Falling In Love in A Coffee Shop - part 3

{Still a work in progress, subject to be updated and altered}

Jennifer took a deep breath and a leap of faith.



"I'm looking for my sister. Or for evidence... clues... I'm trying to find out what happened to her." She reached for her phone and after a few seconds passed it over to him so he could see a picture of her and Audrey together last summer at the beach.

"That's your sister?" Duke recognized Jennifer though her hair was longer and lighter from being in the sun. The blonde next to her looked absolutely nothing like her.

"She's adopted, I came along by surprise about eight months after Mom and Dad got her when she was five. She always looked out for me. Now, it's my turn."

"What makes you think something happened to her?"

"Other than the fact that I haven't heard anything from her in six weeks and that never happened before? Ever. Even when she was going through training at Quantico."

"Quantico? Your sister is FBI?"

"Yeah, until she came here and found some evidence that her birth mom could have been from here or something. Then she took a leave of absence and actually ended up quitting to stay here and try to find out what happened to her birth mother, a Lucy Ripley." Jennifer shrugged. "I tried to convince her to just let it be, keep the past the past right? But she couldn't. And I get that. But now she's gone." Her voice broke a little on the last word and her eyes misted over before she wiped hastily at them. She sniffed. "Anyway, she must have known that something was going to happen because she sent me this," she pulled Audrey's journal out and showed it to him then placed it back in her bag. "It's her journal and she writes about all the weird stuff she came across here."

"And that church... That was part of it somehow?"

"Yeah. And, again, thank you so much for helping. I - I really don't know what I'm doing or how to do this. Audrey was so good at it. Always. She was always so much tougher than I was..."

Jennifer was choking up again and this time it looked like the tears might just over flow. Duke wanted to pull her across the table and into his arms and tell her that everything would be alright. He also wanted to run the hell out of there and never think about her soft brown eyes, her soft looking mouth or her soft curves again.

Instead he simply said, "I'm sorry." She gazed into his eyes for what seemed a long time, until the questions she seemed to be asking and the answers she seemed to be finding started making him feel uncomfortable and he looked away.

"Thanks."

"So you think she's...."

"I know something happened. We used to text or facebook EVERY day. Then, shortly before she dropped all communication, it started getting more sporadic from her and she started... I don't know.. trying to talk in code." Jennifer sighed. Then, I got her journal in the mail and it's full of weird case notes - mysterious deaths and missing people that the authorities don't really look into. All the police here will say is that she left town of her own free will, the FBI won't get involved because there's no evidence of kidnapping or murder, and the Boston police department says that it's out of their jurisdiction...."

"Yeah, you're going to find that law enforcement isn't going to help you out much here... Especially if they find out you broke into a church." He said the last with a smile that he hoped she found charming if not cheering.

She smiled back, even if it was fragile looking. Her eyes flickered away from him and she seemed far away all at once and he wondered where she went in her mind. Thinking of the picture with her and her sister and how happy they looked together, he wondered what else they did. Sisters who looked out for each other and were friends.It was a nice image. She seemed to be thinking along the same lines because he could see a sort of happy glow start in her eyes and he wished he knew the places she had been. The thought made him look away and with the distraction he took a moment to see if The Two Sisters' Candy Shoppe had opened.

"How about that candy?"

"Excuse me?"

"I believe you owe me some candy."

"You can't be serious right now." Her tone was low and full of disapproval. Surely she had a title.

"Hey, a promise is a promise."

"You're right it is." She stood up and slipped into her coat before gathering up her things. Duke focused on two men who walked in and seemed to make a more careful than necessary survey of the room. He tensed, waiting to see if they settled their gaze too long on Jennifer but if they marked as different from any of the rest of the patrons, neither one of them showed it. He would still feel better getting her out of here. He moved to stand in front of her to try and obscure any view they might have of her.

"Want some help with your bag?"

"No thanks, I got it." She pressed a protective hand onto it and he made a note that she was keeping the important stuff on her.

"Alright, let's go." Still using his body as a visual shielf for her he ushered out of the coffee house.

She huffed with displeasure. "Wow, you must really want some candy."

He clenched his jaw at the entendre she hadn't meant and only grunted his agreement as he turned to see the two men continue through to the back. He couldn't put his finger on it, but something about them set his teeth on edge.

Outside of the coffe shop, with her in tow, he was able to relax a little and once on the pavement he let go of her hand. That was when Jennifer started getting the feeling that she had forgotten something.

"Damn," she breathed. She reached into her bag and pulled out her pocket book. "Hey, wait a second."

He turned and frowned at her. She thrust the pocket book at him. "Get whatever it is you want and some salt water taffy for me. I left my phone in there and I need to get it." He looked back at the coffee shop and for a second there she thought he might try to stop her. "Go on. I'll meet you in there."

