Georgie Girl Ch. 04-06

"We checked the log on the computer system that controls your alarm. There have been three log-ins and re-sets this week prior to this afternoon. Your log-in was at three-thirty-six, so that confirms that the alarm was set. How many other people have access to the code?"

"Just my parents and my uncle and aunt besides myself. No one else knows it that I'm aware of."

"Well, the evidence says that someone does, so I suggest you change the code now. I can help you with that. That will at least stymie the intruder temporarily."

"Yes... let's do that right now," she agreed.

It didn't take more than a minute to change the code, after which the officer called the station to confirm the change. Once confirmed, the old code no longer worked.

"Was the motion detector operational?" the office asked.

"No. We only use it when someone is here."

"Is anyone else expected up here soon?"

"My parents, grandmother, and aunt and uncle are coming up tomorrow for New Years. I'll have to let them know about the change in case we aren't here when they arrive."

He nodded. "If you have a cell phone, use that and call from somewhere else outside just in case there are any listening devices on the phone or in the house."

"Oh... sure, that sounds like a good idea. I'll talk to my father about what's going on. In the meantime, there are some cups and utensils in the dishwasher that should have some fingerprints on them. Would you like to take them with you?"

"Yes, thank you. Let me get some evidence bags and I'll see what we can find out about your visitor."

He walked out the front door to his SUV and extracted some plastic bags from the rear hatch and then returned. After examining them, he took two glasses, two plates and one coffee cup with him, leaving a receipt with Georgette. He took a tour through the house looking for any other signs that would indicate who might have been inside before he prepared to leave. He thanked us for our cooperation and left to return to his station and hopefully have the items examined for fingerprints.

"That was very uncomfortable, Georgette. Are you okay?"

"Yes. It bothers me that someone could get in here without anyone knowing, especially with the alarm system we have. He said there were three recent log-ins before we arrived, so we know that someone is probably still around. I wonder if I should arrange to change the locks."

"Might be a good idea. In the meantime, you said we needed to get some food. Why don't we head for a grocery store and you can call your father from there and let him know what's going on. He'll tell you if he wants you to do anything else."

She nodded. "Let's go. It's already dark and the idea that someone out there is wandering around maybe with a key to this place is making me uncomfortable. I'm very glad you're here with me," she said sincerely.

"Yeah... I can understand your worry. Let's get going. Why don't we leave some lights and the motion detector on? If the intruder comes back, he might think someone is here and that may scare him off."

"Good idea. Thank you, John. I'm so glad you're here."

We drove into town and parked at the Safeway store. Georgette made the call to her home and talked to her father. I only heard one side of the conversation but she passed along the new security code, asked about changing the locks, and wondered when she could expect them to arrive tomorrow. Her father instructed her to call the sheriff's office to get the name of a 24-hour locksmith and to make sure it was done that night regardless of the cost.

Once that was done, we went shopping for supplies. Georgette had a list and I helped by getting things as she called them out. A half hour later we were standing in the checkout line of the busy store.

"I noticed you only bought some beer," I said. "What about you and your family?"

"All taken care of. I should have checked before we left, but the cabinet is under lock and key and out of sight in the mud room. I doubt anyone would discover it without knowing where to look."

We arrived back at the lodge and I could hear my stomach growling in protest. I hadn't eaten since before I boarded the plane in Spokane, so I was hungry.

"I heard that," she laughed. "I've got frozen pizza that won't take long to heat up. I won't let my boyfriend starve."

While the oven was heating, Georgette checked the liquor cabinet and reported that she didn't see anything missing.

"Do you think it's possible your ex-husband might be up here?" I asked, hoping I didn't upset her with the question.

"I thought about that," she said, "but he didn't come up here more than three or four times in total and never had a key, and I always was the one with the code. I suppose he could have made a copy of the key but I don't ever recall telling him the alarm code. But now that you mention it, I'll look around and see if there's any sign it might be him. I checked the driveway and the only tire tracks are the ones I made this afternoon and it hasn't snowed for two days."

Her spirits had picked up noticeably since the sheriff and her father had given her direction on what to do to protect herself. The locksmith was expected to arrive about eight that evening, in plenty of time to re-key the three exterior locks.

"God, that pizza smells good," I crooned.

"It's almost ready, John. Let's eat here in the kitchen, okay?"

"Fine, anywhere close to the food and the beer."

Pizza, salad, and beer. What could be better than that? Well, in Georgette's case, wine instead of beer.

We had almost finished when there was a loud rap on the front door. I went with her to see who it was and happily it was the locksmith from town. Forty minutes later he handed us four keys to the new keying system and she handed him a check for his services.

I could see the slump of relief in her shoulders as we closed the door on the locksmith. I gathered her into my arms and let her do whatever she needed to in coming down from her worries about safety. I couldn't get inside her mind at that point and I didn't want to stir up any new anxieties, so I just let her be.

"Let's clean up the kitchen and watch some TV for a while," she suggested.

I was okay with that. I refilled her wine glass and I popped the top off another Anchor Steam as we moved to the great room. The TV was a fifty-inch flat screen and was equipped with a satellite dish that only a ten-year-old could figure out how to operate. Well... a ten-year-old and a certain woman of spectacular beauty that I was sitting beside.

