Chapter 4

Summary: Phryne and Jack catch up. Alone in his car. In the middle of the night...

Phryne's eyes widened in a mixture of bewilderment and relief that began to uncork all the emotions she had been wrestling with all night. Sensing the ensuing onslaught beginning to vibrate from her entire being, Jack quickly placed a finger against her lips to keep her from uttering a sound. She instantly stilled at his touch. He then shook his head vehemently and tilted his chin in the direction of the park bench she had been rushing towards. Phryne realized he was indicating that they might not be alone, and nodded to show that she understood. She then regretted showing her quick compliance at the loss of his warm fingertips that brushed across her lips briefly before he pulled his hand away from her face.

The two detectives remained still as their adrenaline-induced breathing gradually slowed. When it seemed that they were only surrounded by the cacophony of cicadas, Phryne took advantage of the situation to enact some swift revenge. With a telltale glint in her eyes, she pushed against Jack's sturdy chest in order to raise herself just enough to wriggle her legs about in order to straddle him. His eyes flashed his protest, but the inspector knew better than to give her the upper hand. He also knew that under normal circumstances any verbal admonishments would normally have been pointless when it came to Miss Fisher. So, it didn't really matter that he couldn't have vocally objected anyway until he knew the coast was completely clear.

Making a spontaneously calculated guess, Jack released his hold from her waist and grasped her hips to pull her wiggling form even closer to him. Not expecting such a reaction from the normally proper inspector, Phryne's eyes reflected her delighted surprise at his bold move. But before she could counter-attack, his grip changed and his long fingers began to tickle her sides instead. She found herself clamping a hand over her mouth to prevent herself from laughing out loud both at his attack to her ticklish spots and at the absurdity of their current situation. Jack then used the distraction to pull her back down against himself before propelling his own weight to the side. With the speed of their momentum, he rolled them both over against the cool, night-dipped grass until he ended up on top of her.

"Follow me," he breathed into her ear before effortlessly springing up into a standing position, bending slightly to hold out a hand to her.

He tried not to smirk as he noted her disappointed pout that instantly curved into her habitual mischievous expression as she reached up to take his proffered, yet wholly unnecessary assistance. With another glance around the seemingly vacant square, Jack pulled Miss Fisher up to her feet and began to lead the way through a hidden gap in a nearby hedge. She glanced over in amusement when he gently let go of her hand and offered his arm instead with a gentlemanly flourish. His features settled into a dignified expression as though he were escorting her across a fine ballroom instead of through a dark alley with both of them covered in loose bits of leaves, grass and she dreaded to think what else.

Phryne eventually spotted his motorcar, which was tucked away in a different spot from where he had held vigil the night before. Sliding into the passenger seat after he had opened the door for her, Phryne noted with approval how their location wasn't visible from her street, but still afforded a clear view of the square and the outline of her house beyond. She wondered if that meant he was planning to keep watch over her household yet again. But why all the subterfuge? Why hadn't he just come over as planned so that she didn't have to waste most of her evening wondering where he was? And why had he informed her that he was leaving town only to show up outside her home? The barrage of questions crowding her mind again reminded her of the disquiet that had been gnawing at her all night. Well, she hadn't chosen unravelling mysteries as a venture because she was bored after all. The lady detective crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes as soon as Jack had climbed into the vehicle and quietly closed the door.

"Jack Robinson, what, pray tell, is going on? Especially after all that rigmarole you gave me this evening? You have a lot of explaining to do!"

"And I promised you that I would, Miss Fisher." His deep voice amplified in the enclosed case of the motorcar. "And, it looks like I'm not the only guilty party here. Why, might I ask, are you prowling about at this hour with a questionable suspect on the loose?"

"Suspect? What do you mean? Have you discovered more about the gentleman in question who has been following me?" She immediately latched onto his wording before stopping herself. "And no, you are not diverting this interrogation when I asked you first, Inspector."

"Well, for starters, he's certainly not a gentleman. But, of course, that wouldn't dissuade you from haranguing off into the night in pursuit of him with no thought to the danger... "

"Jack…" she stopped him in a huff of frustration.

"Ahem, right, my apologies, Miss Fisher," Jack reluctantly reigned in his concerns and continued his explanation. "After you had telephoned me earlier today with your description about the bloke, I decided to do some further digging. Especially since there was something about him that jarred my memory."

"You mean, right after you had nearly walked right into him and his companion this morning?"

He nodded his head and twitched his lip in the way she now recognized as his acknowledgement of her quick deductions. "Yes, he seemed vaguely familiar, although I knew I had never met him previously."

"Hmm, so he must be connected to a past case somehow then," she mused out loud. "But not one you were involved with personally?"

"Very close, Miss Fisher," Jack rewarded her logical reasoning with a half smile before continuing in his 'case' tone. "His name is Martin Edwards, and he was a former police officer from New South Wales who was let go due to some classified circumstances."

"Sounds promising, go on."

