Randy's Fall Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

 

Walking down the stairs in the morning Randy found his brother sitting at the kitchen table with the phone by his side.

“Did you get any sleep last night?”

“No I was afraid if the phone rang I wouldn’t wake up.” Reaching for his coffee cup, and realizing it was empty Jackson stood up from his chair. Walking to the counter, he poured the last of the coffee into his cup. He automatically started to make another pot.

      “How many of those pots have you gone through already?”  Reaching into the cupboard Randy pulled out a cup for himself.

“I don’t know.” Walking back to his chair he sat back down.

“Jack, I’m off today.  Why don’t you try to get some rest, if she calls I will wake you up.” Placing his hand on his brother’s shoulder, he gave it a quick squeeze.

“No! I’m sorry I didn’t mean to yell, maybe I have had too much caffeine.” Running his hand across his face, he let out a sigh. “What time did the FBI lady say she was coming by?”

“She didn’t. Why don’t you go take a shower?  “Walking to the refrigerator Randy pulled out eggs and a package of bacon. “You need to keep your strength up. I’ll have breakfast ready by the time you get done.”

      Rising from the chair, Jackson placed his coffee cup in the sink. “I’ll be down in a few minutes. If the FBI lady gets here let me know.”

      Watching his brother closely it seemed he had aged in the last twenty-four hours. His walk was slow like an old mans. This is why Randy played by the “ Love them and leave them rule.” No woman was ever going to affect his life that drastically.

      Randy moved around the kitchen efficiently. His mother had made sure both boys could cook for themselves. Growing up there had been no “ girl job’s" vs. “boy jobs.”

      Placing the bacon in the pan and turning the stove on, he remembered the first time his mom had taught him the art of cooking. He had made a mess of dinner, he did not really try, thinking she would not want him back in the kitchen.

The entire family suffered that night. They ate the burnt dinner. From that night on, he paid attention to everything his mother taught him.

The doorbell ringing brought him out of his thoughts. He turned down the fire under the bacon and washed his hands. Walking to the door, he found that his heart rate was speeding up a little. He told himself “ She’s just another woman get over it.” Opening the door his heart still did a little jitter bug as he saw her face again.

“Special Agent Potter, nice to see you again. Come on in.” As she stepped past him, he caught just the faintest fresh spring fragrance.

“Please call me Linda Deputy Davis.”   Carrying a laptop case with her, she asked. “Where can I set up my laptop to show you what I have?”

“If I am to call you Linda by all means call me Randy.  Bring it into the kitchen. I sent Jackson upstairs for a shower, and he needs to change clothes. He stayed up all night. I’m making breakfast would you care for some?”  Leading her into the kitchen, he pulled out a chair for her.

“No thank you, I had a continental breakfast at the hotel. I would take a cup of coffee if you don’t mind.”

 

Placing her laptop case on the kitchen table and opening it, she pulled out the computer and started to set it up. She stood up and plugged it in behind her, careful to make sure the cord would not trip anyone.

      Sitting back down she looked around the kitchen, taking note how homey it felt. The walls and cabinets were a deep brown color. Decorations around the kitchen were brightly colored to offset the walls.

“You have a very nice kitchen.”

“Thank you, my mom decorated it after Jackson had it remodeled for the wedding. Ashley hasn’t even seen it yet. It was supposed to be a surprise.”

      She watched him as he went to the cabinet and grabbed a cup, and then filled it with coffee. Placing it on the table, he asked.

“Do you take cream or sugar?”

“No black is fine.”

      Turning around he went back to the cabinet and pulled out a bowl. Cracking the eggs, he pulled a fork out and started whipping them up. For some unknown reason to her it was pleasing and relaxing to watch this man cook breakfast.

      Her computer booted up so she turned her attention back to the task at hand. She went back to her case and pulled out the CD she was looking for. She was placing it in the drive when Jackson came down the stairs.

