My Girl Next Door

I doubled checked on the girls. Jenny was fast asleep, I figured that would happen. Kim on the other had been sitting on the edge of the bed wringing her hands.

"Kim, are you alright?" I asked.

"Yes, when I heard the noise outside and then you grabbed your gun and went outside I was worried. Beetle you have done so much for me that I really do not know how I am going to be able to repay you" she said.

"There is nothing to repay. We have been best friends for a long time. I know you would do something like this for me if the shoe was on the other foot. And since you two are OK, I am going to take a bath and go to bed. There is one thing I need to ask though."

"What?"

"Do I need to lock the bathroom door tonight?" I laughed as I turned around and went downstairs.

"Ha ha" was her only reply.

Now that I knew she knew I was in the tub I decided I could soak a little longer than I did last time. I was just finishing up when there was a knock on the bathroom door. Kim could not sleep and wanted to talk. I told her to give me about ten minutes and we could talk on the back porch. It is too nice of a night to waste it by sleeping all the way through it.

She started out with "Beetle, why? Why is this happening to me? When I married David I thought everything would be OK. And it was for a while. Just before we had Jenny he started getting rough with me. I was worried Jenny would be born with some sort of birth defect. He never hit me but he did push me around quite a bit. He started scaring me. If daddy had found out what was going on I think David would be dead already. You know how protective he is of us and your family too. I could not bring myself to believe David was really a bad person. He had a hard time holding a job but he has been outspoken about a lot of things and I always thought his employers held that against him. But it was not, was it?"

I shook my head no and let her talk.

Kim continued, "What am I going to do now? I do not want to go running home to daddy dragging my baby girl along. I have to be strong but I really do not know how. Will you help?"

It was at this point I thought about telling her what I knew about David through the police reports. My questions now were, do I play the hand dealt, or do I expose myself because of the information? If I let her know what I have will she think I was prying or just merely trying to get informed? I decided to just keep it to myself for now. If need be I can always tell her what I already know at a later time. Maybe she could tell me more so I could be better prepared. After all knowledge is power.

I started out by saying, "Kim, I'll do whatever I need to do to keep you and Jenny safe. I like that little bundle of mischief and I think she likes me too. So quit worrying about what can go wrong and start thinking about what you want to do next. You need to give it some serious thought. You are young and have responsibilities. After all this settles down you know you and Jenny can stay with me as long as you need to. The house is too big for just one person anyway. I bought it with having a family in mind so it would not be a big deal for you two to be around. Besides it would be nice to hear her running around and having fun. It would be nice to see you smile more often too."

With that, we decided to head in and go to bed. It was late and I knew Jenny would probably get up early. She had a lot more exploring to do. Kim and I hugged each other good night and went to our separate rooms. Somehow during the hug our lips met and we kissed, awkwardly but we still kissed. After a slight pregnant pause we went inside.

I awoke the next morning with a start. It was not from any commotion from outside nor was it from anything from inside the cabin. I had a very vivid dream about Kim and me. Like I've said before, we have known each other for a very long time. I have never had any dreams of her like this and it worried me somewhat. She and I made love and it was intense. I've heard dreams are always in black and white, but this dream was in living color. I could see her freckles on her nose, her chest and her arms. I could see the hair on her head. I could even smell her perfume. Needless to say I was also aroused by the dream. She was, at least in my dream, the most sensuous woman I have ever been with. In my dream we molded together perfectly. I needed coffee. I really needed some coffee and a lot of it.

Kim could tell something was bothering me when I finally did get to the kitchen area of the cabin. Jenny was still asleep so we had some time to ourselves. Do I tell her about the dream or not. I decided not. She too looked nervous. So I asked her about last night.

"Kim, did we cross the line last night when our lips touched?"

"No, I do not think so" she said.

"How do you feel about it then?" I asked her.

"Well at first I felt a little awkward but then I just figured it was a spur of the moment thing and I just let it go last night. But I did dream about it though."

"Kim, what was your dream?" I asked.

