Signs of Interest 3

Still Life with Teddy
 
@J Hontz and S Pickrel 2009 - all rights reserved

 

Goldie regarded the watercolor she'd been working on, squinting at it. Well, it certainly was colorful. Flowers, white roses, chocolates spilling across the blood red table top, and the stupid teddy bear right up front.

She got a devilish grin on her face and began changing things. Adding stuff. She stood back after an hour and regarded the result. The teddy bear now wielded a sword, a broadsword at that, and wore a red cloak. He looked decidedly roguish rather than sweet.

The watercolor was as done as it was ever gonna be so she signed it and set it aside to dry.

One small problem was that she had no idea where Justin and Luc lived. The subject hadn't come up. She frowned. She was calling Justine when the doorbell rang.

Only her friends knew to come to the door directly to the studio. Jerry was staffing the bookstore up front.  She went to the door and opened it to see her father standing there.

"Oh, Dad," she said, shutting down her cell phone hastily.

"Oh, Dad.  Is that any way to greet me?" he complained, stepping forward even though she was blocking the door.

"Working?" he asked. It was pretty self-evident she was, since she had streaks of watercolor on her clothes and hands and a nice bright blue streak on her cheek she didn't know was there.

"Uhm, just playing around."

'Dad' took in the table arrangement and then frowned at the water color. "Not your usual standard of work."

Goldie frowned. "I was just..."

"Who sent you the flowers?" Dad asked. Before she could answer he'd found the card that said, "Justin."  Amongst other things.

"Who's Justin?" her father asked.

"Just a guy. We met him and his friend at the SCA event. I wanted him to model for me."

"Wanted?" Dad asked, emphasizing the past tense.

"Yeah, I don't want to draw him any more."

"That little gallery on Main, where you have two oils on display? It got broken into last night."

Her mouth fell open. "It did?"

"One of your paintings was stolen."

Goldie frowned. "That's... stupid. I'm like the least known artist she shows.  They aren't worth anything!"

"Nonetheless.  The local constabulary questioned me about it this morning."

Goldie turned red. "Geez, why don't they leave you alone!"

"They think I know the art underground," he replied with a shrug.  "I used to, after all."

"But when it's my stuff?!"

"Yeah, well, they let me go, so that's a plus," Dad replied.  "They were even relatively polite this time."

"Oh," Goldie replied.

"You should go by and talk to Susan," he suggested.  Susan was the proprietor of the little shop that had been robbed.

"Oh.  Yeah. I guess so. It just makes no sense, Dad,"  Goldie stammered.

"I know.  I think you're a great artist, kid, but you're an unknown still, other than amongst a very small clientele yet, and those are local. Who locally would steal something of yours?  They could buy it for not much."

Goldie colored. "Yeah."

"The cops will be dropping in I expect. I'm surprised they haven't been here already," Dad added.

"Oh. Yeah, I should get cleaned up, I guess. I'll go over to see Susie."

"Talk to you later, pumpkin."  Dad kissed her cheek and was gone. As usual, he'd just turned her world upside down.

***************

"Only one painting stolen," Justin said as they pulled up in front of the gallery.  "One of her nudes," he added, knowing it wasn't necessary.  "One of the uncatalogued ones."  Meaning not part of the known body of work from their unknown artist.

Cops were still hanging around the place, taking notes, crime scene tape still up, a woman, looking pale and a bit frightened, was talking to a plain clothes officer.

"Uh oh," Luc said, as Goldie came running up the sidewalk to throw her arms around the woman.

"Now isn't that interesting," Justin said.  "Coincidence?"

"Ain't no such thing. You wanna hide out here, and I'll go check it out, or are you coming?"

"Ain't no point hiding," he said with a sudden grin.  "You're too big to miss.  What are we telling her about why we're here?"

"We heard the reports on the scanner?" Luc suggested, not paying a bit of attention to the fact there was no such thing in his Jeep.

"And we cared because...?"  Justin prompted.  "We were bored?  We get hard hindering law enforcement?"

"We heard her name?" Luc suggested, pointing out that the plain clothes officer was now interviewing Goldie, who was gesticulating toward the gallery and looking more confused than worried.

"How about we were driving by and saw her and were wondering if she needed any help with the scum known as cops?"

Luc sighed. "You're never gonna let her live that down, are you?"

Justin's eyes locked onto her like a guided missile acquiring a target.  "I wasn't going to add that part.  I'm trying to kiss and make up, remember?"

"I remember, do you?" Luc asked as he climbed out of his Jeep letting Justin figure out his own approach alone. Luc shouldered his way through the crowd that was enjoying the entertainment in an otherwise quiet town.

Goldie had her hands on her hips, staring up at the cop, her chin thrust out. "NO!  How would I know who took it?  All the local critics ever tell me is no one buys nudes. So how is it someone steals them? I mean, it wasn't that valuable! I have a hundred in my studio not much different than it, well, not finished or signed and all but you know what I mean.."

