The Coffee Shop Pt. 04

"Sure thing, lover," I replied as I got busy. In a few minutes the two of us had the table set and were ready to chow down on the hot and hearty breakfast that Andy had cooked up for us. I noted that Andy's shirt wasn't one of those pull over knit shirts with a short three button placket. This shirt had a full length placket with the usual five or six buttons down the front.

"You know, I was hoping to fix you breakfast this morning," I said to Andy as I speared a few pieces of bacon from the plate in the center of the table and deposited them beside the pancakes on my plate. I grabbed the squeeze bottle of maple syrup and poured some of that heavenly liquid on my pancakes as I continued talking. "I thought it would be a nice way to thank you for last night."

"I had the same idea," Andy said as he grinned at me with cheeks stuffed full of pancakes. "I just beat you to the punch. Besides, I'm a better cook."

"That you are," I agreed in between mouthfuls of the wonderful warm blueberry pancakes with maple syrup. "You've outdone yourself, Andy," I complimented him as I crunched the bacon and savored its salty crisp texture. (My bacon always comes out black, burned beyond recognition.)

I looked up from my plateful of food and gazed adoringly at Andy, as my tongue savored the taste of his pancakes. Suddenly I realized that Andy was as well scrubbed and freshly shaved as I was. "How in the world did you manage to take a shower or a bath or whatever, while I was hogging the shower?" I asked in a genuinely perplexed voice.

"I used the shower down in the basement," Andy answered. "Apparently, there is a half bathroom down there in the extra bedroom. I learned how to shower 'double time' back in my cadet days, so I was finished long before you were. I figured I'd make good use of my free time and get an early start on making breakfast."

"And here I thought you were just another pretty face," I joked, after taking a long draft of orange juice from my glass.

"Yes, there is a brain behind these killer buns," Andy joked back.

"Enough! You win!" I chuckled as a few bits of food flew out of my mouth. "All I ask is that you let me finish my breakfast in peace, before I wind up choking on something."

"No problem. I know CPR and the Heimlich maneuver," Andy said with a smile as he nodded his head while continuing to wolf down his food. The rest of our breakfast was quiet as we devoured the food in front of us. Well, to be honest, I ate my breakfast, and Andy devoured his. Having been through the RMCP training program Andy was afflicted with "Mounties Eating Disorder", a common result of the six months of mess hall meals that conditioned him to eat fast and talk little at mealtimes. Often I had to remind him to slow down when we were out dining in a restaurant. We topped off our late breakfast with a couple of cups of coffee, and some idle chatter about how we would spend the day. I didn't have any clear idea of what I wanted to do, and neither did Andy. We did agree on one thing, though, we did not want to spend the afternoon inside. A swim in the pool would have been nice, but we did not have any bathing suits with us, and skinny dipping during the afternoon didn't seem very palatable to us. So we went out for a drive. The fresh air we decided would do us good. Before we left I did change into some clothes. A purple cowboy shit, with light blue jeans, a black belt, black cowboy boots and my black cowboy hat, is what I decided to wear.

We wound up driving back into the city. As I said before it was a short drive, only about thirty minutes so this did not annoy or irritate either of us. We spent the afternoon walking through the natural history museum, located west of the downtown area. I hadn't been there in years, and Andy had ever been there period. So it was a new and interesting experience for both of us. We enjoyed ourselves and had a lot of fun. We also learned a lot too. Best of all, though, is that because it was a Sunday there were no scheduled tours or groups of tourists nosily parading through the building and around the displays. We could take our time. This gave us an opportunity to appreciate the time and effort that went in to creating many of these displays. I still shudder when I think of the 'wall of snakes' that we saw. Sure they were garter snakes (which are non-poisonous), and yes they were behind a glass wall, and of course they were not alive. Nevertheless, I couldn't help but shudder at the sight of what looked to be hundreds, if not thousands, of snakes intertwined in a huge mass, just inches from my face. It gave me the willies.

The other display that I remembered was that of the cougar. There was a full grown stuffed and mounted adult specimen. (Yeah, like it was necessary to mention that this was a stuffed and mounted cat? It's not like they would have had a live cat in the display after all. Sometimes I can't help but state the obvious.) What was interesting is the chills that ran up and down my back when I crouched down and looked that the cat head on. I felt like the cat was walking up to me, or stalking me. It was eerie, but at the same time kind of thrilling.

