Chapter 16

"Rough one, huh, Ben?"

"You know it, buddy. See you tomorrow."

"Right."

Argon waved farewell to his partner and climbed into his parked car. He was wet with perspiration and the inside of the car only served to aggravate his condition. The town of Whitebank was being broiled by a merciless midsummer heat wave, a fact proven by Argon's tour of duty report sheet. Since morning, he'd been in on two heat prostration cases, a near-drowning at the river, an indignant complaint regarding the indecent exposure of a female neighbor in her backyard and a daylight theft of an air-conditioning unit from the second floor office of a leading insurance agency.

Like old days, Argon thought, grinning despite his exhaustion and discomfort. Things back to normal, thanks to the bombshell Judge Charles Aiken had so unknowingly exploded when arrested as a vagrant up in the state capital.

As he cruised the near-deserted and parched streets, he could see the change in Whitebank. Almost overnight, the town had reverted to the Whitebank he'd known and loved all his life. The local taverns were enjoying an unusual run of business as the lagging residents sought to escape the blistering rays of the sun and sizzling humidity of the asphalt streets within the cool atmosphere of refrigerated air. It gave Argon a good and comfortable feeling to know that those taverns were no longer being controlled by men like Marty Jex. When a Whitebank man walked into a bar, he didn't have to be afraid of being hustled by the bartender or a B-girl or some rigged pinball machine. The town was clean again, thanks to the incoherent ramblings of a confused and tormented old man, and Argon felt a certain responsibility to keep it clean.

Someone had to do the job. That's what Kathy had told him when he broached the subject of staying on in Whitebank to her. The State Crime Commission had exposed the graft and the Attorney General's office had destroyed the Jex-Bauer combine with a swift stroke of justice. It was then left up to the citizens of the town, to Ben and others like him, to see that the same sort of corruption never again took root in Whitebank.

He steered the car up the familiar street, listening to the announcer on the car radio sadly state that no relief from the oppressive heat seemed to be in sight for their section of the state. As he parked and climbed wearily out of the front seat, Ben thought of his vacation and wondered if he ought to take it early. It would be nice taking Kathy up to the mountain district for a couple of weeks.

The apartment was cool and quiet and empty and Argon closed the door behind him with a frown, realizing that Kathy's absence meant she'd missed the early bus back from the sanitarium. He set the extra fan in motion and undressed slowly, peeling off the soggy uniform before padding into the kitchen and opening the refrigerator door. There was a scribbled note lying atop the stacked beer cans and he chuckled as he read the hurried warning that he was not to have more than two beers before dinner. He punctured one and tilted it greedily to his mouth as he headed for the shower.

The trip to the mountains lingered in his thoughts as he stepped under the icy spray. It could be sort of a honeymoon, a delayed honeymoon, the one they hadn't had time for when all the trouble exploded up in the capital and swiftly thereafter, in Whitebank. The news of her father's mental breakdown had shaken Kathy badly and the ensuing scandal, exposing Jex and Bauer and the railroading job on the Ryan girl, almost broke the kid's heart. It hadn't been the right time for a honeymoon, at any rate. It still astonished him that Kathy had agreed to marry him what with all the ugliness that suddenly came down around her young shoulders. He liked to think that it was their marriage that had given her the guts to stand up under all the emotional punishment she'd been forced to absorb as each sordid detail of her father's indiscretions came to light during the Crime Commission hearings.

Yeah, it was a good idea, he decided. He'd see what he could do down at headquarters about pushing his vacation up a month or so. He'd keep it a secret and then surprise Kathy when he was positive it was all set.

Chilled but revitalized by the shower, Argon was in the process of towelling his rugged frame when he heard the front door of the apartment open and close. He wrapped the damp towel around his waist, knotted it, and walked out into the living room where Kathy was setting down a bag of groceries on the table.

Something caught in his throat at the sight of her, just as it always did whenever freshly exposed to the blonde prettiness of her after a relative time of separation. She looked a bit bedraggled, her curls wilted, her frock stained by patches of perspiration, and yet at the same time, she looked beautiful to him. She turned and smiled at the sight of his hairy and wet body ludicrously and ineffectually clothed by the towel. Ben grinned and shrugged. "Okay, so I don't look good in a bikini."

"You look like a caveman."

"Is that bad?"

"Not to a girl who happens to have a weakness for the caveman type," Kathy laughed, rising up on her toes to kiss his lips as he moved to her.

Ben held her narrow waist lightly. "How'd it go today?"

The smile faded. "The same as always."

He carried the groceries into the kitchen, following her, knowing that the passage of time had done little to lessen the grief of her father's infirmity. "Did he know you?"

Kathy sighed wearily. "No, not really. He's accepted the fact that I'm his daughter but he doesn't really remember me."

Argon helped stack the dry goods in the cabinet. "The doctor said it would take time, Kathy."

"I know," she answered, leaning back against the edge of the table and brushing her hair away from her moist forehead. "I talked with him again today. He explained that the breakdown had been coming for some time. He seems to think it could account for ... well, for some of the things father did during the past year. You know, those women ... all of that business. Maybe he was only trying to make me feel better though...."

