Thanks to everyone for your reviews! cougshupe, thanks for your kind words. Writing a story that has no story (well, not exactly a story, anyways) was making me feel very nervous, so your review made my day! Midnight Caller - any scene with Jack in a towel is now officially dedicated to you, okay?

As always, thanks to Diane, who patiently watches each chapter go through several 'morphs' before its final posting.

This is the last of this series. Their happy days are almost over. I'm working on the final series now. Wish me luck!

Interim 4
By: Mariel

It was early evening, and the lighting in the office area had been dimmed for the night. Here and there, though, spots of light glowed from various work stations. One particular halo of light shone from Samantha Spade's desk. Hair gleaming, she sat with her head bent over a report.

A quiet voice interrupted her. "Hey."

She turned her chair away from her desk and looked up at Jack.

"Hey, yourself."

"I just got off the phone. Remember that conference in Boston I was telling you about?" When she nodded, he continued, "I guess Maria's going to it after all. When she told her boss she thought she'd give it a miss, he told her to rethink, so she doesn't have much of a choice, I guess. Since we've got this case going, Hannah and Katie are staying at their grandmother's until Maria gets back."

Samantha's breath caught in her throat. She knew what that meant, and felt anticipation rise within her. The last conference Maria had gone to, the girls had remained home, Jack had taken the days off, and they had not seen one another. This time would be different.

- - -

They ate dinner at their Thai restaurant, savouring both the food and the lack of worry about time. His overnight bag was already in the car, and they had not one, but two, evenings together to look forward to.

After dinner, they went straight to Samantha's apartment.

"Want to go over the notes?"

Jack nodded. "There's something we're missing, or someone we haven't spoken to that we should have."

"Well, looking over everything again may help us find it," Samantha reassured him. "You set everything up, and I'll put on the coffee."

An hour later, Jack took his reading glasses off and laid them on the desk in front of him. Looking across the room to where Samantha sat curled up on the sofa, he asked, "Ready to quit?"

Looking up from the interview notes she was reading, she nodded. "I think you're right. We need to interview the brother again. Matt took a lot of money out of his account the day he disappeared, and I'm willing to bet he's holed up somewhere and that his brother knows damned well where that somewhere is."

"And is too frightened to tell us?"

Again, her head moved to indicate agreement. "He's trying to protect his brother's life. I don't blame him." Setting down the paper she was reading, she settled back more against the sofa. "I must admit I feel better about looking for someone hiding instead of a body."

Jack shook his head. "The guy was crazy. No one messes with the people he was messing with and comes out on the top."

Samantha shrugged. "There are always people willing to give it a try. He's just one of them."

"At least if our instincts are right, we'll have found him by lunchtime tomorrow." Rising from his chair, Jack walked over to the sofa and sat beside her. "Let's watch the news, and then go to bed."

Thirty minutes later, they were still sitting comfortably in front of the television, watching the end of the late news.

Awareness of him building, Samantha stirred, relishing the way his arm fit around her shoulders, the way her body fit so perfectly against his. Leaning against him a little more, she said, "This is nice."

Jack's arm tightened around her. It was. He still hadn't stopped to question what they were doing and where it would lead. It had been a big jump to go from discovering he cared more for her than he should to sharing her bed, and a totally unexpected one. Though the place they were in now had been months in the making, the thought of the affair itself still left him with a feeling of surprise.

Interrupting his thoughts, Samantha asked, "If we have the chance, do you want to go to the market tomorrow? We can pick up something for dinner there. I'd like to take a look around for a mat for the kitchen, too."

"Sounds good to me." Anything involving being with her sounded good. The last couple of months had been a time of discovery for them both. Samantha didn't like french fries. Jack didn't like carrots. Both liked the colour blue and felt best when wearing black. Knowledge of these and other small details had increased their feelings of intimacy.

"Good," she said, settling back against him. After a few moments of quiet, she asked, "Do you ever wonder how on earth we got to this point?"

Jack looked at her, only slightly surprised her thoughts were running along similar lines to his. "I don't think I've had time to think, but I do know I had no idea I could be so lucky."

Again they lapsed into silence. Then Samantha smiled. "I know I've said this before, but I'm very happy."

Jack tightened his arm around her, and kissed the top of her head lightly. "Me, too."

The feeling still managed to shock them both.

"Sometimes I'm frightened that if I think about it too much, something bad will happen and it will all end," she admitted softly. She turned to look at him, her eyes dark.

He sat in silence a moment. Eyes never wavering from hers, he said slowly, "I don't think whatever it is that we have between us could ever end easily, Samantha."

She knew he was right, but was happy to hear him say it. They spoke of their affair rarely - there didn't, after all, seem much to say. On those occasions when she did consider it, however, she tried hard to be analytical. The simple fact of the whole thing, she'd decided, was that they cared for each other. Belonged with each other. And operated under the constraints that their circumstances necessitated. She asked for nothing more than what they had, and neither did he. Used to settling for less, she suspected he was, too. That they had stumbled into a relationship that had developed into something more than they had dreamed of seemed a stroke of incredible good fortune. That it had developed while he was married to someone else she tried hard to forget.

Not once had it ever crossed their minds not to act on what they felt. Nor had they ever considered stopping. They had not even considered the possibility that they might not be able to have their affair and maintain the rest of their lives as usual. They had, after all, found love, and love makes people both selfish and blind in regrettable ways.

Later, they would regret not taking the time to think of what, exactly, they were doing and how it affected the other people in their lives. For now, however, they still continued to think of little but themselves.

Samantha shifted on the sofa. She moved away from Jack slightly, but only so that she could draw him to her more comfortably. As his lips touched hers, she closed her eyes, loving every moment. This was theirs. Nothing else existed.

End
Interim 4/4