Justin moved silently behind her until he was close enough to smell her, the unique scent that was tangy and tart and sweet all at once, making him think of virgin snow glittering in sunlight on top of evergreens.  He took another step and the scent expanded, floating on the shimmer of heat she projected with her anger.  She was spitting mad.  If she'd been the kitten she reminded him of her back would be arched, her ears back and her fur raised.  And even without all those things he had to clamp down on a need to stroke her, soothe her with a petting slide of his hand down her back while he enfolded her under the protection of his arm that broadsided him.  Baby Girl was angry, but underneath it she was fighting fear. 

He was behind her, and slightly to the side.  She couldn't see him but the cop could.  He let the predator that he was out just enough to be visible to the man, let the beast he kept leashed look out of his eyes as they drew the attention of the man questioning her.  "Are you alright?" he asked her softly, bending towards her ear as he spoke, his body deliberately projecting possessive protectiveness.  It wasn't a lie, though why the primitive part of him was flexing his claws like he owned this woman he didn't know.  And now was not the time to indulge in the sort of navel gazing that would clarify things.

At the sound of his voice just behind her Goldie whirled, fear in her eyes. She took an involuntary step backward, treading on the detective's foot while she was at it. He cursed and grabbed her around the shoulders. Goldie, her eyes locked on Justin, seemed to relax realizing who it was, until the detective put his hands on her, and the fear was back. She jerked away from him. "Don't touch me!"

Justin snarled, the sight of another man touching her sending the beast slavering for blood.  He settled for a growl.

"I'm sorry!" the detective said, "My foot. You stepped on my foot. That damn heel hurt!"

"Oh! Oh, damn," Goldie said, her eyes going from Justin to the cop and back again, her confusion worse now. "I'm sorry, I just.. I'm sorry!"

Justin produced his most reassuring smile for her as he placed a hand at the small of her back, letting his thumb trace a calming circle over her spine.  The smile shifted when he turned his attention to the cop, now all teeth and territorial alpha male, a challenge the man would have had to have been dead to miss.  "It was my fault, baby," Justin said.  "I startled you.  I'm sorry.  Are you alright?"  He made the question intimate, effectively ejecting the cop from the conversation, using the motion of his thumb, the warmth of his hand and the cadence of his words.  His tone was pure cherishing concern.  His eyes and expression, visible to the cop and not to her, were something else altogether.

"Justin... I .. I didn't expect to see you. Not here, anyway," Goldie said.

The cop was eyeing Justin. Warily. Even so, he asked, his pencil poised over his notebook, "And just who are you?"

"He's a friend," Goldie announced. "He's got nothing to do with this."

The detective raised an eyebrow.

Justin pulled a leather folio out of his back pocket and flipped it open displaying badge and ID. 
The detective took one look and then a second as he took a step backwards.  Justin smiled, feral animal scenting prey and flipped it closed.  He ignored Luc's fatalistic groan as he did so.   

"Look, Miss Hawkins. You got a picture of the painting?"

Goldie frowned. "No.  Susie might. She generally takes pictures of the gallery."

"Right. Miss Owen?" the detective said turning back to the relative safety of Susie Owen.

"Someone stole one of my paintings," Goldie explained to Justin. "I don't get it. Why?"

"They liked it and couldn't afford it?" he suggested. 

"Pfft," Goldie replied, beginning to regain her equanimity. She waved at Luc but his attention was elsewhere. He flicked a look at Justin and melted away into the crowd.

"What's up with him?"  She sighed, "Did I make him mad too?"

Justin turned to look at Luc.  "No.  He's just nosing around," Justin said.  "You didn't answer me, Baby Girl.  Are you alright?"  She was pale and her pupils still dilated slightly, her face flushed and her breathing a little fast.  Her fear was receding but it wasn't gone.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Really. Well, I'm a little confused. And kinda mad. And worried about Susie. And really, this doesn't look much like a place a SWAT team would be called in."

"We were shopping," he said his smile beguiling. 

"Oh.  Oh, I got the flowers, thanks. I .. I, uhm, drew them and was going to send it to you but I didn't know where you and Luc live, so I.. and then my Dad showed up and I heard about this and .. and.." she reached up to touch her hair, which was still damp from her shower.

"You're beautiful when you're damp," he murmured.  "Just like when you're not."

"Uhm, aren't you mad at me?"

"If I am do we get to kiss and make up?" he asked, his head dipping towards her ear, the breath of his words just brushing her skin.

She flushed crimson. "Certainly not with half the town watching."  She pulled away from him, her heart pounding, wanting to do just the opposite of what she'd just done. "I need a latte."

"An excellent idea, doll," he said, his hand returning to the site it had just been evicted from.  He used it to steer her in the direction of the closest source, his eyes searching for Luc as they moved.

Luc had taken off down an alleyway and just as they reached the coffee shop he stepped back out into the sunlight. He shook his head no at Justin, and sauntered over toward them.

"Hi," Goldie said as Luc slipped into a chair across from her and Justin.

"Hi yourself. You all right?" Luc asked.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine," Goldie replied.  "What was all that about? Disappearing down the alleyway?"

