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Post by Jen on Jan 2, 2005 19:02:26 GMT -5
“Can we stop at Phillip’s and see Zach? I know he’s staying there for awhile, but I really need to see him,” Harley asked as she and Gus walked out of the hospital to the car the next morning.
“Of course, do you want to call Phillip and tell him we’re coming?” Gus asked and when she nodded, he handed her his phone then he closed her car door.
Fifteen minutes later, Harley rang the doorbell at the Spaulding Mansion and Nolan let them in and told them that Phillip was in the study and he would bring Zach down.
“Thanks,” Harley said as she and Gus went to the study.
“Hey,” she greeted when they saw Phillip sitting at the desk.
“Hey! How are you doing?” he asked as he got up and hugged her.
“I’m fine,” she forced a smile, “I just want to see my little guy!”
“Mommy!” they heard Zach yell as he rushed into the study and into Harley’s arms.
“Hey sweetie! Oh I missed you,” she said as she sat down on the couch and squeezed him tight.
“What happened to your face?” he asked as he touched the bruise on her cheek and she flinched a little.
“It’s just a little boo-boo. I’m going to be fine,” she assured him as she covered him in kisses. “So listen, how would you like to stay with Daddy for a few days? Is that okay? But I’ll come over and see you and you can come over anytime you want to see me, okay?”
Zach nodded, “When you come to see me, will you bring my lion Gus?” he asked.
“His what?” Phillip asked and Gus and Harley looked at each other.
“His stuffed lion, he calls it Gus. It’s from…” Harley began.
“It’s from Justin,” Gus finished.
“It’s his favorite stuffed animal, huh sweetie? Yeah, I’ll bring it with me when I come see you next,” she promised.
They stayed and played with Zach for awhile, then they had to leave because Gus needed to go to work that afternoon. After they had said goodbye to Zach, Gus reached for Harley’s hand, but she moved away and walked in front of him out of the house. While he was driving to Harley’s house, she yawned and leaned against the window.
“Do you want me to call off work and stay with you?” he asked as he reached for her hand again.
She pulled her hand away and ran it through her hair, “No, I’ll be fine, I’m just want to try to get some sleep.”
“Okay,” Gus said quietly as he pulled into Harley’s driveway and they went inside the house.
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Harley didn’t sleep that day, or that night, or any other night for the next week. Gus stayed with her at night and was there whenever he didn’t have to work, and when he did, Buzz, Frank, Blake or Cassie would try to come over and be with her so she wasn’t alone. Especially if Gus had to work late since Justin had gotten out on bail and Harley was terrified at being alone at night.
One day about a week after the incident with Justin, Harley got up and answered the door and welcomed Blake in. Blake hugged her and Harley held on tightly.
“How are you doing?” Blake asked as they went and sat on the couch.
“I’m okay,” Harley answered.
“You are not,” Blake insisted, “Where’s Gus? Is he still staying with you?”
“Yeah, but he had to go to work,” Harley answered, and Blake saw that something was troubling her.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing, well, it’s Gus. I mean, he hasn’t done anything, it’s me. Every time he touches me, I pull away. He tries to kiss me and I just completely freeze. I just don’t understand why I am pulling away from him. That night I was fine. He was the only person I wanted to see. He stayed at the hospital all night and slept in my bed with me, and I was fine, but since then it’s like I’m afraid of him.”
“Well, honey, you’ve been through a lot, it’s perfectly natural that you would pull away from him for awhile. I’m sure Gus understands,” Blake said.
“Yeah, but I don’t understand. I usually feel so safe with him, but now I don’t and I hate it,” Harley said sadly.
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A week later, Harley still hadn’t had a single complete night of sleep and usually woke up with nightmares about Justin. Gus would try to comfort her when she woke up from the nightmares, but she usually pulled away and got out of bed and went into the bathroom or downstairs.
Gus understood why she pulled away for the most part, but he thought she had to know that he was just trying to help her. He hated to see her hurting and he thought being there would take some of the hurt away. But every time he tried to reach out to her, she would pull away and he was starting to think she didn’t want him around at all. Most of their time together was spent in silence. Neither of them wanted to talk about the situation, and if Gus even tried to bring it up, Harley would shut down and change the subject.
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“Harley!” Gus called out as he stepped in the front door at the end of the second week and headed upstairs when he heard Harley call down from the bedroom.
When he got upstairs, he saw all the clothes from her closet laying on the bed and shoes thrown everywhere.
“It looks like your closet exploded! What are you doing?” he asked as he stood in the doorway.
“Cleaning,” Harley replied without turning around.
“Why?”
“Because I need to,” she answered.
“Okay…” Gus replied, “I’m gonna take a quick shower,” he said as he moved towards her, but she grabbed some hangers and went to the closet to avoid his advances.
Gus sighed and pulled off his tie as he went into the bathroom. When he came out in a towel ten minutes later, she had most of the clothes back into the closet.
“Did Phillip bring Zach over?” he asked as he dropped his towel and put on a pair of jeans.
“Yeah, he was over for a few hours this afternoon,” she replied as she caught his eye.
“Good,” he smiled. “What do you feel like for dinner?” he asked.
“I’m not hungry,” she replied.
“Did you eat anything today?”
Harley shook her head as she busied herself with a pair of pants and a hanger.
“Honey, you have to eat,” Gus sighed but got nothing but silence in response.
“Come on, I’ll make something for us,” Gus said as he threw on a t-shirt and started downstairs.
Harley came downstairs a few minutes later as Gus was putting spaghetti into the boiling water. Harley set the table and in a few minutes, Gus was dishing out a little bit of spaghetti for her. They ate mostly in silence, Gus would ask her a question about what she did, or would tell her something he did that day, but would usually only get a one or two word response, if any.
As Harley pushed her plate away after about five bites of spaghetti, she finally spoke a whole sentence.
“Ross called today,” she began, “Justin’s trial is on Monday.”
Gus looked at her over his glass, “Yeah, I heard.”
“Were you going to tell me?” she asked.
“I didn’t really know how. I didn’t even know if you wanted to know,” he replied.
“Well, don’t you think I should be there?” she asked.
“You don’t have to go,” he said, “They have your statement, that’s enough.”
“Not for me,” she said quietly as she stood up and took her plate to the sink.
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After a long evening of more silence, Harley sighed and got up from the couch.
“I’m going to bed,” she said as she started up the stairs.
“Okay, I’ll be right up,” Gus said as he shut off the TV and went to lock the door.
When he got upstairs to Harley’s room, she was just coming out of the bathroom and pulled down the covers on half of the bed, without even looking at Gus.
“Harley,” he said quietly, “Do you even want me here?” he asked.
Surprised, Harley didn’t know what to say. When she hesitated, he took that as an answer and his face dropped.
“I’ll be in the guestroom if you need me,” he replied quietly and turned and left the room, leaving Harley alone.
She slid under the covers and shut off the beside lamp. When she laid down, she closed her eyes and felt tears rolling down her cheeks. She wasn’t even sure if she wanted Gus there and was surprised that he asked her. She felt safe with him in the house with her at night, but she felt so unsafe with him next to her in bed. She had spent every night since she came home from the hospital clinging to the edge of the bed to avoid any contact with him. For the first week, Gus would occasionally move close to her and wrap his arms around her but she would always tense up and as soon as she knew he was asleep, she would roll him away and move closer to the edge of the bed. But the past week, he stayed on the other side of the bed, he didn’t even try to hold her at night, and even though her still tried to kiss her good night and good morning each day, he hadn’t tried to kiss her any other time, he had learned that all she did was pull away.
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Post by Jen on Jan 2, 2005 19:02:45 GMT -5
After another long sleepless night, Harley finally pulled herself out of bed. She looked at the clock and saw that it read almost ten o’clock. She knew Gus was gone for work already, but he didn’t even come in to say goodbye. She got up and went into the guestroom where the bed was made and all of Gus’s clothes were gone. She went back to her room and crawled back into bed and stayed there for most of the day.
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Later that evening, Harley pulled her arm out of the warm bubble bath she was soaking in and answered the phone she had brought in with her.
“Hey, it’s me,” she heard Gus’s voice on the other end.
“Hi, are you still at work?” she asked.
“No, I’m at the motel,” he answered.
“Oh.”
“I was just calling to see if you needed anything,” he said, “I have some work to do, so I’m just going to stay here.”
“Oh, no, I’m fine,” she replied quietly.
“Okay,” Gus said and an awkward silence followed, “So I’ll talk to you later,” he finally said.
“Yeah, okay,” Harley replied, “Bye.”
“Bye,” Gus said then they both hung up.
Harley got out of the bathtub and dried herself off and slipped into a pair of pajamas. She crawled into bed and tried to sleep, but all she did was toss and turn thinking about Gus, and Justin, and herself. After a couple of hours, she rolled out of bed, threw on a pair of jeans and a sweater and left the house. She was sick of everything and she knew only she could be the one to fix it.
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Post by Jen on Jan 2, 2005 19:04:07 GMT -5
Harley paced outside of Gus’s door. What if he didn’t want to see her? There had to be a reason he went back to the motel after work and didn’t go to her house. She had done nothing but push him away for the past two weeks, and last night she told him she didn’t even know if she wanted him there. She couldn’t really blame him for not staying with her, but it still scared her. She couldn’t lose Gus, not because of this. She took a deep breath and knocked softly on his door.
“One second,” Gus called out as he threw the remote on the nightstand and set his burning cigarette in the ashtray.
He had actually almost stopped smoking before this whole thing with Justin started, but since then, he was smoking more than ever. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and walked to the door. He opened it and was surprised to see Harley standing on the other side of it.
“Hey,” she said with a slight smile.
“Hi,” he said as he leaned against the doorjam, “What are you doing here?” he wondered.
