by Chula Stone
“Take my word for it. My backside is as red as it is possible to be. If it gets any hotter, it will make the whole apartment explode.”
As she said that, she heard a crash. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a flash, but her mind could not perceive what was happening. She couldn’t process the motion of Jeep lifting her and depositing her on the floor with his body on top of hers to protect her.
“What was that?” she shouted over the roar of blood pounding in her ears and more splintering glass.
“The apartment exploding.”
Chapter Two
“I guess I must have spanked too hard, after all.” Jeep was holding Jenny as the firemen sprayed down what was left of her couch.
“I tried to warn you,” she sniffed. How can I laugh at a time like this? My apartment was firebombed!
“And I tried to warn you. Chalk isn’t playing around.”
“I’m beginning to get that impression.”
“Come on. Let’s get you to my car.”
“Can you give me a ride to my parents’ house? It’s not too far from here.” As she absentmindedly rubbed her backside, she looked up at him so was able to catch his self-satisfied smirk.
Handing her his handkerchief, he teased her. “Looks like I spanked the snot out of you, too.”
She wiped her nose, went to hand the handkerchief back to him, and realized what she was doing. Handkerchief. Jeep. Handkerchief. Shoulder, looking for purse. “No purse.” The tears started up again.
“What? Purse?” Confusion replaced the smirk.
“I’d put this dirty handkerchief in my purse, so I could wash it and give it back to you later,” she sobbed, “but I don’t have a purse and I don’t have an apartment to keep it in anyway!”
“Okay, it is my considered professional opinion,” Tobin interrupted at that point, “that when a girl starts crying about her purse, it is time to step in.”
“Permission to manhandle, Mr. Tobin?”
“Permission granted.”
Jeep picked Jenny up in his arms and fell into step beside Tobin. Against the counterpoint of her sputtering and crying, Jeep asked, “Who’s on the apartment?”
“Salk and Pepper. They know the cops best and will clear things with the fire department.”
“Salk and Pepper?” Jenny sniffed. “Sounds like a comedy duo.”
“Well, as a matter of fact, I have heard worse descriptions of…” muttered Jeep before Tobin elbowed him into silence.
“I want to meet them. Are they reliable? Will they take care of things? Can they find my cat?” Jenny wailed.
“Sure, they’ll find your cat. I didn’t know about any cat.” Jeep’s voice sounded surprised, as if wondered how he could have missed such an easy detail.
“He’s been missing for six months, but as long as they are taking care of things…”
“I’ll get you a new cat. Or a dog. Or a penguin, if you’ll just quit crying and get in the car.” Tobin opened the door for them and Jeep placed her gently in the seat.
She watched as they conferred after Jeep shut the car door. She knew she ought to find out what they were saying, but for the life of her, she couldn’t work up the energy to pry even if all that meant was rolling down the window.
Several minutes later, Jeep turned onto the highway and Jenny started to wonder. “I take it you know where my parents live.”
“Of course I do.” Jeep wasn’t much for talking while he drove.
“Then you’ll know you just made a wrong turn. You don’t need to get on the highway to get to Fairview Street from here. When he made no answer, she continued. “So why are we on the highway?”
“Do you really want to draw Chalk to your parents’ house?”
“I never thought of that.”
“Start now, Jenny. Start thinking. It’s about time. Maybe that will be my way to judge. I’ll know you need a spanking when I see you’re not thinking.”
She turned to look at him, her darkest scowl etched into her brows. “No more spanking. That wasn’t appropriate and this isn’t appropriate, either. It’s late and I need a place to stay. My apartment has just been firebombed.” The sobs started again.
He waited until her sobs subsided before he spoke. “Your apartment was firebombed because of my boss. And you are still alive because of my boss. Seeing a pattern here? I think this is Mr. Tobin’s responsibility, so let him handle it. How he’s handling it is through me.”
“Where are you taking me?”
“A safehouse.”