I am sure the more adventuresome (ahemhorny) readers out there are wondering to themselves why we spent so many hours in a stuffy old museum, when we could have spent those hours more productively at the country house, in bed. We did discuss that very point as a matter of fact, and we decided to save that particular event for the evening. We thought waiting a few hours would make our lovemaking all the more pleasurable. Good things should never be rushed. They should be savored and enjoyed to the fullest. Anticipation, we knew, would add a dash of spice to our evening. Besides, we were supposed to be exploring all the aspects of this relationship, not just our bodies. Being able to spend time together doing something that didn't involve sex, hypnosis, or sharing profound thoughts, was essential to our relationship too. It was wonderful to just 'be myself' with Andy, in public and to have a simple conversation about the exhibits in the museum.

Afterward, while sitting in a street side café, we debated the controversy about caffeine in coffee and what health risks it posses. Andy was a bit more health conscious than I was (Can you say 'gym rat'?), thus he expressed some concern about my love of coffee. We agreed to disagree on that point, and see where it went. After only six months together I wasn't about to make any changes in my life style just to suit him. I was pleased when he didn't harp on the subject. If he had not let subject drop, I would have become concerned, since that is one of the first signs of a controlling and manipulative personality. The afternoon passed pleasantly, and we decided to start the drive back to the country house, stopping on the way at a family restaurant for dinner. Dinning at a restaurant was my idea. Andy didn't mind the idea of cooking dinner for us when we got back to the house, but I felt he'd done enough cooking for one day.

We arrived back at the country house just after 6 PM. We walked about the grounds a little to stretch our legs from the drive. Our aimless wandering eventually lead us to the kitchen door, and we decided at that point it was time to head back inside. We puttered about the kitchen a bit, making a couple of cups of tea, that we planned to spend slipping in the living room for a while. We were in no rush to head off to the bedroom. We'd go there when the mood was right. With coffee mugs in hand (even if they did contain tea), we headed off to the living room.

The living room was dim, but fortunately there was enough light coming from the kitchen for us to make our way to the sofa and put our mugs and saucers down on the coffee table, without banging our shins on any of the furniture.

"I don't suppose you'd consider offering me a cup of tea as well?" Asked a voiced out of the darkness.

My heart skipped a beat, as a flash of fear tore through my mind at the sound of that strange voice. Suddenly light flooded the living room as one of the lamps was turned on. The light got brighter as the lamp was turned to its highest setting. I blinked my eyes a few time to adjust to the sudden brightness and looked in the direction where the voice had come from.

Seated in the far overstuffed chair of the living room was a man, the obvious source of the strange voice. As he sat there looking at Andy and me, I noticed that his legs were crossed one over the other, in a casual almost informal matter which was a stark contrast to the way he was dressed. This man, whomever he was, appeared to be wearing an expensive looking dark blue double breasted pinstripe suit. A flashy bright red tie in front of a dazzlingly white shirt complimented the suit. The shoes on his feet were a polished black leather of some kind and looked to be very expensive. He looked like a lawyer, a very successful lawyer. Suddenly I had a bad feeling about this, and not just because this guy looked like a lawyer. I didn't have to be physic to know that this man's sudden appearance wasn't an indication of good news. What it meant I had no idea, and that thought got me to worrying.

