Chapter 9
Webb stared at the guard in disgust, not yet reaching for the envelope the man was trying to hand him. "You are kidding me. Agent Seaborn never called me!"
"I don’t know anything about that, Mr. Webb. He left this morning, but his clerk brought this down two hours ago. Said to tell you, Mr. Seaborn was real sorry, sir."
If he hadn’t known the guard from previous visits, Webb would have suspected a set up. Grabbing the envelope, he walked over to a quiet corner and tore open the seal.
Webb, Sorry, buddy! You weren’t at your office when the plans changed. I’ve been having a hell of a time all day trying to get through on cell phones. I know it can’t be yours.
"Damn straight. I’ve received calls all day long!"
We, the team and I, had to go out to Fairfax. That’s where we will be setting up shop instead of downtown. The place is a mess but we wanted to lay out the offices and do some cleanup. We decided to mix business with a little pleasure and team bonding. One of the agents bought a nice little house in McLean and suggested that we have a combination team building session and housewarming party/barbeque. Since this is the beginning of a long weekend and most of the people don’t want to have to go back downtown we all agreed that it would be a great plan. Oh, and you’re invited too.
"Don’t think so. It wouldn’t have been bad if I was out at Langley but damn it. Drive all the way out there in this traffic and then all the way back home. Don’t think so, buddy, another time."
Actually it’s kind of important that you come out. Besides the whole team building thing, several of us are leaving late Monday night for the location in New Orleans and we really need your input on the suspects down there. I know they didn’t seem important when you and Rabb went but now we’ve got more info and well, listen, I have to go. Here’s the address and the directions. It’s important, Webb.
"Great! Just great!" he snarled and ignored the startled looks from several of the agents passing by. "Leave it to the FBI to make things complicated." He dialed Seaborn’s cell phone and sure enough he couldn’t get through. "Damn it!" Oh hell. Grow up. It’s not like you had plans.
He stomped out to his car and tore the ticket from his window. He used wait and pay them ten at a time. He was just glad DCPD hadn’t towed his car away.
As he crawled through traffic he managed to get his emotions under control and even laughed at the situation. Only within the Beltway. He flipped on the radio but when the classical station came on he began to idly search, catching snatches of songs, oldies, rap, country, all talk. Finally, he settled on the Jazz station and let the wail of the saxophone calm him. It fit his mood perfectly. It spoke of the restlessness he was feeling. Things had really changed while he was away. Rabb married, with a teenage stepson. Mac gone. Well at least AJ was still miserable. Fool! And then he realized that there was a least one other fool within the confines of the Beltway. As he was pulling onto the GW Parkway, he found his hand straying toward the cell phone. Why not? He owed her a call. Maybe he could get a flight out of National and go down and surprise her. No. Surprises were never good. Surprises were very bad in his line of work.
Stopped at a light, he scrolled thru the 400 numbers he had programmed until he found her number. He didn’t think much of it when he heard the disconnected message. Then he scrolled some more, trying to watch traffic as he did.
"Crawford County Sheriff’s Department."
"Deputy Barnett?" Why he remembered was beyond him.
"Well sure nuff. Who’s this?"
"Clayton Webb."
"Course it is, don’t nobody call me Deputy Barnett but you city folks. Hey Horace! Ya’ll knows whose on the phone!"
"Barnett! Barnett! Jimmy Bob!" Webb growled uselessly even as he was pulling off at the Chain Bridge exit.
"Webb?"
He almost breathed a sigh of relief. "Deputy Evans."
"Well hoo doggies. What’s you callin’ here for."
"Uhm…something came up. Official you know. I need to talk to uhm…Sheriff Thibodeau."
There was a long silence and then he heard, "Ya do uh? Official business."
"Yes! Horace! Official business. May I speak to her, please?"
"Wale, she ain’t here right now."
"Oh. I tried her home and there was a message that said her line was no longer in service."
"That of fact? I’ll have one of the boys call that in."
"Well do you know when she’s due back?"
"Nope, sorry. But, I’ll be sure to tell her you called. She got your number?"