“Umm, I wanted to see you,” she replied as she looked at him from head to toe.
He was wearing only a pair of old faded jeans with holes in all the right places. His hair was all messed up from running his hands through it and he had that sleep-deprived look she loved that he always got when they would spend more time doing everything but sleeping during the night. She knew that wasn’t what had been keeping him from sleeping these days though and her heart ached at the sight.
“Come in,” he said as he stepped back into the room and she walked past him.
As Gus closed the door, she turned around and looked sadly at him.
“I hate this,” she said, “I hate that I was just out in that hallway for ten minutes trying to decide if you would want to see me. I hate that you feel like you have to ask me what I’m doing here,” she said sadly.
Gus leaned back against the closed door, “I just don’t know what’s going on anymore,” he said quietly.
“That makes two of us,” Harley added.
“Is something wrong?” Gus asked, “Did something happen?”
“Yeah, actually, something did,” Harley answered, “I finally realized what I was doing to you, and to us, and to myself.”
“Harley…” Gus began as he stood up but Harley stopped him with her hand.
“No, don’t. I came here for a couple of reasons, Gus, but the biggest one is because I need you. I need to tell you what happened and tell you what I’m feeling, and I need you to hold me without me pulling away. I need to make things better,” she explained.
“The past two weeks, I have closed myself off to everyone and everything, including you. And I’m sorry about that, I didn’t do it consciously, it’s just what happened, but I didn’t do anything to stop it from happening. It was just easier to push you away and stay holed up in my house than to deal with what happened to me,” she continued.
“So why now?” Gus asked quietly.
“I guess you can say I got a rude awakening today,” she replied, “I felt so safe with you in the house with me, I did. But I felt very unsafe with you next to me, because when you would hold me, I wouldn’t be thinking about us, I would be thinking about Justin and what happened. But pushing you away didn’t stop you at first. Even when I would push you away in the morning before you left for work, you would still come back after work. And you would always be there in the morning. Even when you stopped trying to reach out to me, you were still there, and I knew that you were there and that you loved me, even if I didn’t acknowledge it. Until yesterday. When you asked me if I wanted you with me, I didn’t know what to say. Like I said, I wanted you in the house, but I didn’t want you with me. Because as long as you weren’t there, I didn’t have to deal with what I felt when you would touch me. And when I got up this morning and realized that you were gone, and that you left without even coming in to say goodbye, I got scared, really scared. Because even if I didn’t want you to do something, I liked it when you kissed me goodbye, or held me when I had nightmares, because it reminded me that you were there. And I thought you’d always be there. And when I realized that you were already gone this morning, I thought, maybe he won’t always be here, and God, that scared me. But instead of dealing with it, I crawled back into bed and cried and hoped it would fix itself, because I still thought that you would be back after work.”
“And I wasn’t,” Gus said sadly.
“You weren’t. And then I thought, well, you finally did it Harley. You pushed him away for the last time. And I guess that’s when I really realized what I was doing to you and us, and myself. And when you called and told me you weren’t coming back tonight, for the first time, I didn’t feel like you were calling out of love, but out of obligation.”
“Harley, that’s not true,” Gus protested, “I never stopped loving you, even for a second. I just didn’t know what to do anymore. When I would try to reach out you would push me away, and I knew that would probably happen, but I thought I would be the one person who could get you through this because I wanted to so badly. I want to be everything to you and seeing you hurting and pushing me away broke my heart.”
“I know you want to save me from everything bad in my life, and I love for that, but you can’t save me from what happened. I mean, you did save me, if you and Frank and the Chief hadn’t gotten to that cabin when you did, things could have been a lot worse. But you can’t make me deal with it, you can’t snap your fingers and make it all disappear. I have to face it and deal with it, it has to be me, and I’m ready to do that. I have to do that,” she said, “but I need you with me, because I can’t do it by myself.”
“I’m right here,” Gus said as he walked over and stood in front of her, “I’ll always be right here with you. Whatever you need me for.”
Harley reached out and ran her hands down his arms and took his hands in hers and took a step closer to him.
“I need you to hold me,” she said quietly as she wrapped her arms around his waist.
“I can do that,” he said as he wrapped his arms around her and she leaned into his body and let out a sigh of relief.
She moved her head and buried it in his neck and inhaled his scent that she had missed so much as she ran her hands down his bare back. Gus relaxed at the feel of her body against his and ran his hand through her hair as he rocked her back and forth in his arms. Harley lifted her head and looked into his eyes before placing her lips on his and kissing him softly. Gus wiped a tear off her cheek with his thumb and leaned down to kiss her again, this time, she deepened the kiss and held him closer to her. Gus hesitated to respond at first, fearing Harley would just pull away again, but when she pushed her tongue through his lips, he couldn’t help but respond with the same passion. When they broke the kiss, Gus held her face in his hands and covered it in soft, loving kisses.
“So what are the other reasons?” Gus asked.
“What?” Harley asked as she reached up and took his hands in hers.
“You said you had a couple of reasons for coming here. What are the other reasons? I know it wasn’t because you were longing for some old Chinese food,” he joked.
“No,” Harley laughed, “The second reason is because I need to walk into that courtroom Monday, holding your hand and I need to be able to look Justin in the eye and let him know that he did not win.”
“Honey, are you sure you want to go? You don’t have to put yourself through that again,” Gus said as he walked over to the side of the bed and put out his cigarette that had been burning the whole time.
“So much for you quitting huh?” she teased, then got serious again, “Yes, I’m sure. I need to go, for me. Because if I don’t show up, then he thinks I’m afraid and he’s won, and if I do show up without you, then he wins. I can’t let him even think that he won.”
“Well, you know you aren’t going to show up without me. If you’re there, so am I,” Gus assured her and she smiled at him.
“Oh, and reason three is because I really want to sleep. Seriously, I haven’t slept in weeks. And I know you haven’t been sleeping. So can we just sleep? I want to fall asleep in your arms and wake up there too,” Harley said, exhausted.
Gus walked back over to her and kissed her softly. “Of course,” he said, “you can’t sleep in those though, let me get you a t-shirt or something,” he offered, but Harley stopped him.
“No,” she said, “I need to be close to you,” she said as she pulled her shirt over her head and stepped forward into Gus’s arms.
They finished undressing each other and Gus cleared off the bed and pulled down the covers. They both climbed in and Gus wrapped his arms around Harley as she rested her head against his chest. “You know, when I got to your house and realized you weren’t there, the worst thoughts went through my mind,” Gus said as he held Harley closer to him. “As much as I hate what he tried to do to you, I am so glad that’s all that he did. Because if anything ever happened to you…I just don’t think I could take that.”
Harley snuggled closer to him and was silent for a long time, “I want to tell you what happened,” she finally said, “I mean, I’m sure you already know, but I need to tell you.”
“Okay,” Gus said and for the next hour, Harley told him not only about what happened with Justin, but how she felt the past two weeks.
Gus was silent while she talked, but held her close and kissed her when she needed comforting.
When she was finished, Gus pressed his lips against her cheek, “I’m so sorry, baby,” he whispered.
Harley just shook her head and fell asleep in his arms.
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Post by Jen on Jan 2, 2005 19:04:28 GMT -5
Both of them slept through the night and Harley only woke up when the sunlight hit her eyelids through the thin curtains that covered the motel room windows. Harley’s eyelids fluttered open and she looked over at Gus who was still sleeping soundly. She smiled as she heard his breath, solid and even, and laid back against his chest until her eyes caught the time on the alarm clock. She kissed Gus’s bare shoulder and rolled out of his arms and out of bed.
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When Harley came out of the bathroom fifteen minutes later, wrapped in a towel, Gus was still asleep, lying on his stomach. A coy smile came over Harley’s face as she decided just how to wake him up.
Harley stood at the foot of the bed and crawled forward over Gus’s legs. She bent down and planted a soft kiss on the back of his knee and trailed her fingernails up and down the back of his thigh while she continued to kiss the back of his knee. Gus moaned and tried to move his leg away from Harley’s teasing touches. Harley laughed as she laid down beside him and he rolled over and faced her.
“What are you doing up so early?” he asked as he leaned over and kissed her.
“We’re going to work!” Harley said cheerfully.
“Oh, we are?”
“Yes, come on, go get a shower or we’ll be late,” Harley insisted and Gus reluctantly rolled out of bed and walked around to the side that Harley was sitting up on.
“Good morning,” he said as he leaned down and kissed her and soon he was laying on top of her and they were kissing deeply.
“Very good,” she replied as she wrapped her arm around his neck as he kissed her neck right below her ear. “Go get ready,” she finally said and Gus let out another moan as he pushed himself off of her and went into the bathroom.
Gus stopped in the doorway of the bathroom and turned back towards Harley. He leaned against the doorjam and smiled at her.
“I missed you,” he said sweetly.
“Me too,” Harley replied with a smile.
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A few hours later, Harley was sitting at her desk under a pile of paperwork. She was assigned to desk duty for a couple of weeks, just until she was ready to be back on regular duty. Chief Franklin had partnered up Gus and Frank for the time being until Harley was ready to come back and he found a new partner for Frank. They were out on a call and she was bored. She sighed as she picked up another case file, then gasped when a bouquet of pale pink Gerber daisies appeared in front of her. Harley smiled and leaned back in her chair as Gus kissed her cheek.
“What are these for?” she asked as she stood up and sat on the edge of her desk.
“I’m sorry I ever made you doubt my love for you,” Gus said quietly as he pushed her chair out of the way and stood in front of her.
“Oh Gus, I thought it was the other way around,” she replied sadly.
Gus shook his head, “It doesn’t matter anymore,” he said. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” Harley replied and leaned forward for a quick kiss.
