SILENCE OF THE SANDBURGS
TODAY
A man should have goals. Once he has
accomplished any of them, he should replace it with another. Don't ever rest on
your laurels. On that, both my old man and the US Army were in agreement.
I just accomplished a big one.
I silenced Blair Sandburg.
I slowly smile as I watch him imitate the guppy I've teasingly called him more
than once. He tries to speak but can't...and does the guppy imitation once
more.
And all I had to do was tell him that I love him. Well, that and follow it up
with a tonsil-sucking kiss that curled his toes.
I'm a Sentinel. I know when Sandburg's toes curl.
Openly smiling, I cross my arms across my chest and wait. And remember.
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THREE DAYS EARLIER
I wonder how long I.A. Detective Jeffrey K. Farley would last under a real
interrogation. I remember the mock interrogations that I went through during
Ranger training and try not to smile. I remember the more than mock
interrogations that I went through during Covert Ops training and nearly choke
trying not to laugh out loud.
"Do you find something amusing, Detective Ellison?" Farley irritably snaps.
"Yes." I know from experience that short answers drive interrogators crazy.
I'm sure my not-so-subtle taunting is also driving my Captain crazy. Both Simon
and Blair are watching the interrogation through the two-way mirror. Carefully,
I extend my hearing expecting to hear Simon Banks' rumbling voice. Instead, I
hear my partner insisting that he needs to 'get in there quick, man, 'cause
Jim's gonna kill that idiot'.
I decide that maybe my partner knows me better than I think he does and pull my
hearing back so I can pay at least marginal attention to Farley.
"Let's go over this one more time, Detective," Farley coldly spoke. "This time,
I suggest you try giving me honest answers."
I lazily contemplate just how much force I'd need to use in order to separate
Farley's head from his shoulders. He's really starting to irritate me. “I
can’t help it if you don’t like the honest answers I’ve given you.” I
contemplate my fingernails and frown. “I’ve found that IA investigators have a
problem…”
Farley’s hand comes down hard on the table between us. “I’ve had enough of this nonsense!”
I coldly smile at the man sitting across the table from me. “What a coincidence. So have I.” I get to my feet and casually walk towards the door. “If you have any other questions, I’ll contact my attorney; and we can all sit down together for a nice cozy chat.”
With that parting shot, I open the door and walk into the hallway.
“Ellison! Get back here! I’m not done with you!” Farley bellows as he pauses in the doorway.
The door to the observation room is flung open as Blair and Simon join me in the hallway. Blair studies me with open concern while Simon scowls in Farley’s direction.
“You’ve asked your questions, Detective Farley,” Simon angrily rumbles. “Quite a few times. Ellison’s extended you more than enough courtesy. That shoot was a righteous one.”
“That’s debatable,” Farley shoots back. “Maybe Ellison decided to put two bullets in the head of the man who was threatening Sandburg!”
I startle everyone by laughing out loud. “Farley, use your head for something other than to keep your brain from falling on the floor. Sandburg is our unofficial trouble magnet. If I shot everybody that threatened him, the population of Cascade would be…”
“Hey!” My partner and guide slams his hands on his hips and glares at me. “Watch it!”
“All of you! Quiet!” Simon bellows. Once he’s established relative quiet, he glares again at Farley. “We’re done here. There are plenty of other witnesses to that shooting. Go harass them.”
“Yeah, Captain Kingman was probably the closest eye-witness,” Blair added, mentioning the SWAT leader.
I smile to myself. Blair, of course, knows that Kingman did everything but physically shove Farley out of his SWAT command which resulted in Farley transferring to IA. At that point, Kingman loudly expressed his opinion of the entire IA department…and it wasn’t complimentary.
Farley glares at all three of us then angrily walks down the hallway.
I’m the only one who hears him muttering about ‘Ellison and his long-haired loverboy’. As I cross my arms across my chest and watch him leave, I wonder why an idiot from IA can figure it out but my brilliant partner can’t.
I mentally mark another notch on the post labeled ‘Those Who Threaten Sandburg’ and dismiss Farley. Time to set another goal.
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TODAY
“You love me?”
“Yep.”
Silence.
“You love me.”
“Yep.”
Silence.
“You love me.”
“Yep.”
Silence.
Blair rubs his face with both hands then actually pulls at his hair.
“You kissed me.”
“Yep.”
Silence.
“You kissed me.”
“Yep.”
Silence.
“You ki….”
I kiss him again. Enough is enough. I let him come up for air once I feel his toes start to curl.
“Listen to me. I love you. I kissed you. I plan on kissing you again and doing it all over your body. And I will love you forever. Any questions?” I really hope I’ve covered all the bases because talking isn’t what I had in mind for the rest of the evening.
“Questions?” Blair blinks his eyes a few times. “Definitely.” Then he grins at my glare and wraps his arms around my neck. “Later.”
“A lot later,” I agree.
Our lips barely touch when there’s a knock on the door.
I step back from Blair and sigh. “Tell me you didn’t have plans for tonight.”
Blair scratched his head. “Well, none that I can think of.”
Snorting, I walk to open the door then sneeze. “Sage,” I groan.
“Mom,” Blair groans.
I open the door and smile. “Naomi! What a surprise!”
“Jim!” Blair’s mother gives me a quick kiss on the cheek then sweeps into the room, heading for her son as unerringly as a guided missile. Inwardly sighing, I pick up her suitcase and set it inside the front door.
“Blair! Sweetie!”
“Mom!”
Closing the front door, I smile as I watch mother and son hug and immediately start talking. In their own Sandburgian way, they’re both able to talk and listen at the same time. After a minute, it gives me a headache so I loudly clear my throat to get their attention.
“I’ll run out for dinner while the two of you catch up,” I offer. “Is Chinese okay with you, Naomi?”
“That will be fine, Jim, but don’t go to any trouble on my account.”
“It’s no problem.” I reach for my jacket. “We were probably going to order something later anyway.”
Blair’s blue eyes widen in alarm so I smile reassuringly at him.
“I’ll stop by the market and pick up some apple juice for you as well so I’ll be a while,” I explain.
“Thanks, Jim.”
Blair and Naomi look at each other in surprise at speaking the same words at the same time. Then both begin to laugh in delight.
I open the door, then pause. Turning back, I lovingingly smile at Blair then grin at his mother. “By the way, Naomi, I’m in love with Blair; and he’s in love with me. So don’t worry about him sleeping on the couch while you’re here. He’ll be sleeping upstairs with me.”
Blair’s jaw drops in stunned surprise as Naomi does her own imitation of a guppy.
I softly close the door behind me and smile. I silenced both Blair and Naomi.
Another goal accomplished.
March 2007
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