Tuesday morning, November 20, 1956, Tom Seldon picked up his FBI partner Charles Richards for work. The police officers assigned to watch the Richards' house that morning escorted his wife Diana to the movie studio where she worked. They informed her that the officers assigned to watch for the evening would meet her at the front gate of the studio at around five o'clock to escort her home.
Detective Jonathan North called her at lunchtime. There hadn't been any further sightings of the bastard who had attacked her four months before since the previous day. And none of the motels in town had identified him as having checked in at any time.
It seemed that Ed Hood was like a ghost—he could appear and disappear at will...
Charles and Tom had given the information on the vehicle they had spotted following them the previous day to the records investigators at their office. They were waiting to hear what turned up on it. In the meantime, they were continuing with their investigation on the import/export company. They also kept their eyes open for the vehicle with Oregon license plates.
Tuesday evening, Lynda Seldon came to help Diana with dinner. Tom and Charles weren't going to get home until after seven o'clock. Even though Diana knew the police patrol unit was parked out front, she still jumped at every little noise she didn't recognize. Lynda tried to keep her best friend calm.
They had dinner ready and were just setting the table when their husbands walked in the door.
Diana jumped and gasped when she heard the door open, nearly dropping a plate on the floor.
She yelled at Charles, "Why didn't you ring the bell or knock to let me know you were coming in? I nearly jumped out of my skin!"
Tom chuckled.
Charles said exasperatedly, "Why would I ring the doorbell or knock to enter my own house? Come on, Diana, you're getting just a little too jumpy. You need to calm down and realize that everything that can possibly be done to protect you is being done! Ed Hood would have to be crazy to try to get to you now that you're constantly surrounded by protection! He'll only end up dead if he tries it! And I'm hoping he does!"
During dinner, Charles and Tom discussed most of the mundane aspects of their arms smuggling investigation. They had finally spotted and photographed someone who resembled one of the known suspects coming out of one of the warehouses that evening. That warehouse would be the one to watch the next night.
They hoped to learn whether the investigation was turning up any concrete evidence or leading to a dead end. They mentioned to Diana and Lynda that they had spotted a vehicle following them the day before and were having the license plate and the vehicle checked into.
Diana managed to forget her fears regarding Ed Hood.
She watched Charles and Tom quietly discussing some specifics on the case after dinner as she and Lynda cleared and washed dishes. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but they had serious expressions on their faces.
They must be pretty sure that the tips they've received are legitimate...
Diana looked at Lynda. They both took deep breaths and exhaled raggedly. They tried to make themselves get used to the nervousness they felt at knowing their husbands could find themselves in danger at any time. They were both frightened.
Each time their husbands survived a dangerous situation, they would, most likely, be able to deal with their fears and nervousness a little better.
But how will we survive until then? How many times will it take for us not to be scared every time our husbands walk out the door to go to work...
Barbara lived with this for five years and now she's gone back to it...
Diana looked at Lynda and said quietly, "I think I need to have a chat with Barbara tomorrow evening. I hope she'll share her secret to staying calm! I've been frightened for myself enough recently, but when I think about anything happening to Charles, my fear is tenfold over what I fear for myself!"
Lynda looked at Diana and nodded her head in agreement. "But, no matter how scared or nervous I feel every time Tom walks out the door, I wouldn't trade even five minutes of the time I've spent with him in order not to be scared or nervous. Every minute with him is like a precious gift to me. And I can't afford to let my nerves get to me too badly...I have someone else's welfare to think about, too."
Lynda's eyes misted. She looked down and caressed her lower abdomen.
Diana looked at her and smiled softly.
What if Charles were to get killed before we have children? Would I be able to go on without him... without anything or anyone else to carry on his memory and his goodness...
She suddenly had a longing to know how it would feel to have his baby growing inside her. She had a feeling, like Lynda, that it would help to calm her to know that she had another life inside her that was depending on her for survival.
I'm going to talk to Charles about it tonight and, hopefully, he'll agree... Now would be as good a time as any to start...
She was close to the fertile period of her cycle. She'd have to make him understand why this was so important to her...
Charles had been feeling the same way. The recent potential dangers that both of them had been facing had made him think about his own mortality.
We'd better not put off trying to have children or it might not happen at all...
