Chapter 62 - Investigation

Penny rode her horse up next to Leonard, who was sitting on the old mare, where he had been watching her all morning. Helping her with the horses, the first week, had helped him get over his distrust of the large animals, so that the second week she helped him learn how to ride. He was still new at it and he was on a very gentle mare, who hated to run, but still she was so proud of him, because she knew he did it to be able to share her passion for horses and riding. It was the last day of her mothers riding classes and Penny had just sent all the students to barn to drop off their horses, their course now complete. She smiled at her husband, leaned over and kissed him, she had plans for him this afternoon and couldn't wait to get the kids away so they could begin.

Penny had made sure all the horses where put away and all the kids picked up before she watered her horse, while Leonard watered his, it was while she was watching the horses drink she felt his arms wrap around her waist and his lips kiss the sensitive place on her neck. Penny couldn't help but lean back into his embrace, a slight moan coming out of her mouth as his gently sucked at her neck, sending shivers through her. For a fleeting moment she worried he might leave a mark, a hickey on her neck, but quickly dismissed such thoughts, because she knew if he did she would wear it proudly. Penny knew if it wasn't for Leonard's allergies, she would drag him to the hay loft right then and there, but that was for the best actually, because she had something better planned. So Penny forced herself to tear herself from his embrace and turned to look the man she was so madly in love with.

"Honey, my mom packed us a picnic lunch and I thought we could ride up the hill and have a picnic. We have only two days left here and I thought it would be a nice change." Penny smiled sweetly at him. Penny just caught the worried look that crossed his features for a moment before he smiled back.

"Sure, that sounds like fun." Leonard responded still smiling.

Penny took his hands and looked into his eyes, "What is wrong Sweetie?"

"Penny do you think I am a good enough rider to go away from the barn?"

Penny smiled, "Sweetie, we will just walk the horse up there and I will be along side you the whole time, I promise."

Leonard's smile returned, "Okay, sounds like fun."

It was less than a half hour later, Penny and Leonard were riding their horses slowly up the hill, the horses along with their riders seeming to enjoy the slow pace. Penny could now see the shade tree at the top and it brought back so many memories to her, it almost made her cry. Penny considered it her tree, it was the place she would always ride to when she lived there and was upset, the place where she thought her problems through. It was a special place for her and she always told herself when she found the man she loved she would share it with him. She had brought guys there before but they never knew the significance of the place, because she never told them, and she never made out with them there, because there was only one man she would ever do that with, there. Once they reached her place, the smile she was wearing must have been huge, because Leonard gave her a look of confusion before he smiled back.

"Penny, what are you so happy about, you look like you are going to bust." Leonard said with a chuckle laced with a tiny bit of concern.

"Sweetie, I'm just happy to be here with you, that's all." Penny responded her smile never leaving her face.

They let the horses graze, then placed the blanket in the shade, where they immediately covered it with the contents from the picnic basket. The next hour they slowly ate, actually mostly feeding each other and laughing, with kisses between each mouthful, the whole time being very content and happy with each other. It was towards the end of all this when Penny began to tell, the first man ever, what this place meant to her.

"Leonard, I hope you don't think I'm crazy, but this is my special place." Penny then looked at him hoping he understood.

Leonard looked back, she was confessing something important to him, and he felt happy inside that she now did that with him. Leonard nodded and gave her a little smile to show her he understood.

Penny continued, "I always came here when my life seemed mixed up. I would ride up here and sit under this tree and think, looking down into the valley. Up here, seeing everything below, my problems seemed small and it let me put things into perspective. I loved this place and jealously never shared it, to no one."

Leonard nodded again, then looked at the valley below, "I could see how looking at the world from up here, would make you look at things differently."

Penny nodded, "It is the highest place in the county and it is on my dad's land, so I could keep it to myself. Honey, I promised myself that the only person I would tell about this place was my partner in life, the man I truly loved." She looked deeply into Leonard's eyes and moved closer to him.

Leonard saw how serious she was and it caused his heart to skip a beat as he realized what she just told him. He moved towards her and their lips met halfway between for a kiss that could only be described as special, but it lasted for too short a time before Penny pulled away, to look at him again. Her breathing was heavy and the flushed expression on her face telling Leonard there was something else she wanted to tell him, something very important.

Penny stood up. "Honey, I brought guys up here before, but never told them about this place and never made out with them here. This place is special to me and I only wanted to make love here with my love….you." Penny and Leonard had taken their boots off when they got on the blanket, so now Penny unbuttoned her shirt, tossing it aside, then unbuttoned her jeans letting them fall down her legs and stepped out of them, her bra and panties coming off a couple seconds later.