Since this man was sitting down it was rather difficult to estimate his height or his build. I would have guessed him at maybe five feet eight inches tall, and somewhat on the slim side. So I would have guessed his weight at somewhere around one hundred and fifty five pounds at the most. He did not look physically imposing, but he had an air of confidence that seemed to surround him. I think it was his eyes. They were a cold battleship gray, and had a harsh steely look to them. Those eyes matched the rest of his thin face perfectly. An elegant closely trimmed mustache of black hair rested between the thin sharp nose and the thin upper lip of this man. The rest of his face was clean shaven, without so much as a suggestion of five o'clock shadow on his face. His bottom lip was only marginally thicker than his upper lip which gave the impression that his man was always pressing his lips together slightly in annoyance or frustration. It was a most unfriendly expression. His black hair was neatly trimmed, as one might expect, and cropped closely to his head. His hairline was receding and had been for some time. There was a bald spot on his head which covered the front half of his head, and probably went down part of the way down the back of his head too. It was measure of his self assurance that he did not attempt to hide this area of pink flesh with a toupee or any other social aid. This was a man who was sure of himself. "Definitely looks like a lawyer," I thought to myself as I finished looking the man over. I added it all up in my mind and it spelled out one word. Dangerous.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Andy barked out at the man, distracting me from my worries. Andy wasn't angry. He was furious! I had never heard such anger and heat in his voice before. I looked over at him, and my jaw dropped open at what I saw. Andy's face was flushed a bright red as he struggled to keep his anger in check. His eyes blazed with anger. He held his body stiffly erect as if he were a hair's breath away from launching himself at the man sitting in the chair in front of us. I gulped at him, in spite of myself. I'd always seen the kind gentle compassionate side of Andy. Sure I'd seen Andy upset before, but this was different, very different. Andy looked like he was getting ready to go into battle. I wasn't scared of him, since I knew his anger wasn't directed at me. I was dumbfounded, pure and simple.

"All in good time," the man answered Andy. "The least you could do Constable Anderson, is to make the introductions." This man spoke calmly as if he had all the time in world. His voice oozed with self-assurance. Clearly he was in control of this situation and he knew it.

"Paul Walton, it is my displeasure to acquaint you with Todd Herbertson," Andy said between clenched teeth. Clearly he was expending a tremendous effort to keep his temper in check.

"Pleased to meet you, Mr., Walton," Todd said to me with a grin so calculating and evil that I was surprised horns and a tail did not appear in that instant.

"I'm sorry, but the feeling is not at all mutual," I responded coolly. It was true that I did not know this man from Adam, however it was clear that Andy had dealt with Todd before. Andy disliked him, and that was enough for me. Andy continued to do an admirable job of keeping his temper in check, yet his loathing for Todd was very apparent. If looks could kill, Mr. Herbertson would have been lying on the floor suffering his final death agonies.

'Now, now, don't be doing that," Todd addressed me in condescending tone that grated on my nerves. The smile on his face had faded to a small smirk. "You and I have never met, Mr. Walton. It is presumptuous of you to be jumping to conclusions about me. Why I haven't even informed you as to why I have chosen to grace you with my presence this evening."

"Very true," I conceded, keeping my voice cool and calm, and my face as neutral as I could. "However you remain an uninvited guest, who has seen fit to inflict his unwanted presence upon us this evening. There is little that you can do, in my opinion, to remedy the situation, or to make amends."

"Who said anything about making amends?" Todd asked and that evil grin flashed back on his face. "But I have wasted enough time on you. It is Constable Andrews whom I came to talk with. We have business."

"No, we don't," Andy said in a icy voice. "How many times to I have to keep telling you 'no'?"

"I think I have something here that just might change your mind, Constable," Todd said as he reached down and grabbed something from the side of the chair he was sitting in. A leather briefcase emerged from the shadow of the chair. Todd placed the briefcase on the coffee table in front of him. He looked up at us and with glee he opened the briefcase.

The briefcase was opened away from us and thus the top concealed whatever it was that the briefcase contained. I half expected Todd to pull out a gun, except that he didn't need to threaten us. It would have been out of character for such a an arrogant man to have needed to stoop to such a mundane device. Todd suddenly spun the briefcase about so that it was facing towards us and we could clearly see the inside.

The blood drained from my face, as I gazed upon the objects revealed. It took me a few minutes to comprehend what I was looking at. It was a pile of photographs. Yes, I understood that easily enough. It was the subject matter of the photograph that was such a shock to me. It was a photograph of Andy and me. Andy and me, standing on the pool deck, in our suits. With numb fingers I picked up the pile of photographs and started to look through them. I wasn't all that surprised to see that our entire adventure on the pool deck and in the pool had been well documented. As the initial shock wore off, I began to admire the quality of the photography. Professional work, all right. I handed the photographs to Andy.

He took them from my hands and briefly flipped through them. He handed them back to me, without saying a word. I replaced the photographs in the briefcase and looked up at Andy. The anger on his face was still there, but now mixed with it was fear and frustration. Andy's body sagged as he let go of his anger and tried to focus on the problem that had suddenly shown up on our doorstep.

"Blackmail" I said, as I let out a soft sigh. It was statement not a question.

