Author's Notes: Reviews are appreciated very much and inspire me to type faster.
Part 28
Age: 28 Years 3 Months
Samantha stood at Tom's grave for several moments after the funeral as the guards stood a respectful, but watchful distance away. Everyone had given their condolences and told her how brave she was and how much Tom had loved her. No one knew what Samantha's tears were really for. Ironically Jack-Of-All-Trades had given her the excuse to drop part of her masquerade and to grieve for another Jack who was buried in Cincinnati. While her friends imagined her tears were for Tom, they were for her first husband. Samantha almost felt grateful to Jack for inadvertently giving her an opportunity to release the pent up anguish she felt for her Jack.
The question was though, what would Samantha do now? No longer having to answer to Tom was quite pleasant, but she still had to figure out how to go on without her Jack and what to do about the other Jack. Chloe had left with her grandparents because Samantha was honestly at a loss as to what to do with the little girl. Looking at Chloe made her think of another child that she had wanted far more and it hurt too much for Samantha to face. Jack had died fifteen years ago and she still wished she were in the ground with him.
Angel had called her last night and invited her and Chloe to come and live with her for a while. Maybe she should accept, she felt no ties to the house she'd shared with Tom and Angel had offered to watch Chloe anytime Sam wanted to be alone. There was a fair amount of money coming from Tom's life insurance, perhaps she could get a security system put in at Angel's farm. Leaving the cemetery, Samantha decided to accept Angel's offer.
Watching Samantha discreetly, Jack was upset. Why was she crying so much over Tom's death? They hadn't seemed very close and once in disguise, he had gotten near Tom in a bar and had heard him referring to Samantha as frigid, so obviously the pair wasn't bonded that closely. His Samantha had been so very passionate and clearly the usurper had had no idea of how to please her. Instead of seeming pleased, his Samantha had become a tragic widow and Jack felt frustrated.
Age: 29 Years
Jack drove to Memphis in a fit of frustration. A week ago he'd killed Rose Nielson Harris who had been Samantha's bookmobile librarian. He'd killed her by suffocating her with a pillow and then had signed his work, thinking surely his Samantha would come out of hiding and rejoin their game. Instead she remained pent up at Angel's farm and showed no signs of leaving. Shutting herself off from the world, Samantha showed little sign of rejoining.
Besides missing her, Jack was concerned about how Samantha was living. By accident he'd stumbled across an art dealer that was selling some photos that Jack recognized the locations from around Angel's farm. Periodically he would survey and prowl the property trying to find any means of catching of a glimpse of Samantha. The photos weren't very appealing, but Jack began purchasing them for ridiculous amounts of money. He wanted to make certain his wife had money to live on and even though they weren't exciting subjects, Jack was thrilled to have anything that brought him closer to Sam.
In Memphis, Jack visited Konstantine and Sofia and this time stayed at their motel so he was close to them. While he still ached for Samantha, the initial hurt of rejection had turned into a different and deeper longing. Jack would have happily handed over every cent of his money to hold Samantha for even five minutes. Glumly he wondered what it would take to get Samantha to leave that damn farm. She wasn't happy, most days she abandoned her daughter with Angel and went for long walks and took bland photos. His Samantha needed him and she needed their game to thrive. It hurt seeing her wasting away like that.
Sitting in the motel's restaurant, Jack sat a table chopping onions with Sofia and nursing a bottle of Jack Daniels. Taking a drink, he asked"Momma, what is to be done about Samantha? She's throwing her life away on that farm playing tragic widow."
"She just lose her husband to a serial killer."
"Tom deserved it, he'd hurt her. I saw bruises on her arms."
Shaking her head slightly, Sofia sighed"Sometimes it worries me the way you follows her around. What if you meet up with this Jack-Of-All-Trades person"
Laughing Jack assured her"I can promise I'm completely safe from him."
"I worries about you Jack" Sofia told him gently. Then brightening she promised"One day Samantha will comes around and be leaving the farm. And maybe she is not having the sad face for Tom. Perhaps sad face is for herself."
"Perhaps" Jack agreed uncertainly and resumed chopping.
Age 30 Years 6 Months
As Samantha forced a smile as she blew the candles out on the cake Angel and Chloe had made for her birthday, she wished Jack were alive and that her life was different. Her daughter was well-behaved and her friend well-meaning; but Samantha was going mad with the boring routine at the farm. Instead of making peace with her grief for Jack, the isolation of the farm seemed to magnify it and make it worse. The last time she took photos to the bar to sell, Samantha found herself almost wishing Jack-Of-All-Trades would find her and end her suffering.