"I'm sort of embarrassed to tell you. But it was not an unpleasant dream. It was actually a nice dream. Something I have not had in ages. But I am not going to tell you about it right now. We have other things to do. Is that alright with you?" she asked.

"Yeah, I understand" I told her. "Besides, I had a crazy dream last night too. Maybe someday I'll tell you about it too."

Jenny came in rubbing her eyes asking what's for breakfast. I think that helped Kim and me get past the dream thing for the time being. I did not really have much planned for the day so I asked if they would like to go to town to get more supplies. I did not pick up that much the other day and I figured we would need more if we were going to stay there much longer.

There was a knock on the door that quickly got our attention. Both of us were unsure what to expect. I told Kim to take Jenny upstairs now. I grabbed my pistol and went to the door. Mr. J was there. Relieved, I let him in.

"Beetle, did you hear some noises last nigh?" he asked. "I thought I heard something but I weren't real sure. My hearing taint what it used ta be. I was gonna come over last nigh but I saw the deputy's car drive by and figured you dun called to law for backup so I jest leff it alone."

"Yeah, it was some big cat or something like that is what the deputy told me. Anyway if something like that happens I do not want to see you get hurt so stay inside. You will do that for me won't you?" I said.

Kim and Jenny came back down stairs before he could answer. So the four of us made breakfast and had a nice meal. Mr. J convinced us to go ahead and head into town to take the edge off of things and that did sound like a good idea. So after cleaning up we headed out. On the way into town Kim got spooked.

"Kim, what's wrong?" I asked.

"That is David's car" she said.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I recognized the big dent in the front driver side door. It's his alright" she said.

"OK, we'll go see Frank first and call Marion from the Sheriff's office. We will do whatever we need to do to keep you two safe."

I floored the accelerator and headed into town as quickly as I could without getting into a wreck. We rolled into the sheriff's office and were met by Sheriff Frank and a state trooper. We gave them the information about where we saw David's car and the direction it was headed. We all knew he was probably heading up to the cabin but did he remember exactly where it was at was my concern.

After talking to Sheriff Frank and calling Marion on the phone the Sheriff and I had a talk about what to do.

"Look, send out a unit to the cabin. Mr. J is out there by himself. He does not know David but he does know what is going on. I do not want to see the old man hurt" I said.

"Let the police handle it" Marion had told me.

After we left, four hours later a deputy called dispatch and said the car was not in the area. He could not find anything. The highway patrol was on the lookout out on the main roads and the sheriff's office was patrolling the back roads. It was like there was an all out man hunt for him but he was eluding everyone. The only way he could have done that was to hide his car somewhere and proceed on foot. I started getting concerned for Mr. J about that time and told Sheriff Frank I was heading back. I needed to check on the old man. Kim and Jenny were taken to Sheriff Frank's house so his wife could look after them until we were sure he was not near the cabin.

When I finally did get back to the cabin I found Mr. J lying on the ground near the porch. He looked hurt or possibly dead. I checked for a pulse, he had one, thank God. I grabbed my pistol and Mr. J's shotgun and started looking around. I did not see any vehicles around so I was not really sure. If David had parked somewhere nearby he would definitely know by now that the girls were staying in the cabin. But did he know I was there also or just what exactly did he know?

I could not find any hints or traces of David anywhere. I decided the best thing to do was to load up Mr. J and take him to the hospital. Just as I was pulling out David's car pulled up and blocked me. I jammed into reverse and floored it. Since the path between Mr. J's place and our cabin was well worn, I decided to try and drive that way. I did not make it before a stump from a small sapling pierced my front tire and blew it out. Still I knew I had to number one, get out of here and number two get Mr. J some medical help. David was rapidly catching up with me. He started shooting at my truck. He already blew out the back window and I was not sure how I was going to get out of there alive. He did stop shooting long enough to reload and I took that as my opportunity to bail out of the truck and try to find cover. I started to return fire when I heard other gun fire from another direction. Damn, he brought help!