Luc replied easily, "Oh, thought I'd spotted someone I knew. Didn't.  What am I getting you two? Or would you two rather be alone?" he added, raising an eyebrow at Justin.

What he wanted and what Goldie would be comfortable with were two different things and he didn't try to fight it.  "Two lattes, extra shot, extra hot," he said, arching a brow at Goldie as he ordered for her.

"Sounds good," she agreed. Luc got up and sauntered over to the barista bar.

"I'm fine really. You don't have to give up your day for me," Goldie said once Luc was out of earshot. "It was just a shock, you know?"

"Nothing to be sorry for," he said.  "I was going to go by the bookstore anyway to apologize.  I've no right to judge you or presume to know what you've been through.  Or dictate your responses to it.  I really am sorry I reacted like I did."

She bit her lip as she regarded him. "No, my fault. I wrote you off once I knew you were a cop. I just.. they follow me around sometimes and scare the crap out of me."

"It's understandable in the circumstances," he said carefully.  "I'm not that kind of a cop, Goldie.  In any sense."

"Yeah, I know," she fell silent as Luc returned with the lattes.

"Is Justine working today?" he asked.

Goldie looked at her watch.  "Yeah, she's got a class this afternoon."

"I promised her I'd call," Luc explained.

"Oh she'll like that."

Justin hid a grin behind his latte. 

Luc kicked him under the table.

Justin kicked him back.

"So, uhm, can we take you home?" Luc asked.

"My car's here," Goldie replied. "So, no thanks."

Justin reached over and touched her hand.  "Sure you don't want some company for a while?  Until Justine is free?"

"Well, you could come over and get your watercolor," she replied uncertainly.

"I'd like to see it," he said.  "I'm flattered you painted it."

"All right. Meet me there. I live behind the bookstore."

"Want one to go?" he asked.

"Sure," she replied smiling at him.

"Go on doll, I'll bring it with me," Justin said, smiling back.

She waved and took off. Luc watched her walk out then groaned. "This ain't wise," he said, turning his eyes to Justin.

"When is it ever?" Justin asked mildly. 

"Well, this is especially not wise," Luc replied, as they walked out, Goldie's latte clutched in Justin's hand. "They aren't like our women, for one obvious thing."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning she isn't going to understand your - our - basic needs," Luc replied climbing into the Jeep and starting it.

"And Justine will?" he parried.

"I'm not smitten," Luc countered.

Justin snorted in derision.  "Of course not."

"I'm not the one that went all primal when someone touched my date," Luc pointed out. "Look, I know we want to keep them close right now. Just... be careful."

We passed careful a while ago, Justin realized.  In fact they were so far past it, it wasn't even a memory.  "Yeah.  Careful."

"I thought I scented someone earlier.  Not sure though," Luc commented, as he took the turn toward the bookstore. "They have no plan to leave yet, is my guess."

"Why would they?  She's probably got dozens of canvases at her place.  Which makes me wonder why they stole the one from the gallery and also why, if they went to all that trouble, they didn't take both canvases."

"Maybe they got interrupted by someone or something. Hell, I don't know how they think. But yeah, we'd better keep an eye on her place from now on."

"Shit, I hate stake outs."

"Well, there's an alternative, as much as I don't like it," Luc pointed out. "You're working your way there."

Justin went stone still at the visual that exploded in his brain while the primitive part of him roared its approval at the idea.  Rational, civilized and even honorable...the parts normally in control were swamped, heading under for the third time in the space of two shallow breaths.  He battled the beast into submission, almost appalled at how hard it was.  The beast was so on board with the idea and ready to put it into play as soon as he saw her again.  He wasn't interested in anything other the meeting of his primal, atavistic need to claim and mark what he considered his.  Though when the beast had made that determination he didn't know.  He snarled at the beast and then groaned.  No shit this wasn't wise.  And he didn't like the decision setting itself up for the not too distant future.  "I'd rather the stake out," he said finally.

"Liar," Luc replied softly as he pulled up in front of the bookstore.  "I guess she's got a private entry in the back. You go on in, I'll recon the area."

"God damn it Luc!"

"What?" Luc asked. "Okay, I'll go in you recon the area."

"Over my dead body," the beast snarled while Justin just watched himself from a distance.  It was becoming surreal.

Luc sighed. "I won't be long."  He got out of the car and left Justin there, heading around the corner to check entry points and vulnerabilities and to pick a fairly good spot for a stake out.

Justin watched him disappear and ran a hand through his hair, trying to get himself under control.  He was only marginally successful by the time he knocked on the rear entrance to Goldie's apartment.  A part of him was on auto pilot, cataloging the rear of the building, assessing it for vulnerabilities.  Her lock was a standard dead bolt.  It would keep out the kind of people he and Luc tracked for ten seconds.  The industrial steel door added another five to it.  There were no windows on the ground floor in the back, but there were on the second floor, accessible from the pull down fire escape.

In short, she was defenseless.  His beast was clawing at him demanding action.  He clawed it back behind the bars of its cage and rang the bell.  This was great, just fucking great.  A smart man would call in and demand to be removed from the case.  He was clearly stupid.