"Fine. Be careful." Against his better judgement he left her to go back into the coffee shop. It might be better if she didn't over hear whatever conversation he had with Nora, anyway.

In the candy store he bought Jennifer's salt water taffy and thanked his lucky stars that Nora was the cashier. While paying he softly mentioned his name and that he had a special request item to pick up. Her entire demeanor changed and she became nervous and wary though still polite. He thanked her and took a moment to put Jennifer's pink floral pocket book in her bag of taffy before picking up his own bag, mildely surprised at the weight of it. He was turning to exit when an explosion rocked the ground and shattered glass around him.

Back inside the coffee shop, Jennifer noted an email from her boss at the Globe. Her requst for a leave of absence had been denied, she could take some vacation but basically, if she didn't come back to work soon, she wouldn't have a job to go back to. It was true that she could live off of her trust fund for awhile, but that wasn't the point, she loved being a reporter for the Globe and now she was faced with the task of deciding what was more important; keeping her job or finding her sister. She took a seat and brought up a picture of her and Audrey together onto the screen of her phone. It upclose since they had done it as something of a selfie while skiing together last winter in the Catskills. Jennifer suddenly felt slightly dizzy and the coffee shop seemed oddly silent and dark. She sat back in her chair and tried to see around her but it felt hazy and surreal, as though she was suddenly in a dream. The spell was broken by the apparition of her sister and she started; jerking forward again in her seat as though to try and reach her, frightened only to find her hand going through the apparition.

"Jennifer! Jennifer! Get out of here! NOW!" Audrey had always looked out for her and Jennifer wasn't going to question her now, disembodied or not. She swept everything into her carryall and left the coffee shop as quick as she could, sparing only a little regret for her latte. She never knew what instinct really guided her to take cover by crouching just under the ledge of the shop's deck just as the explosion happened. Still, darkness seemed to take her and the next thing she knew someone was holding a mask over her face and announcing that she was awake.

When Duke stood up to see what had happened he felt like someone had hit him in the gut with a wrecking ball. The Black House Coffee Shop was rubble and char, anyone who had been in there was dead. For a moment he couldn't breathe and his only thought was that she was gone and he was going to kill someone for taking her away. The police officers and fire fighters who were off duty and in their dress uniforms from the parade sprang into action and started blocking off and securing the area. Within moments emergency vehicles nearby came to life with their sirens. He watched them as though from a distance, his ears ringing from the blast and the shock wearing off. And then he saw it, a small but distinguishible female form being lifted by one of the fire fighters and rushed away from the scene. Without thinking, he headed in that direction, only to be halted by one of the police officers.

"Sir! Sir! I'm sorry, you CAN'T go over there right now."

"But she's..."

"Are you family?"

Duke sighed. "No. But --"

"I understand. Let them take care of her, let us clear the scene and make sure it's safe. Then you can go check on her. I promise, she's in good hands. Is that her?" The officer pointed to where Jennifer was being carried and placed into the back of an ambulence. An EMT took her pulse while another placed an oxygen mask on her face. It took less than a minute, but for Duke it felt like an hour or more had passed as he held his breath waiting for Jennifer to take her own breath and show signs of life. She did. Her hands came up to grasp at the mask on her face in a common instinct for the body to protect and defend itself. After another minute she sat up.

The police officer had been watching with him and turned to smile at him, her grey eyes happy and soft with sympathy. "See? It should be okay for you to go to her now. But go straight to her okay, avoid the blast radius." She gestured to the markings that had been hastily drawn up and the line of officers who were standing in place to act as a blockade to the site while they waited for the proper materials and tools to arrive.

By the time he made his away around and through she was already being questioned by a detective who understandably wanted to know what she could remember and even what she was doing there in the first place. The detective was coming on strong just with his body posture and Duke felt his jaw clench and hackles raise when he heard someone milling around call out that they saw her duck before the explosion.

"I - I dropped m-my phone, I bent to pick it back up and then..." It was the first time he'd seen her issue a convincing lie. Probably because she was supposed to look panicked immediately after waking up from an explosion that killed people not twenty feet away from her.

"Did you have reason to think that there was something going to happen?" The detective pressed.

Jennifer look terrified and confused. Duke saw the tears in her eyes spill over and the detective shuffling his feet in impatience and agitation.

"Can you remember anything else, at least?"

“Hey!”Duke stepped forward to get between her and the detective. “She doesn’t know anything about this. She’s just lucky to have been finished with her latte in time to have left before the place blew.” Duke looked at her more closely. Her hair was nowhere near perfect now, the blast having mussed it and covered her back with sooty dust. Worse, terror had rooted itself deep inside her and she had the look of someone getting too close to their breaking point. For the cop, this was a good thing because it would ensure that she wouldn’t have the mental faculties to fabricate a statement. For a woman who had secrets she felt like she needed to keep it would be a disaster. She was visibly retreating deep within herself and probably on the verge of shock.