They would always be able to come up with some excuse or another as to why it wouldn't be a good time to have a baby. But Diana made him realize they'd been overlooking the most important reason of all to have a child.
We would forever be connected through that child... There's no better expression of our love...
They made love for hours that night. He came inside her three times. They finally fell asleep in each other's arms around two o'clock, both of them praying for his sperm to find a target.
They awoke Wednesday morning feeling more full of hope than they had in a while. They made love again that morning at his insistence. Diana was afraid of being late for work, but Charles made breakfast for her while she showered and dressed.
He didn't have to report for duty until after noon. He and Tom would be on surveillance duty until at least ten o'clock that night. He planned to go back to bed for a couple hours and catch up on the sleep he missed.
Diana had just enough time to eat her breakfast before she had to head out to work. Charles walked her to the front door wearing nothing but his pajama bottoms and kissed her goodbye. They forgot about the police patrol unit parked across the street. The officers got quite a show.
She ran her hands over his hairy chest as he pulled her against him and kissed her deeply. She slowly slid her hands around to his back and down to his ass.
He turned her sideways and crushed her against the front doorframe. He rubbed his, once again, hard cock against the front of her body as she kissed his neck and his upper chest. Charles was about to beg her to call her boss and tell him she'd be a little late getting in so he could take her back to bed.
They heard the sound of someone clearing their throat just several feet away from them. They broke apart, embarrassed, when they saw one of the police officers standing on their front walkway.
Charles moved Diana to stand in front of him so the officer couldn't see the obvious tent in the front of his pajama bottoms. He jerked slightly as she stroked her hand against his cock. She had nonchalantly clasped her arms behind her back as she asked the police officer if there was a problem.
"I'm sorry to disturb you folks but, Mrs. Richards, my partner and I need to see that you get to work soon so that we can get back to the rest of our duties. So, if you don't mind..."
Diana answered quickly, "Of course, officer. I'm so sorry for holding you up. But it's my husband's fault—he held me up so...I was just trying to get him back."
The officer smiled and chuckled. "Well, I certainly think you accomplished that, Ma'am. Now, can we get going, please?"
Diana chuckled with him. "Of course, officer. I think it's best that I leave now...so I won't leave him hanging!"
Charles gave a frustrated growl.
Diana and the police officer burst out laughing.
Charles swatted her ass and pushed her out the door, saying, "I'll get you for this later!"
Diana turned and blew a quick kiss at him as he shut the door chuckling. She said loudly, "I love you, honey! See you later tonight...I'll be waiting for my punishment!"
As the two officers followed her to work, the one told his partner about their amusing exchange. They both chuckled.
What an interesting woman! Her husband is definitely a lucky man...
She was beautiful, sexy, smart and funny—not at all what they would have imagined seeing in a woman who had been through what she had. The officers admired her strength and her bravery. They genuinely hoped that her attacker would be found soon.
Diana arrived at her office and started tackling all the duties and errands she needed to get done before the end of the day. She would be out of the office through the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Her boss was fond of reminding her that the movie industry didn't take holidays—schedules had to be maintained whether it was a holiday or not.
If there was anything her boss hated, it was going over budget on a production because schedules couldn't be maintained! Diana was relieved. According to the current production schedules, everything was running on time and, so far, under budget.
At least her job was one thing that wouldn't be worrying her during the holiday!
**********
Tom arrived at Charles' house just after noon with lunch and the latest updates of information on the investigation from Bureau headquarters in Washington. The suspect they'd spotted at one of the warehouses the night before turned out to be one of the "persons of interest" they were looking for. If they were there again tonight, it would give them the concrete evidence they needed to push ahead with further investigation.
Tom also told Charles what they'd found out on the vehicle that had followed them. "The vehicle and the plates match but it hasn't been reported as stolen. The car is registered to a woman named Betsy Hightower in some little town in Oregon that nobody has ever heard of. They can't even find it on the maps! The woman has no criminal record that we've found, but someone in records is going to attempt to contact her and see if she can tell us what her vehicle is doing here in Los Angeles."
By one o'clock, Charles and Tom headed out to the FBI office to file their reports and get the items they needed for that evening's surveillance.
Charles called Diana at her office before they left.
