Learning to Drive... Him Crazy (20 page)

"I hope he does. So what all has to happen
before we can go home and get on with our lives? I mean, I know you
have to find Joe, but what else?"

"Well, we have to find out who else was
involved. Who were the actual thieves for sure, and was anyone
involved other than them and the local police. If no one else was
involved, as soon as we find Joe, you're safe to go on with your
lives. If there's anyone else involved, we'll have to find them,
too, because the story's out, and to anyone else involved, the four
of you were their demise."

"Okay. I hope you find Joe and get this all
figured out quick."

"Eager to become the town hero that helped
bring down the bad police officers?"

"No, no, no. I'm not looking forward to that
publicity at all. I am ready to get on with my life, though, and so
are the others."

"I understand. We're trying to get to the
bottom of it as quickly as we can."

"I appreciate that."

"Sit back and enjoy your vacation while we
do our work."

"If it felt like a vacation, it'd be a lot
easier."

"I'm sure it would. If you think of anything
that may help us find Joe, tell one of the guys here right
away."

"Oh, I will, and thank you for keeping me
informed as to what you've found."

"It's the least we can do."

"Thanks. I'm anxious to learn who was the
actual leader. I assumed it was Chief Nelson, but that's probably
because he's the head of the police department, so I just assumed
he'd be the head of this, as well."

"The assumption makes a lot of sense, but I
don't think he was in charge."

"It would seem odd having someone else
calling the shots, telling him what to do."

Lieutenant Berry nodded in agreement as they
shook hands and they went back out to the kitchen where Alana and
Kelli were fixing dinner.

Alana smiled. "Lieutenant, we're fixing
lasagna for dinner. Why don't you stay and eat with us? We've got
plenty."

"As good as lasagna sounds, I need to get
back to work on solving this thing. I can see how you guys are
suffering here, being forced to watch television and movies, and
eat things like lasagna." They all laughed. He turned serious as he
said, "I know this isn't as easy as I make it sound, and we're
trying to get you back home as soon as we can. Thank you for your
patience with us."

Cal thumped the lieutenant on his back and
said, "I think I speak for all of us when I say thank you for
keeping us safe, and on such short notice."

Lieutenant Berry nodded gruffly. "Just doing
our job. I'll see you again as soon as I have more information.
Anything you need me to send over with the next officer?" They
talked a few minutes before he left, again zig zagging his way
through town a few times before being convinced no one was
following him.

* * * * *

The four of them fell into a routine over
the next few days. They were all getting restless, eager to get
back to their lives. John got daily updates on what was happening.
By now they believed there was no one else involved, so they were
just looking for Joe. They had an APB out for him, but everything
pointed to him staying in state, watching what was happening. There
had been a few reported sightings, and all had been within a
fifty-mile radius. For that reason, they didn't want any of the
four being out in the public until they found him or had reliable
information that he was out of the area.

Cal and John had their hands full keeping
the women patient and inside. They were tired of being cooped up
and wanted to at least be able to go outside and get some fresh
air. They both believed Joe was probably long gone by now, possibly
even out of the country to avoid getting caught, and there was no
reason they should still be locked up.

John had another situation with Alana,
though. Every time they were alone she was quiet and antsy. They
both knew why. He tried to get her to relax the afternoon of their
fourth day there. They were in the library with the door closed for
privacy. "Alana, is there anything you'd like to do that would help
you calm down?"

"I'm sorry, John, but I can't stand waiting
for a spanking. It's not fair. If you're going to spank me, you
should be able to just do it and get it over with."

"I know, Sweetheart. I agree. I don't like
making you wait, either, but—"

Alana, who was getting grouchier and
downright rude at times lately, interrupted. "You told me the first
time you talked to me about spanking that a spanking was a quick
and easy way to get your point across. It was quick and then it was
done and over with."

"I remember saying that. Normally I like to
do it right at the time, or as soon thereafter as is possible."

"Well, I hate this waiting. It's cruel and
unusual punishment, having to wait this long, knowing what's
coming."

John, who was getting frustrated with her
attitude, said, "We can take care of it right here, right now if
you want."

She looked at him, shocked. "Not here!
Everybody would hear us!"

"Well, I suggest you stop complaining, then,
or I will take care of it right here and now."

She harrumphed and turned away from him.

"And lose the attitude or we'll be talking
about that, as well, when we do take care of it."

She sat there quietly for several minutes.
She turned to him then and quietly said, "I'm sorry, John. I just
don't now how much longer I can take this."

"Honey, I know it's hard. You've been
through a lot the last week, and now staying here as a prisoner, as
you and Kelli seem to think, and having a spanking over your head.
It's hard, I know, and I'm sorry about all of it." He took her in
his arms and hugged her.

"But it's not your fault, John. I'm sorry
I've been acting like such a bitch."

Without a word, he reached around and gave
her bottom a good swat. "Not only do you know better than to use
that kind of language, but I don't ever want to hear you refer to
yourself like that again. Do you understand?"

"Yes. Sorry."

"Okay. But next time you'll be getting more
than one swat for that."

"I'm sorry. I've been in a bad mood, and I'm
sorry. I know it's not your fault."

He pulled her in against him, her head
resting on his chest, and they talked about things they planned to
do once they were free to go.

As had become their routine, they went out
to the living room a little before eleven o'clock, so they could
all watch the news before going to bed.

Just before the news came on that night,
John went to talk to Agent Barstow. When he returned, he sat on the
couch next to Alana, using his arm to pull her in against his chest
to watch the news together. He leaned over and whispered, "There's
something I want to talk to you about before we go to bed
tonight."

She nodded. "Okay."

They listened to
the news, but there was no new information. The mayor had named
Lieutenant McConnel as the Acting Chief of Police, and as such he
would be doing what needed to be done to fill vacant positions
within the police department. There was still an ongoing search for
Patrolman Dexter Joseph Decker.