David spun around to see where the other gun fire came from and I took that opportunity to start shooting. I hit David in the chest area but it did not seem to faze him. Just about that time another shot rang out from the other direction and David went down. It was a head shot from the deputy patrolling the area. David lay dead on the ground.

The deputy called it in on his radio. Officer involved shooting, shots fired. Need EMTs and back up. Twenty five minutes later the place was swarming with cops. Both the Sheriff's office and State troopers arrived. David was pronounced dead on the scene. Sheriff Frank was also there.

"Beetle, the girls are OK. Kim does not know about this yet. I did tell my wife to turn off the scanner before I left the house. I did not want the girls to worry just in case something like this happened. Are you OK?" asked Sheriff Frank.

"Yeah, I'm good. What about Mr. J? Is he OK?" I asked.

Sheriff Frank tells me "He just had a bump on the head. He will probably have a good head ache for a while, but he'll be fine. The EMTs told me it was all just superficial so don't worry about him too much. Can you fix your truck or do you want me to call a wrecker for it?"

"Call a wrecker" I said. "Have them tow it into town to get a new tire mounted. If I can catch a ride to town with you, I'd really appreciate it. Besides I do not believe I can drive right now, I'm a little shaken. It looks like I'll need a new back window too."

We, the Sheriff and I, needed to let Kim know that David is now completely out of the picture. Sheriff Frank told me the crime scene guys he has will clean up the area to the point you would never know anything happened. There would be just a few ruts in the ground where the wrecker would have to be and that would be about it.

When we arrived to the sheriff's house, his wife and Kim came running out. Jenny was having a nap. We told Kim about what happened but we would not be able to go back to the cabin until the next day. I called Marion and let him know also. It seemed as if Kim and Jenny's troubles were now a thing of the past.

Kim had started crying. I did not know if it was tears of sorrow or tears of relief. I could almost see her whole body relax when we told her about David being gone. We spent the rest of the day and that evening at Sheriff Frank's house with him and his wife. Since we could not go back to the cabin and I did not have my truck now we were invited to stay the night and we graciously accepted. Mr. J spent the night at the hospital for overnight observation. Personally, I felt the day ended good for everyone, especially little Jenny, well except for maybe David. True, Jenny would not have her dad around now, but what type of influence would he have been anyway?

The next morning Frank took me to my truck. I paid the bill for the wrecker and the new tire and drove back to Frank's house. The window would take about three hours to get so I left without that. I could always come back to town later. Frank's wife, Kim and Jenny were waiting for me. I was voted on by them to buy breakfast. I knew Kim and I needed to talk about everything but I did not know when we would have time. Frank's wife, Jean, settled that argument for us when she asked Jenny if she would like to stay the night with Aunt Jean. Jenny was all over that. I gave "Aunt Jean" that look of thanks and we took off. Kim and I headed back to the cabin to sort things out. We did stop by the hospital to pick up Mr. J He was relieved to see the both of us.

"Mr. J, what happened yesterday that cause you to get knocked out?" I asked.

"Welp Beetle" he started. "I heard dat old car drive by my place kindly slow like. I twernt sure who or what, so's I jest grabbed ole "Bessie" and headed over to yourn place. That's when I seen that beat up ole car and knowed it twernt good. As I was trying to get to yer back door, my lights went out. That's bout all I remember. The next thing I knowed, I was inside one of dose meat trucks hitching a ride to da hospital."

"Well we are all glad you are OK" I said. "But if there is ever a next time, stay in your home until the cavalry can arrive. We do not need to hear you seriously injured snooping around."

We finally made it back to the cabin after we dropped Mr. J off at his place. I made a mental note to clear the path between our two places of anything that would cause tire damage in the future. Kim and I went into the cabin. It was still early as night had not yet fallen. We decided to go for a swim. I donned an old swim suit I had at the cabin but Kim did not have anything to wear. She decided that her bra and panties would suffice.

"I mean after all, that is all a swim suit covers anyhow isn't it?" she flatly stated.