"Oh... Playboy Channel," I said with a nudge to her shoulder as the screen lit up.

"I thought I'd get you in the mood," she said with a sly grin. "What do you want to watch?"

I looked up at the menu on the screen and decided that "Couples" seemed like the most appropriate.

"The best choice. Not so much girl-girl stuff on this one."

"Girl-girl? I thought this was Playboy's channel."

"It is," she said, "but they seem to be fascinated with girl-girl sex. It doesn't seem to matter what you choose, there's plenty of lesbian action."

"Does that turn you on?" I asked.

"Not really. Sometimes, I guess, if I'm alone."

"You're not alone now."

She turned to me and wrapping her arm around me as I had been so pleasantly accustomed to, she once again gave me one of her wonderful kisses.

"Does that suggest anything?" she asked in almost a whisper.

"It tells me that the Playboy Channel isn't going to live up to the real thing."

"Oh... very good, John. Where did you learn all your seductive skills?"

"I'd be lying if I said I had any seductive skills. I'm just following your lead. After all, you seduced me, remember."

"I did? I could have sworn you seduced me," she claimed softly.

"Does it matter?"

"No, not at all," she said, pulling back from our embrace and pulling her sweater out of her skirt and over her head in one continuous motion.

I knew she was beautiful, but I wasn't really prepared for the reality of just how beautiful. And even though I knew at some point this was going to happen, I really didn't know just how to act... or react. I wanted to unhook her bra and caress those magnificent breasts it restrained. I didn't. I wanted to strip her naked. I didn't. I sat and let her lead me. I knew my role in this fantasy.

There are times when you wonder if what's happening is real. Is this make-believe or is it actually happening? She had taken my hands and placed them on her satin-covered breasts. I began to gently massage them, my thumbs rubbing lightly on her nipples. They were protruding now and were stiff.

I'd almost closed my eyes to revel in the sensual contact we were enjoying when we heard a crash... the sound of broken glass.

"What the hell was that?" we asked almost simultaneously.

I removed Georgette from my lap and got up quickly, heading for the location of the sound. I was pretty sure it was either the mud room or the laundry room.

"Stay there until I find out what's going on," I said without looking back.

I moved carefully around the corner and into the kitchen area. The man standing in the doorway from the mud room was in shadow and I couldn't see him very well. I wasn't sure what to do, so I reacted without thinking.

"Georgette, call the Sheriff! We have an intruder," I yelled.

I stood still, waiting to see what he would do when he spoke.

"Who the fuck are you?" he demanded in a gravelly voice.

"I'm a friend of Georgette's. Who are you?"

"I'm her husband. I've come to take her home."

"Oh yeah, the wife beater," I said, talking braver than I felt. "Bad news, buddy. She's divorced you and you're out of her life. She's not going anywhere with you."

"She's my wife and she'll do what she's told," he growled, beginning to advance.

He wasn't any bigger than me, if as big. I was in decent shape and I thought I could probably take him if the need arose. That was when he changed the odds. As he moved into the kitchen, he reached over to the knife block on the counter and took out a very large carving knife. Now I was in trouble.

"You going to add attempted murder to your string of accomplishments?" I asked nervously.

"If I do, it won't be attempted. Now get the fuck out of the way while I get my wife," he snarled, waving the knife as he got closer to me.

I moved around the center island to keep him out of my reach, but I was worried that he would just go by me and have a free run at Georgette. I didn't know how I was going to stop him, but I at least had to try. I couldn't get to the knife block without going by him and I didn't see anything resembling a weapon on the counters.

I was anxious as we had reached a temporary Mexican standoff. It wouldn't last though. I could see him starting to move toward the Great Room and had to find someway to either stop him or slow him down. I hadn't heard anything from Georgette and I had no idea where she was or what she was doing.

In desperation, I spotted a cast iron frying pan on the stove top and grabbed it by the handle. At least now I could try and ward off the knife and maybe clout the guy if I got a chance. But he took some of that option away from me. Instead of going into the other room looking for his ex-wife, he turned back to me and began to advance.

We circled around the center island a couple of times before I accidentally stumbled and fell on my ass. He was on me in a flash. The look on his face told me he was out to kill and I had to do something to defend myself and do it fast. I still had the frying pan in my hand and I swung it with all my might at his hand with the knife. I missed, but it backed him up. The pan was very heavy and I'm sure it would have done him some damage if I'd made contact.

I started to scramble to my feet and he tried to take advantage of that by coming at me again. I jumped back as he slashed at me. The pan was too heavy to lift quickly enough to block the move. I looked down when I felt the knife cross my chest and saw the cut and then the beginning of blood seeping through. I was scared, really scared. I was also pissed. That was the new shirt my mother had given me for Christmas and now it was ruined.

I guess when you are under great stress you do things you wouldn't ordinarily think of doing. As he advanced toward me again, I stopped backing up. He took that opportunity to lunge at me while I swung the skillet as hard as I could at his head.

I connected and he dropped like a stone at my feet. He was surely out cold I thought as I looked down. It was then I saw the knife sticking out of my abdomen. Oh, damn. This isn't good. I'd better call Georgette. Where was that sheriff anyway, I thought as I slid down to the floor in a sitting position, banging the back of my head on the way. The last thing I remembered was a woman screaming.

To Be Continued.