Internal Affairs Ch. 07

Roger worked up until 5pm on Friday, reading complaints and writing follow up reports. Most of them were simple 'complaint unfounded' type reports. Sometimes when he felt there might be some misconduct, but it was so minor as to be insignificant, he would make a 'lack of hard evidence' report and move on. Roger had to be careful because all his reports, regardless of the findings, moved up the chain.

As Roger left the office Friday night, Hillary suggested they go to dinner. Not at a greasy spoon, but dinner at a really nice restaurant.

When he agreed, Roger tried not to think of it as a date. After all she was the boss, he told himself. Also there was that ten to fifteen years age difference.

Hillary suggested that she pick him up at home. He needed to change and still didn't have a car or driver's license. Neither of them wanted him driving the scooter at night. That's how she came to be on his security camera footage at 7pm on a Friday night.

"Where are we going?" he asked as he climbed into her car.

"I thought we might try that new Steak house out by the South Mall," she suggested. "All men like steak, don't they?"

"Of course," he replied. He did enjoy beef now and then, but he really didn't care for big chunks of steak. None the less he was happy to go along with her. Since he didn't have an alternative plan, Hillary's would have to do, no matter what it was.

He waited to allow Hillary to order before he did. He didn't want to discourage her from her steak and potato. Dinner for him consisted of a giant bowl of lettuce with bacon, hard boiled eggs tomato and onions with fruit piled one top.

"I feel bad eating all this food, while you graze on lawn trimmings," she suggested.

"You shouldn't, since I ordered what I wanted. You should only feel guilty if you deprived me of what I really wanted," Roger explained.

After dinner while walking to her car, Hillary asked, "So what do people do on dates these days, when the date isn't really a date?"

"I have no idea. I used to go back to the apartment and get high," Roger said.

"That isn't an option is it?" she asked.

"No it isn't. I can't see you getting high," Roger said.

"Nor can I see you,. That is a compliment by the way," Hillary said.

"Good, so what are we celebrating. Our first complete week without a murder?" Roger asked.

"Sure why not. I think I have shown remarkable self control. I might have felt like strangling your skinny ass, but I did resist," Hillary said.

"In that case we should go dancing," Roger suggested.

"I think not, I don't dance," she said.

"So what do you do on dates, that are not dates?" Roger asked.

"You don't want to do that either," she said.

"Oh well if it involves the sacrifice of small animals, no I don't." he said.

"You are implying I'm a witch," she said with a serious laugh. "I like that."

"If the broom fits," he said.

"Usually we go home and have sex," she replied simply while looking away. "If we did that, I assure you, it would be nothing personal."

"Then on a strictly logical note, it would be a stupid thing for us to do. We work together and as of right now, I would jump in front of you to save you. If you turn out to be terrible in bed, I might sacrifice you," Roger admitted.

"Don't worry, I would sacrifice you either way," she said without a smile. Roger felt like it was the truth.

"So, if we are going to do this, do I need to stock up on condoms," Roger asked.

"Always the boyscout," Hillary said. "I use a very secure birth control method."

When they arrived back at his tiny house, Hillary hadn't changed her mind so she entered the house. "Let me see if I can shut down the camera," Roger suggested. Since he had a couple of days to fool around, he found the camera controls and killed the camera inside the house.

"I might have preferred the camera to continue. I could always use a sex tape later. Just in case one of us should become famous," Hillary said.

"The problem is that I'm not sure who is watching them," He whispered in her ear.

"Should I be careful what I say," she asked in a whisper as well.

He nodded his head. "Do you still want to do this?"

"Now more than ever," she said accompanied by what could have passed as a giggle.

The two of them made a very odd couple. He was skinny as a rail and Hillary was soft all over. She wasn't chubby, she just had a round body with no sharp angles.

She started to undress, while Roger went about closing the roll down shades over his two windows. He also pulled the drapes over the slightly narrower than normal sliding door.

He was more than a little surprised that they both were able to fit on the day bed. He was forced against the wall, but it wasn't all that uncomfortable.

After it was over he said, "I have to admit, that was absolutely adequate."

"I felt the same. I think you need more practice." Hillary told him as she pulled him back down for another kiss.

"I'll make note of it," Roger said burying his head in her ample breasts.

"So what was your plan for the day?" Hillary asked the next morning.

"The plan is to start on a walking track along the perimeter of the lot," Roger admitted.

"Why don't you walk on the country road like everyone else," she suggested.

"Then I should wear a giant name tag on my back, just in case the fire bomber is still upset. I couldn't face the anger of another neighbor," Roger said.

"Good point," she said.