Goldie answered the door with her cell phone attached to her ear. "Yeah, I'm fine. Susie is too. I don't know, Justine. Maybe it wasn't even about me. Maybe it was someone who just wanted to scare Susie. Hi, Justin, come on in. Where's Luc?"

"He likes to know where he's at.  He'll be here in a minute."

"Oh, hmmm. Yeah, they're here Justine. Don't worry, okay?  Sure come over. See you."  She shut down her cell phone and said, "That was Justine. She heard about the break-in. She's such a worry wart.  Listen, don't mind the mess. My studio is .. well, it's never very neat I'm afraid."

The watercolor of the flowers sat on an easel in the center of the room. The flowers, the chocolates and the teddy bear on a table nearby.  She saw him glance that way. "Listen, I was.. it isn't very good. I was just messing around, you know?"

It hit him in the gut.  But then he'd known it would.  It always had, every time he saw it.  'Signs of Interest.'  Sold at auction ten years ago for a fortune and then some.  It's what had made him say what he had last night.  But last night he hadn't really believed it was her.  Now there was no denying it.  Teddy bear with a sword, amid scattered chocolates and innocent, pure white roses all sitting on a red satin field of sin.  Death and life, sin and innocence right there in a brutal still life watercolor.  How could watercolor ever be brutal?  How could a still life?

The ideograph that shouted out who she was, was a slash of glittering gold calligraphy in the corner.

"Then show me good," he managed hoarsely, dragging his eyes off of it.

"Oh, you like it?" she asked. "I made it for you, so that's a good thing then."

"Goldie..."

"What?"

"I..."  He sucked in air and searched for something he could say that wouldn't get them all in trouble.  "I'd really like to see your work, doll."

"Uhm, sure. Feel free," she said waving at the room. Canvasses were staked 4 and 5 deep along the walls.  The doorbell sounded and she went to answer it. It was Luc, who sucked in a breath when he saw the painting on the easel.

"It isn't that good," Goldie muttered.

Luc glanced over at Justin, "You're wrong, It's... pretty amazing, really."

"Come on, you guys. Don't turn my head," she replied with a nervous laugh.

Justin didn't answer.  He couldn't.  He was too engrossed in the canvases.  Her nudes. Jesus!  He looked at them and recalled the ditz at the SCA event and the spitting kitten outside her friend's gallery and the haunted woman-child telling him she hated cops.  Layer after layer after layer, just like her paintings.  Every one a study in contrasts, in differences, in compassion and empathy.  Raw and delicate.  Erotic and mundane.  Beautiful and ugly.  Young and old.  Every hope and every failure.

Goldie was chewing her thumb.

"You okay?" Luc asked her.

"Uhm.  Yeah. I'm not really good at anyone looking at my stuff. I'm always nervous."

"Here drink your latte," Luc said, handing her the one Justin had gotten for her. "I think he likes them, actually."

"Like doesn't come close," Justin said absently.  She didn't discriminate.  Her subjects spanned the range of age of sex and shape and coloring.  The only thing she didn't use in her nudes were children.  But she had those too, clothed, captured with a tangible reverence and delight that he could taste, or a mourning, aching knowledge of the agony they were prey too.  She painted like a photographer almost.  The edges crisp and sharp, the eye unflinching.  Her work defined the truth of what was beautiful, and why beauty was such an awful thing.  You had to respond.  One way or another, you couldn't stay neutral.  You looked at them and you took sides or you ran and hid in terror.  She made him vulnerable to life with her brush and she didn't think she was any good.

-------------------------------

"Oh," Goldie said, "Justine said to say hi. She'll be along in a bit," Goldie told Luc. "She's all worried. Like I told her, poor Susie's the one she should worry about."

"She's coming over?" Justin asked, still looking at her paintings.

Goldie nodded. "She worries about me. I don't know why."

Justin turned around, flicking Luc with his eyes.  "She cares."

"Yeah, I know," Goldie replied blushing, "More than I deserve, really. She's so together and practical and stuff and then there's me..."

Justin straightened, his eyes hooded.  "You might want to consider some sort of security while they figure out what happened.  For yourself and your canvases."

Goldie frowned.

"He's right," Luc agreed. "Anybody could break in here."

"This is Williamsburg!" Goldie cried, "not New York."

"Doesn't really matter, doll," Justin said. 

"Look," Luc said, "someone stole one of your canvases. There's a whole bunch of your canvases here, not to mention you. It'd be only sensible to make sure you stay safe."

"I can't afford a fancy security system," Goldie replied, biting her lip. "Nobody robs a book store."

Justin looked at Luc for a moment.  "It's possible we could maybe help out with something that would work until this is sorted out."

"Like how?" Goldie asked, looking from one giant swordsman to the other.

"I know a guy," Justin said carefully.  "He could rig something."

"Yeah, let us handle it, Goldie. We'd be glad to do it," Luc added. "We don't want to see anything happen to you either."