On Samantha's thirtieth birthday, Jack watched from the darkness in the window and fed Denzel a drugged dog treat. Just a bit of sedative added to make the dog tired so he wouldn't bother Jack as he observed Samantha. His girl didn't look very well, she looked strained and annoyed. Recently she'd cut her hair into a shorter style that gave her a tired housewife look and her eyes had dark circles under them from lack of sleep. Samantha needed the symphony and culture, not to sit alone and shovel horse dung.
When the party was over and the women went to bed, Jack murmured"Happy Birthday my love."
Samantha shut herself in her bedroom and locked the door to prevent Chloe or Angel from entering. Removing her wedding rings that she kept because Angel thought they brought her comfort, Samantha took her Alpha ring off it's chain and placed it on her finger. Wrapping her left arm around a pillow as she lay down, she kissed the ring and cried herself to sleep. As she slept, Samantha dreamed of Jack.
Age: 31 Years
A couple days after his birthday, Jack read the Atlanta paper with interest. The FBI was no closer to solving a series of murders and Bailey Malone was quoted as saying they were going to bring in special experts. There was only one special expert the Malone could possibly mean and Jack hoped against hope that Samantha would come back to Atlanta and their game. Sitting in front of the mirror, he applied latex makeup and once he looked middle-aged, walked out of his apartment and into the convent. Smiling at a couple of the sisters, Jack began to sweep.
The convent served his purposes well for now, who would look for a serial killer at a convent, though he didn't plan to stay forever. Once Samantha came out of hiding he would give it about six months to a year and then he would move into the larger place he owned that would suit the two of them quite well. The larger place was reminiscent of the attic at the orphanage and he hoped Samantha would like it. Before he retired to his rooms later, he would tell the sisters that he had some business out of town. Smiling Jack began to plan his trip to Virginia.
When Bailey showed up and tried to persuade her to help with a case, she protested mightily and made him beg and plead. As she told Chloe, she dutifully acted the part of reluctant mother. Inside, Samantha felt like doing cartwheels and struggled to maintain the appropriate expression. After arriving in Atlanta, when Bailey introduced her around, Sam greeted everyone politely. Grace seemed intelligent and Sam rather liked her, George was too quite to get much of a hold on. John Grant struck her as a womanizer and she wasn't impressed with his posturing.
Jack carefully placed the body near Quantico where it would be quickly found. Inside her mouth he'd already placed the final quarter of the note he'd written to Samantha, hopefully she would know of his presence very soon. Later in disguise he listened to Bailey and another agent in a bar near Quantico discuss the formation of a special task force that they wanted Sam to be a part of. Ah Samantha, you finally have come back to me, Jack thought. Although he felt a small bit of displeasure when he heard Malone say Sam could commute from the farm. Samantha really needed to leave the farm and Jack knew just what to do to get her to leave.
After Samantha solved the string of murders and he dropped her a note in the mail care of Agent Malone, Jack began to prepare a special bouquet of roses. Cutting some of the very nicest blooms from the bush at the convent he'd planted, Jack added a a frothy white bow. To make certain Samantha knew who it was from he tied Tom's wedding ring to it and headed for Angel's farm. Cautiously Jack fed Denzel a sedative laced dog treat and then bypassed the security system and left the roses on Samantha's bed.
Age: 31 Years 10 Months
Samantha sat in the movie theater with Nick Cooper and tried to ignore his boorish behavior. His bad jokes and gum chewing were very off putting, but she was determined to sleep with him. Although his coloring was nothing like Jack's had been, his dark eyes were reminiscent of her first husband's. Sometimes she missed having basic human contact, Tom's fumbling had never brought her any pleasure, but sometimes hugging him was nice. And if she closed her eyes she could pretend for a few precious seconds the man she woke up next to was the one and only man she'd ever loved.
How pathetic are you? Samantha berated herself. I'm lonely and at least the eyes are a little like Jack's were. His manners are lousy, but maybe he'll be good in bed, he does have the whole latin lover vibe going on. Maybe if I let him take me from behind- God, my life really did end the day Jack died. He's been dead for how many years and I can only get off thinking of him. Oh Jack, I wish I had the courage to join you. Wherever you are, you must be happier than I am.
Samantha sighed wistfully and allowed Coop to kiss her. As Samantha began to question her decision as Coop tried pushing his tongue down her esophagus, Jack watched several rows away in a rage. Shredding the rose he'd brought with him, he struggled desperately to reign in his temper and not vault over other patrons and kill Coop on the spot. Knowing another man was touching his Samantha was one thing, witnessing it was another...
