Chapter 15

The vigilante justice duo rode the rest of the way in silence. The silence wasn't awkward, nor was it tense, it was merely silence. They both knew there was something to discuss but neither wanted to ruin the bliss of a successful mission with arduous banter about something that may not be a horrible idea.

Jennifer tugged on Derrick's long sleeved shirt about four blocks from his place, "Let me out here, just in case they're watching us." An increased paranoia had entered the lives of the Christmas Darling Duo, especially with the surprise Christmas roadblock.

Who's to say the SDPD hadn't decided to tail Jennifer and anyone associated with her in the hopes of catching the slightest of mistakes. Plan for the worse, hope for the best. That was the new motto the duo lived by. No reason to take extra chances when things are under such heavy scrutiny.

Derrick lugged the ambulance to the curb and gave Jennifer a look of concern, "Jen, if you're not there in ten minutes, I'm coming out looking for you. I'm going to bring Max too. Be safe, see you in ten." He held his concerned look even after Jennifer jumped from the cab.

She threw him a friendly wink, "See you in nine." Off into the darkness she evaporated. In another life, she would have probably made a hell of a magician. Jennifer had a way with the darkness, She was able to navigate in out form light to dark without any trouble. She had a gift and was using that gift to dole out justice to those that managed to buy their way out of trouble.

The drive to the parking garage blocks away was eerily lonesome. Derrick missed Jennifer, even though he knew he was going to see her in a matter of minutes. They had bonded. A bond forged in blood, a sacred connection. The ultimate trust.

After parking the ambulance, he stepped out and took a deep relieving breath. The mission was over and it appeared that no one suspected a thing. Looking around, assessing the area, Derrick noticed a blacked out crown victoria, an unmarked police car.

Pulling his phone from his pocket as discreetly as possible, he fired off a text, 'Go around back. Possible police out front." There wasn't much else he could do at this moment. The only play was to act as normal as possible and proceed into his domicile with a casual stride.

Punching in his deadbolt code, Derrick could sense eyes on him, burning unwelcomed eyes. The crown vic sat tight, idling with a heavy flow of exhaust steam dancing towards the sky.

Once he entered his home, he killed the lights, blasted the television, and waited for Jennifer to appear at the backdoor. Max was on an unusual edge, as if something were wrong, danger was imminent. The entire situation seemed like something had happened and a huge hammer was going to drop on them, the jig would be up.

Jennifer made it in the nine minutes she promised and lightly tapped at the back glass door. Derrick rushed to open it so he could get her inside and provide at least some sort of security to her, "Come on. You saw my text, yes?"

Before she could answer the question, Derrick placed a finger over her mouth. It was soft and delicate, not his intention but in that moment he was genuinely concerned for her. As he closed the door behind her, flashlights could be seen scrolling the area behind the condos.

With an urgent yelp, "Alexa, seal us in. Turn on all cameras and motion lights."

The entire condo went dark, the blinds dropped in a matter of milliseconds, and a loud humming came from the upstairs. The monitors had fired up displaying every centimetre of exterior area. One screen provided a playback of the interior, pausing from time to time when it had sensed movement.

Jennifer chuckled and looked strangely at Derrick, "Are you some sort of spy or something?" Her face lit up, shining from the glare of the twelve monitors each performing tasks independently.

With a grimace, "Well, I was a little nervous about all this so I went on a little shopping spree. I like to know what is going and when it is going on." They stood together with Max nudging his way between them. The police were out back, looking for something, whatever they were looking for must have been important as they were triple checking each area.

Once the suited officers approached the back door to Derrick's condo, it was time to send a message, "Max, backdoor, protect." Apparently Max was fluent in English and German as he bolted down the stairs and slammed into the back glass. Releasing a barrage of intense growls and barks, the police retreated as they reached for their weapons.

While all this was taking place, Jennifer noticed something on the interior replay, "Wait, go back, go back on that one." She pointed with a purpose, positive she noticed something of significance.

Derrick sent the monitor back two minutes and they both deeply focused on the replay. Looking deeply, fighting against the glare, Jennifer yelled stop, "Did you see that? The front door? Did you see the knob?"

Another rewind occurred so that Derrick could catch up. Jennifer was right, someone had jiggled the handle and then applied some force in an attempt to gain entry to the condo. Taking a seat, Derrick began to time mark the entry attempt and match it up to the exterior replays.

Two men, dressed in all black and armed with long bars of some sort had attempted to pry the door open. Derrick knew that was an impossible task but that wasn't the issue, the true problem was why were they trying to get in and who were they.

Two men try to break in, a police crown vic sat out front, and now the suited police officers were canvassing the area behind the condo, or they were at least until Max scared them off.

It was clear to the duo that they had much to discuss. They were both still riding the high of a successful mission and in no condition to dissect what was happening. The high tied in with the adrenaline of the current situation would make any sort of plan an impossibility.

Jennifer smiled, projecting a false sense of comfort, "Hey, we did it. No one got in and we certainly know that no one is going to get in tonight. Leave Max out and let him patrol the area. Let's get some rest." She placed a small hand on Derrick's shoulder. The hand that had taken nine lives, enough to kill a cat. The small delicate hand that had so vengefully pushed the soul taker into the throats of nine men. Derrick felt a sense of irony in this.

With a nod of understanding, "I agree. Tomorrow we will talk about this police academy thing and try to determine what the hell is going on with this sudden police presence around our place." This was the first time he had referred to the condo as 'our place'. That hit Jennifer hard. She had never shared a place with someone before that she could truly call her own.

Derrick and Jennifer went separate ways as the police had retreated permanently for the night. The ambulance was clean, just in case they wanted to peek inside while the duo slept. As a matter of fact, Derrick kept the medical area of the ambulance just slightly unsanitized just in case it was searched. There would be so much DNA spread throughout that it would be impossible for the police to narrow down any one subject they may be looking for.

Jennifer stripped down to her under garments and curled up on the couch where she had set up camp. Max was quick to follow suit, less the under garments. He was a proud boy and let it all hang out.

Slowly walking up the stairs, "You know there are four other bedrooms up here, not counting mine. You can take your pick. Shit, if you want my room, I'll move to one of the other ones. This couch thing is making me feel like we've been married for twenty years and you are unhappy with me." They both spit out a good belly laugh.

With sleepy eyes, "I understand. We'll get there. I promise. This is all new to me." She let her hair down, blonde and flowing. Running her fingers through it to release the curls resulted in a relaxing sigh and a quick journey to dreamland.

Derrick proceeded up to the master bedroom and nervously tossed and turned all night just waiting for someone to bust down one of the doors and changed the course of their lives forever.

The morning came without incident except for a massive pool of Max drool that had melted it's way through Jennifer's blanket and onto her bare thigh. She saw it as a sign of love and affection.

The duo had survived the night and executed a perfectly planned mission.

Now it was time to figure out what the police were up to and who the masked men were that tried to make entry while they were out.