Thanks for the great re-editing by Jedi_Khan. This one should be a little better.
Don't worry, the build-up is almost over…
*
Well, that was a spectacular waste of time,
Jack thought as he closed his apartment door behind the retreating backs of the two uniformed police officers. Disappointed, he turned and headed for the kitchen. He was drained and hungry, having not eaten yet today.
Over the last forty-five minutes, he had tried unsuccessfully to explain to the apathetic officers his suspicions. But even though they had dutifully taken notes on everything he said, it was painfully obvious that they didn't believe him. By the end, Jack's story was even beginning to sound thin to his own ears.
Not that Jack could really blame them. In a town this size the police would be used to having their hands full with murderers, armed robberies, rapists and a host of other
real
problems. A simple break-in, where nothing significant had been damaged or stolen, didn't exactly rate high on their radar. Never mind his feelings.
Right after he had started talking to them, Jennifer McCoy had materialized from out of her apartment. Standing with her arms crossed over her chest, she had made no move to either interrupt or join in the conversation. Instead, she just stood there, listening as he went over his story.
Jack had been a little annoyed at the fact that she had joined the audience. He knew he would have to talk to her eventually, but it was awkward to explain everything to the police with her standing right there.
Surprisingly, the police were completely unfazed by her presence. Usually, they would at least try to make spectators move on. But both of the officers had barely given her a glance and then totally ignored her.
Oh well,
he thought,
at least I didn't have to repeat myself.
She had obviously gotten over their last meeting, at least. Instead of glaring at him like he was something she had just scraped off of her shoe, she had simply watched him with a thoughtful expression as he told his story. In fact, the only time her expression had changed was when Jack had talked about the package. He had explained how he had received it and how he had tried to return it earlier, but forgot.
When the police asked her about what had been in the package, she had frowned and mumbled something about "Nothing important..."
The interview hadn't gone much better after that. The officers had come into his apartment to take a cursory, half-hearted glance around. He gave them the tattered remains of the package and they made their way out. Leaving him with a warning to get his locks changed by the apartment, they said they would get back to him and walked away.
Jack had hoped that he would have a chance to talk to Jennifer, maybe even clear up a few things with her. But she had disappeared back into her apartment by the time the police were leaving, and he wasn't really in the mood at that point to chase her down.
Maybe he had been wrong about the whole thing. The feeling, that something had been terribly wrong, that had come over him before was gone now. He couldn't help but begin to doubt his own memory. Someone had been in his apartment, but as for the rest…well, maybe he really was starting to loose it.
Sighing heavily, Jack opened up the cabinet. There wasn't much. When he had moved, he had thrown a few cans of soup and some of the boxed, instant meals in with the rest of his stuff, but had pretty much demolished everything in the last few days, planning to go shopping as soon as he could.
Well,
he figured,
no time like the present.
Collecting his keys and cell-phone off of the counter where he had left them earlier, Jack headed back out the front door. After making double sure he had set the dead-bolt, he turned and went down the stairs and around the back of the apartment to where his car sat waiting. It wasn't much to look at, just an old Pontiac, but it was paid off. While the friends he had in the military had always had to have the newest and the best, Jack had been more worried about putting money away for the proverbial rainy day. The day Kelly had left, it had started pouring.
Getting into his car and turning the key in the ignition, Jack felt a brief flash of satisfaction as the engine turned over on the first try. Old or not, he had kept the car in good condition and in return it had always taken care of him.
Jack backed out of the driveway and drove around the outside of the apartment buildings to the small lot attached to the office building. Before he headed out for groceries, he decided he should go ahead and talk to Mrs. Munion. He was tired of not being sure where exactly he stood when it came to his future here. It had been odd to him that during the whole episode with the police, Jennifer had not once mentioned anything about his fight with her boyfriend or their confrontation on the island.
Besides, he thought as he made the short drive, he was definitely going to take the officer's advice about changing the locks. Nothing on the doors had shown any sign of a break-in. And a quick check of the windows and the balcony had showed him that they were still locked as well. How someone could have made it up to the third floor without being able to fly, though, was beyond him. So, the guy had obviously had a key.
Jack pulled up into the parking lot and shut off his engine. He really wasn't looking forward to this. Not only was Mrs. Munion the last person that he needed to deal with right now, he still wasn't sure what, if anything, Jennifer had told her about the other day. If things went the way he feared, he wouldn't worry about his trip to the grocery store.
Resigned, Jack got out of his car and went inside. As he closed the door behind him he was surprised to receive a warm greeting from a girl he hadn't seen the last time he had come. Jack smiled. Though she wasn't nearly as beautiful as Jennifer, the girl behind the desk did have a certain appeal. Dressed sharply in a nice, form fitting business blouse, she presented a perfectly professional appearance. But, something in the way her deep, sea green eyes sparkled when she looked at him told him she knew how to let go when it was time.
"Oh, hi there," she greeted him, her eyes flashing startled recognition.
"Hey," he said, "Is Mrs. Munion around?"
Glancing back at the closed office door as if she thought her boss was going to spontaneously appear from within, the girl turned back to him and apologetically said, "No, sorry. She had to step out and deal with a minor crisis."
"Oh," Jack looked at her sheepishly, "I hope I wasn't the cause of that"
Something in the brief change of expression that quickly ran across her face let Jack know that he had hit the nail on the head with that one.
Damn,
he thought.
But instead her smile returned and she said, "No, no, nothing like that. Just some minor apartment business, nothing to worry about."
She paused, as if she were deciding something, and then continued. "You're Mr. Gardener, our new resident, right?"
"Jack, please, I'm really trying to get away from the whole last name thing." In the army, no one used first names, ever. So he had always been Gardener, or Sergeant Gardener; never Jack.