If Webb didn’t know better he would swear Evans was laughing at him. Maybe she found someone while he was gone. Well why not? He had been gone six months. It had only been one night! Wasn’t that the story of his life? "Yeah, she should have it, but here, write it down in case she lost it."
"Okay, yeah, that’s it, she probably done lost it."
Clay closed the phone and sighed he drove past AJ’s turn off. Damn, just his luck. Welcome back, Webb. What a pathetic life he led. Damn, he was getting tired of the whole solitary lifestyle. He should have gone out last night with Manetti and Seaborn. It looked, at least for a moment, that both of them were really pissed off at him for not coming. Actually they looked really disappointed which, considering the sated look on Manetti’s face when he ran into her today at lunch made no sense. He knew that if he had a hot number like Manetti – or a fiery redhead – that he would want to be alone with her. At least long enough to delve into that sweet body for a while, but then, then it would be nice to show her his hometown. She was from the south. Surely she liked to ride horses. Damn it, Bobbi Jo, why didn’t you call. I would have got the message, eventually. Oh yeah, like he could have called her back.
He found the street that the map directed him to. The agent living here must have an extra source of income. Not the richest section of the affluent suburb, but nice enough. Older, smaller homes set on large wooded lots. He figured AJ was maybe half a mile away, if that. He found the address. Yes. There was Seaborn’s Miata.
There were six cars parked either in the driveway or along the lane running next to the house. He parked the car and stepped out. What had Seaborn said? It was a combination team building session and housewarming party/barbeque. His mother would be embarrassed that he didn’t even think to bring a bottle of wine. Stop it. You’ll go in do the whole meet the team, answer their questions and leave. Why would they want him there anyway? The JAG team never included him in on any of their after hours functions.
He just raised his hand to knock when the door was pulled open. A very cute blond, who before he met Bobbi Jo would have definitely been his type smiled brightly at him. "Webb, right!"
"Uhm…yes."
"Well handsome, you come right on it." She called over her shoulder. "Hey, he finally made it. Ooooooo. Is that your car?" He looked back at the Mercedes and nodded. "Tina! Come and see this car!"
"Oh Lora, for goodness sakes." A dark haired Amazon came up behind the blond. "Let the man in."
"Ooops. Sorry."
From somewhere behind them they heard, "Tina! You want to get your butt over here and look at this map!"
"Oh fark! Bill is such an anal little shit."
"Yeah but he’s a good partner, go." Lora, held out her hand. Lora Teasedale, you’re the CIA man?"
He shuddered but nodded.
"Oh hun, don’t fret, we’re all friends here. Well we’re not real sure about Alan. But then he’s just a baby and doesn’t know the ropes yet." She led him into a large bright living room, filled with comfortable leather furniture. A stone fireplace took up one wall and in front of the window sat a baby grand piano.
"Clay!" Seaborn, drink in hand came up to him, his free hand outstretched.
"Jace."
"Oh man I’m really sorry about the mix up."
"It happens." Webb, as he always did, scanned the room and found five pair of eyes staring up from the coffee table where a map was spread out. "This the team."
"Most of it. Come on let me introduce you."
Webb filed away each name. Then turned to the blond, Tina, and said, "You have a very nice house. This room is very inviting."
"Oh sweetie. Not me. I couldn’t stand to live this far out in the boonies. I’ve got an apartment in Georgetown." She wiggled her eyes suggestively.
Webb looked around and waited for someone to fess up, but they were all suddenly very quiet.
"Oh Jace," a soft voice said from behind him. "What have you done?"
Webb turned to see her standing there, a bowl of chips in one hand and a bowl of dip in the other, tall young man standing just behind her was glaring out at him. Everyone in the living room was dressed casually in jeans and tee shirts, some emblazed with the FBI logo on the back. They all looked like they had been doing exactly what Seaborn’s note had said. Bobbi Jo however, had somehow managed to change and it looked like she had taken a shower too. Her long red hair was pulled back in a high ponytail and was still slick with moisture. Instead of jeans, she wore a sundress perfect for her body and the setting. "Hello, Bobbi Jo."