Leonard noticed her stripping, but was too caught up in her eyes, the way she looked at him was amazing, pure love in her eyes and a determination that was hard to describe. It actually took him a couple seconds to realize his beautiful wife was standing there nude in front of him, and he only got out her name 'Penny' before he knelt next to him, then started to gently kissed him while she removed his clothes. She soon stripped him and then brought him up to kneel in front of her, like she was kneeling in front of him

Penny swallowed, obviously this was very emotional for her, "Leonard, I love you with all my heart and I give my heart and soul to you. I will love you forever, you are my friend, my husband and my lover and always will be." Penny was breathing heavily, staring into his eyes.

Leonard stared back at her, "Penny, I love you with all my heart and you have had my heart and soul for years already. There will never be a time I will not love you, and I promise to never make you regret loving me." Leonard watched as a tear fell down Penny's cheek, just before she threw herself at him, holding him so tight he almost couldn't breathe, but then he was probably holding her that tight too.

Their hug lasted a long while but when they let go of each other, to bring their lips together, their mouths crushed against each other like this was their first or last time together. The next hour was something Leonard couldn't explain and wouldn't to any human being, it was definitely not sex, it was pure love, and they both seemed to have joined in a way that no wedding ceremony or marriage license could ever equal. Afterwards they held each other, both of them wrapped in each others arms, with the blanket pulled over them, basking in a new feeling of being joined permanently, it felt incredibly intimate to both of them. It was several hours after they first arrived, they finally left the hill and slowly made their way back to the farm, that evening not saying much to each other, their eyes doing all the talking, and never letting go of each other.

That night, as Wyatt and Meryl got ready for bed, Wyatt asked a question that had been bothering him all night. "Honey, is something up with Penny and Leonard, they were awful quiet tonight."

Meryl smiled and nodded. "I believe you daughter branded Leonard, he is now hers forever."

"Branded! She didn't hurt him did she?"

Meryl giggled, "God you men! Honey she took him to her hill and they were up there all afternoon." Meryl winked at him.

Wyatt thought for a couple of seconds and smiled. "Good, that is really good. He is a good man and they deserve each other."

Meryl just nodded and smiled.

-TIN MAN-TIN MAN-TIN MAN-TIN MAN-TIN MAN-TIN MAN-

It was the next day that Detective Carl Kripke walked down the halls, of one of the many science buildings at Cal Tech, being lead by his cousin Barry, to the materials science department. They were going to Dr Hogan's office to talk to him, he wasn't a suspect because Carl found out he was still in bed, recovering from his heart surgery, when the CheeseCake Factory event happened, but maybe he still knew something, that Carl could use. Carl loved questioning people, he loved the intimidation he would use to get them to spill their deepest secrets and he knew this old man would tell him everything he knew. So it was with some anger when the department clerk told Carl and Barry that Hogan was in a classified section of the university working on something and that Carl's badge or the authority of LAPD would allow his entrance to see Hogan, he would have to get Department of Defense clearance.

Carl fumed all the way out the building, he would go to Hogan's home if he had to, this was not over as far as he was concerned. However, Barry wasn't done really done helping him, he now took his cousin over to the Physics building, because Barry knew about Hofstadter's work with Hogan and Cooper was Hofstadter's roommate. It was only 20 minutes later when Carl met Dr Sheldon Lee Cooper and five minutes after that, that Dr Cooper started complaining about Dr Hofstadter and telling Carl what a disappointment Hofstadter was to Cooper, especially something about a roommate agreement that Carl couldn't understand. It took about another 30 minutes to get Dr Cooper on track, but after that, Detective Kripke found out that Dr Hofstadter was now married to one of the waitresses from that night at the CheeseCake Factory. This gave Carl another lead, however just like Hogan, Hofstadter was suddenly not available, Cooper telling Carl that Hofstadter was recovering from some accident, that's origin was unknown by Cooper or his friends.

Detective Kripke went back to his desk and spent the afternoon going over the reports and interviews from the hostages at the CheeseCake Factory until he found the information and statement from Hofstadter's now wife Penny. What was very interesting was the part about the mysterious thing stopping to look at her before it left with the criminals, Carl now wondered if there was a man in the thing and did that man actually know her. Cooper said Hofstadter worked with Hogan on a new bullet proof material and now Carl knew it was tied to some Government project, plus Hofstadter's girlfriend was there as a hostage. Carl flipped through a few more statements, they all said the criminals shot a lot at the thing and it did nothing, so it was bulletproof. This was a lot of information and there was only one person that tied it all together, Hofstadter, he seemed to be the link between it all. Carl needed to talk to Hogan, he looked at the clock, realizing it was quitting time, so he decided to eat dinner and then visit Hogan at home.