After the news Kelli said, "Well, that told
us nothing, again."

"Are you ready for bed, Sweetie?" Cal asked
her.

"Yep. I'm tired, even though I didn't do
anything all day. Are you ready, Alana?"

"I'll be up in a little bit. John wants to
talk about something first."

"Okay. Do you want me to wait up for
you?"

"No, go ahead. I'll try not to wake you when
I come in."

John took her hand and led her down the
hall. She looked over at him, asking, "Where are we going?"

"Someplace where we can have some privacy."
He opened the door to the office and with a hand on her back,
encouraged her to go in. He followed her in and shut and locked the
door.

"John, I thought the office was used by the
agents."

"It is," he confirmed, "but I asked if we
could use it tonight and they said no problem."

She was confused as she asked, "Why did you
want to talk in here instead of the library? We can shut the door
there, too, for privacy."

"It's not as private as this, though. This
room has been soundproofed."

Alana didn't quite catch the full meaning of
that. "Okaaaay," she stated hesitantly.

"So we're going to take care of that
spanking you've been dreading. Then it'll be over with and you
won't have to worry about it any more." He was unbuttoning his
cuffs and rolling up his shirtsleeves while he was talking. He sat
down on the couch and said, "Okay, honey, come on over here so we
can get this taken care of.

Alana looked at him, her face pale and her
mouth dropped open. He stood up and took a couple steps to reach
her. He gently took her hand and led her back over to stand in
front of him as he sat back down on the couch. "Okay, Alana, do we
need to talk about why this spanking is happening?"

Alana tried to back away, even though he was
holding both of her hands. "No, John, we can't do this now."

"Why not, honey? I thought about what you
said this evening, and you're right, it's not fair for you to have
to wait all this time, dreading this spanking. So I remembered that
Brad had said this room was soundproofed and I asked him if we
could use it tonight."

"Did you tell him why?"

"No, of course not. I told him we need to
talk a couple things out and you're afraid of being overheard. He
was really understanding about it. He said he could easily see how
it would be really difficult to feel free to talk. As long as
someone's in the house, there's the chance they could overhear
something." He grinned and said, "He made sure to let me know that
they won't be using the office tonight, so if we feel a need to
just hold each other and relish the closeness, go ahead and use the
room all night. I told him I didn't think we'd need to do that, but
thanked him for the offer. It is good to know we can take our time
and enjoy some close time afterwards without having to hurry
it."

"But tonight?"

"Why not tonight?"

"I'm not ready."

"Honey, you've been saying you're tired of
waiting."

"I am, but I was told we can't yet, so I'm
not ready now."

"Well, honey, you don't always get to pick
when you want a spanking. When you earn one, you will get it.
Generally it will be at the time you earn it, or as soon as we get
home. We couldn't this time, and I'm sorry about that. This
afternoon when I saw how upset you've become having to wait and
anticipate, I knew I had to do something. Now, do we need to go
over why you're getting this spanking, or can you tell me why?"

She sighed and just stared at John, still
trying to pull away. He said, "Alana, this spanking is going to
happen, and it's going to happen now. I understand that you've set
your mind to accept that it's not going to happen for a while yet,
so I'll give you a few minutes to wrap your head around the idea
that it is going to happen right now. I suggest you use these next
few minutes to do just that. If you spend it trying to figure out
how to get out of it it's not going to help either of us, because
it is going to happen and it's going to happen now."

She studied him, but didn't say anything. He
could usually tell what she was thinking, but not this time. She
had a totally unreadable expression. He gave her a full two minutes
without saying anything, but kept his stern expression in place.
Finally, just as he was about to call time's up and pull her over
his lap, ready or not, a tear escaped from her eye and strolled
down her cheek.

"I'm sorry, John. I have been complaining
about having to wait, and it was actually very thoughtful of you to
arrange this so we can get it over with. It just caught me so off
guard, I wasn't at all ready for it."

His smile warmed her heart. "Are you ready
now, Sweetheart?"

"It's going to hurt and I don't know that I
can ever be ready for that part, but I'm definitely ready for it to
be over with. So to answer your question, yes, my head is ready to
accept this now."

"Good. If you're not ready in your mind to
accept it, it won't be very effective. If you fight it the whole
way through, you're not accepting in your heart that you deserve it
and it won't do you any good. All you'll get out of it is a sore
butt. If your head is ready to accept it, that means you know you
deserve it?"

"Yes."

"Good. We're partway there already. Now, can
you tell me why you're about to get spanked?"

"Because I got us all into this whole mess,
and I'm really sorry, John."

"Whoa, wait, back up. You did not get us
into this mess, young lady. That is not what this spanking is all
about. Is that really what you thought you were getting spanked
for?"

"Basically, yes. I mean, the actual thing I
did was buy some shoes when I wasn't supposed to, but buying those
shoes is what got us all into this mess. That's why it's going to
be such a horrible spanking. I deserve it," she added, tears
streaming down her face.

"You're right that this spanking is because
you bought more shoes when you knew you didn't need any and it
wasn't within your budget. It is not for this mess we find
ourselves in. Honey, it's not your fault that you got a pair of
shoes with a ruby in the box." She started to argue, but he held up
his hand to stop her. "I will admit that if you hadn't bought the
shoes, you wouldn't have gotten the ruby. But you are going to get
spanked for buying the shoes. That there happened to be a ruby in
the box was not your fault, and you are not getting spanked for
that."

"I'm not?"

"No. You're not the one that put the ruby in
the box. Anyone could have gotten that particular box. As a matter
of fact, I've thought about that, and I have to admit that if
someone was going to get that box with the ruby in it, I'm glad you
got it."