"Hey! You two know each other?" Lora snorted, as if she knew full well that they did.
"Webb." Clay saw Seaborn blush a bright rid. "I uhm...I thought you knew. I was assigned the task force about a month after we found Rabb. I bugged Bobbi Jo to take a real job too, but she had to clean up the mess down there. She finally came on board three months ago. Of course, she still had to go through the Academy…."
Webb let him drone on. They stood there staring at each other. He knew everyone was getting a kick out of their discomfort and suddenly everything made sense. He cleared his throat. "So how did you find the house?" It was a strange question perhaps but he thought he knew the answer.
"Oh." She blushed and handed the bowls to the young man behind her, who sighed but stepped around her, still glaring at Webb. Bobbi Jo stayed by the door as if frozen there. "When I came up to find a place to stay, I decided to stop in and see how Rabb was. Admiral Chegwidden and I had a talk. I found out about Mac. And, uhm…I told him I what I was doing and he suggested this place. It had been on the market forever and I got a good deal and I was on the verge of having to pay capital gains from my place in LA and really it was a great buy and." She stopped abruptly and took a deep breath. "You guys almost done in here? The fire’s ready for the hamburgers."
"Oh yeah. This can wait." The rest of the team filed out leaving them alone.
He took a deep breath. "So. How long have you been up here?"
"Three weeks, officially."
"Why didn’t you call?" he demanded. He was extremely angry and found that the tight little sundress that caressed every curve God gave her had little effect on him. Yeah right.
"I was going to. But everything was up in the air. I did call, well sort of. Oh Clay. How can I explain it? Why didn’t you call?"
"You told me not to. You said you had issues to deal with."
She crossed her arms and leaned against the doorframe. "Yeah I did. I guess I still do." She turned to go and he thought to escape but the sight of her standing there in that damn dress was too much.
Walking until he was behind her, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back tight against his stomach. "I want to work them out together."
"Hey, Bobbi Jo, where are the hotdogs!"
She smiled up at him and he lowered his lips to hers. It was a chaste peck. "Later."
She led him through a bright modern kitchen and out to where everyone was standing on a patio that stretched across the back of the house. The yard was huge and two of the men were tossing a Frisbee. Off to the side, sat her Cherokee, the back open, a cooler sitting on the gate. "Everything is in the back of the Jeep." She explained. "The garage doesn’t have a direct egress into the house, so the previous owner put in a gravel driveway around the house so he could back his car right up to the kitchen door. Weird but it came in handy tonight." She walked over to the Jeep and opened the cooler there. "Here they are! Hey, Clay, you want a beer?"
"Sure." Like he always did, he stood there and watched them. He was good at standing on the outside watching. But, suddenly someone cried, "Webb! Heads up!" He barely caught the object spinning directly toward his face, but he returned the Frisbee with gusto and soon found himself moving away from the house and into the party.
He couldn’t remember the last time he had as much fun. There used to be a group of them who graduated from Harvard and found themselves on similar tracks in life. Oh, no one else had gone into intelligence, but several had joined the diplomatic corps and several others had entered government service. They all used to try and get together on some kind of schedule but success had brought distance and he hadn’t seen any of them in years. It was sad and he found that he really did miss that camaraderie.
As they ate, he talked with them all, discussing the project before them, but not just that. He learned of them and he shared of himself. Little things he could afford to share, things he had never offered before. But all the while, he kept her firmly in his sights. She was everywhere doing what a good hostess does, making sure drinks were replenished – he wasn’t even sure what beer he was on, but he wasn’t really feeling it, just relaxing. When was the last time he had relaxed among people?
He knew Tina was flirting with him, but it wasn’t aggressive and he came to understand that she probably flirted with the stock boy at the supermarket. It was fun and carefree and belied the deep commitment he heard in their discussions. He also kept an eye on the gangly man-child who seemed to follow Bobbi Jo like a three-month old puppy. The man couldn’t have been more than twenty-three and Jason said he had just joined the Bureau and the team.
