CHAPTER7
Luke
* * *
The drive outto the beach house was faster than normal due to the light traffic in the middle of the night, and we made record time. When the limo stopped at the front entrance, I grabbed my overnight bag and briefcase and thanked the driver, gave him an extra fifty as a tip, and went inside. The lights were all on, but the only people on the main floor were Gord and a police officer, who were in the office by the garage, watching security footage.
“Hey, Gord,” I said and went to shake his hand. He introduced me to the police officer who was handling the prowler report, Officer Rob Jennings. An older cop with a shaved head, he had a very serious expression on his beefy face, and light blue eyes that seemed suspicious. I figured he would do well in an interrogation.
The three of us sat at the desk and watched the video replay, so Gord could walk me through what happened.
“Mrs. Marshall told me that there are two people in particular that you are concerned with,” Jennings said.
“Yes,” I replied and went on to describe Blaine, who he was to us, and what he’d tried to do to hurt Alexa before.
I watched the video of the man who jumped the fence, but he seemed younger than Blaine, who was in his thirties. The person who jumped the fence appeared to be in his early twenties.
“It might have just been a prowler, looking for something to steal,” I said, and shrugged. “Blaine is older and heavier set, at least from what I saw of him in photos.”
“Could be. The houses along the beach are very expensive, but they all have top of the line security in place, so this guy wasn’t very smart to try to break in.”
“Aren’t most criminals on the dumb side?” Gord asked.
“Yeah, the run of the mill kind,” Jennings replied. “Hardened career criminals are pretty savvy. This guy knew to cover his face so we wouldn’t be able to use facial recognition software, so he wasn’t too dumb.”
We talked for another twenty minutes, and then when Officer Jennings was satisfied, he said goodbye and left the house. I thanked Gord once more and heading upstairs. I popped my head into Leif’s nursery and saw that he was sleeping soundly. Part of me wanted to pick him up and hold him, to reassure myself that he was okay, but the other part realized that if I did, he might wake up and demand a feed.
I satisfied myself by adjusting the baby blanket covering him and I watched him for a moment, glad that he was fine.
I left the nursery, closing the door carefully so I didn’t wake him and then I went to the master suite.
When I opened the door, I saw that Alexa was asleep, her hands folded under her chin, her eyes closed. She must have fallen asleep with the relaxation tape playing, for there were ear buds still in her ears. I smiled, and undressed, then crept in beside her, trying my best not to wake her up. Thankfully, she didn’t, probably being exhausted by the middle of the night chaos of the prowler and the police report.
I lay in bed, my eyes wide open, and stared at the ceiling, watching as the thin sliver of light from between the curtains at the window crept across the wall. I thought about how lucky I was to have the life I had, the beautiful smart loving wife, the healthy baby boy, and felt a stab of fear that there were people out there who wanted to hurt them.
Sleep was a long time in coming.
* * *
I wokethe next morning to the sound of the water running in the master bathroom. I glanced at my watch and saw that it was already eight thirty, and Alexa was up having a shower. My morning wood was a reminder that I hadn’t had sex since the last time Alexa and I were on one of our weekends away, care of Mr. and Mrs. Dixon. I felt like sneaking into the shower with Alexa and hoping that she felt like a quickie, but I didn’t want to make her feel guilty and go along with me, despite not feeling like it.
Instead of getting up as I would have liked, I stayed in bed with the pillow over my head and decided to wait for my own shower to take care of business.
I wanted Alexa to want me as much as I wanted her, and I could wait — happily — until she felt that way. Our first few sessions of making love had been entirely voluntary on her part and I wanted it to stay that way. I always felt like it, but I knew that her body had been taxed to the limit by motherhood and nursing. I couldn’t expect her to want it as much as I did, or even as much as she used to.
Not for a while, at least.
I heard the shower end, and then after a while, Alexa came back into our bedroom, and I heard her opening the closet doors to select her clothes for the day. She definitely was trying not to wake me, and so I didn’t move or indicate that I was awake.
Then, I felt bad. I didn’t want anything to come between us, and pretending I was asleep felt like I was deceiving her, even if it was because I didn’t want to make her feel like she had to deal with me.
So, I turned over and took the pillow from over top of my head and put it under it instead.
“Hey, Mrs. Marshall. How are you feeling today? Did you sleep well enough?”
She turned to face me as she pulled on her sundress, her smile making me feel like I’d done the right thing.
“I’m fine, Mr. Marshall, and I did have a decent sleep, all things considered.” She finished zipping up her sundress and then came over to the bed and climbed on beside me, bending down over me, her arms on either side of my shoulders. “Do you have a kiss for your wife?”