Goldie stared at them. "I think you're being paranoid, but ... if it isn't too disruptive, I guess..."

"It won't be.  Though part of it is about how you handle your own safety," Justin said.  "That's the hard part."

"I'm not going to hide here. I've got classes to teach and stuff, you know," Goldie replied.

"It's not about hiding.  It's about paying attention.  Not doing things the same way all the time, things like that," Justin explained.

"So I pay attention and then what?" Goldie asked, her eyes wide.

"You know how to scream, run and aim the mace all at once," he said teasingly. 

"God, you sound like Justine. She's the one who carries the mace" she replied with a roll of her eyes. 

"It works, baby.  That's the point."
 
Goldie looked over at Luc who nodded.  "You want me to grow up," she said with a pout. "Worse than Justine."

"It's not about growing up, it's about stay safe and staying alive," Justin said, controlling the urge to just tell her what she was going to do.  Every instinct he had was screaming at him to toss her over his shoulder and haul her out of here.  His primitive self considered briefly the idea of just camping in her apartment and liked it a lot.  But Mr. Rational, fighting a losing rear guard action to gain the upper hand, pointed out she would be safer at his house.  Not that she'd do that either.  She was a female, for the love of god, and they never, ever did the sensible thing, being too busy proving how self sufficient and independent they were when any fool with half a brain and the bare minimum of testosterone knew just how untrue that was.  It's no wonder even the sanest males spent so much time wanting to just paddle their asses.

He groaned to himself.  This was not good.  And that little voice in the back of his head was going, "neener, neener, neener...you're so screwed," and laughing maniacally.

"Yeah, I do want you to grow up," Luc replied seriously, apparently unaware of (or perhaps pretending not to notice) Justin's internal battle. "I realize we are paranoid cops, but please won't you indulge us? Otherwise we'll be camping out in my Jeep in your driveway and we'll be grouchy as hell."

"I'll fetch you hot coffee," Goldie suggested, fighting a grin. "Really, would you?"

"Yes, really, we would. You have no idea how paranoid cops get," Luc replied.

"Paranoid enough to camp inside," Justin muttered.

"I can't afford fancy stuff," Goldie pointed out.

"Don't worry about it. Some guys owe us favors. We can come up with the equipment no problem," Luc replied.

"Do you have plans for the rest of the afternoon?  This evening?" Justin asked.

"Uh, was gonna have a pizza with Justine this evening. I should go run."

"Perfect," Justin said with a smile.  "We'll call our guy and then, if you'll let us, we'd be happy to buy you a pizza."

"No fair complaining about the movies then. Chick flicks tonight."

"Chick flicks?" Luc asked blankly.

Justin narrowed his eyes.  "Which ones?"

"When Harry Met Sally and Somewhere In Time," Goldie replied. "I'm gonna go get my running gear on. You guys have fun. Just don't make a mess, and warn Jeremy in the bookstore that you are doing some security stuff."

"You're going running?" Justin demanded.  "I'll go with you."

She looked him up and down. "You aren't dressed for it."

He considered his attire.  "How about you change and then come with me while I run by my place and then we can go run down by the river?"

Luc opened his mouth, and then shut it.

"Sure," Goldie agreed and went toward her bedroom.

"And I'm supposed to handle everything while you...." Luc growled.

Justin snarled.  "I'm hanging onto my sanity by a thread here, man.  Am I supposed to just let her go alone?  Justine will help."

"Yeah, but it's leaving you two alone together I'm worrying about," Luc replied.

"And what is it exactly you think is going to happen?  I'm not planning to bed her."

"Uh HUH," Luc replied. "Have you spoken to your body about that decision?"

Justin snarled again.  "Jesus!"

Goldie walked into the room then, wearing short silk running shorts and a muscle teeshirt that outlined her running bra quite nicely. She had a sweat band on her forehead and one on each wrist. Her shoes looked well worn.  She put her hands on her hips.

"What are you two arguing about?" She ran her eyes from Justin to Luc and back again.

"Nothing," Luc said quickly.

Goldie walked over toward Luc. He backed up like she had a social disease, but he ran out of room and ended up his back to the wall.  Goldie finally had him cornered. She stood on tip-toe and planted a kiss on his cheek.  "That's for doing the hard stuff while we go running. Thanks, Luc."

Luc's eyes were on Justin. "Oh, no problem. You two get outta here."

The keys?" Justin said, his voice strained.

Goldie bent over and retrieved them from a nearby table.  She waved them at Justin. "Will you even fit in my car?" she wondered, eying him with a frown. She drove a red Mini Cooper.

He clenched his jaw and then relaxed it.  "I meant to the Jeep.  But we can go with that," he said, taking the keys from her.  "I'll drive."

Goldie waved at Luc as Justin steered her toward the door. "Be back soon. Promise."

"Right," Luc muttered as he watched them out the door. He sighed, fished out the keys to the Jeep and began making up a mental list of what he'd actually need to buy to make things look good, at least.

Justine just missed Goldie and Justin.  Puzzlement was her first reaction when Luc opened the door.  "Oh.  Hi.  Where's Goldie?"

