Keeper Ch. 04

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Ardella
Ardella
213 Followers

John watched her for another moment before lowering the hood and running his fingers over the edge, looking closely. Blue came to stand beside him, joining in the inspection. Not a mark to be seen on the painted metal, other than a little rust. She stepped back again, crossing her arms.

"I locked it." She said again, feeling irrationally stubborn and defensive.

"I know you did. I saw you unlock before I went to the truck." He shut the hood completely and looked at her again before crouching down, and before she knew it he was on his back, reaching under the car while he slid and inched his way under on the snow-packed gravel. After a pause the hood popped open again.

John stood and dusted the snow off his backside, shrugging the stuff off the back of his coat. "There's a cable. All you have to do is pull on it." He explained grimly. "A lot less noticeable than trying to jimmy the hood open."

Feeling a little dazed, she watched as he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and moved his thumb over the screen.

"What are you doing?"

"Calling the police." He looked at her as if the question had been completely illogical.

Blue clamped her mouth shut, the realization beginning to sink in that this was a police matter. But as it turned out, calling the police wasn't necessary. Blue and John turned at the sound of crunching tires, as a black and white squad car pulled into the parking lot.

~~~~~

John tucked his cell phone back into his pocket. Another favor asked of Abby, though this time a personal one. He knew she would be discreet, looking into this Jackson Woods guy through her own impressive channels. He didn't want her to catch any crap from Sol about using INDIGO resources and had gotten her promise that she would be careful about it before letting her in on what he wanted.

Digging his hands deeper into his coat pockets, he let out a pent up breath and tried to relax, settling back against the seat, trying to tamp down on some of the anger at the situation before Blue came back to the truck.

Looking out the windshield at the car parked next to the Chaplin police cruiser, he could make out the shadowed outline of Blue's head as she talked to the detective that had come rolling in. After it was discovered that Blue's car was not the only vehicle that had been tampered with, and that all the cars involved were owned by women that had been at the bar last night, Detective Debra Banks, a no nonsense woman with ebony skin and a direct manner, had been called in.

The first police on the scene would only allow that the vehicle tamperings were just a case of drunken New Years Eve hi-jinks, and they had asked only the rudimentary questions of Blue and one other woman that had arrived along with the police cruiser. But with Detective Banks' professional thoroughness, it hadn't taken long at all for Jackson Woods' name to come up, along with the revelation that Blue had been receiving some odd text messages and phone calls.

And now Blue was discussing the details with the detective in private while John waited. The engine tampering incident could be random. But it could have been someone targeting lone women, someone with something more sinister than vandalizing in mind. John knew that, and he knew that Detective Banks would not discount it.

John also knew that the car vandalism, Blue's odd texts, and Jackson Woods may all be totally unrelated to each other. Most likely were, in fact. But that hadn't stopped him from calling Abby and asking her for the favor, and though he guessed Blue might think he was overstepping his bounds, he refused to feel any guilt over it. Even if it had nothing to do with the car, if anyone... anyone... was threatening Blue's safety and peace of mind, then by damn he was going to know about it.

He had been lucky enough to overhear her mention Woods' name, but he wished he had the number that had been annoying her. He could have had Abby look into that too. Unless he could somehow sneak a peek at her phone while she wasn't looking- and that wasn't likely- he would just have to trust the police to track the number. If they thought it was important enough... which they may not. John blew out a frustrated breath, knowing also that it was most likely the caller was using a burner phone anyhow... a disposable cell phone. Just the thing that someone with something to hide could use.

Taking another deep breath and slowly releasing it, he eased his hands out of the tight fists that they had balled into. Every synapse in his brain was screaming PROTECT! PROTECT! PROTECT! but he knew he had to get a grip, to settle the hell down, or he was going to scare Blue away before he even had a chance with her.