"He’s scary, Webb." Jason told him as they both sat watching the first of the fireflies alert them to the night.
"Why? You think he’s a loose cannon?"
"Oh man, I don’t think so, it just, he’s obsessed."
Webb stiffened as Bobbi Jo pushed Alan Sharps away, but there was a smile on her face and her finger was pointing to the house. That’s when he saw the dirty dishes piled high in Sharps’ hands. "About Bobbi Jo?"
"Huh? Oh no. Well that too, but she can handle him. No he’s a computer freak. There’s not a system that can keep him out. I’m surprised we got him."
"But you say, Bobbi Jo can handle him."
"Jesus, Webb, yes. Bobbi Jo treats him like the kid brother she never had and I’m not saying he doesn’t have a crush on her, but, he also has a crush on the entire stenographic pool and he is going through them like Grant through Richmond. He knows better than to start anything with anyone on the team. It’s not good policy and I’d kick both parties off if I thought it would disrupt the dynamics. That’s what happened over at JAG, isn’t it."
Webb didn’t answer, it wasn’t his place, and frankly, he had been out of the loop for so long he wasn’t sure what was really going on over there anymore. The only constant there was AJ, Bud and Harriet and he suspected that Bud Roberts would soon grow tired of his ‘not quite’ good enough status. As much as the man loved the Navy, they were coddling him, keeping him from good cases, according to Harriet anyway. For a moment this morning, Webb, as he watched the Lieutenant stroll across the bullpen, forgot that the man had lost a leg. No, Bud was too good to be ‘not quite’ in anyone’s eyes.
"So you pissed off at me?"
"Why?" Webb looked at his empty beer bottle but when he saw Bobbi Jo hold up another one he shook his head.
"For not telling you right away."
"Yeah. But I’ll get over it."
"Good."
"Hey. Where’s Manetti?"
"Oh shit!" Seaborn looked at his watch and then sighed with relief. "She’s stuck at the office doing a deposition with a Marine who couldn’t make it until after five. I think I’ll head over there. I talked her into going to the coast with me for the weekend."
"Good. I like Manetti. She didn’t deserve getting jerked around like that."
"Well, we talked about it. She got him out of her system."
"Yeah, a lot of women have done that." Webb never took his eyes off of Bobbi Jo who was moving things around in the back of her truck, handing bundles to Alan who happily took them back to the house.
"Hey, Bobbi Jo! I’m heading out." Jace called.
She strolled over to them. "We get everything accomplished?"
"Yeah, agent. It was a huge success." His grin let them both know that he wasn’t just referring to the planning/team building/housewarming aspects either. "Oh and don’t worry, I’ll drag Odie out with me."
Bobbi Jo laughed but at Webb’s obvious confusion explained. "The comic strip Garfield. Someone mentioned that Alan was like the dog in it, Odie. Always enthusiastic but sometimes…"
"Most times," Seaborn sighed.
"In his eagerness he will overstep the bounds, or say something to the wrong person and never realize what he’s done."
"Sharps! You have to move your car." Seaborn then dropped his voice, "All the way back to town."
That was pretty much the signal for the party to break up. Lora and Tina helped wrap up the unused food. "I’m taking this bag of chips for the trip, okay?" Tina said as they were leaving. The street outside was empty now except for the car that the two women were climbing into and Webb’s Mercedes. He made no move to leave and Bobbi Jo seemed pleased.
"Come out back, there’s a couple of more things I have to pull out of my Jeep."
"What the hell did you do? Invade Walmart?"
"Sam’s Club. I hate to shop so I load up and well hell, I’ll have to get used to shopping at expensive places again. But down home, Sam’s Club was the height of shopping."
"Damn, Bobbi Jo, you want me to walk up and down the streets and see if anyone else needs paper towels?" Webb groused as she shoved the twenty-four-pack into his arms.
"Just go. I save a bundle and it’s just me so I have the room. Put them on the floor of the pantry." She ordered.