"Just left with Justin to go running. Does she do that often? I mean, decide on the spur of the moment to do something?"  Belatedly he stood back and waved her in.

"She's pretty much the free spirited spontaneous type," Justine confirmed.  She studied his expression.  "What's wrong?"

"Well, to be honest, I'm not sure I'm comfortable letting the two of them go off alone."  At her look he added, hastily, "Justin's a good guy. Mostly. But he's kind of... smitten."

She raised an eyebrow.

Luc sighed. "He's the emotional type. Falls head over heels."

"And...?"

"And, well, it's not.. I mean, we have to go home fairly soon and she hates cops and, well, it's ... You don't want her having a broken heart, do you?"

"In spite of everything, She's pretty level headed.  What do you mean you'll have to go home soon.  I thought you lived here?"

"Well, we do for the moment," Luc replied. "But, well, they move us around a lot. You know. Kinda like the military. I have to go to the hardware store. Wanna come?"

"Sure," she said. "Sounds like fun."

"We're gonna install some basic security. We're worried about her, what with the break-in, and them taking only her canvas. There's a lot of her canvases around here, after all," Luc explained as he held the door for her. "Oh, where's the nearest hardware store? Not my usual haunt."

"I'll direct you," she said.  "What sort of security?"

"Better locks, security lights, us."

"Us?"

"Yup. We're having pizza and watching movies with you tonight. What exactly is a chick flick?"

"A movie chicks like but guys don't," she said.  "But they watch 'em anyway, hoping to earn brownie points they can cash in on sex."

He looked aghast as he held the door to the Jeep for her. "I don't have any designs, I promise!"

"Damn!  And I was hoping, too," she mourned.

He gulped. "Well, uhm, I don't mean you aren't... I mean.. I just... I don't..."

"I know," she said soothingly.  "We'll just let it go this time, how's that?"

"This time?" he asked worriedly.

She patted his arm and told him to take the next right.  "So what do you think about the heist?"

"Worrisome. So far as we can tell, nothing was touched except the one canvas of Goldie's. Don't know why they didn't take the other.  I hate it when we can't figure out the bad guys," Luc replied, following directions well.

"I imagine you do.  How's Goldie doing.  She was pretty upset earlier."

"She seems fine now. Is she good at putting on a mask? I'm wondering if she's just trying to, I don't know. Fool us, maybe.  Convince us she's fine, but maybe she's not so fine."

"She might be," Justine said.  "Up in the shopping center, that's where it is.  Why are you guys doing this for her?"

"We like her. She's... sort of innocent, in a weird sort of way. Besides, she's a great artist. Really."

"She is good, isn't she," Justine said.  "I won't tell her you called her innocent and weird, both in the same sentence."

"Look, Justin's the guy who's good with words. I'm better with swords."

"You aren't used to being teased, are you?  Don't you have any sisters?"

"Yeah, but they are a lot older than I am. You're teasing me? Why?"

"Oh, the baby of the family?" she asked as he held the door for her.

"Yeah, I guess. The big baby," he added as he ducked to get inside the doorway.

Luc went into complex guy discussions with the hardware store clerk and ended up buying a bunch of equipment, both basic and electronic. And tools, since he didn't think Goldie was going to have much in the way of tools beyond a possible Dremel.  He glanced over at Justine a few times, to see her poking around a bit, and she periodically looking up to see what he was doing. He hoped like hell he was putting on a fairly good show.

He paid cash and lugged out two heavy bags.  "Won't take but a minute to put these in place," he explained, as he led the way back to the Jeep.

"What did you get?  I can help if you want.  I used to help my dad all the time."

Uh oh. "You can drill the holes," he suggested. "Help your dad with what?"

"All the stuff he did around the house.  He was a real handy guy, liked do it yourself projects.  He was an engineer.  So I played with his tools instead of dolls."

"Oh, yeah?  What do you know about security systems? Maybe you can design one better than I can."

She laughed.  "Dead bolts, fox locks, chains and steel doors.  For the rest you call a pro."

"Yeah, well, she says she doesn't have the money and I doubt she'd take it from us, so we're jury-rigging something. Justin's ready to sit in the Jeep outside her door all night, so I figure I need something good enough to convince him she'll be fine, and something that will be useful so she can call us if someone shows up and keep the bad guys outside long enough for us to get here."

"You weren't kidding about him, were you?  Does he always get this, uhm, intense?"

"Uhm.. Well, he does tend to get intense. Mostly not about women though."

"So Goldie's what?  Just lucky?"

He pulled the Jeep over to the curb and shut it down, then turned to look at her.

"Look, I'm, if anything, more unhappy about this than you are. Justin is... he's ... different. He's all alpha male and possessive but he'd never hurt her. But if I can sort of keep the two of them from going any further than they already have, well, that would be a real good thing.  You wanna help me with that, or not?"

She was stunned into silence for a moment.  Then she frowned.  "Why are you unhappy about it?"