We sort of meandered on down to the lake and eased our way into the water. That is when it dawned on her and I that when white under garments get wet, they become transparent. Well too late now for modesty. We swam around and just lay about on the dock for about two hours before we decided to head in to get cleaned up and eat something.

Kim told me to go clean up while she prepared something to eat. So off I went to the bathroom. I did not even think about soaking this time. I got cleaned up in record time so she could get cleaned up and I could finish cooking. But when I got in there she was just finishing up cooking some hamburger patties and beans. She was still sporting her panties and bra which seemed to make the scene one of the most erotic things I have seen in a long time.

We ate and I cleaned the kitchen while she cleaned herself up. It did not take her very long either. When she came back in she had on some loose cut-off jeans, cut short, very short and a white tee-shirt, sans her bra. I grabbed a couple of sodas out of the fridge and we sat down in the living room near the fireplace. She sat close enough to me she could snuggle. This was something we used to do as kids but there were always others around when we did. We started discussing everything that happened that day.

I started off with "Kim, how do you feel about what happened? I mean, David was killed yesterday by a deputy after he almost killed Mr. J and me. Jenny's daddy is not going to be around and that is something that is going to hurt her sometime in the future."

"I am not real sure about anything right now" she said. "All I want to do is not think about anything. I want to just mentally shut down and relax. I know I have to face facts but right now I do not want to think about anything. I hope you understand what I am trying to say because I do not think I know what I am trying to say. Can we just relax and not think about it for now?"

"Sure Kim" I said.

Then I put my arm around her shoulders and pulled her in close. We sat in silence until the phone rang and scared the crap out of both of us.

I answered, "Hello?"

"Beetle, is everything OK up there? Marion told me there was some trouble. Do you want your dad and I to come up or what?" mom asked.

"No mom right now everything is fine. It has been a long twenty-four hours and right now all any of us wants or need is some sleep. If it's OK with you, I can fill you in with all the sordid and juicy details when we get back home in a couple of days."

I do not have any idea what she and Kim talked about but it did not take more than a couple of minutes for them to finally hang up. She informed me that my mom would call her mom and let them know how we were doing. Then Kim snuggled back into my grasp and we both nodded off. A couple of hours later I awoke to a snoring Kim and eased out from around her.

I needed to go relieve myself so I just stepped out the back door and let her rip off the edge of the porch. I was not finished when Kim popped her head out the door and for the second time in just a few hours I got spooked again. I was not expecting her so yes she scared me.

"Need help?" she asked.

Embarrassed just a little I answered and nearly jumping off the porch is said "No I am just about finished".

We both had a well needed laugh and headed in.

"Kim I think it's time for bed. Are you OK enough to sleep upstairs by yourself or would you like to stay down here with me," I said. "It would not be the first time we have slept in the same bed, but of course we were kids then, but still the offer stands."

"I think I would like very much to have company," she said.

So off we went to the big bedroom. Normally, at least since I have been home from the Army. I sleep in my boxers. I decided to wear a pair of short pants over them for the night and I turned the lights out as I crawled under the covers. A few minutes later Kim climbed in beside me. I was not sure what she was wearing but I figured she still had her tee-shirt on. She laid her head on my shoulder and just snuggled with me. Shortly I could hear her breathing deeply and I assumed she had fallen asleep. I assumed wrong. The next thing I knew her arm had come over the front of my body. Started at my belly and rubbed my front side in circular motions up to my chest area.

There were a lot of things running through my mind before this and now I had something else to think or worry about. I knew Kim was at a venerable stage in her life and I also knew that I would always be there if and when she needed me, we were that close. But after that damn dream I had the other night and now with her rubbing my front from waist to chest it looked as if the dream was going to come true. I did not want to take advantage of her, but DAMN!

I believe we both finally drifted off to sleep. Sometime during the night I needed to go relieve myself so I eased out of bed. When I returned Kim was sitting up with her legs crossed Indian style. There were no lights on but the shine of the moon was still bright and I could plainly see her as well as her being able to see me.

"Beetle" she said. "Make love to me."