You may keep me safe from the bad guys outside the house, but who’ll keep me safe inside the house? she wondered.
She woke the next morning to find a fresh set of clothes complete with underthings in more or less correct sizes laid out by the bed. Dressing quickly, she followed the scent of coffee to the kitchen, where she found Jeep toweling his hair dry while he stared at the coffee maker. Next to the coffee maker was his extra large mug. Next to his extra large mug was his extra large revolver.
“I locked that door before I went to sleep,” she began.
“Good morning to you, too, Sunshine.”
“Where did the clothes come from and how did they get in my bedroom?”
“Mrs. Abernathy bought them for you and brought them over this morning. They may not be the height of fashion but they don’t smell like smoke, so be grateful.”
“I am grateful, but I mean…and who is Mrs. Abernathy?”
“She’s one of the few people on staff at Sentry Services who doesn’t wear a gun or have to special-order shirts so the collars button.”
“But what does she do?”
“Anything Mr. Tobin says. Pretty much like the rest of us, actually, except more civilized.”
“So what you do isn’t civilized?”
“Not always. But at least I know the difference. Some of the guys, you gotta wonder. Take Salk and Pepper, for example.”
“And aren’t they the ones that were supposed to be taking care of things at my apartment?”
“You let me worry about that.”
“I have to get back there and try to put my life back in order. I can’t just stay here and wait for the good fairy to salvage my possessions. I’ve got to assess the damage, clean up, find out about other vacancies, a hundred other things!”
“Not today, you don’t. And you don’t want another vacancy in that building, anyway. That neighborhood is no place for you.”
“On a substitute teacher’s salary, it’s what I can afford.”
“Mr. Tobin owns some property around town. Maybe he has some vacancies at bargain prices. You never know. But until we catch Chalk, you’ll be staying here.”
“Uh, hello? I have a job. Monday morning, I have to be in a room full of second graders. And that room happens to be across town. At least, I think it’s across town. Where are we?”
“Mr. Tobin has already arranged a leave of absence for you. There were only two weeks left on your sub assignment, anyway.”
“What?”
“He knows some people down at the board of education. It’s all arranged.”
She looked at him, not believing what she was hearing. “This is crazy! He can’t just…you can’t just…”
His smug grin made her want to slap him, but she thought it might lessen the dramatic effect if she had to climb a step ladder to do it. “Wanna bet?”
“What am I supposed to do? Just wait here? How long does it take to catch one…what is Chalk, anyway? A deranged jailbird?” She figured he was used to using other vocabulary choices to describe his subjects, and she didn’t want to become familiar with them.
“Try ‘deranged homicidal jailbird.’ The usual turn-around time is about two weeks, give or take. This one seems to be in a hurry to get caught, taking a chance on making a run at you with me watching you. And you can be sure he knew. I made sure he knew.”
“Two weeks? You can’t watch me for two whole weeks!”
“You really don’t
get it, do you? Chalk wasn’t just sending up smoke signals last night. You have to take him seriously.”
“Look, there are other targets, right? The way I figure it, he’s tried to get at me and failed. He’ll move on to the other people in those pictures and even Mr. Tobin himself. I’ll be fine.”
“You’re darn right you’ll be fine, because you’ll be here. And I’ll be here. Day and night. End of story.”
“If you’re here with me day and night, how are you supposed to catch Chalk?”
“Mr. Tobin has other staff. They’ll spell me when I need to follow a lead, or they’ll follow the leads themselves. His whole operation is pretty much devoted to this problem right now.”
The VanDyke file flitted through her mind, along with the dozen or so other accounts and cases she had seen in her one day at Sentry. “But what about the VanDyke case? Two million dollars go missing and nobody’s riding herd on them?”
“Mr. Tobin seems to think it’s better to be alive and out two million than trying to use it as insulation against a bomb. Money goes boom about as well as anything I know of.”