"Because I don't see how it can work, and I don't want to deal with a heartbroken partner and friend, or see Goldie unhappy."

"Why couldn't it work?" Justine asked, ignoring the sudden frisson of something that hit her stomach.

Luc pulled out of their parking spot.  He ran a hand through his hair.  He had no idea how he could explain this to her without totally blowing their cover. He considered telling her Justin was married, but rejected it because Justin would probably kill him, not that he might not try it yet.

"Uhm, well, if they both wanted it to work, I suppose it could. But Justin is the type who, uhm, doesn't have love affairs. Sex maybe, but he's one of those guys who falls for someone and never changes. I'm not sure Goldie is the same," is what he settled for telling her.

"So you think he's falling for her and she isn't gonna fall for him?"  Justine asked, asea. 

"Yeah. I think maybe she misunderstands him, you know?"

"I don't know.  It's not something we've discussed.  Are you always the type who anticipates disaster?  I mean they've know each other maybe twenty-four hours.  Isn't it a little early to cite irreconcilable thinking?"

Luc groaned. He knew he wasn't going to make this sound anything nearly like sane.  "Well, I see the signs in Justin, and.. and yeah, I do tend to worry about disaster. Must be the cop in me."

Justine thought for a bit as he drove back to Goldie's.  "Well, it's true last night they seemed to have a lot of trouble communicating.  And, she really doesn't like cops.  So I can see where you might have a point.  Too bad she isn't going to let him model."

"She isn't?" It was the best news he'd had all day.

"Or you.  She said so last night.  She never gets involved with her models.  At least she never has."

"Oh." Maybe not so great news. So she was interested, that really complicated things.  He pulled up in front of Goldie's studio. "Well, maybe if we insisted?" he asked, as he got out of the car and walked around to get her door.

"Insisted what?"

"That we model? If it would make her rethink... Make him slow down... I'm thinking out loud here," he explained.

He unlocked Goldie's apartment door and got the stuff he'd bought and toted it in.

"Well, I've never tried to do that before," she said doubtfully.

"To do what, slow down? How do you slow down over-eager guys?"

 "A knee in the balls, pepper spray in the face."

"Ouch," Luc said. "I guess it works.  You won't need to do that to me, promise."

"That's only if slow down, stop, or no has no impact," she said, laughing.  "So don't worry."

"Whew," he said grinning. "No works quite well with me. My mamma'd kill me if I did anything untoward."

"I like your mamma."

"She's something," he explained. "Can you help me with this?" he asked as he began laying out the equipment. "Mostly if you can just hold things steady while I drill."

"No problem."



------------
 

Goldie and Justin, both sheened with sweat, stretched at the end of their run.  She drank some water and then regarded Justin.

"So what's the matter with Luc?  When I walked up to him he backed up against the wall like he was terrified I'd touch him, or something."  Her eyes narrowed. "Is he gay? Justine's gonna be broken-hearted if he is."

Justin answered automatically.  "He's afraid I'll kill him if he touches you."

Goldie gulped her water and looked at him, her mouth falling open.

"Oh hell," Justin swore.  He cut his losses.  "Are we stopping for pizza on the way home?"

"Oh no you don't buster. I'm not your property, you know. If Luc wants to touch me, and I want him to, I'm the one who says."

He wanted to snarl.  He wanted to haul up her in his arms prove to her beyond any doubt that she was so far past wrong as to be two galaxies away.  She was his and his internal beast was two seconds away from showing her in the most physical terms possible.  By like taking her, right there...Oh hell, he was so screwed.  "Are we stopping for pizza," He ground out, fighting to keep his hands off of her.

"Yeah, I'll call ahead. What do you guys like on your pizza?" She'd already forgotten about it all, and had pulled out her cell phone.

"Everything," he said, folding himself into her car.

She jabbered into the cell phone for a bit and then hung it up. She turned and looked at him and giggled.

"Not nice," he said, not needing to ask.

"Well, it's big enough for me," she pointed out. "Next time I'll run and you go with Luc."  She paused. "You aren't going to be tiresome and tag along to class tomorrow night, are you?"

He eyed her.  "What class?"

"The class I teach, of course. Drawing."

"I'll just sit in the back.  You won't even know I"m there," he said.

"There isn't any back. It's a room with a bunch of easels and tables and the raised dais where the model gets set up.  The nude ones. Are you gonna blush?"

"No.  Of course not."  He grinned.  "Unless your model has parts I'm not familiar with?"

"No, probably not. I expect you have experience with any and all parts that will be on display," she replied as she started the car and headed toward the pizza joint.

Years afterwards he still couldn't explain how the inner moron got loose.  All he knew was he heard himself asking her, "You ever do the modeling?"

"Yeah, I have. Each student models at least once too. Just so they understand what it entails and how it feels," she replied.

He focused on the road, driving the visual back into his subconscious.  "Oh."

"Oh?" she asked. "What does 'oh' mean?"

"Just oh...that's all," he said.  The inner moron was a dead man.

She frowned at him. "I wish I understood you. I just don't get you.  Every time I think I do, you do something....weird. And you don't act like a cop at all."

