A Dangerous Affair Chapter 52

A Chapter by Repgreece

Tom finds an excuse to spend more time with Stephie out of the office

Stephanie and Tom entered the office, bumping into Brick who was just coming out of his office. He looked from one to the other with a puzzled expression.

“What’s wrong with you two?” he asked, shocking them both with the question and irrationally making them wonder how on earth he knew what they’d been doing.

Brick thought that they looked sheepish and wondered what they were keeping from him.

“Nothing,” Tom replied defensively.

“Why are you both in early?” Brick asked. Stephanie let out a sigh of relief.

“Just keen to start working on another story Sir,” she smiled.

“Hmm, well glad to see that your minds are so firmly focused on work,” Brick replied sarcastically. They both stared back at him blankly. “Well?”

“Sir?”

Brick groaned and ran a hand over his head. “Don’t you have some work to do then?”

They both jumped into action. “Yes right, to work,” Tom said, following Stephanie to her desk. Brick watched them for a moment and then shook his head before disappearing back into his office.

Stephanie ensured that Brick was out of sight before dialling Samantha’s telephone number again and waiting for an answer. After a couple of minutes no one had picked up so she sighed and replaced the receiver.

“Something’s wrong,” she concluded with a frown. “She seemed keen to speak to us before.”

“Maybe this number is bogus and someone’s sending us on a wild goose chase.”

“Stalling us,” Stephanie added, folding her arms.

Moments later Brick put his head around his office door.

“Stephanie, You’re needed in here,” he said, surprising her. She looked briefly at Tom before joining Brick in his office.

“Someone on the phone for you,” he said, handing the receiver of his phone over to her.

She took it hesitantly, suspecting that it might be Samantha and hoping that Brick didn’t realise that it had anything to do with the Carlton story.

“I can’t stay on the phone for long,” came the nervous voice on the other end after Stephanie had identified herself. “Can we meet?”

“Where?” Stephanie replied, reaching for a pen and paper.

“There’s a small park about five miles from the country club, I’ll meet you by the bridge there in an hour.”

“What’s the name of this park?” Stephanie asked quickly.

“Morewood, I have to go,” Samantha replied in a panic, hanging up the phone.

Stephanie replaced the receiver and faced Brick who was looking expectantly at her.

“That was a contact of mine,” she lied, “She could have information for a good story. I’ve arranged a meeting.” Brick narrowed his eyes at her but nodded. “I’ll take Tom along if that’s okay with you Sir, since he now has no story to work on,” she added.

“Take him. It’ll keep him from getting on everyone’s nerves. But let me know about this new story when you come back eh Stephanie.”

She smiled. “Of course.”

oxoxoxoxoxo

“I wonder how much she will give away, Carlton is her father in law after all and she also seemed to be quite intimidated by him from what we overheard,” Stephanie pointed out as she leant against the side of the small wooden bridge running across the stream.

“Sure but she wouldn’t have arranged to meet us here if she didn’t have something. I think they’re going to betray him and run away together. That’s what the tall guy was talking about, right?”

Stephanie gave it some thought. “Hmm, but Samantha seemed to be too concerned for their safety to do anything that rash.”

Tom contemplated Stephanie for a moment. “Yes but Steph, if two people want to be together that much nothing would stop them.” She acknowledged his point with a nod. “Anyway, I guess we’re just about to find out,” Tom said, watching as Samantha approached.

As soon as Samantha neared Tom and Stephanie she gestured for them to join her on a nearby bench, which was somewhat hidden from view by the surrounding shrubbery.

“You’re investigating my father in law, right?” Samantha asked with a guarded look. “And you’re working with the police aren’t you.”

“That’s right,” Stephanie replied.

“What have you got on him?”

“Nothing that will stick yet but he’s been under investigation for some time now,” Stephanie informed her.

“This recent attack on your newspaper, do you think it came from him?” she asked, watching their reactions closely. Stephanie nodded. “What would you say if I told you I had the evidence you need? What would that be worth?”

“Worth?” Stephanie asked. “What do you want?”

“Don’t get me wrong, I want my father in law brought to justice but the man you saw me with yesterday, I don’t want him implicated. He never wanted to be involved in all of this anymore than I did, but Jack got into some trouble and my father in law helped him out so now he’s got a hold on Jack. The only way we’re ever going to stand a chance of coming out of this alive is if my father in law gets put away. But we won’t be safe until he is.”