Taking two plates out of the cabinet and taking them to Randy, Jackson said. “Good morning Special Agent Potter, have you heard anything yet?”

“Call me Linda, and no I haven’t. I would like you to take a look at this video and tell me if it is Ashley or not.”

Separating the eggs between the two plates, Randy added bacon too. Placing the plates on the table, he walked behind Linda’s chair and stood next to Jackson.

Linda played the video for both of them. It was poor quality, Randy knew he could not tell, he waited for a reaction from Jackson.

“Can you play it again?” Jackson moved closer to the screen. “This is the best the FBI could get? Not like on TV is it?”

“With what we had to work with this is good.” Watching Jacksons face she saw the hope in it. 

“I just can’t tell. It looks like her but I can’t say for sure.” Sitting down at the table, he placed his head in his hands. “I want it to be her, yet I don’t. I think I keep expecting her to knock on the door and tell me there was some type of emergency.”

 

Randy was happy when Jackson picked up his fork and started to eat. He was on autopilot, putting the food on the fork and into his mouth and chewing. He doubted his brother even tasted it.

“We will keep trying to find this car. I promised you last night I would keep looking. I will follow every lead I can. I asked the surveillance team to give me a forty-five minute lead before they came out.”

She reached out and placed her hand on his arm. “You are about to be invaded, think about where you would like them to set up and be out of your way.”

Randy wanted her to touch him like that. He realized he was jealous of his brother. It made no sense, but it was what it was. He cleared his throat and spoke. “Jack what about the office? It’s close enough to the kitchen, yet private too.”

“That will be fine. Randy, I need to feed the horses, you’ll call me if the phone rings?” Standing up he picked up his plate and laid it in the sink.

“Yeah I will. Can you ask Alan to come in if you see him?” Standing up Randy placed his plate in the sink also.

“I don’t need a babysitter Randy.”

“I never said you did. I am going to request my vacation time. I want to help in the investigation I want to ask if Alan can take over my chores for awhile.”

“I appreciate it, I’ll send him in.”

      Jackson left the room and Randy suddenly became very aware of Linda. He could smell that fresh springtime smell again. When this was over, he would ask her out and get her out of his system. For now, he had to help his brother.

“If you get that time off you can go with me to New Mexico. I plan on checking around some more.”

“Plan on me being there, I’ll get the time.”

      The back door opened and Alan stepped in. Randy noticed the direction of Alan’s gaze towards Linda.  She barley noticed him enter.  “You wanted to see me?”

      “Yes, let’s go in the office.” Randy led the way. As he quickly laid the plan down Alan had a smirk on his face.

“You know Jack won’t like the idea that you set up a babysitter for him.”

“I know Alan, but I am not sure what else to do. He is so lost right now. If I cook he eats, but I don’t think he will eat on his own.”

“Don’t worry I’ve got it covered. Get out there and find Ashley and bring her back.”

“Thank you.”  Alan went back outside and Randy placed a call to his SGT. They all knew what was happening and was told take all the time he needed.

Getting up from the desk and going back out to the kitchen, he noticed her team had joined Linda. As she barked out orders, he waited patiently.

Turning to him as she finished she asked, “How long before you’re ready to move out?”

“Give me 10 minutes to pack a bag and I’m all yours.” 

“This is Agent Hill and Agent Summers.”

          Looking at the two agents, he thought maybe they had been recruited from MIT. He normally did not like to categorize people but they looked like computer nerds. Pocket protectors and all. Nodding at them, he motioned for them to follow him to the office. Explaining to them to feel free to use the kitchen and any other room they needed, he then turned and headed for the stairs to pack

Author's Note

Is it still holding your attention at this point?

Reviews

[T. Adams]

Yes, I'm very interested in what happened to Ashley. I think I would like the story a bit more if it was told only from Randy's pov. The strongest parts all seem to revolve around him.

[Tina]

Thank you. That seems to be my biggest problem staying in one POV