Pretty much everyone in the station knew they were a couple, but they were already warned by Chief Franklin not to flaunt it at work.
“So what case were you guys looking into?” she asked.
“Oh, just some hoodlums terrorizing some old lady on Fifth Street. I gotta tell you, baby, going on calls with your brother ranks right up there with a root canal on my fun list,” Gus said as he went and sat down at his own desk.
Harley sighed, “Why can’t you two just get along?”
“I’m sorry,” Gus sighed, “I think he blames me for what happened. He doesn’t like it when he calls you and I’m spending the night, but he blames me for not spending the night with you that night. I mean, I agree with him, but…”
“I’ll talk to him,” Harley said then changed the subject. “How’s the Carson case coming along? Any more connections to the Sandovals?” she asked.
“Oh, umm, we passed that case along to Chicago,” Gus answered.
“What? Why?”
“Well, none of us here were really concentrating on it lately, and we’ve exhausted all our sources, maybe they can pick up something new,” Gus replied.
“I hope so,” Harley said, “Something doesn’t sit right with me about that case.”
“Well, we don’t have to worry about it anymore,” Gus said. “Did you call Phillip?” he asked.
“Yes, I am taking Zach home tonight when I get off. I can’t wait. I miss him so much,” Harley beamed.
“I know you do,” Gus smiled, “I bet he misses you too.”
“You going to come over?” she asked.
“Are you sure you don’t want to have Zach all to yourself tonight?” Gus asked.
“I’m sure I want you there.”
“Then you know I’ll be there,” Gus smiled and they both went back to their work.
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Post by Jen on Jan 2, 2005 19:06:10 GMT -5
Monday morning Harley stood in front of her closet trying to decide what to wear for the day from hell ahead of her. It was the day of Justin’s trial and for a brief second, she considered crawling back into bed and pulling the covers over her head, ignoring it all. She took a deep breath, shook her head and pulled out a dark gray pantsuit which she slipped on overtop of the black camisole she already had on. She walked over to the dresser, put her watch on and noticing the time, went to go wake Zach up after she slipped on a pair of heels. Gus was going to be there any second and so was Sarah, Zach’s babysitter.
When she opened Zach’s door, she saw him playing on the floor with a firetruck.
“Hey sweetie, Sarah will be here soon, do you want to eat breakfast with Mommy?” she asked as she bent down and kissed him.
“Can I have Alpha-Bits?” he asked as he looked up at her.
“Sure,” she replied.
“With marshmallows?” he asked cautiously.
Harley hesitated for effect, then gave in, “Oh all right, you can have Alpha-Bits with marshmallows. But you have to beat me downstairs first!” she exclaimed as she headed for the door and Zach soon sped past her down the stairs.
By the time she got downstairs, Zach was already in his chair waiting for his cereal and Harley got his bowl out and poured him some, then made herself some toast and poured a cup of coffee. She had gone out and gotten the paper when she came downstairs earlier to make the coffee, so she sat down at the table and opened it up while Zach amused himself with his cereal. Of course, news of Justin’s trial was on the front page.
“Gees, don’t these people have anything better to talk about?” she muttered as she closed up the newspaper and shuffled through a stack of bills instead when she heard the front door open.
“Anyone home?” Gus called out.
“In the kitchen,” she yelled back and went back to her bills.
Soon, Gus dangled her locket in front of her face.
“You got a new chain!” she said as he put it around her neck and clasped it for her.
“I thought maybe you could use it today,” he said as he leaned down and kissed her cheek. “Good morning.”
“Morning,” she replied, “It is exactly what I needed,” she said as she ran her fingers over it.
Gus said hello to Zach with a tousle of his hair and went to get a cup of coffee. He sat down next to Harley and looked at the paper.
“Front page, huh?” he observed and Harley rolled her eyes. “How are you doing?” he asked concerned.
“I’ll be okay,” she assured him as she reached for his hand and smiled at him.
He smiled back and leaned over to kiss her as the doorbell rang. Harley gave him a quick peck on the lips then stood up.
“That’s Sarah,” she said and went to get the door.
When she came back in, Sarah was behind her and greeted Gus and Zach.
“We better get going,” Harley said as she kissed Zach goodbye and thanked Sarah for coming.
She grabbed her purse from the counter and wrapped her hand around Gus’s and they left for the courthouse.
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“You know, if you feel like you need to leave, we can go anytime,” Gus said quietly as they rode the crowded elevator to the fifth floor.
“I’ll be fine,” Harley forced a smile and squeezed his hand as the elevator doors opened and everyone filed out into the hallway.
They walked down the hall and turned the corner to get to the right courtroom and were bombarded with the press.
“Harley, can we get a statement from you?” Holly asked.
“Not right now, Holly,” Harley said and they pushed their way through the crowd into the courtroom.
Ross was at the front of the room in his place, talking to Blake who was sitting in the first row. When he saw Gus and Harley enter the room, he stood up and so did Blake. Blake hugged Harley while Gus and Ross shook hands.
“I didn’t think you were coming,” Blake said.
“I told you I was coming,” Harley replied.
“I know, but I thought maybe you changed your mind. So you got through the mob, huh?” Blake asked.
“Yeah,” Harley said as she looked back towards the door. “You’d think it was a big deal.”
“She doesn’t have to testify, does she, Ross?” Gus asked as he put his arm around Harley.
“No, I don’t think that will be necessary. His lawyer told me he would be pleading not guilty, but the evidence is all there. We have her statement. That should be enough. But, I can’t promise that they won’t call you, Gus or Frank, since you found her. And if they do call you, they’re going to try to make you think you didn’t see what you did. They’ll play up the emotional factor for you. Is Franklin coming?” Ross asked.
“Yeah, I think so,” Gus nodded.
“Good. If they try to call you or Frank, I’ll try to get Franklin up there instead,” Ross replied.
They all turned when they heard the doors open in the back and Frank and Buzz walked in. They both hugged Harley.
“Why are you here?” Frank asked, “I thought I told you to keep her home,” he said looking intently at Gus.
“Frank, stop it. I wanted to come,” Harley replied then turned to Gus.
“Come on, let’s sit down,” she said as she smoothed down his tie and pulled him into a seat a few rows from the front of the room.
Blake came back and sat next to Harley and Frank and Buzz sat behind them. Pretty soon, the room was full of cops and the press. Harley sat next to Gus with her hand on his leg, tapping her fingers on his thigh.
“You a little anxious?” he asked as he put his arm around her and pulled her close.
“Why?” she asked and he pointed to her tapping fingers. “Oh. I guess,” she replied. “I just want to get this over with.”
“I know, baby,” he said as he ran his fingers through her hair and kissed her temple.
Blake was sitting sideways, talking to Frank when she touched Gus’s arm that was behind Harley. He looked over at her and she motioned with her head towards the back of the room. Gus looked back and saw Justin and his lawyer walk in. He looked forward again and gave Harley’s shoulders a little squeeze. She looked over at him and saw Justin and his lawyer walking past them. When they got to the front of the room, Justin turned around and looked around before sitting down. When his eyes finally settled on Harley, she was looking straight at him and he smiled at her. Gus leaned over and whispered in Harley’s ear and she nodded and Justin sat down in his seat. In a few minutes, the judge came in and they started the trial.
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Post by Jen on Jan 2, 2005 19:06:33 GMT -5
“How would the defense like to plead?” the judge asked.
“Guilty, your Honor,” Justin replied confidently.
Harley, Gus and Ross all looked over at him surprised. They were told he would be pleading not guilty.
“Of course, he thinks he’ll get off easier,” Gus muttered.
“Your Honor, I would like to ask for a few moments to discuss a plea bargain with Mr. Marler,” Justin’s lawyer asked.
“Uh, that won’t be necessary,” Ross interrupted, “There will be no bargaining with me. Mr. Campbell committed a crime, and I will not let him off easy just because he owned up to it,” he continued as he stood up.
“You heard him,” the judge said and asked for opening statements from both sides.
When it came time to call witnesses, only Justin and Chief Franklin were called. While he was on the stand, Justin confessed to everything that he did that day and more. He admitted to stalking Harley for months and taking her keys one day at work and got a copy of her house key made. By the time the defense was done bringing witnesses forward, Ross didn’t see the need for calling anyone. He rested his case and the judge was ready to deliver the sentence.
“Will the defendant please rise,” the judge said and Justin and his lawyer stood up. “You have made a plea of guilty. I am sentencing you to 12 years imprisonment, eligible for parole with good behavior in seven years.”
The judge dismissed the case and left and the press started their questions.
Gus turned towards Harley, “It’s over,” he said.
Tears formed in her eyes, “It just makes me sad. It doesn’t feel good; it doesn’t feel right. It never should have happened in the first place,” she said sadly.
Gus put his arms around her and held her close, “I know,” he said, “Let’s get out of here.”
He stood up and took Harley’s hand and they pushed their way to the back of the courtroom, dodging the microphones and tape recorders being shoved in Harley’s face. They made it to the car without incident and Gus drove back to Harley’s house. Harley didn’t say much during the drive and Gus feared they had ended up back where they started.
Gus reached over and put his hand on Harley’s leg and she covered it with her hand.
“Will you talk to me if you are thinking something?” he asked carefully.
Harley nodded, “I will. I’m fine, really. I just feel…nothing,” she said. “I should be mad at him, I should be happy that he got what he deserved, but I’m not. I’m just tired,” she said as she leaned her head back against the seat and looked over at Gus.
“You’re wonderful, do you know that?” Gus asked as he pulled into her driveway and parked the car. “I think that most women in your situation would hate the guy, but you, like you said, you were sad for him, you know?”
“He’s not the man I knew a few months ago,” Harley said quietly. “He was so nice, you know. He was like the perfect guy,” she continued and Gus looked away. “Not for me,” she corrected as she turned his face back to her, “but he was perfect in theory. It just makes you wonder what made him become the mad who did what he did to me.”
