The Harts make the half hour drive and finally arrive at Carolyn's modest size bungalow. As a single middle aged woman, it was the perfect size for her.
The house next door to hers was buzzing about with activity. It looked to be a party of some sort.
Jonathan notices the home is in need of a few repairs and makes a mental note to see if he could contribute to help her in any way.
Carolyn is strong willed and will probably decline his offer, but it doesn't hurt to try.
After all, if it wasn't for her being alongside Jennifer, the outcome could have been much worse.
He white knuckles the steering wheel just thinking about the situation all over again.
" Darling?" Jennifer gently squeezes his shoulder.
" Hmm? What?" Jonathan slows the car down, pulling towards the curb.
" Are you alright?" Jennifer asks him, studying his eyes, worried.
Jonathan grasps her face in his hands gently. Jennifer can see his eyes turning glassy, filling with tears.
" I was just thinking. If Carolyn hadn't been there. I-I would have lost you both." Jonathan swallows.
Jennifer lovingly strokes his face, her eyes now welling with tears. " Oh darling. We're here. We're here and we are fine. Both of us."
She moves her hand to rest on her middle. Jonathan puts his hand on top and Jennifer rests her forehead on his chest.
Jonathan keeps Jennifer close, resting his chin on her head, breathing in the comforting aroma of her shampoo. Having her in his arms at that moment brings a feeling of peace over him.
The two spend a moment in each other's embrace before heading inside.
As they walk up the driveway hand in hand, Jonathan peers into an unmarked car and judging by the police radio he could see, he figures it's Detective Monroe.
They make their way to the door and one of Carolyn's boys opens the door.
He greets Jonathan and Jennifer rather cooly, upset that his mother got hurt and thinking it was Jennifer's fault.
" Hi. Is Carolyn in? I'm Jennifer and this is my husband, Jonathan." Jennifer asks.
The boy doesn't reply, instead, he just stares them up and down.
" She's with the detective in the kitchen. It's down the hall." James, her youngest son replies, pointing down the narrow hall.
" Thank you." Jonathan replies, matching his tone, unamused by his attitude.
" Darling." Jennifer eyes him, warning him to watch his tone. He nods in agreement, not really liking the boy's attitude, especially around his wife.
He calms for the sake of not upsetting her. Keeping his hand on her back he follows her.
They head for the kitchen and find Carolyn sitting up, resting her casted arm on the table and her wrapped leg on the chair.
The after effects of the accident yesterday were evident on Carolyn as much as it was on Jennifer.
Carolyn softly smiles at her friend, as the detective nods towards the couple.
" Hello. You must be Mr and Mrs. Hart." he stands up, offering his seat to Jennifer.
The couple nods. Jennifer shakes his hand before sitting down.
" How are you feeling?" Carolyn asks, leaning over the table to speak to her friend.
"I'll be fine. Are you alright? I'm sorry about everything." Jennifer apologizes.
" Don't apologize. If I'm being honest, that's the most fun I've had since my early reporting days. I do miss it." Carolyn winked.
" I think I've had enough fun to last me a lifetime." Jennifer chides.
" Detective? Do you know anything about who caused the explosion or who killed Joe and Charlie?" Jonathan asks, his tone of concern evident that whoever did this is still out there.
Detective Monore shook his head, setting down his notepad as he spoke.
" Your friend here was telling me you think Senator Derrick Johnston is behind this? That is a very bold claim. You do know his status and rapport with the department here?" the detective asks, a bit skeptical about this information.
Jennifer nods fervently, mindful of getting worked up. " Yes. I do. We have evidence that would pin him to a money laundering scheme that is tied to the wildlife foundation and the man working there named Richard Markston. I don't know if anything was damaged from that explosion, but everything we had the senator pinned for was on Charlie's desk. I was going there to check on him, seeing as though I hadn't heard from him. That's when Carolyn and I found him and Joe dead in Charlie's office."
Jennifer shudders as does Carolyn as they think about the site before them at the office the day prior.
It was terrible and Jennifer still felt awful that Carolyn had to witness all of that.