"How so?" he asked, happy to change the subject...even to cops and being weird.

"I don't know. It's hard to quantify. You don't ask questions, for one thing. And you react really weirdly. And why would Luc think you'd kill him?  You're friends aren't you? Or are you just partners and he can't trust you?"

"Of course he can trust me.  Why the hell couldn't he?" Justin said.  "And what kind of questions aren't I asking?"

"You said he was afraid you'd kill him if he touched me.  You said it.  I want to know why he felt that way, why he didn't trust you."

"It has nothing to do with whether he trusts me or not.  He just...I'm...we're...Oh hell.  He knows I won't kill him.  He's just being paranoid."

"You're lying. Now you're acting like a cop," she muttered.

"I am not lying," he said.  "I'd never lie to you.  Look Goldie, it's just a guy thing, ok?  Just a guy thing."

She bit her lip and looked at him. "Why wouldn't you lie to me. Everyone else does."

"You ask the damnedest questions, don't you?  I wouldn't lie to you because you'd never trust me if I did."  True and safe.  Or so he hoped.

She pulled up to the pizza parlor. "Can I go in myself or do you have to come with me?" she asked as she parked. "I'm not used to having body guards."

"You don't want to be seen with me?"

She laughed. She reached out a hand to touch his cheek. "You are such a puzzle."

He was confused, frustrated and the scent of her in the car was about to drive him insane.  When she touched his cheek it was like she branded him.  Just that light, simple touch and his cock was throbbing.  "So, I can come in with you," he managed, knowing his voice was hoarse.  As soon as they got back to the apartment, he'd let Luc watch her.  He could take it.

She smiled. "Sure."

It was easier in the open air.  He picked a point that left him free to breathe and stuck with it.  "I'm harmless, Goldie, honest.  I'm just having a tough day today."

"Harmless?" she said, clearly not believing it for a minute. "You're deadly."

"Not to you.  Never to you," he said, making it a vow.

"Too late," she said as she walked into the pizza parlor.

"What the hell?"

"Come on, you can figure it out. You're a big boy."  That was all they had time for. She was greeted by several people in the pizza parlor, possibly some students or former students, some of whom she kissed on the cheek and hugged.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, she handed two pizzas to Justin. "Dinner. Now home and on to the chick flicks."

"What about your class?"

"Tomorrow night," she replied. "Tonight, you get me all to yourself."

"Along with Luc and Justine," he pointed out.

"We could send them out for beer," she said winking at him.

He closed his eyes briefly at the thought of what he could do to her in that space of time.  Not a good idea, no matter what the moron wanted.

She sighed. "See?  You are so weird... Most guys would jump at that."

"I jump internally," he said as he opened his eyes. 

She drove home in silence, worrying her lip, and watching him out of the corner of her eye. "I may have some guy DVDs.  I'm not sure you'll survive two chick flicks."

"No.  I'll be fine, really, baby.  No need to worry.  Watch what you want.  We're just there to keep an eye on things."

When they pulled up the door of the studio opened and Luc looked out. "Oh good. I'm starving," he said, but he was looking at Justin. "You need a shower."

"Me too," Goldie said. "But I have a change of clothes."  She helped Justin with the pizza. "After pizza and a beer though.  Oh, hi Justine!"

"How you doing?" Justine asked, pulling out plates and napkins.

"I'm good," Goldie said as she gave Justine a hug. "So, I see you and Luc have been busy," she added as she examined the new locks and the alarms he'd installed. "They call the cops automatically?" she asked.

"Hell no, they call us," Luc replied.

"Oh, I feel safe then," Goldie relied with a grin, as she headed for the refrigerator bringing a six pack of beer to the table. "Dig in boys. And Justine. I'm starved. Running does that to me. Not to mention dealing with a break-in.  Oh, and dealing with confusing men."

Justin pulled Luc aside.  "Look, I'm gonna go home and shower and change.  You okay here until I get back?"

Luc's eyes widened. "Sure. Take a slice of pizza with you."

He shook his head.  "I can grab a sandwich at home," he said.  "I won't be long."  He hesitated, meeting his friend's eyes.  "I just need a breather."

"Good idea. Maybe you should, uhm, take a few days off."

"I don't think that'll happen," he said.  "I'll be back as soon as I can."

Luc nodded. "She'll be fine. I won't touch her."

"I know man.  Jesus.  She thinks I don't trust you." He glanced over at Goldie and Justine.  "This is going to get out of hand if we're not careful."

"It'll be fine. We're gonna nab those guys in the next few days and we'll go home. And Goldie won't know anything."

"She's asking too many questions and I don't have any answers she'll understand.  Jesus!"  He shook his head again.  "Sorry to do this."

"Not a problem. Go take your break. We'll be fine."

Justin swallowed hard and then left without a word.

Justine's eyes followed him out the door but she didn't say a word, just handed Luc a plate.  "It's good pizza."

He smiled at her. "Thanks. Put on a movie. I wanna see what a chick flick is."

 

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