“You don’t think it was your fault, do you?” Gus asked.
Harley hesitated for a bit, then shook her head, “No, not really,” she said, “But I have to take some responsibility for it. I mean, our entire relationship was based on a lie. I made him think I was interested in him to try to stop thinking about you.”
“That doesn’t mean you deserved what happened, or that he wouldn’t have done the same thing if you had never dated. You just never know, but it is not your fault,” Gus insisted.
Harley moved closer to him and planted a big kiss on his lips.
“You are the perfect man for me,” she said and she rested her head on his chest.
“You’re pretty perfect yourself,” he replied as he moved her head up and kissed her deeply.
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Post by Jen on Jan 2, 2005 19:07:52 GMT -5
Later that week…
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Harley smiled as she heard the front door open then close. She looked over at the clock on the nightstand. 1:15 am. Gus and Frank had been called out that morning on a stakeout and she hadn’t seen him all day. Zach was staying at Phillip’s for a long weekend so when she called him earlier, she told him to come over after he got off. She didn’t really intend to wait up for him, but that’s what ended up happening. She was asleep hours ago, but something woke her up. She wasn’t even sure what it was, but since she woke up, she hadn’t stopped thinking about Gus and Frank. She was sick of them fighting and she was sick of feeling torn between them. She loved Gus so much and things were so good for them. They had worked through what happened with Justin and everything was almost back to normal. Almost. She still pulled away sometimes when he touched her a certain way, and she still wasn’t ready to make love again, but Gus understood and he would back off when she needed him to and just hold her and tell her how much he loved her. Even though he was patient with her, she knew he wouldn’t wait forever to have sex again, and to be perfectly honest, she knew she couldn’t wait much longer either.
She felt so blessed to have Gus in her life. He was so good to her and Zach. She was so glad that he pushed her to realize her feelings for him. Their relationship was anything but easy. With all of her friends’ and family’s early apprehensions about Gus, they had all warmed up to him, all except Frank of course. Harley wondered if he and Gus would ever get along. The two most important men in her life and they couldn’t even stand to be in the same room with each other.
Harley sighed as she heard Gus reach the top of the stairs and come into the room.
“Hey, what are you doing awake?” Gus asked when he saw that she wasn’t sleeping. “Were you waiting up for me?”
“Kinda,” she replied as he knelt by the bed and kissed her. “I missed you. I haven’t seen you all day and I couldn’t fall asleep until I did.”
“I missed you too,” he replied. “Let me change real quick,” he said as he stood up and crossed the room.
“So what were you doing here in the dark while you were waiting for me?” he asked.
“I was just thinking,” she answered.
“About what?”
“You,” she replied as she rolled over and smiled at him in the darkness.
“Hmm, good thoughts or bad ones?” he asked.
“Both.”
“Oh, bad as in I did something wrong or bad as in naughty?” he teased as he climbed into bed next to her.
Harley laughed, “Actually, they weren’t really bad, and they weren’t just about you. Just forget it,” she said.
“You sure?” he asked and she nodded.
“So how was your day?” she asked.
“Well, I spent the whole day arguing with Frank- how do you think it was?”
Harley sighed, “That good, huh?”
“Let’s just say I can’t wait for you to get back out there with me,” Gus replied.
“Me too,” she said.
“So what did you do all night by yourself?” he asked as he laid back and pulled her into his arms.
“Oh, let’s see,” she began, “I got to make what I wanted for dinner, I got to watch what I wanted on TV, I didn’t have to read any bedtime stories, but I did have to take a long, hot, steamy, bubble bath all by myself,” she pouted as she kissed his chest.
“Well, we can’t have that happening too often,” Gus said as he lifted her chin and kissed the tip of her nose.
“Hey- can we go out tomorrow night?” she asked.
“Sure, where do you want to go?”
“I want to go see a movie,” she answered. “We’ve been dating for months and we’ve never gone to the movies. And dinner. Let’s go get pizza and then go to the movies.”
“Pizza and a movie? Do you feel like going back to high school?” Gus teased and she punched him playfully.
“Shush, I just want to do something normal,” she replied.
“You got it. Too bad there’s no drive-ins around here. It could be fun to fool around in the back seat of my car.”
“Well, we could sit in the last row of the theater and make out instead of watching the movie,” Harley suggested as she kissed his neck.
“Mmmm, sounds like a good Friday night to me,” he said as he stifled a yawn. “It’s late, I’m exhausted, can you sleep now that I’m here?” “Maybe if you give me a big kiss I can,” she teased and he planted a kiss on her lips.
“Bigger,” she said and he kissed her again, only longer.
“Big-ger,” she said again, in a sing-songy voice as she climbed on top of him and pushed him into the bed in a deep kiss.
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Post by Jen on Jan 2, 2005 19:11:18 GMT -5
The next morning, Harley was making the bed as Gus came out of the bathroom from his shower. They heard the doorbell ring and Gus looked curiously at Harley.
“You expecting someone?” he asked.
“Put some pants on,” she said as she kissed him quickly and went downstairs to answer the door.
Gus shrugged and wondered why he had to put pants on since he was upstairs and whoever was at the door was downstairs, but they were running late for work anyway, so he listened to Harley and put on a pair of black pants.
Harley rushed downstairs and opened the door to reveal Frank on the other side.
“Hey sis, what’s up?” he asked as she welcomed him into the house.
“Thanks for coming over,” she replied as she kissed his cheek.
“No problem, but what’s so important that it couldn’t wait until today at work?” he asked.
“Just come with me,” she said and she started up the stairs and Frank hesitantly followed her.
When she got up to her room, she peeked in to make sure Gus was decent and seeing that he had pants on, she opened the door and she and Frank walked in.
“What’s going on?” Gus asked as he came out of the bathroom and saw Frank.
“You two are going to talk,” Harley began. “I’m sick of you hating each other. I love you both and I want you to at least be able to get along for my sake, so you’re not leaving this room until you work out whatever is keeping you from being civil,” she continued. “But hurry up because we’ll be late for work,” she finished as she blew them a kiss and went into the hallway, shutting the door behind her.
“Harley! What are you doing?” Frank asked through the door.
“I told you what I’m doing. You two want to act like little boys and not get along, then I’m going to treat you like little boys,” she replied.
Gus laughed and pulled a shirt out of the closet, “You gotta love that stubborn streak she’s got. Have a seat Frank, I have a feeling we’re not going anywhere anytime soon.”
Frank sighed and gave up. He went to sit on the bed but changed his mind and sat in the chair in the corner while Gus finished getting dressed.
Harley took a seat herself on the floor outside her bedroom door and leaned back against it, straining to hear what was going on. She was disheartened to hear nothing but silence for a long time.
“Someone start talking, please,” she begged quietly to herself.
Gus put his watch on and walked back over to the closet. Frank was still sitting silently, entertaining himself with a loose string on the blanket that was draped over the chair. Gus threw a tie around his neck and started tying it.
“I love her, you know,” he said, finally breaking the silence. “I love her more than anything.”
“I know,” Frank reluctantly replied. “And…I know she loves you.”
“So then what’s the problem?” Gus asked.
“I am afraid that you are going to go back to your old ways and leave her heartbroken,” Frank answered.
“That’s it?” Gus asked, “I’m afraid of that too,” he added.
“Well, that makes me feel better,” Frank said sarcastically.
“Look, I know that going back to the man I was before Harley means losing her, and there is no way that I am going to let that happen. I know that you don’t think I deserve her and I agree that I probably don’t, but I do love her. And I am going to do everything in my power to keep her happy.”
“That’s what everyone else claimed too,” Frank added.
“Well, I’m not them. And I don’t think I should have to pay the price for what those guys did. I’m not perfect and I don’t claim to be, but I am not Phillip Spaulding or any of those other guys. Loving your sister is the one good thing I’ve done in my life and I am not going to screw it up.”
“It’s not just that…” Frank said quietly.
“What else then?” Gus asked.
“Harley’s always needed me. I was the one she would turn to when something was wrong or I was the first one she would call when she had good news. Now, you’re that person,” he replied.
“You’re jealous of me? Are you kidding? I’m jealous of you!” Gus said.
“Me? Why?”
“Because you two are so close. You can finish each other’s sentences, you know her better than anyone. You’re her brother and the one person she has always been able to count on. I want to be that person,” Gus replied.
“So where does this leave us?” Frank asked.
“Well, it’s obvious that we both love Harley and want her to be happy, right?” Gus asked and Frank nodded.
“Okay, well I know that us not getting along doesn’t make her happy, so do you think maybe now since we’re on the same wavelength we can put aside our differences for her?” Gus asked. “I mean, I’ll do my best not to hurt her and maybe you can try to give me a chance.”
“I guess I could do that for Harley,” Frank agreed as he stood up. “This doesn’t mean I’m going to start calling you ‘bro’ or ‘buddy’ or anything,” he added.
“Hey,” Gus said holding up his hands, “One step at a time.”
“Okay,” Frank said and Gus held out his hand and they shook on it.
Harley strained to hear what they were saying. She knew they were talking, but couldn’t really make out what they were actually saying.
“Stupid thick doors!” she cursed as she put her ear up against the door.
She was so busy trying to listen she didn’t notice when Gus opened door and she fell into the room.
“Hi!” she smiled up at Gus and Frank who were standing over her.
“Hi,” Gus replied as he reached down and helped her to her feet. “We made up, is our punishment over now?”
“You did? Really?” Harley asked.
“Yeah, well, we’re not gonna be like best friends or anything, but I think we understand each other better now,” Frank answered and Gus nodded.
“I love you guys,” Harley gushed as she hugged Frank then hugged and kissed Gus.