Jonathan gently grabs his wife's hand and squeezes it gently for support.
" Is the Wildlife Center a place you always go?" Monroe asks.
Jennifer nods. " My husband and I are donors there. I also do volunteer work with them. Animals are a passion of mine." Jennifer replies as the detective scribbles down some notes.
" Before you got here, your friend said that you two saw a pair of men working? Is that correct, Mrs. Hart?" the detective asks as he continues to write.
Jennifer nods. She shuts her eyes trying to recall the details.
" Yes. I assumed by the items they had, it was related to the gala. There were carpets and other items that you'd see for a party. One of the men was larger, bald, and tall. The other was shorter, and muscular. Both had brown hair. The larger man had a beard," she pauses a beat before continuing. " The last thing I recall was seeing them leave once we found the bodies and then the explosion happened and I don't remember anything after that until I woke up in the hospital."
The detective nods his head as he's able to corroborate the details. " Thank you. Our office didn't recover any documents. Do you have any in your possession that could help us?"
Jennifer sighs and shakes her head.
" Jen! Wait. What about your desk at the school?" Carolyn snaps her fingers, recalling the important detail.
Jennifer snaps her head up. " Wait! You're right. I did have the piece I was working on with some of the information in my desk at the school."
" I'll send an officer to the school to see if we can get in and retrieve those documents." Monroe replies.
" For now, we are done with questioning unless we find more information. I'd suggest neither of you leave town." the detective cautions.
Jennifer and Carolyn nod in agreement.
The two sit for a second in silence as Jonathan rubs Jennifer's arm with his free hand.
" Mom, why don't you ask the Harts to leave? They should follow the detective's que." James smugly replies.
Jennifer goes to stand. She could feel her presence wasn't wanted. She could sympathize with Carolyn's son.
Carolyn looks at her friends before rolling her eyes.
" Jen, Jonathan, don't leave. James! Will you stop? This isn't their fault. I got involved with the situation. We will talk later." She sternly responds to her son.
" He's right. I am sorry. It is my fault." Jennifer sighs heavily.
" No, it isn't." Carolyn reassures her.
Once James leaves the room, Carolyn ushers the Harts to her back deck.
The three sit in the fresh air.
" I'm glad that detective is gone. From the moment he walked into the house, I couldn't put my finger on it, but something seemed off." Carolyn speaks up.
" You noticed it too?" Jonathan asks, rubbing his hand across his jaw. Jennifer nods her head in agreement.
" Yes, there was something off about him." Jennifer says pensively.
Carolyn nods. " He was asking all kinds of questions before you arrived. Mainly about you, Jennifer."
" Me?" Jennifer questions.
Jonathan stiffened as heard this, casting a glance over towards Carolyn.
Carolyn nods. " I was unsure of where his line of questioning was going, but I'd be careful what you tell him."
" You don't think the Senator has friends in the police department, do you, darling?" Jennifer asks.
" I don't know." Jonathan replies honestly. What Carolyn said had unnerved him.
After a brief pause in conversation, Jennifer speaks up.
" How much trouble could I be in for lying to the police?" Jennifer asks, her hands fumbling with her jacket.
" What do you mean?" Jonathan asks, curiously, raising a brow.
" Those files they asked me about. They aren't at the school." she says, meeting her husband's questioning gaze.
" They aren't? Where are they?" he asks, unsure of where she was going with this.
She holds up her hand, signaling for him to calm down.
" They are at my editor's office. Safely tucked away in the desk." she replies, pausing before continuing.
" I caught on to his behavior. Detective Monroe wasn't interested in this case at all. It seems he wanted more information about my personal life than anything having to do with the Senator, especially with the wildlife center." Jennifer says as she tucks a strand of auburn hair behind her ear.
" You sneaky girl." Carolyn jokes as her mouth curves upwards into a smile. Jennifer chuckles a bit. Jonathan on the other hand doesn't find any of this amusing. He fears they are all involved in a dangerous game of cat versus mouse.
Right now, he wasn't sure of who they could trust at the moment.