“And who are you?” The cop turned his intense blue gaze onto Duke.

“I’m.. her boyfriend.” Hopefully, no one would think that the additionally stunned expression on her face had anything to do with his announcement. “We’re up here visiting from Boston. So far, the visit sucks.”

“Why weren’t you with her in the coffee house?”

“I said I’m her boyfriend, not her warden. She wanted coffee -- I didn’t. Town seemed safe enough to let her go by herself. Don’t worry, I won’t be making the same mistake again.” He put his arm around her shoulders and bent to kiss her cheek. "It's okay Sweetheart, I've got you."

The detective frowned but changed his line of questioning. “Look, can you remember what you saw? Anything that could help us to identify…”

Duke felt her shudder against him before the guy could get out the word ‘remains’and shook his head in disgust.

“Can this be done later? She’s not going to be able to remember anything right now. She’s fucking traumatized for chrissakes.”

The detective sighed in frustration but handed her his card. He made sure she was looking at him before he spoke again.

“Please, if you remember anything. Call me. Any time. Day or night. It doesn’t matter.”

She nodded mutely and Detective Wuornos gave the both of them a curt nod as a means of dismissal. Duke turned her toward him and cupping her face in his hands directed her gaze up at him, wanting to look in her eyes and see for himself that she was doing okay in there. Her expression was alarmingly blank for another moment before she seemed to recognize and reach out to him and then she threw herself against him, her hands slipping inside his jacket and fisting into his shirt as she embraced him. He held his breath for a second or two then put his arms around her when he heard her sobbing into his chest. Women threw themselves at him often enough but never for shelter or comfort. Never like this. He cradled the back of her head and gently brushed away some ash and minute debris. With his other hand, he carefully brushed more dust and ash off the back of her coat.

“Hey, it’s okay. You’re safe. Shh.” He wasn’t very practiced at comforting or even being comforted, but he had seen moms in parks and dads on television do this. He repeated those words to her in differing order and held her tight while swaying side to side a little.

After awhile, she calmed and relaxed into his arms and her cheek came to rest on his shoulder.

"Hey um, are you staying somewhere here in town? Is there somewhere you want to go?" He spoke low in her ear to make sure no one heard.

He felt her nod against his shoulder. "My car is parked over by Larissa's Baked Goods." She pointed in the general direction.

"Okay, do you want me to drive you?"

She looked up at him then. "Would you?" She looked relieved.

"Yeah. Sure." Damn her, and her eyes. As though he would have had a choice. She reached for her bag, fished out her keys and handed them to him with a hand so shaky he was surprised she had even managed to grasp them. He pocketed the keys and took her hand in his to hold it, trying to reassure her.

"Hey, it's okay. You're safe now. It's over. And... I'm here." Did that sound like a promise?

He tucked her under his arm and they made their way to her car. He noticed people watching them as they moved through the streets and he sighed. There was no way to know if their gaze was drawn by the fact that she was covered in dust, or if they had a darker purpose in watching either her or himself.

His humor was momentarily restored when he nearly killed himself trying to get into her car before recalling that of course she would have the seat pulled all the way up. The length of time it took to move the seat back enough to accomodate his height caused them both to stare at said seat and exchange a smile.

"You're kinda short," he said with a wink.

"You're kinda tall," she shot back and although it didn't last nearly long enough, there was a slip of a smile on her face.

He nodded and got in. "Okay, Sweetheart, where to?"

"The East Haven Bed and Breakfast." She gave him some directions to get there and he was able to maneuver them out of the downtown and got to the inn without any incident.

When he pulled up, his instinct was to frown at the level of exposure the inn afforded her with the room doors facing the outside. Of course, until she broke into a church she may not have had any trouble and there was no way to be certain that the explosion in the coffee shop was related or even deliberate. Though the uncanny timing left him uncomfortable as did the two men who had walked in and straight to the back. He wondered what had happened to them or what they had done.

She reached into her Giant Mary Poppins Shoulder Bag again to produce the key to her room and he leaned against the wall, holding both their bags of candy. With the key inserted, the door swung open before she even turned it and she gasped, he turned to look into the room and saw her draw breath to scream. He dropped the bags from the candy shop and grabbed from behind for the second time that day, again covering her mouth with his hand to quiet her.

She didn't fight him this time but instead backed further into him. "They could still be here," he whispered in her ear. She nodded and he removed his hand. Without an exchange of words she stepped back and let him go in first.

The place was trashed. Everything that could be turned over was, and pillows had been cut open with their stuffing pulled out. Clothes were everywhere and some had even been torn. This was more than a search, this was a violation and threat of further violence.