She stepped back and looked at them then motioned for them to hug.
“We already shook hands, honey, let’s not push it,” Gus said
“Alright,” she conceded.
“Can I go to work now?” Frank asked.
“Yes, we’ll be right behind you,” she replied as he left. She turned to Gus and wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply. “Thank you,” she said.
“We’re gonna try,” he said.
“Thank you. It really means a lot to me.”
“I know,” Gus said as he kissed her forehead then pulled his suit jacket out of the closet. “We’re gonna be late,” he added and they left the house hand in hand.
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Post by Jen on Jan 2, 2005 19:12:15 GMT -5
“Do you want any candy?” Gus asked Friday night as he handed their tickets to the usher at the movie theater Friday night.
“Maybe just popcorn,” Harley replied as they walked up to the concession stand.
“Drink?” he asked.
“No, I’ll have to get up and go to the bathroom if I get a drink, I hate that,” she answered.
“Alright,” Gus laughed as they moved to the front of the line. “We’ll have a large popcorn, a large Coke and a box of Milk Duds,” he told the cashier and pulled out his wallet.
“We just ate dinner!” Harley laughed at his large order.
“Yeah but I need something a little sweet,” he said and Harley rolled her eyes as the cashier took his money and Harley took the popcorn while he grabbed the drink and the chocolate.
They walked into a practically empty theater and Harley pointed to the seats in the back corner and Gus smiled slyly at her as they sat down. Gus set his drink between his knees and ripped open the box of Milk Duds and popped one in his mouth. Harley looked at her watch, they had twenty minutes before the movie started. She munched on some popcorn and Gus filled Harley in on the case that he and Frank were working on.
Harley sighed as she laid her head on his shoulder.
“I wish I was working with you,” she said.
“Me too. One more week, right?” Gus asked and she nodded.
“I can’t wait,” he said as he touched her cheek and kissed her forehead.
Harley lifted her head and felt something on her cheek and grabbed Gus’s hand.
“You have chocolate all over your fingers!” she exclaimed and touched her cheek.
“Oops, I’ll get that,” Gus said as he leaned over and kissed away the chocolate from her cheek and then some, leaving Harley giggling.
“You’re such a goofball,” she laughed as he sat back up and she threw some popcorn at him.
“But you love me anyways,” he smiled as he picked a piece of popcorn out of his hair.
“I sure do,” she replied and leaned over, wrapping her arms around his neck and gave him a soft kiss that made his lips tingle when she pulled away.
As she sat back up, the lights dimmed and the screen lit up with previews of upcoming movies. Gus put away his box of candy, grabbed the popcorn from Harley and threw some kernels in his mouth.
After about a half an hour and half the bag of popcorn, Harley reached for Gus’s drink and took a sip.
“You’re gonna have to pee,” he teased in her ear.
“Shut up,” she laughed as she elbowed his side.
“You done?” he asked as he offered her the bag of popcorn and she nodded, so he put it on the floor.
Harley put one arm through his, put her hand on his thigh, rested her chin on his shoulder and kissed his cheek. As she moved her hand up his leg, Gus put his hand over hers.
“Let’s just keep the hands above the waist for now,” he said as he took a deep breath and laced his fingers through hers.
“Why?” she asked, looking at him.
“Because, I just don’t think I can resist you tonight,” he replied.
“Well, who said you had to?” she asked as he kissed his neck.
“Harley…” Gus protested but succumbed to her kisses and turned in his seat.
He took her face in his hands and kissed her deeply, “Do you have any idea what you do to me?”
“You’re one to talk,” she replied as she pulled him closer to her.
Gus kissed her again then pulled away, “Wait, we can’t,” he said quietly.
“Oh yes we can, in fact we’re really good at it,” she replied as she kissed his cheek.
Gus laughed, “No, come on, you know what I mean,” he said as he tried to sit up in his seat.
“Alright,” Harley sighed and sat up herself.
“To be continued,” Gus whispered into her ear with a kiss and she smiled at him in the darkness.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“Hello,” Harley answered her cell phone as they walked out of the theater when the movie was over.
“Hey, it’s Cassie, what are you up to?” Cassie asked on the other end.
“We’re just leaving the movie theater, why?” Harley asked as she pulled her long hair out of the collar of her leather jacket.
“We’re at Millennium, do you guys want to stop by for a drink? Blake and Ross are on their way. Or do you have other plans?” Cassie asked.
“Let me see,” Harley replied and pulled the phone away. “Do you want to go get a drink with everyone?” she asked Gus.
“Yeah, sure,” he replied and Harley told Cassie they would be there in a few minutes and hung up.
Gus and Harley got to Millennium at the same time as Blake and Ross and the four of them walked in together and found Cassie, Richard, Reva and Josh at the big table they have saved.
“Hey guys, how was your movie?” Reva asked as they all sat down.
“It was good,” Gus replied as he put Harley’s jacket on the back of her chair.
“What was it about?” Cassie asked and Gus and Harley looked at each other.
“Ummm,” Harley hesitated, “Oh, you know. Boy meets girl, boy loses girl…” she finally began.
“Boy and girl spend the whole movie making out instead of watching,” Blake added and everyone laughed.
“Well, the movie didn’t really hold our interest,” Gus tried to use as an excuse as he blushed.
“Uh huh,” Josh teased.
“Well, come on, can you blame me for wanting to kiss him all the time?” Harley said as she grabbed Gus’s face and planted a big kiss on his lips.
“Nope,” Blake, Cassie and Reva all said at the same time, which caused everyone to laugh and Gus to blush more.
“Okay, so let’s talk about something else,” he said as he reached for his drink that the waiter had just brought.
“Well, someone here has a birthday coming up,” Blake said, and Gus let out a sigh of relief.
Harley turned to Cassie, “So are you guys doing anything special? Or are you going to ignore it?” she laughed.
“Actually, we’re going to San Cristobel. We got Will a few weeks after my birthday, so we’re going down to see Alonzo,” Cassie explained. “It’s kind of a double celebration, although I don’t know how much I want to celebrate turning 34.”
“Thirty-four? Please! Wait until you get to be my age!” Reva exclaimed as she finished her drink.
“Oh believe me, I can wait,” Cassie teased and got a dirty look from Reva.
“Uh oh, come on guys, let’s go to the bar and let these girls battle this out,” Josh suggested and the guys all got up to leave.
“Do you want another drink?” Gus asked Harley and she nodded and he kissed her before following the guys.
He brought her back another glass of wine and went back to the bar with the guys, leaving the girls at the table with their second round of drinks.
“So what were you guys doing?” Harley asked Blake.
“Nothing really. Ross was doing some work and I was doing laundry and trying to write,” she answered.
“Oh, are you working on a new book? What’s it about?” Cassie asked.
“Well, it’s not really about anything. I think I have writer’s block. I just need some inspiration.”
“With your life, you need inspiration to write a romance novel?” Reva laughed.
Blake tensed up and turned towards Harley, “So how are you doing?” she asked.
“Trying to change the subject?” Harley asked and Blake pleaded with her eyes. “I’m fine,” Harley finally replied.
“Really?” Cassie asked.
Harley laughed, “Yes. Really.”
“So things are back to normal with Gus?” Blake asked.
“Well, almost,” Harley replied as she threw Gus a glance over her shoulder and caught his eye and smiled at him.
“What do you mean, ‘almost’?” Cassie asked.
“There’s just some things we need to get through still, but we’re great, considering,” Harley said. “Actually, I think I’m gonna see if he’s ready to go yet,” she added and stood up.
She went over to where Gus was standing with the guys and wrapped her arms around his waist.
“You ready to go?” she asked as she rested her chin on his shoulder.
“Yeah, are you okay?” he asked.
“Yep, I just want to go home,” she said and kissed his cheek.
“Okay,” he replied and they said goodnight to the guys then went back to the table.
“Good night ladies,” Gus said and they all said goodbye.
“Hey, call me,” Harley said as she touched Blake’s arm and she and Gus left.
“What was that about?” Gus asked.
“I don’t know. She just seemed a little out of it, not at all like Blake,” Harley said worriedly as they got in the car.
“I’m sure everything’s fine. She’s probably just had a busy week or something,” Gus said.
“Yeah, probably,” Harley replied and a long silence followed. “Listen,” she finally said as she scooted over closer to him and put her hand on his arm. “I know that you’re really frustrated with me. I mean, the whole making love thing. I’m sorry that I’ve been really edgy about it…”
“Harley…” Gus tried to stop her.
“No, we need to talk about this,” she said. “I love you and I want you. I want you so much every second of the day. But when we get close, I just freak out and I’m sorry, I know that’s frustrating for you, because one minute I’m there with you and the next I’m not. I just want you to know that the next time, I’ll be there with you. The whole way, okay?”
Gus looked at her, a little confused. “What?” he asked and Harley laughed.
“Do I have to draw you a picture?” she asked, “I am sick of pulling away from you. And I’m sick of not being with you. So when we get home, I would really like it if you would hold me and kiss me and make love to me the way that you used to, before everything happened.”
“Oh,” Gus said, “Well, why didn’t you just say that?” he asked with a smile.
Harley shook her head and leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.
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Post by Jen on Jan 2, 2005 19:12:39 GMT -5
When they got home, Gus opened Harley’s car door and she took him by the hand and led him into the house. When they got inside, she hung up her jacket and pulled Gus over to the couch. She pulled him into a kiss, but he wasn’t responding like she had hoped.
“What is this, payback?” she asked, “Now you’re pulling away?”
“No, baby I’m sorry, it’s just that I can see that light on the answering machine and it’s really distracting me. Can you just check the messages?” he replied.
“Alright,” Harley said and went over to the machine and started playing the messages.