He made a mental note to call up one of his friends while Detective Monroe's name was fresh on his mind.
" I think the files should be safe there." Jennifer replies.
Jonathan readily agrees.
" Isn't that gala coming up or have they postponed it?" Carolyn asks.
" Apparently it's still on for tonight, with a change in venue." Jonathan remarks, hoping his wife isn't still keen on going, and this time there would be an added tribute for the loss of the director over the center.
Carolyn eyes her friend, searching her eyes, she can see the wheels turning.
" I thought about going, but Senator Johnston thinks we are both dead. Although, It would be in poor taste to sit out a party we've already made reservations to attend." Jennifer remarks, thinking about the spying she could do while at the party.
" It would be a horrible idea!" Carolyn exclaims looking at Jonathan, hoping he'll interject.
" Jennifer, be reasonable. We can't go. Not in your condition." he says firmly towards his wife.
Carolyn looks between the two for a moment. " Am I missing something?" she asks.
Jonathan grabs Jennifer's hand in his. She sheepishly looks towards her friend. " We're going to have a baby. I'm pregnant."
" What? Jennifer! You're kidding!" Carolyn stands from her chair and hugs her friends tightly.
" They told me at the hospital. We just went to visit my doctor to confirm it and she did. We are 11 weeks along. Clearly it was much more than a simple case of fatigue." she replies, her hazel eyes sparkling a little.
" Thank God the baby is alright. Especially after all that man put you through." Carolyn replies, referring to their little accident a few days prior.
" Our little one is strong. Like their mother." Jonathan beams proudly as his wife blushes.
The momentary shift in conversation to this unexpected news made things feel lighter.
" Which is why I don't want her near the Senator." Jonathan rubs the back of his neck, feeling an overwhelming sense of weariness, as he looks towards his wife.
If anything happened to her, he couldn't promise he wouldn't murder the guy with his own bare hands.
" I'm sure there are other ways we can keep tabs on what's happening tonight." Carolyn replies.
They leave Carolyn's house and head for home, anxious to get back to Junior and settle at home.
" Jonathan, darling pull over there." Jennifer points to a restaurant. Her attention was drawn to the charter bus with the Cliff View logo on it.
" Are you okay? Are you feeling sick?" Jonathan asks, a look of worry crosses his face.
" No, darling,I'm fine. I see something." she points towards the bus, reassuring her husband.
Jonathan pulls into the parking lot of the restaurant, keeping his distance as he did so.
There were a big group of kids she recognized from the school going into the restaurant, dressed up in sports attire.
" It's Senator Jonhston." Jennifer points him out after a few moments.
He's laughing along with the coach and assistant coach as the kids all pile into a restaurant.
" The kids had a football game this afternoon." Jennifer states, recalling the schedule.
" It looks like the Senator is trying to buy himself some votes. He doesn't look the least bit phased for someone that just killed two people." Jonathan observes, not terribly impressed by the man as he speaks to some of the parents that had come off the bus as well.
Even from this distance, he made Jonathan's skin crawl.
He looked over at his wife who was staring intently out of their car window, with a hand firmly clasped to her middle. He pulled her away from the window.
" He thinks you're dead, remember?" Jonathan says, shaking her from her thoughts.
" I know that. Look at him. He looks as smug as ever." Jennifer replies, wearily, swallowing hard, her gaze meeting her husband's.
" He has no idea what's coming to him." Jonathan remarks as he puts the car in drive.
They hurry along the busy streets. Jennifer has her eyes closed, resting as he zips through the roads towards their home, feeling a little sick from the drive.
Jonathan worries as he approaches their home. He sees a figure pacing back and forth and realizes it's Macy.
" Darling. Wake up." Jonathan says as he rubs his hand on Jennifer's arm.
" Hmm?" she asks, sitting up.
" Look. Isn't that one of your students? Macy?" Jonathan points her out.
Jennifer, yawns, fully awake now as she sees the girl pacing in front of their house.
" It is. I wonder what she wants?" Jennifer asks, wondering how she got all the way to her home.
TBC….