“We’re only interested in bringing down Carlton. You give us sufficient evidence and provide us with his location and we can make sure he is in custody today,” Tom assured her.

Samantha surreptitiously passed Stephanie a padded brown envelope. “There’s got to be enough there, it contains taped telephone conversations that Jack kept. They were going to give him something to bargain with so that my father in law would let Jack go but that isn’t ever going to happen, Jack realises that now. Our only option is to get away but we aren’t ready to go yet so I’ll phone you later with his location,” she said, standing to leave. Stephanie placed a hand on Samantha’s arm to halt her for a moment whilst she fished in her bag for a card, which she slipped into Samantha’s hand before she left.

“My mobile phone number, if you need me.”

Samantha thanked Stephanie and rushed away, glancing nervously around her as she disappeared down the path. Stephanie couldn’t help but feel for the girl, she was risking so much just to be there, let alone providing them with evidence against Carlton and running away with Jack.

“Looks like we’ve got this one in the bag,” Tom said, reaching for Stephanie’s arm and urging her to stand. “And true love wins out again,” he grinned.

“Hmm, I hope so,” she replied thoughtfully, “for both their sakes.” She was so preoccupied with her thoughts that she only realised that Tom was leading her away from the car park by the time they were half way across the bridge.

“Hold on, where are we going?” she asked, stopping suddenly.

“Well, I figure that this was a stroke of luck,” he began, trying to distract her with his words as he put an arm over her shoulder and ushered her forward again. “We get our stroll through the park after all,” he smiled.

“Tom,” she protested, “we are still working remember? Brick wants to know what this ‘new’ story is all about. We are going to have to explain to him what we’ve been doing,” she said, moving away from him.

He pulled a face. “Yeah but we have the evidence and there isn’t much more we can do until we get Carlton’s location. We shouldn’t mention anything to Brick before that.”

“We are still supposed to be working,” she repeated.

“Stephie,” he began, taking hold of her shoulders and turning her to him. “It’s just a stroll through the park. A minor detour if you like. Besides, what are we going do when we get back to the office anyway? We’d be stuck doing paperwork behind a desk when we’ve got the sunshine here, and the pretty flowers...” before she knew it they had reached the other end of the bridge and were following the path up a small hill, “... and the birds and the bees,” he continued with a grin.

“Hmm,” she said, watching him from the corner of her eyes, “it’s the birds and the bees that I’m worried about!” He laughed and they continued walking.

“I’ve got to say I do love the summer. The winter can be dire but it’s days like these that make up for it,” he smiled, running his hand from her shoulder down her arm to entwine his fingers through hers. He brought both their hands around her middle and moved behind her, stopping to admire the view from the top of the hill. He was right, it was a glorious day. The grassy hills and fields stretched out before them beyond the park, and below them the odd couple of people could be seen picnicking on the grass or wandering down the pathways that wound around the colourful flower beds and through the grounds.

“Ever feel like you’re on the top of the world?” he asked. Stephanie was unsure if he was referring to their position on the hill or if he was just in high spirits.

“Well, it is a rather wonderful view,” she replied, hedging her bets. He chuckled at her non committal response.

“We could almost be mistaken for lovers,” he whispered into her ear, resting his chin on her shoulder and gazing sideways at her. He could feel the heat rising from her face as she kept her eyes on the view. “Don’t you think?” he pushed, knowing that she was struggling to come up with a reply and loving the sight of her usual cool exterior slipping away. “Hmm Stephie?” he said, brushing the back of his fingers down her cheek. “You’re blushing,” he grinned.

She closed her eyes for a moment and moved her face away from his hand. “You’re not supposed to tell a lady that she’s blushing. It makes her blush even more,” she answered primly.

He laughed. “But I love to see you blush Stephie. Especially when it’s because you’re thinking about us being lovers.”

“I am not,” she said, turning further away from him to avoid his scrutiny. He kept hold of her hand and edged around her, straining to catch a glimpse of her face. She pulled her hand free from his, turning back the other way and keeping her face averted. This soon developed into a battle of wills, with him determined to witness her reaction and her determined for him not to, until she finally growled with frustration.

“Don’t you think we ought to be getting back now?”