He complied, laughing as he did. When he stepped back outside again though, the laughter died into a groan. She was reaching back into the Jeep, so far back that she was bent over entirely and her sundress was riding up her ass, that incredible ass that he had dreamed about in his lonely room, sleeping bag, piece of sand or whatever place he had caught a few hours or moments of sleep during the past six months. It didn’t look like she was finding what she was looking for. But she sure was squirming.
Slowly he made his way to her, all the while assessing their surroundings. Earlier he had noted that both neighbors had built high heavy wooden fences, though those were just barely visible from the thick growth of shrubs and trees that the previous owners had obviously loved. He had walked the perimeter and knew a steep ravine cut through the back of the property. Standing behind her, he watched for just a moment before gently pressing his hands against her smooth legs.
"What’s that?" he whispered. "I didn’t hear you?"
"I said, about time."
"Why, Agent Thibodeau, are you seducing me?"
"Yeah. And, I don’t want to play the farmer’s daughter and the fertilizer salesman."
He pulled at her arm until she was standing, facing him. Looking down into her incredible pools of dark jade, he lowered his lips until they were joined. Lazily, his tongue explored her mouth even as his hands explored her firm breasts, teasing and tweaking her nipples through the soft fabric. "I like that game," he whispered. "I thought about that night for so long, Bobbi Jo."
"Well then, its time to give you a newer fantasy. You said you wanted this, Clay. For six months I haven’t been able to get anything out of the back of the damn thing without wishing you were behind me, touching me…" her voice turned husky, "tasting me, filling me." Their foreheads touched and he knew he was hers to do with as she pleased.
"I won’t fight Alan for you Bobbi Jo."
"Alan?" She stepped back and then laughed. "Clay, Alan is no Rabb. The poor boy is just lost. He’s from a small town in southern Indiana. I helped him through the academy." She jammed her finger into his chest. "You best watch it, boy. You do anything to piss me off and I’ll sic him on you."
Webb grabbed her finger and bit down on it softly. "No you won’t and I will piss you off. But the make-up sex will be worth it."
"Well I guess if I want any sex at all, I better get pissed at you." She lightly shoved her palm against his chest, but he grabbed her wrist and spun her around until she was leaning over the gate of the truck. "Oh yes," she sighed.
He found the zipper at the back of the dress and slowly pulled it down, placing gentle kisses over her sweat-sheened back. "Damn, you smell good. Kinda of smart of you to have the party here so you could shower after the long day."
"Hmmmmmm. Oh. Had to. I was the one who cleaned out the records closet. I got…well lets just…oh right there." She groaned as he dragged his tongue over the small of her back.
She was wearing cotton panties that hugged her bottom and he let his hands roam over them all the while kneading and squeezing even as he watched her face, which rested on her cheek on the carpeting of the truck. "You are such a tease, Bobbi Jo."
"Yes." She gasped as he pulled her underwear down her legs.
"I’m going to have to make you understand what happens when you tease me, little girl."
She twisted around then. Her face was hidden in the shadow and he found that he didn’t want that. Reaching in, grasping her by the clasp of her bra, the only article of clothing she still wore, he pulled her forward. But instead of kissing her he pulled the garment from her, tossing it behind him. "What are you going to do?" she said, her voice a pouty whisper.
Webb groaned and reached for her but she stopped him. "Too many clothes."
He had already removed his jacket, vest and tie. They rested somewhere in the house. His sleeves had been unbuttoned and rolled up, but still he thought he would choke if he didn’t it get more clothes off. He almost fell when, as he was unbuttoning his shirt, she was attacking his pants. "You sure you don’t want to take this into the house?"
"No. You, I want you to take me just like you said you wanted."