"Blackmail is such an ugly word," Todd responded smiling with glee. "Let's just call it a vicious threat." He spoke with such cheerfulness that I wanted to spit on him. (I'm being kind when I say that. I was picturing Todd stripped down to his waist, bent over a chair, screaming in pain as he was being whipped with a cat-o'-nine-tails. Three guesses who was doing the whipping. Here's a clue. It wasn't Andy. With some reluctance, I banished the image from my mind and focused on the problem at hand.)

"I take it that this is somehow related to the business that you were alluding to earlier," I surmised. I didn't know what this was about yet, but I was sure that I'd find out soon enough. I took little comfort from that thought.

"You're fast on the draw, cowboy," Todd remarked sarcastically to me, as he turned and looked at Andy.

"No," Andy replied to the unspoken question, but his voice was shaky.

""Hold on just a sec, Andy," I said as I interrupted him before he could continue speaking.. Turning my attention to Todd I questioned him. "Are you wired?"

"What?" Todd replied, surprised at my question.

"Are you recording this conversation?" I asked rephrasing my question to be sure he understood what I was suggesting.

"Of course not," Todd replied. "This conversation is not going to leave this room."

"Then you won't have any objection to letting Andy check that you are not carrying any hidden recording devices, or microphones, will you?" I asked him as I pushed my point home. The experience of Chuck and Andy bugging my apartment, had taught me just how easy it could be to make a clandestine recording. Already I was cogitating how I might use my powers to evade this trap of Todd's. The problem was I didn't want any type of evidence left behind of me using my powers. I wanted to keep a lid on this and not have any loose ends to have to go and tie off later. Of course that was assuming that my powers even worked on Todd in the first place.

"Clever. You're smarter than I thought," Todd said to me, mildly surprised.

"Give me some credit, Todd," I fumed at him as I bit back the stinging retort that was on my tongue. "It doesn't take a lot of brains to realize that if you managed to arrange a secret photography session, that you might have a few other tricks up your sleeve."

I waved Andy over towards Todd. As Andy approached him, Todd stood up and moved away from the chair, so that Andy would have easy access to search Todd's entire body. As Andy was an experienced RCMP constable, he would know exactly what to look for, and what to check. I waited as patiently as I could while Andy did a body search of Todd Herbertson. Andy took his time, and was very careful and thorough. He started the search with the inside of Todd's shoes. After that Andy nearly tore Todd's briefcase apart as he checked it for any hidden equipment.

I turned and stared at the far living room wall, while Andy continued with his search, thus I can't give you a blow by blow description of what happened. I had more important things to think about, and looking at Andy searching Todd would prove to be too much of a distraction. I had plenty of questions, but I was damn short on answers. First and foremost, though was to see if my powers would even work on Todd. For all I knew he might be naturally immune like Andy, which would make getting out of this trap all the more difficult. I took a couple of deep relaxing breaths and let my mind approach the problem slowly step by step.

First would be a simple test to see if Todd responded to one of my commands. If that failed I would have to fall back on using a compulsion field and regular hypnosis. My recent encounter with Cody and his buddies had turned out to be a lot more that just fun. The experience had taught me skills that just might let Andy and I walk away from all of this. The key was subtly. Todd was most likely a lawyer, and lawyers are very good at manipulating people. It follows then, that they are also keen on detecting when someone is trying to manipulate them. Since this is exactly what I had in mind, I would have to be very, very careful.

My mind made up, and with at least the outline of a plan in hand, I kept my back to Andy and Todd, and waited for the inspection to finish. While I waited I gathered up my powers and sent them out behind me, doing a scan in the general area of Andy and Todd. As expected Andy's mind showed up on my mental radar as a fuzzy and indistinct blip, from which I could not detect any type of emotions. Todd was different. He showed up as a solid blip, which suggested that he wasn't immune to my powers, but at the same time I couldn't seem to pick up much in the way of emotions from him either. This suggested that he might be gifted and be shielding his mind from me. It was difficult to be certain of much of anything with only a passive scan. (By the way, my experience to date had shown me that regardless of whether or not they were gifted, other people always showed up on my mental radar as blips. Andy was the only exception to this, which I had ever encountered. I assumed that his immunity to my super hypnosis powers is what caused him to appear as a fuzzy blip on my mental radar.)