"Well I have some exciting things to do myself. Want to take me to breakfast?" she asked. "I only require a fast food breakfast. It won't delay you more than a half hour."

"Sure the track isn't going anywhere," Rodger said.

After the not so romantic breakfast, Hillary dropped him at his tiny house. Roger immediately put on his boots. He didn't really need boots other than for a small creek which ran behind his tiny house. He was concerned that he might have a close encounter with a snake. Roger hated and feared snakes of all kinds.

Since Roger contracted with a landscape company to cut his grass all the way back to the stand of pines, he needed only to clear a path through them. His neighbor on the right was a dairy farmer, so there was barbed wire marking their shared property line. On the other side of his property there was a wooden rail fence. It wouldn't keep anything in or out, but it to marked the property line.

Roger carried a machete for use in clearing the brush beneath the pine trees. Since it was a walking path, he didn't feel the need to cut down any trees. He didn't even clear the fallen trees. He simply move then a few feet to clean the path he was making.

"Stepping over a fallen tree is not a good idea. There is no way to know whats on the other side. Not to mention the trip hazard. It is more than a hundred yards from here back to the house. I can't imagine crawling that far with a broken ankle," he muttered to no one at all.

Roger had expected to clear the stand of pines in a few hours, but it was well after lunch when he decided to take a break. He had managed to clear the path as far as the creek and along the bank until it left his property.

He decided to leave the rest of the space until the next day. He was tired and filthy. He needed a shower and some food.

Roger was making it a habit to check the cameras at his home before driving there. He also checked them randomly whenever he had a few minutes to spare. Which he did while finishing his large iced tea in the McDonald dinning room. Since they had free WIFI, it was easy to make a quick check before driving to the Walmart store. The Walmart superstore was located in the same parking lot as the restaurant.

In the Walmart store he found what he wanted in the sporting good department. He bought a short barreled, though entirely legal, 12gauge shotgun. He also bought a box of shells. The gun would need to be assembled by him since Walmart obviously thought selling a working shotgun and shells to the same customer was a recipe for disaster.

It struggled to get the shotgun home. He went slowly and juggled it until he got it into the tiny house. Roger spent and hour assembling, then oiling and loading the gun. Most of that hour was spent trying to decide where the shotgun would be secure yet easy to reach. The floor to ceiling kitchen cabinet was meant to serve as a pantry and broom closet. It also seemed to be the best available spot to store a shotgun.

Roger watched TV on his computer for the next couple of hours. He was tempted to call Hillary, but resisted the urge. He was pretty sure she would make the next move, if he allowed her time to do so. After watching a movie, he just drifted off to sleep.

On Sunday morning Roger began work on his track again. He found the work easier since there were fewer vines once he left the creek area. He had to use the machete a few times but mostly he was able to just pull the vines from the trees to clear a path. The one thing that did surprise Roger was the paper littering the pine thicket. Evidently trash had blown into the thicket and become trapped there. Roger had two large plastic bag filled with paper napkins and the like.

At 3pm Roger was ready to declare the path open for business. His fancy phone recorded and updated his movement on he path. With that phone he was able to determine the length of the trail. He did all the math in his head and determined that it was 1/3 of a mile in length.

He was tired from all the work, so he just had dinner, watch some delayed broadcast TV, then went to bed. He actually had a dream about Hillary, but was unable to remember the details.

When Roger met Hillary after his six laps around the track, he was actually embarrassed. He wasn't sure whether it was the dream or the sex. The dream, even though he couldn't remember the details, was much more erotic than the sex with Hillary had been. Sex with Hillary was almost an extension of his work in the office. That wasn't a bad thing, just not as pleasurable as one would expect.

"Are you quite alright," Hillary asked as she noticed Roger staring off into space.

"Yes I am fine," Roger said.

"Then answer the questions. Do you know a woman named Rose from Acme Security?" Hillary asked.

"Yes of course she had all the camera's installed," Roger explained. "Why are you asking."

"She called and left a message. She says the gate will arrive on Wednesday," Hillary informed him.

"Good," Roger said turning away. He really didn't want to discuss it with her. Roger forced Hillary from his mind, then turned to the cold complaint files. An hour later he stumbled on a complaint about an officer parking his patrol car in front the downtown branch of an insurance company. The car was parked there every Wednesday night for an hour. There were no other details.

"Hello," Roger said into his official cell phone.

"Mike Peters, I just called to let you know I gave our estimate to the bank's insurance department. They were okay with it, so we will do the job Wednesday when we have the day off. It is just a one day job." Mike said.

"Fair enough let me know if you need anything," Roger said.

"Okay," Mike said and then hung up. He obviously wasn't thrilled to be working for Roger.