"Oh baby, there are so many ways I want to take you." He looked down as she gazed up at him from where she knelt before him. Steadying himself by placing a hand on her shoulder he allowed her to remove the rest of his clothes. She made a production of lowering his briefs. Once he was steady on his feet again, both of them now naked in the moonlight, he watched in awe as she began to caress his cock. Her hands explored every recess, every bit of skin, lightly skimming over his balls. "Please, Bobbi Jo." He implored. "Oh Gawd!" he tried to stifle his cry to a strangled moan as she began to lap at his slit, then sucking the pre-cum from his cock. He remembered her plea of six months ago and, though she was the only woman he had ever done so with, began to talk to her the way she wanted him to. "Suck my cock, Bobbi Jo. Wrap those beautiful lips around it and suck me deep inside." The way she was humming around his manhood now told him more than words how much it was turning her on. "Harder Bobbi Jo, touch me, oh yeah, just like that, baby." He was so close that he finally had to take her head in his hands. She stopped immediately, in fact, he realized that she was afraid. Afraid that he would loose control and hurt her. He had accessed the report of the incident in LA, and for a moment, it flashed across his mind but he shoved it aside and slowly stepped aback. "That’s enough, I want to be inside you. I want to fuck you, bent over the back of that jeep."
Relief morphed back to desire and she stood on her tiptoes and demanded a kiss. It was her turn to plunder his mouth, map out his body. Then, just as quickly she spun away and looking over his shoulder at him whispered, "Then come fuck me. Fuck me hard, Clay.
Bending her over, he placed wet open-mouthed kisses along her back as he took his cock and ran it up and down her sex. He wanted to taste her so bad but the need to fill her was overpowering. Slowly he parted her labia to allow him access; the moonlight sparkled off her passion. As he filled her, he had to hold her still to prolong their pleasure. Once he was seated deep inside her, he pulled her back until her feet rested against his thighs. "Come back to me more, Bobbi Jo, I want to play with those gorgeous tits of yours."
"Oh god, Clay." She arched back and holding herself against him as he began to roll her nipples between his fingers. She showed him how much she loved it by her panted encouragement and by her steadily more vocal groans and sighs. "No. Don’t stop." She sobbed as Webb moved his hands from her breasts down her torso until he was holding her thighs, strumming her clit with his fingers. He increased his thrusts and tried hard to take in the entire sight before him, but he was mesmerized by the way her hips met his thrusting cock."
"Damn, baby, you are so tight. Yeah, squeeze my cock with that fantastic pussy of yours." He wasn’t sure if it was his words or his manipulations of her clit, but she went rigid in her release shouting out his name. As close as he was to his own release, one part of him was glad that her scream was muffled by the interior of the Jeep. He held her and pumped his orgasm into her, muffling his own shout into the small of her back.
Panting, he managed to pull out of her with out falling. He slowly collapsed to the soft lawn beneath him. Stretching out, he tried to catch his breath.
"Clay?"
"Hmmmmm."
"You okay?"
"Oh baby, you are so damn hot, so sexy."
"Good?"
"Come here."
"Eck." She stood over him. Bending over slightly she reached out her hand. "Come on lover. Shower with me."
"Don’t know if I can get up."
"Sure you can."
They stumbled into the house together and quickly showered off. They dried off and then collapsed on her bed.
"Clay?"
"Yes, Bobbi Jo."
"It’s okay isn’t it?"
"Oh sweetheart. It is more than okay."
"No I mean it’s okay that I moved up here."
He rolled over on to his side and studied her. What a complicated woman she was. One moment, she was a wanton sex goddess, his every dream; the next, a shy unsure southern belle afraid she had broken some social taboo. It would take him a lifetime to figure out even half her layers. He found that he was looking forward to the years to come.
"If it wasn’t about the most perverted thing I had ever done I would suggest you call Horace and ask him."
"What?" She rolled over until their hands were clasped between their bodies and her nose was inches from his on the pillow.
"I called on my way over here. I almost didn’t. I had planned on making a brief appearance at this stranger’s house then heading back to National to catch a flight down there. But I got this message that your home phone was disconnected. After finally getting past old Jimmy Bob, Horace told me you weren’t PRESENTLY there. Bastard." He laughed softly. "And AJ, the rat, never said he knew you were in town either. It was a conspiracy, I tell you."
"Oh God. I’m so glad you called. You would have been so angry with me."
He pulled his hand free and gently cupped her cheek. "I would have found you Bobbi Jo. That’s really all that matters."