Ben was touched by how small and vulnerable and hurt his young wife looked at the moment. Cradling her in his strong arms, he stroked her silken hair gently. "He wouldn't say it if he didn't mean it, Kathy. Besides, it's better to believe it." He felt her relax slightly and lean more into him and the towel offered little protection against the soft warmth and yielding curves of her wondrous body. "Come on now, let's see a smile, huh?"

Kathy kissed his chest and tilted back her head, showing him the brilliance of her smile. "Better?"

"Much better."

She eased away from him and caught his hand, pulling him after her as she led the way into the bedroom. "Oh, by the way, I had company coming home on the bus. Mister Rudd went up to see father again this afternoon. You know, the fellow who used to be father's bailiff?"

Argon sat down on the edge of the bed and opened his second beer as Kathy moved to undress. "I never figured him to be such a close friend of your father's. I guess you can't tell about people though."

Kathy's voice suddenly took on a hardness as she answered, her back to him and her summery frock slipping down her slender body. "Helen's a perfect example of that, I'd say."

Ben stiffened. Despite all that had transpired since their marriage, he could still not suppress a twinge of guilt whenever Helen Aiken's name was mentioned. "Still no word from her?" he asked quietly.

Kathy crossed the room in her bra and half-slip to toss the soiled dress atop a chair. "Nothing. Not a word ever since she left Whitebank. You'd think she'd at least keep in touch with the sanitarium to know how he was doing. Well, maybe it's all for the best. Father wouldn't remember her anyhow." The young girl removed the pins from her thick hair. "I hope she's happy, wherever she is."

Ben put aside the beer can and lit a cigarette, easing his heavy bulk full-length on the bed. "Don't be too hard on her, Kathy. It was just as rough on her as it was on the rest of us. She was a pretty unhappy woman even before all the trouble. She deserves a chance to...." He stopped, fearful that he might sound overly-defensive of the woman who had once slept in his bed and who had once begged him to rescue her from a life of frustration and misery. "Hell, let's forget about her, huh?"

Kathy stood a few feet from the bed, unhooking the clasp of her brassiere, her golden hair tumbling to her bare shoulders. "Agreed," she smiled. "No more serious talk. What would you like to have for dinner, husband dear?"

Argon gazed adoringly at the sweetly formed and finely tipped breasts that became exposed to him. "Dinner can wait," he mumbled, lifting a hand toward her.

She smiled impishly. "I'm all grimy. I have to take a shower and we have to have dinner."

"I like you best when you're slippery. Come here."

"You're even beginning to talk like a caveman."

"Stop teasing me, damn you."

"My, but you're in a lecherous mood."

Argon grinned, enjoying the byplay, feeling his desire for her mounting as they played the word game. "I'm always in a lecherous mood when you walk around half naked."

She laughed and hooked her fingers in the elastic of the half-slip. "Then I guess I'd better do something about being half naked, huh?" The fingers peeled the slip and hidden panties down her body as one. She stepped out of their circle daintily, a mischievous sparkle in her eyes, the points of her swaying breasts already rising with awareness. "There, is that any better?"

Argon could feel his blood heating and his body tingling as he stared at her lovely legs and flaring hips and tiny waist and upturned breasts. It didn't seem possible that she was his wife, that so many hours of passion had passed between them since that first day he'd brought her back to his apartment. She was no less desirable, no less new, no less appealing, no less....

Kathy's giggle interrupted his thoughts. There was a definite wickedness to it and he realized immediately the cause of her amusement. Scowling at her boldness, he tugged at the damp towel knotted at his hip and made a menacing movement toward her. "Okay, you brat, you asked for it."

Kathy squealed and dodged his outstretched hand. "Why, Officer Argon, I never dreamed you were the shy type," she laughed, snatching at the towel adeptly and yanking it free of his body.

He grabbed her and pulled her down on the bed, the initial contact with the warmth of her flesh sending currents of pleasure coursing through his body. She struggled playfully at first as he sought to pinion her to the pillows but then, her smile fading and her eyes clouding, her tiny arms curled tightly around his neck and pulled his mouth down hard on her own.

The single kiss was enough to bring them both to a pitch of instant passion and Ben felt his body quivering with a need that never seemed to lessen no matter how often they were together. He kissed her breasts and the smooth flesh of her taut belly and ran his big hands over the wondrous curves of her ever-moving buttocks. She whimpered happily and arched beneath him in a constant show of want and impatience.

"Ben ... Ben...."

He caught his breath. "Wait."

"Wait?"

He rose and stepped to the window nearest the bed to draw the blinds. "This is a nice little town, remember. We don't want to shock the good citizens."

Kathy laughed merrily and embraced him joyously as he returned to her. "I hate to say this, you big lummox, but there is a limit to civic duty, you know. Now stop worrying about the morals of your precious town and start worrying about the morals of your sex-crazed wife."

"Yes, ma'am," Ben murmured muffledly, losing himself in the sweet tasting and sweet smelling softness. "Right away, ma'am...."