He watched as Blue got out of Detective Banks' car, his eyes tracking her as she approached. He watched her so intently that he saw her shiver even before she opened the door.

"Abe, down." he commanded quietly, motioning for the dog to move down to the floorboard as Blue lifted herself up into the cab. "Scoot over." he told her, just as quietly.

She looked at him for a moment, her eyes somber, then slid over on the bench seat until she was nearly touching him, making room for Abe to jump back up on the seat next to the window.

Reaching over to turn the heat up another notch made John's arm brush against hers, and Blue fought the urge to lean into him when he sat back. She had caught a faint scent of that leather-musk-vanilla scent again. The smell that made her mouth water. She could feel him watching her, but continued to stare out the front windshield as Detective Banks got out of her car and strode over to one of the other vandalized cars where an officer was waiting.

Feeling the brush of fingers against hers, she looked down as John closed his hand around hers, then lifted it up to his mouth. After brushing his lips across the back of her fingers, he settled their hands down onto his thigh, giving a gentle squeeze. Just that, no words spoken, and Blue felt... safe.

"Well!" She tipped her head back and huffed out a breath. "That was more excitement than I really wanted." Sitting up and squaring her shoulders, she would have pulled her hand from John's, to indicate she didn't need to be coddled, but the thing was, she didn't want to let go. Luckily, he gave no indication of wanting to let go either.

"Some types of excitement are over-rated." John commented wryly. "So, what now?"

"Lee called while I was talking to Detective Banks." John's question reminded her. "They know each other, even worked together a couple of times. He seems happy that she's handling this case. Anyway, since the police aren't done with my car yet, and I'll be leaving tomorrow, Lee has offered to deliver it to the house when he can. He's pretty upset about all this. I think he feels guilty that he had to leave early." Blue shook her head, negating that Lee should feel any kind of guilt at all. "He wanted me to tell you 'thank you', by the way. He's glad you were there to give me a lift home, and that the next beer is on him."

John nodded and lifted a shoulder. "I'm glad I was there too." His fingers tightened a fraction more, his palm warm against hers. Turning her head just enough to look at him, she saw he was still watching her. He looked outwardly calm, relaxed. But there was a heat to his gaze, and even though his lids were part way lowered, his lashes hiding most of those topaz eyes, she felt the electricity between them.

Her heart suddenly skittering crazily, Blue waved her free hand to indicate the incapacitated hatchback that sat forlornly several feet away. "So... um... I guess I'll need a ride home."

"Spend the day with me."

Blue's head swiveled back to John. He was smiling. There was cautious hope in that smile, a hope that made Blue's insides melt.

"Okay."

She didn't need to say anything more. His hopeful smile turned into a grin, and Blue found herself smiling happily back.

Ardella
Ardella
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ArdellaArdellaover 11 years agoAuthor
Re: Chapter length

Thanks to all who provided input.

Will certainly try to be quicker... AND have longer chapters. Ha.

Now, if only that pesky 'Time' thing would co-operate.

;)

kiwiplumkiwiplumover 11 years ago
longer chapters

Much prefer longer chapters since you're taking votes.

Love your stories!

Cheers

AnonymousAnonymousover 11 years ago
Chapter length

I love your stories, and got addicted to checking in regularly for The Infiltration. I keep checking back here to see if there are updates. So while I would LOVE longer chapters every day, I would also love to keep up with the story with less wait, even if that means shorter chapters.

Keep up the good work!

AnonymousAnonymousover 11 years ago
I prefer shorter

The suspense kills me! I'd much rather have A: shorter chapters with shorter wait time. Shorter wait time won't mean rushed chapters. Love your work!

AnonymousAnonymousover 11 years ago
Long well written chapters are best

While it is hard to be patient between chapters, a long, well written chapter is far more satisfying than a short one that is rushed out. You spoiled us with the comparatively quick pace of Infiltration's chapter releases, but if the quality of Keeper is to your usual standards, then I can possess myself of a little patience. Keep up the very fine work and Thank You for publishing it here.

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Keeper Ch. 03 Previous Part
Keeper Series Info

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