Jenny’s mind was spinning again. Her world didn’t include two million of anything, much less two million dollars. “I just thought…I mean, since Chalk and VanDyke’s lieutenant did time together, I just assumed…”
Jeep looked at Jenny as if he were a bear and she were his first post-hibernation blueberry bush. “VanDyke’s lieutenant? And Chalk?”
“Yes, but surely the money has been found. It was summer vacation when I did my one day as a temp at Sentry. That was months ago.”
More bears and blueberry bushes. And maybe add in a trout. Or two.
She shook her head and tried again. “Don’t try to tell me nobody put that together in the last three weeks since Chalk’s been out.”
“Look, I have to call Mr. Tobin. We need to get on this angle. And you need to apply for a job with Sentry.” He was shaking his head, bringing to mind the image of the bear all over again. She smiled at the thought and he started to scowl. “Don’t go getting any ideas. There’s no phone in the house just so little gals like you won’t get tempted to call any of their friends and tell them where they are. That’s how safehouses turn into unsafe-houses quick.”
“No, I wasn’t thinking of that. I have no desire to call anybody. But if there’s no phone, how will you call?”
“Never you mind. Just stay in the kitchen. No windows. No door to the outside. You’ll be fine. I’ll be right back.”
“Sure,” she assured him. Great time to take a quick shower, she realized. He was no sooner out the kitchen door before she was up and sneaking. Next stop, the bathroom. Hmmm. Window. Hmmm. Wonder if I can figure out where we are. One little peek won’t hurt. I know the city pretty well. I can get some idea just by looking around. He’ll never know.
She raised the shade and looked through the small pane of glass. Left, right, up, down, she couldn’t see much of anything through this tiny thing. Maybe if I just raise the window a bit and lean out, she thought. Can’t hurt. She had to pry out a nail with the bottom of a can of tub and tile cleaner but the window slid up readily enough after that. There, that’s better. I think this must be Jonquil Grove. Right feel to it. Houses built in the sixties. Far apart. Big yards. Now, if I just lean out a little farther, I’ll be able to see around that magnolia. Just a little more. I hate being so short. Here, I’ll just roll this office chair in here to give me a boost up. Now, I can see. Just a little…ACK!
He should have known. He’d been observing her for months now, off and on. What made him think she would do as he asked? She wasn’t some pushover, just waiting to take orders or go along with the crowd. How many times did she have to prove that to him before he would believe? But then again, unbelievable just about summed her up.
“Yes, I’m all right, thank you.” He couldn’t decide if her tone sounded more disgusted or cold as she ground the words out between clenched teeth. Quite a teeth-clencher, this little teacher. “And you can quit laughing. It isn’t that funny.”
“If these azaleas hadn’t been here to break your fall, it wouldn’t be funny at all,” he shot back. “Here, give me your hand and I’ll…”
“No, wait, it’s not just azaleas in here. Something’s got me and I…wait!” The sound of cloth ripping deterred him not one bit. He could have more clothing brought to her. Holes in clothes could be mended. Holes in her hide, or his, either, for that matter, couldn’t be so easily repaired, so he wanted her back off the street and into the relative safety of the house pronto. Besides, how could he blame the blackberry vine for ripping the clothes off her when he wanted to do essentially the same thing himself?
“I told you to wait,” she complained. “Look at my blouse! No, don’t look. Turn around. Well, are you going to get me out of here or not?”
“How am I supposed to get you out of the bushes when I can’t look at you?” Logic was obviously optional at this point, but he had to make the attempt.
“Just give my your hand. Ouch! I can’t get unhooked from these stickers. They just seem to grab me all over. Hey, watch that hand, you!”
Again, he could sympathize with the vine but his patience was wearing thin. “How can I watch where my hands go if I can’t look? You can’t have it both ways, girlie. Blush all you want to—I’m getting you out of there.” So saying, he plunged his left hand into the blackberry vine, regardless of the scratches, and pulled her out with his other hand.
