Officer Jones

Chapter 54

When Jones opened the door, his eyes popped out of his head-mission accomplished. Score one for the over thirty crowd, Gwen thought. Actually the way over thirty crowd.

She’d been suspicious of the long silence coming from his room. The reporter in her knew he was up to something, while intuition told her it would be an ideal time to catch him off guard. So she stepped into his room.

“Wow,” was all he was able to stammer. But while she’d like to take all the credit for his nervousness, she believed it had begun before her entrance.

Gwen gritted her teeth and played the sex kitten. “I thought I’d give you a little surprise for our boat trip. I hope you like it.”

He wiped the sweat from his forehead. “I like it, but where’s the rest of it?”

She walked up to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek that she held for a couple extra seconds. “I’ll take that as a compliment. Now I think you owe me a romantic night on the lake.”

Before he could protest, she was pulling him toward the door.

Once outside, the cool night air made her re-think wearing just the bikini. Fortunately, she’d brought along her lucky Columbia sweatshirt-she could use all the good luck she could get-and slipped it on. The bikini was no longer visible, but she felt it was still quite vivid in the mind of Kyle Jones. She had softened him up, and now it was time to get answers.

They drove in his pickup truck, pulling the boat. Gwen inched closer and nuzzled up next to him, which made her feel queasy. The salty breeze swirled through the open window of the truck. Part of her wanted the wind to whisk her away like Dorothy.

Jones launched the sailboat from a commercial marina. Not a soul in sight, which further frayed Gwen’s nerves. He navigated the dark harbor until he found a spot to drop anchor. No other boats were in the area and she was questioning her wisdom, along with her sanity. But the show must go on. “This is beautiful, Kyle-absolutely beautiful!”

“A lot of history in these waters.”

“Really, like what?” she acted enthused.

“We are over the exact spot that legend says the pirate Blackbeard was sent to his death.”

Gwen had heard of Blackbeard, but she was no expert, as most of her knowledge had come from those Johnny Depp movies.

He continued, “He was beheaded by Lieutenant Robert Maynard of the Royal Navy. Some people think he still lives on the bottom of the lake, and haunts it.”

Gwen felt woozy. She fought off thoughts of Jones using similar methods to rid himself of his victims. “I’m so happy, Kyle. To be in such a beautiful spot with the man I love. Thank you for such a great day.”

He turned serious. “Are you sure I’m the only man in your life?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m talking about JP Warner.”

“JP and I are just friends.”

“What about when I saw the two of you off the other night in your van? I checked with the hospital and nobody on the staff could validate that you were there that night. I’m not stupid, Gwen!”

“He’s been going through a rough time. He was captured by terrorists, lost his brother, and then received a public beating by a former colleague. He needed a friend. I’ve known him since he was five years old-please don’t make me choose between you.”

Jones grew more agitated. He rose to his feet, almost losing his balance on the bobbing boat. “I just get really jealous when I see you with him. I wish you wouldn’t see him.”

Gwen stood and walked to him. She’d never felt so vulnerable in her life. “Kyle, you are the man in my life. JP is the past. He’s the one who should be jealous of you, not the other way around.”

He peered at Gwen with a chilling look.

“What about your old girlfriend in Arizona? What was her name-Lucy something-or-other? Maybe I should be the jealous one.”

“How do you know about Lucy?”

“You told me about her,” she replied, trying to sound casual.

“I never told you about Lucy.”

“How else would I know about some old girlfriend of yours? I’m a good reporter, but not that good. I don't even know her last name.”

“Are you prying into my past, Gwen?”

“No different than you checking with the hospital about me. But if you have nothing to hide, then why are you so upset? I thought you said I could trust you, Kyle? I went out on a limb to tell you about Betsy O’Rourke being involved in the Leeds case.”

He took a deep breath. “You can, Gwen … I’m sorry. I just have never felt this way about a woman before, and I guess it makes me a little crazy.”

A little?

“Not even Holly from the bowling alley?”

“Not the way I feel about you.”

“Then why can’t you just say you love me, Kyle Jones? Do you love me?”

Jones stared at her with his creepy eyes. “Of course.”

“Say it.”

“Say what?”

“Say you love me. I need to hear the words.”

A strange look came over his face. Most of his looks were either placid or strange, but this one she never saw before. “I’ll do better than that.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out the small jewelry box. He then knelt down on the boat deck. “Gwen Delaney, will you marry me?”

She stood silent, but horrified. She sure didn’t count on this. She didn’t know what to do-she had to say something.

As she attempted to stutter an answer, she was rescued by the ring of her phone.

“Don’t answer it,” Jones pleaded.

Gwen was torn and nervous. “It might be about Tommy,” she said and took the call. On the other end was JP. He’d saved her again.

Gwen spoke into the phone, “I’m fine, thanks for asking … we’re out on a boat on Silver Lake … in Ocracoke Island where Kyle lives … I’m fine, just a little tired … I’m in the middle of something, can I call you back? … Okay … talk to you later.”

She ended the call, and looked at Jones. “It was my father.”

He angrily shut the ring box. “Don’t lie to me, Gwen. That was him.” He rose from his kneeling position and turned his back to her.

Gwen moved over to him, struggling with her footing on the bobbing boat. She rested her hand tenderly on his shoulder. “You are right, Kyle, it was JP. But that doesn’t change how I feel about you. Maybe it was just a sign from above that we’re not ready for marriage.”

He pushed her hand away. His shoulders slumped as he moved to the anchor and began to hoist it.

“Come on, Kyle-it’s such a beautiful night.”

“We must go,” he said, still refusing to look at her.

“Back to your house?”

“No, back to Rockfield. I just have to pick up a few things at the house and then we can leave.”

“Please don’t be angry with me, Kyle. Let’s stay.”

“Don’t talk to me, Gwen,” he said in a hurt voice.