Hey Harley, it’s Phillip. Uh, Zach just wanted to say good night. Hi Mommy, I love you. Sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite!
Harley turned towards Gus and smiled at Zach’s good night message that Gus always tells him before he goes to bed.
Hi Harley, it’s Susan. I just was calling to talk to you, but I guess you’re not home. I’ll try back tomorrow, it’s not important. Tell Gus I said ‘Hi’. Bye.
“All my kids are gone,” Harley sighed as she plopped back down on the couch with Gus.
“Awww, poor baby,” he teased and she hit him playfully then wrapped her arms around him in a big kiss.
“Are you ready to go upstairs?” she asked breathlessly.
Gus didn’t answer her, but stood up and pulled her with him. He swung her into his arms and carried her up the stairs into her room.
He set her down in front of the bed and after kissing him, she pushed him down so that he was sitting on the edge. She grabbed the bottom of his shirt and pulled it up his torso and over his head, then did the same to her own shirt. She climbed onto his lap and kissed him as his hands caressed the skin of her back. He unclasped her bra and tossed it away when she freed her arms. Harley threw her head back and he covered her neck and chest in teasing kisses. She ran her hands up and down his arms and needed to feel more of him. She pulled herself off of his lap and he stood up with her. They finished undressing each other and slid under the covers of the bed. Harley climbed on top of him and lowered herself onto him.
Gus looked deep into her eyes, “I love you,” he said quietly as he pushed a piece of hair behind her ear.
“I love you too,” she replied as she started moving above him.
Gus raised his hips to meet hers and she leaned down to kiss him passionately. She grabbed him and rolled over so that he was on top of her and their bodies moved in perfect rhythm together until they both found their release.
Harley pulled Gus down beside her and kissed him lovingly.
“Thank you for being so patient,” she said quietly and Gus stopped her talking with a kiss.
“Oh Harley, I would wait forever for you,” he began, “I just love you so much,” he finished and held her closer in his arms until they both fell into a deep, peaceful sleep.
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Post by Jen on Jan 2, 2005 19:13:39 GMT -5
The next week, Harley went back to her regular shifts, but since Frank didn’t have a new partner yet, the three of them worked on cases together. Even though Frank and Gus had reached an agreement and were much friendlier than they were before, when they were working on a case they just seemed to clash in all areas and they were giving Harley a headache.
“Okay, can we just put this case to rest until after lunch? I need a break,” Harley said as she sat back in her chair and rubbed her temples.
“Yeah, that’s a good idea,” Frank agreed. “I’m supposed to sit in on an interview anyway.”
“For a partner?” Harley asked and he nodded, “How’d you manage to get to be a part of the process.”
Frank hesitated, “Well, after the last time…”
“Well, you would have liked Justin just as much as we all did if you met him before he got the job,” Harley said.
“I never liked him,” Gus interrupted.
“Yeah, but that’s because I was with him and not you,” Harley replied.
“You were never really with him though,” he said.
“Well, that’s true. But you thought I was. And unfortunately, so did he,” she added quietly.
“Okay, I have to go,” Frank said hoping to change the subject, “I’ll see you guys in like an hour,” he finished, then went and knocked on Chief Franklin’s door.
“Are you ready?” Harley asked Gus.
“Yeah, let’s go,” Gus said as he grabbed his suit jacket off the back of his chair, “but we have to stop at my place first because I forget to bring the Rossetti case with me this morning and I need to catch you up on that over lunch.”
“Okay, what do you feel like today? Company, pizza, Chinese?” Harley asked as they walked out of the station.
“Company is fine,” he replied as they got in the car and drove towards Gus’s motel.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Gus unlocked the door to his motel room and Harley followed him in. She could tell he wasn’t expecting her to visit him anytime soon because the room was a mess again. She stood by the door, trying not to touch anything while Gus looked around for the file.
“I know it’s here…” Gus said as he dug through a pile of clothes on the floor by his closet.
“I still don’t know how you find anything in this dump. You gotta get out of here,” Harley said as she tiptoed around a pizza box and cleared off a spot on the bed to sit down.
“Aha! I knew it was here,” Gus said as he pulled a file folder out of the pile and held it up victorious. “What did you say?” he asked.
Harley laughed as she pulled off a fabric softener sheet that was stuck to the leg of Gus’s pants, “I said you have to get out of this dump.”
Gus joined her on the edge of the bed, “Well, I mean, yeah it’s not like a 5-star hotel or anything, but it’s cheap. And it’s not like I’m here a lot. Just to sleep and sometimes for an afternoon no-work, all-play session with my partner,” he said as he kissed her neck.
Harley kissed him, but pulled back afterwards, “Not this afternoon. We have to have a working lunch today. Plus I’m starving.”
“Alright,” he said as they kissed one more time, and then he stood up. “And I will clean up this place more often. I promise.”
“How would like to never have to clean this room again?” Harley asked as she stood up in front of him.
“You think I should hire a maid? Or are you gonna clean it for me?” he teased.
“No,” she laughed. “But what if you didn’t live here anymore?”
“Well, it’s really not worth it for me to spend more money on a place where all I do is sleep.”
Harley just smiled at him, “You really don’t get what I’m saying, do you?”
Gus looked confused, “I guess not.”
“What I’m trying to say is that you wouldn’t have to live here if you moved in with me,” she said looking up at him, her eyes sparkling.
Gus’s eyebrows rose at the suggestion, “Are you asking me to move in with you?”
“Well, you said all you do is sleep here. So you can sleep at my house. With me,” she said as she wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him close. “What do you say?”
“You’re offering to take me away from all of this plus I get to wake up with you in my arms every morning? Are you kidding me?!? Yes!” Gus answered as he swept her up in a hug. “Wait a second, are you sure?” he asked.
“Yes. I mean, to be honest with you, I didn’t come over here expecting to ask you to move in with me, but I am sure Gus.”
“I wonder what your family will think of this. Not to mention, what Phillip will think,” Gus said, sighing as he stroked her cheek with his thumb and kissed her forehead.
“Oh who cares what they think? Well, okay, we should probably talk to Phillip just so he knows, but I don’t care what any of them think. I love you and I want to live with you.”
Gus smiled down at Harley, “I love it when you get all feisty on me.”
“Well, get used to it, cause you’re going to have to deal with me twenty-four hours a day from now on.”
“Twenty-four hours a day, huh? Too bad the days aren’t longer,” he said as she leaned up and kissed the spot on his neck right where his top shirt button would be then she tightened his tie.
“We better get going before we get distracted,” she teased as she backed away and went over to the door.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“So when can you move in?” Harley asked as she reached across the table and grabbed his hands after the waitress took their order at Company.
“My, my, aren’t we impatient?” he teased. “When do you want me to move in?” he asked.
“Well, Zach is staying at Phillip’s tonight, I’m taking him over after dinner, so I could talk to Phillip then, so you can move in anytime. Tonight or tomorrow night, or the weekend, whenever. I mean, do you have a lot of stuff?”
“Not really, just clothes and some other stuff. It shouldn’t take me long to get everything to your place,” Gus replied.
“Our place,” Harley corrected him.
Gus smiled at her, “Right. So maybe while you’re dropping Zach off at Phillip’s, I can be packing and I can take most of my stuff over tonight.”
“How about you come with me to Phillip’s and then we’ll go to the motel and I’ll help you pack,” Harley suggested.
“Wuss,” he teased.
“Yeah, well… don’t think you’re gonna be getting all the perks of living with me without the drawbacks too. And dealing with Phillip will be the biggest,” she sighed.
“Okay, then we deal with it,” Gus said. “If you want me to go with you, I will.”
“You are so good to me,” she replied.
“Well, let’s just say that you owe me and you can pay me back tonight,” he said with a wink.
“You got it,” she replied as the waitress brought their food.
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Post by Jen on Jan 2, 2005 19:15:02 GMT -5
“Come on Gus! I want to show you my tree house!” Zach exclaimed as he grabbed Gus’s hand and pulled him around the Spaulding Mansion to the back yard.
Zach’s “tree house” was more like a huge swing set with a tree in the middle of it. There was a huge slide that twisted into a spiral, a bridge connecting the swing part of the structure to the actual tree house part of it.
Zach started climbing up the big ladder to the tree house and Harley immediately tensed up.
“Zach! Be careful!” she cried out, then started biting her fingernails. “This thing makes me so nervous,” she told Gus.
“Why?” he asked.
“I don’t know, it’s just so big and high and he’s so little,” she said.
Gus squeezed her shoulder, then went over to the ladder and followed Zach up it.
“What are you doing?” Harley asked, laughing.
“Well, I’m not so little,” he replied. “Although, this is really high,” he added as he looked over the side of the castle-shaped construction.
“You’re not making me feel better!” she yelled up to him.
“Come here, Gus!” Zach called to him from inside the tree house and Gus followed the small voice.
He had to duck to get into a small room and Zach motioned him over to the corner where there was a shoebox. Zach put his finger to his lips silencing Gus and he slowly took the lid off the box to reveal a small frog with some leaves around it.
“Where did you get that?” Gus asked him.
“Nolan found it for us and me and James take care of it. But you can’t tell Daddy,” Zach replied.
“Why not?”
“Because he doesn’t like frogs,” Zach answered.
“It will be our little secret then,” Gus whispered as Zach put the lid back on the shoebox.
“Wanna go across the bridge?” Zach asked and Gus nodded as he stood up, trying not to bump his head.
He moved past Zach to the bridge and blocked Zach’s path.
“Do you think you can get past me?” he asked and Zach nodded enthusiastically, ready for the challenge.
Zach tried to dodge Gus, who moved from side to side when necessary to keep Zach from passing. One time when Gus was moving to one side, he moved too fast and almost fell over the side of the shaking bridge.