There was that scowl again. Did she really think it was intimidating him? Maybe her second grade class cowered at such a fearsome sight, but to him it was like being attacked by a Chihuahua. Too cute for words.
Back in the kitchen, he set her on her feet and turned her to him.
“Let go of me! My blouse is in shreds!”
“You’re covered more than most girls on the beach these days. You’ll do ‘till Mrs. Abernathy can get here with some more clothes.”
“But my jeans! The holes!”
“Very fashionable and well-placed, in my opinion. They’ll make my job a lot easier.”
“Job?”
“Tanning your hide. I told you what would happen if you…”
“Oh, no, you don’t! Remember what happened last time you tried to spank me?”
“Totally unrelated.”
“Still, I have no intention of letting you…”
“As if you had a choice.”
“If you lay a finger on me, I’ll tell Mr. Tobin.”
“Go ahead. He’ll probably applaud. Here, I’ll take you out to the car phone and you can tell him right now.”
“Car phone? You have a car phone? No wonder you saw me. I thought you had to go somewhere to find a phone!”
“And leave you here by yourself? To get into who knows what trouble? I may not have a Ph.D., but stupid, I’m not.”
“I never said you were stupid.”
“Then why don’t you do as I say? It’s my job to keep you safe. Do you just want Chalk to get to you?” He could see he was getting through to her. Time to push the envelope. “Come on. Let’s go call my boss and you can tell him all about how I spanked your fanny last night, too, while we’re at it.”
It was possible that her thoughts might be clearer to him if she took out a billboard to announce them, but he doubted it. “Uh, no, on second thought, let’s just forget the whole thing.”
“Oh, no, I’m not forgetting anything. You want to tell? Let’s go tell, or you bend over this table and take what you’ve got coming.”
“That’s blackmail!”
“That’s right.”
“You can’t mean to…”
“Wanna bet?”
“Would you quit saying that?”
“Would you quit making absurd statements, then? Lips together, legs apart and bend over, or so help me…”
“Oh, all right. Just promise you won’t tell. I’m already as embarrassed as I can be around him.”
“I said, shush! Qui
t stalling and bend over.” He looked around and saw a wooden spoon on the drain board. But why let something else come in contact with that beautiful derriere? As with many tasks in his life, he firmly believed he could get this job done with his bare hand.
Clutching the scraps of her shirt to her stomach, she laid herself on the table. He spread her legs a little, so the tears that the vines had so conveniently placed for him gaped appealingly. After today, he would never look at a blackberry or any other thorny vine in the same light again.
He started with a slow, uneven rhythm, alternating sides and building the sting. He tried to put in plenty of wrist action and judging by her yelps, he was getting the hang of it. Now for the lecture. “What were you thinking? Did you ever stop to consider where you were going to go or what you were going to do?”
“I wasn’t thinking anything!” she gasped between squeaks. All the while, spanks from a hand like plywood rained down on her cute little backside. The way her panties peeked out through the rips in her jeans distracted him a little, but he let himself contemplate what might have happened if he hadn’t stopped her leaving.
“That much I believe. Where were you planning to go?”
“I was just trying to get a look out of the window!”
“Then what were you doing in the bushes? You were definitely out of the house when I told you to stay in the kitchen.”
“I fell out of the window.”
“How did you fall out of the window? It’s so far from the floor, how could you even see out of the window?” He was so surprised, he almost forgot to keep spanking.
“I stood on the chair.” That reminded him. He started up again, faster this time.
“What chair?” He emphasized his words with particularly well-placed swats.
“The rolling chair.”
“You don’t know any better,” he demanded, “than to stand on a rolling chair? If Chalk only knew, he could save himself a lot of trouble and let you just eliminate yourself!” Here, he decided to let his hands do the talking for a while. The only sounds coming from the kitchen resembled worn-out windshield wipers squeaking as they tried to wipe away a torrent of hail beating a staccato tattoo on a windshield.