On The Run

Chapter Forty-Two - "'Tis The Season To Be . . ."

Jake

 

I was no longer under the delusion that what I was feeling for Sarah was simple, easily explained or clear. There was nothing simple about the way I found myself enthralled by her more frequently, or the way I couldn’t in any way, manage to keep my hands off her. It was like I needed to feel that electricity from the graze of her skin against mine. Most of all, I think I enjoyed her reciprocity.

I was confused as to whether this was simply fun for her, or if there was a little more depth to it, but I did not dare question it. If I made her delve into her thoughts, I knew that I just might go back to pining while she blocked me out with as many cases as she could.

We walked along the arrivals route at Chicago O’Hare International Airport, after we got our bags. My brother Ryan was supposed to be picking us up, but I wasn’t really counting on that; his unreliability was common knowledge to anyone who knew him for more than a day.

So, when we walked outside towards the rental car station in front of the airport, you can imagine my shock when I spotted Ryan and Emily, his fiancé, leaning against my father’s rusty Buick.

“What are you doing here?” I asked in amazement, as Sarah and I walked over.

He stretched his hands out in an obvious gesture and replied, “I said I’d come, didn’t I?”

Emily scoffed, “Right. I practically had to drag him out of bed. Hi, Jake,” she said, pulling me into a tight hug. Emily and I had gone to high school together, but I wouldn’t have known that if Ryan wasn’t marrying her; our circles just never crossed. Maybe it was a good thing too; no prejudice.

Ryan laughed and hugged me almost tighter than Emily had, and I shoved him off before he could cut off my circulation.

“Sarah, this is my brother Ryan, and the girl no one can believe is actually marrying him, Emily,” I quipped.

Ryan laughed, as he shook Sarah’s hand, “He’s right, you know.”

“Hi,” Emily beamed at her, shaking her hand too.

“We should get a move on. There’s so much traffic right now,” Ryan began, “You’d think everyone would want to be in their homes on the night of Christmas Eve, but apparently not in Chicago. You know there was a shooting today? Really. Earlier in the day, Fuller Park; a group of kids robbed a department store, and in fifteen minutes, it was madness,” he said, as he loaded the cases into the trunk.

Ryan was a talker, always had been, and it was comforting to see that his imminent marriage hadn’t changed that, as it had his dependability.

Sarah and Emily climbed into the back, while I hopped in the passenger’s seat, and we headed down Kennedy Expressway towards Lincoln Park. Home. I started to feel at ease every time I arrived in Chicago. It was ironic that even with the ridiculous crime rates, it was where I always felt safest.

“Did you have a good flight?” Emily asked.

“Yeah, besides Jake constantly stealing the arm rest,” Sarah answered.

I turned, “In coach, no one actually has a specific arm rest, Sarah. We share.”

“So, is this your first time in Chicago?” Ryan asked her.

“No, but I wouldn’t really count the first time as a visit. I was consulting on a case.”

“Oh, that’s right. You’re a cop too. Ryan mentioned that,” Emily put in.