“Gus!” Harley yelled as he steadied himself and went back to blocking Zach, “God, that’s all I need is for both of you to break a leg,” she said.
“Harley?” she heard Phillip from behind her and she turned to see him coming out of the house.
“Hey, sorry, Zach wanted to show Gus his tree house,” she told him as he came up and stood beside her.
Phillip nodded and called to Zach who only stopped playing with Gus long enough to give Phillip a little wave. After another few minutes, Gus gave up and finally let Zach pass him and Zach jumped up and down at the end of the bridge while Gus admitted defeat.
“You slide down the pole and I’ll go down the slide cause you’re too big,” Zach instructed Gus as he sat down at the top of the slide and disappeared into the tunnel.
Gus looked at the metal pole leading to the ground and decided to just jump down instead. When he got to the ground, Zach still wasn’t out of the slide yet, so Gus went to the bottom and stood over it from above and when he heard Zach getting close to the end, he put his head in the opening and shouted, “Boo!” sending Zach into a fit of giggles.
Gus grabbed him off the slide and flung him over his shoulder, holding him by his ankles. He spun around in a circle like he was trying to find Zach.
“Where’s Zach? Where did he go? Has anyone seen Zach?” Gus asked.
“Gus! I’m right here!” Zach exclaimed through giggles as he tugged on Gus’s shirt.
Gus maneuvered himself so that he could see Zach.
“Oh there you are! I thought we lost you!” he said as he set him down.
“You’re so funny,” Zach laughed as he tried to regain his balance after being twirled around in the air.
“Ha ha ha, I know,” Gus laughed as he walked with Zach over to where Harley and Phillip were standing.
“Hi daddy,” Zach said as he jumped into Phillip’s arms.
“Hey Zach, why don’t you take your stuff up to your room?” Harley suggested and Zach struggled from Phillip’s arms, took his backpack from Harley and went into the house.
“What’s up?” Phillip asked as he turned around and started walking into the house and Harley and Gus followed him.
“Well,” Harley began as they got into the study, “We thought you should know that Gus is moving in with me.”
“Oh is that so?”
“Yes. I’m not asking your permission, I’m not even asking for your approval, frankly I don’t care what you think about it. We just thought that as Zach’s father, you had a right to know before it actually happened,” Harley explained.
“Umm, Harley can I talk to you in private?” Phillip asked as he poured himself a drink.
“No, if you have something to say, you can say it in front of Gus,” she replied as Beth walked into the study.
“Hi,” she said, “Am I interrupting?” she asked.
“No, they were just informing me that Aitoro would be living in the same house as my son,” Phillip told her.
“Phillip, I don’t tell you how to run your life, and I would appreciate it if you would stay out of mine,” Harley said.
“This isn’t about you or me, this is about Zach,” Phillip argued.
“Yes, it is about Zach. And Zach adores Gus and Gus is great with him, you saw them out there. I don’t understand what the problem is.”
“I just don’t think you’re setting a very good example for our son,” he replied and Harley’s eyes lit up with anger and Gus grabbed her hand to keep her from saying too much or from killing Phillip, he wasn’t really sure which.
“Really? And how is our situation any different from yours?” Harley asked calmly after she took a deep breath.
“Zach knows who Beth is and he understands our relationship,” he explained.
“He doesn’t understand it anymore than he understands our relationship. All that matters to him is that the people he lives with love him and keep him happy and safe,” Harley replied. “And he gets that from all of us.”
“You do remember our custody arrangement, don’t you? If I feel that Zach’s living situation is not a good one, I can fight it,” Phillip reminded her.
“You’re right, you can. But remember that works both ways,” she reminded him and stepped closer to him so she could speak quietly. “There is not a judge in his or her right mind that would take a child from his mother and her cop boyfriend to put him in a home where his father is hardly around, he spends most of his time with the help and his maybe soon-to-be stepmother isn’t really sure which personality she is from day to day. You can go ahead and fight me on this if you really think you need to, but you will not win. And is it really worth putting Zach through something like a custody battle with his parents at each other’s throats? We’ve done a very good job of keeping our custody arrangement and keeping it good for him, and that doesn’t have to change,” she said as she stepped back away.
“We’ve already told Zach, so we wanted you to hear it from us first,” she finished as she took her purse from the couch and reached for Gus’s hand. “I’ll pick him up tomorrow after work,” she said before they left the study.
“Phillip, whatever you’re thinking, don’t think it,” Beth warned him after Gus and Harley had left. “Harley would never put Zach in danger, you know that. You just have to trust her the way she trusts you.”
“If I ever have any reason to think that man is not good for my son, I will not hesitate to keep him safe,” Phillip said, baring his teeth.
“I know but neither will Harley,” Beth replied.
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Post by Jen on Jan 2, 2005 19:15:18 GMT -5
“What happened to you not having a lot of stuff?” Harley joked as they carried some boxes out to Gus’s car from his motel room.
“Well, it’s mostly clothes. I have one more box of stuff up there. Here, start the car, I’ll go get it and turn in my key,” he said as he kissed her and headed back into the hotel.
He returned about five minutes later, set the last box in the backseat and drove towards Harley’s house.
When they got home, they carried all the boxes into the house in a couple of trips. Gus opened up the closet to hang up his suits and saw that there was no room at all for his stuff.
“Um, honey, I thought you said you were going to give me some room in here,” he said and she joined him at the closet.
“Oh, yeah, I guess I’ve gotten used to having the closet all to myself. Let’s just do this until we can get a little more organized,” she replied as she pushed some of her clothes closer together, giving Gus about a foot of closet space. “You can hang the rest in the guest room for now. We can clean the closet this weekend,” she added.
“Oh, I get to do that too?’
“If you want to hang your clothes in it, yeah,” Harley smiled back at him then went to open another box on the bed.
“What’s this stuff?” she asked as she pulled a manilla envelope out of the box.
“That’s stuff that belonged to my dad. Those are the ticket stubs from every Cubs game we went to. And his badge and medals and stuff are in there,” Gus answered as he came over and joined her by the bed.
“Do you get this stuff out a lot?” Harley asked as she rubbed his arm.
“Usually on his birthday, but sometimes I just like to go through it,” Gus replied.
“Where would you like to put it?”
“It can just go in a closet somewhere, but there’s picture I’d like to keep out. Can I put it in here?” he asked as he pulled a picture of him and Joe at a Cubs game out.
“Yeah, put it wherever you want honey,” Harley replied and he put it on the shelf beside some pictures of Harley’s family.
“Is this okay?” he asked.
“It’s perfect,” Harley said as she came up behind him and kissed his shoulder.
“Can this go under your bed?” Gus asked as he picked up the box.
“No, but it can go under our bed,” she replied as she took it from him and pushed it under the bed.
“Our bed…I like the sound of that,” Gus laughed.
“Me too, so come on, let’s christen it,” Harley said as she grabbed his shirt and pulled him down onto the bed with her in a kiss.
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Post by Jen on Jan 2, 2005 19:16:06 GMT -5
“Gus, will you get that?” Harley yelled from the kitchen when the doorbell rang the next morning.
“Yeah,” Gus replied as he got up and opened the door to see Buzz and Frank on the other side.
“Hey guys, come on in,” he said as he stepped back and they came into the house.
“Hey dad, Frank, what’s up?” Harley asked as she came into the living room.
“My car didn’t want to start this morning, I was hoping I could ride with you guys,” Frank explained.
“And I would take him, but I am already late to open the restaurant and your place was closer,” Buzz added.
“Oh yeah, that’s fine,” Harley replied. “We’re obviously running a little late though,” she added since both she and Gus were still in pajamas. “I just started a pot of coffee.”
“That sounds good,” Frank replied and started towards the kitchen.
“Don’t you think we should tell them,” Gus whispered as he nudged Harley.
“Tell us what?” Buzz asked as Frank came back into the living room.
“Okay,” Harley began. “Gus has moved in with me,” she said, smiling.
“Yeah, so?” Buzz asked.
“What?” Harley asked, confused as to his reaction.
“What, are we supposed to be surprised?” he replied.
“Well…I don’t know, I just thought you would have some sort of reaction,” Harley said.
“Yay, my daughter is living in sin. Knock her up and run over my dog and we can turn this into a country song.”
“Daddy…” Harley laughed.
“Is that better?” Buzz asked?
“Well, at least it’s something,” Harley said.
“Hey, this means you won’t be calling me to shovel out your driveway this winter,” Frank added. “I think it’s great,” he laughed.
“Really?” Gus asked hesitantly.
“Well, can I really do anything about it if I don’t like it?” he asked.
“No,” Harley replied.
“And haven’t we reached an agreement?” he asked Gus.
“Yes,” Gus replied.
“Then I think it’s great,” he reiterated. “Well, it’s okay. I don’t think I’m really ready for ‘great’ yet.”
“That’s okay,” Gus assured him as he stuck out his hand and Frank shook it.
Buzz also stuck out his hand and he and Gus shook.
“I’m gonna take good care of her,” Gus assured Buzz.
“I know you will,” Buzz nodded as Gus put his arm around Harley and pulled her close. “Now I’m really late. I’ll see you all later,” he said as he left the house.
“Okay, we’re going to go get ready. Help yourself to coffee or food or anything,” Harley said as she grabbed Gus’s hand and they went upstairs to shower and get dressed.
“Hey honey,” Gus called out to Harley who was in the bathroom after they were dressed. “What time are we supposed to pick up Zach?”
“Right after work, why?” she asked as she came out of the bathroom.
“We’re meeting those guys from Chicago PD for drinks at 5:30 to go over the Carson case,” he reminded her.
“Oh, I completely forgot. I guess I’ll have to call Phillip and tell him we’ll be a little late,” she said hesitantly. “I really don’t want to leave Zach there any longer than I have to though after the way Phillip was acting yesterday.”