"I discovered these details about Edwards because I'd already been verifying details of everyone involved with Foyle and Tizzard's prison escape." He watched her more closely at the mention of the fiend and hurried on when she didn't seem to react one way or another. "Both for my own peace of mind, and because I'm due to be interviewed again shortly for this whole Grossmith enquiry."

"Hmm, I can imagine that all this added press sensationalism has made your job more intense, Jack, especially for this enquiry." She reached out a hand to squeeze his in a show of solidarity that made him almost dread having to reveal to her soon how close to the mark she was with her observation.

"Then, after you notified me about your suspicious shadow," the inspector continued, "I made an immediate request from my contact at the prison that also included photographs of all staff and personnel working stemming from your last visit to Foyle."

"Yes, that was when the governor had telephoned you," Phryne tensed slightly, prompting Jack to tighten his hold on her hand. "After Foyle had written to me asking me to rescind my objection to his parole."

Jack nodded before covering her hand with his other one as well, signalling that he had more to share that he was afraid she might find disturbing.

"Martin Edwards was a temporary guard at the prison around the time of your visit. He was also on duty and assigned to keep watch over Foyle the night that he and Matthew Tizard had concocted their elaborate plan to escape by faking their deaths. That's what jogged my memory, the fact I had seen his personnel photo previously, and reviewing the file today confirmed it. He's no longer employed at the prison and no one has seen or heard from him since then."

"And now he's following me? How dare he? We need to go find him this instant so you can arrest him, Jack!"

She began to turn and was about to open the door on her side when she suddenly found herself enveloped by a pair of familiar arms for the umpteenth time that night. At first, she struggled against him briefly in her agitation, but stopped when he instantly loosened his grip without releasing his hold completely. Phryne twisted slowly to face him again, lifting her eyes up towards his. All thoughts of rushing off seeped out of her as she willingly slipped back into their natural sense of gravity or whatever it was that always pulled them into one another's orbit. A moment of deja vu assailed her as she realized they had found themselves in a similar place only the night before (was it truly only yesterday?) when she had been coaxing him into transforming into a Roman soldier.

He had evidently felt the same repeated moment of time as he gulped nearly audibly before releasing his arms from around her and moving back an inch or so whilst clearing his throat. His actions left her feeling rather bereft, and must have shown in her expression because he again reached out for her hand.

"I know you are more than capable of handling yourself, Phryne," Jack spoke softly, but with a myriad of emotions buried within his eyes and tone. "But knowing there's another crooked copper prowling about your home, who obviously knows the history between you and the bastard that he allowed to go free, doesn't help me rest easily. Especially since I still have to go out of town first thing."

"What? Where? And, why, Jack? I thought you were just saying that because you were wrapped up with something that you didn't want anyone, especially the operator, to overhear? Is it for another case since you said the deputy commissioner is deploying you?"

"That's somewhat true," he conceded. "It's related to all this extra scrutiny that the force is currently undergoing at the moment." She nodded in understanding. "As well as with that other case that I've been dealing with…" He paused.

"You mean, your 'most difficult case yet'?" she prompted, hoping he was finally going to share the details with her.

"Erm, yes, that's the one," he confirmed. "I just need to sort out a few more details for it, and so the top brass agreed to give me a few days leave to finalize it all. I'll only be gone a couple days at most although, I admit that I hate to do so in the midst of all that's been happening."

"You just acknowledged that I'm more than capable of handling things here, Jack. You don't have to take responsibility for everything in the entire world." She reached up a hand to hold his face tenderly. But then, she swiftly removed it before crossing her arms in half mocking consternation due to his continual hedging. "But, how will I be able to reach you...in case something urgent comes to light?"

"Just leave word with Collins if anything major occurs since he'll be able to contact me," he instructed her. "I won't have ready access to a telephone where I'll be. I've already been home to pack, but wanted to come back because I didn't like the idea of Edwards still hanging about even with my men on watch."

"You should have come in instead of skulking about out here."

"I thought it would be too late to knock. And just as I arrived, I thought I spotted him and rushed over to apprehend, well, who I thought was him when I detected movement at the edge of the square."

"So I noticed, Inspector," she trailed her hand down his jacket lapel in a smooth motion that made him gulp again. "Are you sure you don't want to come in now? You'd get a much better night's rest in one of my guest rooms before your early journey?"

"Thank you, Miss Fisher, but no," he replied. "Now that I think we've scared Edwards away for the night, I think it may be best if I did return home for a bit of a kip before I head out on the road. I'll be in touch soon."

She smiled at that tidbit of a promise, and then began to turn to make her way out of the car for the second time that night before he again stopped her with a gentle tug to her hand.

"At least allow me the honour of escorting you safely back home, Miss Fisher." He quickly jumped out of his side of the vehicle and then ran around to open her door, again presenting his arm to her with a twinkle in his eye. She stepped out demurely and took it with aplomb.

"Well, if you insist, Inspector."

"I do, Miss Fisher."

As they genially made their way back towards Wardlow, neither of them noticed the dark figure silently backing away from one of the nearby hedgerows.