"Stay out here, okay?" He turned to face her, pulling the door closed behind him. Her eyes darted to the door as though trying to see through it and he gently cupped her face to direct her gaze back to him.

"Don't -- you don't want to see this, okay? Not now. Just trust me?" Tears spilled over this time and streaked her cheeks but she nodded and turned away, picking up the tiny sacks from the candy shop and sitting on the decorative bench near her door. She looked utterly defeated and completely fragile and Duke found an answering rage in himself toward the faceless people who had done this to her.

He walked in and closed the door behind him, making a closer inspection of the damage. The mattress had been displaced on the bed and the sheets all torn off. The seat cushion of the chair had been unzipped and mostly pulled off as well. The dresser drawers were open and some even removed. Several items of clothing had been cut or absolutely shred and he found it particularly repulsive that apparently every under garment she had brought had been either cut or ripped apart. He grabbed what clothes he could and went into the bathroom to grab her tooth brush and comb. Back outside, he tossed what he was able to salvage into the backseat of her car and went back to her on the bench. She didn't acknowledge him as he stood in front of her so he stooped down to get into her line of sight.

"We should go."

She nodded, not really looking at him.

"You need to find another hotel, okay? You need to stay somewhere with some security. Got it?" Another nod. There was no way she was going to be able to manage that any time soon. "Right now, I'm going to take you to my boat, okay? Jennifer?" She nodded again. "You can stay there tonight and get it all figured out in the morning." Still, she only nodded. She was in shock.

He took her hands in his and stood back up, pulling gently but insistently  at her hands and then her arms until she was standing. It felt like directing an automaton to get her to the car and she sat there, too quiet, through the short drive to the pier where his boat was docked. He sighed when he looked over at her. Whether she had fallen asleep or passed out the result was the same. He carried her aboard and got her down below deck and finally to his bed. When he set her down her eyes were open though her alertness was diminished. He tried talking to her to bring her back around.

"Can you take your boots off?"

She nodded again but didn't move and, sighing, Duke slipped them off for her, then removed her jacket. With a little urging she laid down and he covered with a blanket.

"You just go to sleep for awhile..."

"Don't leave." It was a barely audible whisper and her hand grasped for his.

"Jennifer..."

"Please. Just sit here? I don't want to be alone right now."

"Yeah. Probably not."

She scooted over and he reclined on the bed next to her, and let her hand slip back into his.

"Did everyone else die?"

"I'm afraid so."

"Audrey told me to get out." Her voice and her hand tremored slightly.

"Your sister was there?"

"Not really. I'm afraid she's dead too."

Duke didn't know what to say. It was possible that all the fear and trauma today had just jumbled memories in her mind. For all he knew, it was possible that the ghost of her dead sister had appeared to warn her. He'd been on the sea long enough, and traveled enough to see things he'd never have believed otherwise..

"Did you really drop your phone?" At some point his thumb had begun a rhythmic course over her knuckles.

"No. I don't know how I knew to duck like that." He chose not to consider the reasons that it might please him to spot her lies when others might not.

"I'm glad you did," was all he said.

There was silence for a while and he thought she might have gone to sleep but when he looked down at her, her eyes were still wide open.

"You hungry?"

She shook her head.

"Thirsty?"

"No."

"You should try to sleep then."

"I can't."

"You want something? To help you sleep?"

"Sure."

It was a little surprising that she didn't even ask what it was and he wanted to scold her for it, for her lack of wariness in a hundred different things she had shown today but didn't. Instead, he got into his Xanex stash, ground up a tablet and put about a fourth of it into a glass of water for her.

She sat up when he came in and eyed the slightly cloudy water.

"What is that?"

"I put a little bit of Xanex in the water. Just enough to relax you, not enough to scramble your brains."

She smiled humorlessly. "Why do you have --"

He reflexively frowned and shook his head at her in warning. "Never ask that," he whispered. Why the hell he felt like he should warn her of that, he didn't know.

She frowned and he was relieved to see some of her fighting spirit again. "Then, what will it do to me?"

He sat next to her again. "Ease your mind. Relax you."

She nodded. "You don't have any valium?"

He smiled at the question. "This is better, trust me. Won't leave you feeling disoriented or stoned."

"Will it make me sleep?"

"No, but if you want to sleep... it might make it easier."

"I just want to forget..."

"I doubt that you really do, but I have enough for you to do that." He was joking of course, he'd never let her take that much.

"What would that much do to me?"

"Forget it. I was joking and I'm not letting you do that. Drink this, Jennifer. You'll be fine, I promise."

She took the glass and drank from it, her nose wrinkling at the bitter taste the pill left in the water, before finishing. "Now what?"

"Well, it's not a magic potion, Hermione. Just... lay down, relax... You can read a book if you want to." He nodded to a stack of books on a bureau against the wall. "I'm going to be right out there, in the stateroom.... I've got some business to take care of."