“Then we’ll pick him up and take him with us,” Gus shrugged as he pulled his suit jacket out of the closet.
“We’ll never get to Phillip’s and back to Towers by 5:30. I’ll drop you and Frank off at Towers and go get Zach, I’ll just be a little late.”
“Okay,” Gus said.
“Wait, we can’t take Zach to Towers for a business meeting!” Harley exclaimed realizing how busy Towers would be at that time and figured the guys from Chicago wouldn’t like a preschooler running around the table.
“Honey, he’ll be fine. He’s a good kid, and if starts getting restless, we’ll bribe him,” Gus said as he grabbed Harley’s hand pulled her out of the room. “Come on, we’re already late.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Gus, Harley and Frank walked back into the police station after lunch. Frank had just finished telling a lame joke and both Harley and Gus were appeasing him with chuckles. Frank noticed a woman with long blonde hair coming out of Chief Franklin’s office with him.
“Wonder if that’s someone interviewing to be my new partner,” Frank wondered with a smile as he motioned towards the woman.
Harley turned white as she saw who was in the station and she turned around to face Gus.
“Harley, what’s wrong?” Gus asked when he saw Harley’s reaction.
“That’s Justin’s sister,” Harley said quietly and Gus looked up at the woman shaking Franklin’s hand.
“Do you want to leave?” Gus asked her and she nodded, but they couldn’t move more than an inch before Justin’s sister spotted Harley.
“Harley,” she called out to her and Harley paused before she slowly turned around.
“Sharon, hi,” Harley greeted politely. They had met once while Harley and Justin were dating and Sharon was at the trial.
“How are you doing?” Sharon asked.
“I’m okay,” she replied quietly.
“Harley, I know there’s nothing I can say to make up for what Justin did. But believe me, we were as surprised as you were, that is not something my brother would do. I don’t know what happened,” Sharon explained.
“I don’t mean to be rude, but what are you doing here?” Gus asked and Sharon looked at him strangely.
“I guess I should introduce myself,” he added, “I’m Gus Aitoro, I’m Harley’s…”
“Boyfriend,” Harley and Sharon both said at the same time.
“I know, I saw you at the trial,” Sharon explained. “I just came by to pick up the rest of Justin’s things. I figured if I came around lunch time, I would miss you. I didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable. But I’m kind of glad I got to talk to you. Justin…well, he asked me to call you anyway. He would like to see you. I think he wants to apologize for what happened.”
“You have got to be kidding me,” Gus scoffed and looked at Harley for her reaction.
“Then tell him he should have thought about that before it actually happened,” Harley said and walked over to her desk.
Gus followed her and Frank stepped in front of Sharon.
“I think you have your answer,” he said, then went to his own desk.
Before she walked out of the station, Sharon looked over at Harley who had pulled a file out of her drawer and opened it while Gus sat on the edge of her desk. Maybe she would call Harley later so she could talk just to her without her brother and boyfriend influencing her.
“So do we have any files left here from the Carson case that we should take with us?” Harley asked Gus.
“Harley…” Gus said as he reached down and shut the file that she had just opened.
“Gus, I don’t want to talk about it,” she insisted as she looked up at him and wrestled the file open again.
“Fine,” Gus sighed, “You know where to find me if you do,” he added before getting up and sitting at his desk right across from hers.
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Post by Jen on Jan 2, 2005 19:17:18 GMT -5
“Detectives Cooper and Aitoro?” a tall dark-haired man asked as he and an older man approached the table that Frank and Gus were seated at in the middle of Towers.
“Yes,” Gus said as they stood up, “I’m Detective Gus Aitoro, this is Detective Frank Cooper.”
“Chief Jackson,” the younger man said and introduced the older man as Detective Samson as they shook hands and took their seats.
“Are we waiting for someone else?” Chief Jackson asked as he pointed to the empty seat between Gus and Frank.
“Detective Harley Cooper, she should be here soon, she had to pick up her son. We can get started though,” Gus replied.
“Harley Cooper, was she the one that Justin Campbell…” the older man asked.
“Yeah,” Frank replied.
“We were awfully sorry to hear about that,” the Chief said, “We interviewed Campbell before he came to Springfield, I guess you just never know. How is Detective Cooper doing?” he asked.
Gus looked at Frank, “She’s doing pretty good, considering,” he answered.
“Good,” Chief Jackson said, then pulled out some files from his briefcase.
“Okay sweetie, remember what I said, you have to be very quiet. And you can’t run around. You have to sit at the table and color, okay?” Harley reminded Zach as they rode the elevator up to the restaurant.
“Okay Mommy,” he said quietly as the doors opened and Harley took his hand and they walked into the dining room.
She spotted the table she was looking for and motioned to the hostess that she was with someone and they walked over.
“Hi, sorry I’m late,” she said as all the guys stood up.
“You must be Detective Cooper,” Chief Jackson said.
“Yes, that’s me.”
“It’s nice to meet you, I’m Chief Jackson, this is Detective Samson. And this must be your son,” he said as he patted Zach on the head.
“Yes, this is Zach, I’m sorry, I had to pick him up from his father’s house.”
“Oh, it’s not a problem,” Jackson said as Gus pulled out Harley’s chair and she sat down and pulled Zach onto her lap and he got his coloring book and crayons out of his bag.
“So what did I miss?” she asked.
“Not too much,” Gus replied, “we were just getting started.”
“I was just telling them that we’re getting closer to pinning this on the Sandoval family,” Jackson said.
“Really? What about any of the other families?” Harley asked as Zach crawled from her lap over to Gus’s and continued coloring.
“It’s possible that the Santos family could be involved, but we’re not sure yet.”
Harley and Frank looked at Gus for a reaction, but he didn’t have much of one.
“What do you have against the Sandovals? I mean, what evidence have you found?” he asked. “And what about the Santoses?”
“Well, as you already know, Jack Carson was a beat cop in Chicago for many years. We found out that he worked a lot with another cop, Joe Augustino, who was killed by the Santos family,” Samson informed them.
Harley met Gus’s surprised eyes and touched his leg under the table.
“What does he have to do with all of this?” she asked.
“When Danny Santos tried to get out of the business, Bernardo Sandoval took over all of his dealings, you could say. The Santos family had been sending an envelope of cash to Jack Carson every month to keep quiet about Augustino’s murder and anything he knew about the Santos family from working with Joe,” he continued.
“But we investigated the Santos family just last year, how could we not know about this?” Gus asked anxiously.
“Danny had turned those transactions over to Bernardo years ago to cover his tracks. He paid Sandoval, and Sandoval paid Carson. There’s no way you could have caught it, we didn’t even catch it until just yesterday,” Jackson explained.
Harley hadn’t taken her eyes off of Gus, or her hand off his leg.
“Um, we already knew about Joe August, I mean that he was killed by Miguel Santos. Joe August was my father,” Gus explained.
“You’re Nick?” Samson asked and Gus nodded. “I didn’t know, I’m sorry. I worked with your dad a little bit. He was a great guy,” he continued.
“He was,” Gus agreed. “So you’re telling me that Danny Santos has been paying Jack Carson to keep everything that he, and my father, knew about the Santos family?”
“Yes,” Jackson answered.
“Okay, so then why did they do what they did to Carson?” Harley asked as she looked over at Zach who was still concentrating on his coloring.
“We have a ‘friend’ of Carson’s who came to us and told us that Carson had stopped taking the money. He was sick of hiding what he knew. I think he found God or something like that,” Jackson explained.
“And Bernardo and Danny found out and took care of him,” Harley finished.
“Exactly. At least that’s what we think.”
“How close are you to getting something concrete against the families?” Gus asked.
“Very close. We have people inside working on it. It shouldn’t be long.”
“Is there anyone else that’s in danger? Anyone else taking money from the family that we should watch after?” Frank asked.
“There was no one else on Sandoval’s payroll that looked as suspicious as Carson did. I don’t think there’s anyone else,” Jackson answered, then turned to Gus. “What about you? Does Santos know who you are?”
“Yes, but I don’t think I’m in any danger. Danny and I have already had our battle,” Gus replied quietly. “So much for being out of the business, huh?” he scoffed.
“You will let us know what’s going on with this case, won’t you?” Harley asked Jackson.
“Oh absolutely. And don’t worry, we’ll get to the bottom of this,” he assured them. “And if the Santoses are involved, we’ll need your full cooperation.”
“You already have it,” Frank replied.
“Is there anything else?” Gus asked as he unzipped Zach’s bookbag.
“I don’t think so,” Samson answered and Gus told Zach to put his book away.
“Are we going home now?” Zach asked as he looked up at Gus.
“Yep, we’re going home,” Gus said as he handed Zach’s bookbag to Harley and stood up with Zach in his arms. “Ready?” he asked Harley and Frank and everyone stood and shook hands.
“We’ll be in touch,” Jackson assured Gus as he shook his hand.
“Thank you,” Gus replied and he turned to Harley and took her hand before they walked out of the dining room.
“Are you okay?” Harley asked as she rested her chin on his shoulder when they got in the elevator.
“I am right now. We’ll talk later,” he replied and she kissed his cheek.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“Come in,” Danny Santos called out when he heard a knock at his office door.
“Jimmy, what can I do for you?” he asked.
“Sorry Boss, but I just got a call and I don’t think you’re going to like what I heard,” the large, black haired man said.
“What is it?” Danny asked.
“It’s about our witness,” Jimmy began, “Turns out he’s not dead afterall.”
“What do you mean he’s not dead?” Danny asked as he stood up.
“It was a set-up,” he replied with a cough.
“Do you know where he’s at?” Danny asked calmly and Jimmy nodded.
“Then take care of it,” he continued and went back to his plush chair behind his desk.
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