking up at him.

He smiled, "No, that's not terrible. I'm sure that what you had with Jeff was great. You both had great jobs. You have a beautiful home and a beautiful daughter. I'm sure that if Jeff wasn't killed by that drunk driver, you'd be sitting here with him right now, just happy to be together," he said, looking back at the fire. "But, maybe there is more than one person for everyone, in case you lose one of them - like you lost Jeff," he said, pausing to think about what he'd just said.

"I felt it the first time I met you," she said to him. "That night at the rest stop. I knew that I'd be coming to the City to take you up on your offer for a tour even if I didn't have a legitimate reason to go."

He tightened his grip on her hand and she looked up at him again. "Is there someone waiting for you at home?" she asked him.

He shook his head, "No. I've never felt anything like this before. It makes me nervous, but it's a good nervous." He looked down at her and after a moment, the two of them moved toward each other and kissed. The kiss grew and there was a sense of urgency in each of them as they started to deepen the kiss.

Jennifer turned her body toward him and everything began to move faster and faster. Soon, they were exploring each other. Jennifer unbuttoned his shirt and helped him take it off, careful of his sore shoulder. She again marveled at his form beneath his t-shirt and began to trace along the healing scar on his shoulder. She leaned down and kissed it and Bosco closed his eyes and savored the feel of her lips on his skin. Bosco put a hand under her chin and lifted her head back up to his. While he looked into her eyes he slowly unbuttoned her blouse, looking for signs in her face that he was going too fast. There were none. He removed her blouse and took in a deep breath at her beauty.

And so they went on, slowly exploring every inch of each other and progressing until some time later when they lay together on the couch, naked except for the blanket from the back of the couch that Jennifer had pulled over them after their lovemaking. The fire had died down and Bosco felt Jennifer shiver.

"You okay?" he asked her in a whisper, hoping that she wasn't regretting what had just happened.

"Mmmm. I'm just chilly," she said sleepily. He started to get up to get the fire going again, but she stopped him. "Thank you," she said as he looked at her.

"For what?" he asked her.

"For taking it slow. For understanding. Just for being you," she said, tracing his mouth with her fingers.

"I should be thanking you," he said, leaning over to kiss her.

"What for?" she asked with a smile.

"For making me understand what love is. I thought I knew, but I didn't. Not until now," he said as they began kissing again. She pulled away from him slightly and he stopped and looked at her, puzzled.

"You want me to get the fire going again first?" he asked her. She shook her head.

"No. I want to take this upstairs. I want you to make love to me again and then we don't have to move again until the morning," she said, standing up, wrapping the blanket around her, and gathering her clothes from the floor. He watched her beauty in the moonlight shining through the window. He reached down to get his own clothes and that's when they heard it. A thud on the outside of the house. Jennifer looked at Bosco to see if it was just something she'd imagined.

Bosco held a finger to his lips to tell her to stay quiet and then they heard a dog barking. "That's Rufus," she whispered to him. "He never makes a sound normally."

Bosco quickly put his pants on and put on his t-shirt. "Go upstairs and call
9-1-1," he whispered to her. He realized that Faith had brought his duty gun back to the City with her when she left and his off-duty gun was in his locker back at the house, where he'd left it went he went on duty the day of the accident.

"Do you have any of Jeff's guns left here?" he whispered to her again as they moved toward the stairs.

She nodded, "Upstairs. Locked in the safe on the top shelf of my closet. The key is on a hook in his - the dresser," she told him. He pushed her in the direction of the stairs as they heard someone try to turn the doorknob on the back door.

"Go," Bosco told her in a whisper. Jennifer climbed the stairs as Bosco followed her. When they reached her room, she went toward the phone as Bosco went to what must have been Jeff's dresser. He felt for the hook and found the key as Jennifer dialed the phone. There was a crash as they heard a pane of glass break downstairs.

"Maurice," Jennifer said in a loud whisper, the fear evident in her voice. He looked at her.

"There's no dial tone," she told him.

"Dammit! He must have cut the phone line and my cell phone is downstairs on the table," he said. He moved quietly across the room and opened the closet door. He reached the safe where Jennifer said it would be and opened it. He took out a gun, very similar to his own, and put the bullets in it. "Is there another way downstairs?" he asked her, not having been upstairs earlier to know. She shook her head no.

"Okay. I want you to follow me down, but I don't want you right on top of me. Let me start down and wait for me to wave you down. When you get to the bottom of the stairs, I want you to head for the garage and go for help," he instructed her.

She shook her head no and said, "The car keys are in the kitchen with my purse."

"I don't care. Go out the door and to the neighbors house and call the police," he said to her. She nodded her head that she understood.

"You come out with me. Let the police handle this," she said.

"I AM the police, remember?" he reminded her. "Let's go," he said, taking off the safety on the gun.
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TBC...