He laughed loudly then, delighting in the way he could throw her off balance. “Okay, okay, I promise to behave,” he said, backing down. She didn’t look convinced. “Honest,” he stressed, holding up his hands in surrender, “scout’s honour. Come on let’s go down here,” he said, grabbing her hand suddenly and running down the hill, pulling her behind him. He caught her unawares and she was forced to give in to momentum until he stopped abruptly, catching her as she careered into him and holding her in the air.

“It’s a great day!” he shouted.

“Put me down you idiot,” she said, pushing him against the chest but laughing with him all the same.

“Only if you admit that it’s a great day,” he challenged.

She sighed. “It’s a great day. Now put me down.”

“And if you admit that you were thinking about us being lovers,” he grinned, unable to resist the comment.

“Put me down now!” she ordered, glaring at him. He chuckled but put her down.

“Hey, sit down here a minute,” he said, lowering himself onto the grassy bank and urging her to join him.

“Tom, I think...” She didn’t get a chance to protest any further however as he tugged at her hand and she found herself sitting next to him. “Okay, looks like I’m sitting here then.” She gave him a look as if he’d briefly lost his marbles.

“Tom, are you okay? You’re acting a bit...oddly,” she pointed out, watching as he lay flat out on the grass.

“Lie down here a minute and tell me what you see,” he replied, ignoring her comment.

“What on earth are you doing now?” she asked in bewilderment.

“Come on Stephie, lie down and look up a minute,” he urged.

She sighed and lay down next to him, feeling a little ridiculous as she gazed up into the sky.

“Okay, now what do you see?” he asked again.

“Clouds?” she answered with uncertainty.

“Nah, it’s a horse,” he announced.

“A horse? Tom, do you think you might have been in the sun a bit too long?”

“Can’t you see it? There look,” he said, pointing up into the clouds. “There’s its body in the middle and there’s the neck and head...and sort of legs,” he chuckled. She turned her head to watch him intently scrutinising the sky. “Now what do you see?”

She looked up again with a smile. “Err, I can see...a...giraffe?” she giggled.

“You can?” he replied with mock amazement. “Where?”

“There,” she pointed to a wispy length of cloud.

“That doesn’t look anything like a giraffe,” he teased.

“Well, that doesn’t look anything like a horse,” she laughed. He laughed with her and reached out to slide an arm underneath her neck, trailing his fingers through her hair and over her shoulder as they continued to find pictures in the sky.

“Tell you what I can see though,” he added.

“What?”

“Apple pie and custard,” he grinned.

She burst into laughter. “You can’t see that at all.”

“Sure I can,” he chuckled, wriggling closer to her. He took hold of her shoulder then with his hand and pulled her around onto him. She resisted and looked up at him suspiciously. “Relax. Trust me,” he whispered, moving his hand to her waist to hold her against him. She watched him for a while with wary eyes but he simply continued to stare up at the sky and eventually her neck began to ache with the effort of keeping her head up so she slowly lowered it onto his chest. He smiled then, unbeknownst to her, and rested his free hand on top of her head, gently stroking her hair. She felt tense and awkward for a while but then the soft movement of his hand and the warm rays of the sun began to relax her and she was surprised to find herself becoming sleepy as the previous night’s restlessness started to take its toll.

“Tom, I think that last night is starting to catch up with me. If we don’t move soon I’m going to end up falling asleep,” she laughed.

“That’s okay. I figure you can close your eyes for a bit,” he said in a soft voice, beginning to feel sleepy himself.

“But...” she began.

“Ssh,” he said immediately, placing a finger on her lips. She stopped and he took his finger away to resume stroking her hair. She was half asleep the next time he spoke and she was only vaguely aware of what he said.

“I guess our bodies are smarter than we are.”

“Hmm,” she responded dreamily.

“This is the only way they want us to fall asleep,” he smiled, pulling her even more snugly against him and resting his cheek on top of her head.

Soon her eye lids became too heavy to keep open and she drifted into a warm, soothing slumber. Although he was tempted to close his eyes himself, he resisted the urge. Partly because he was aware that they would have to return to work at some point soon, and partly because he didn’t want to waste a moment of this experience with her. He relished the feel of her body against his, the way they moulded together and the gentle rhythm of her breathing. As he gazed down at her he realised with startling clarity that he was holding the most precious thing in the world to him. Ironically, he had never experienced such a feeling of belonging in that big city full of strangers, as he lay there, far away from his home country, holding Stephanie in his arms, in the park underneath the trees.