Back from the Park (lock)

She flopped down on her couch with an exasperated sigh, and Dill jumped up to join her.

Jack stood in the hallway, a look of disdain on his face.

"It's not the Piazza, but it's home. There's tea in the fridge if you want some, and the bathroom's right behind you if you need to pitstop. There's no door, cause I'm using what's left of it for the table."

He looked at her again with that "You better spill" look, then disappeared around the corner.

Rachyl picked up her cellphone; she wanted to call Meegan, but the screen denoted "no service."

"Please, please tell me she didn't have my phone shut off..." she pleaded in her head. Pushing the "talk" button after dialing Meegan's number only resulted in quiet static.

She sighed as Jack came back out of the bathroom and leaned into the fridge to extract a bottle of tea.

"So are you going to tell me what happened?" he asked accusingly.

Rachyl sat up and folded her hands. "That man was familiar, yes, but I'd never before met him. I saw him on... TV."

"Well, I have to report that you were assaulted but declined my assistance..."

"I didn't decline your assistance, Jack. I knew, I -know- that anything you might have done to help me would only resulted in both of us ending up injured... or worse." Normally sparkling green eyes were dimmed, almost haunted, as Rachyl pleaded, "You need to trust me on that."

All that kept running through her mind on the ride home was the dream she'd had where that man, "Pauly," had so critically wounded Meegan...

"He knows where I live. He knows where Ms. Masters lives, that's why he wasn't surprised when I took him to her condo. I called him on it, and he shrugged it off. He probably knows even more than that. I don't know why, but he does, and for some reason, wants more from me. I'm tempted to play along, but if my hunch is right, and I'm very sure that it is..."

She put her cheeks in her palms and rubbed her face, spreading her minimal makeup slightly. "One guard will not be enough."

"And Meegan's holed up with her knight in shining armor, which I certainly don't begrudge her, but now I can't even contact her to let her know what just happened."

Standing, she went into the bathroom and washed her face, brushed her hair and relieved herself. She felt a little weird doing it with a man not six feet away, especially without a door, but her body had been insistent longer than she recalled. She was glad she had been able to keep it under control when "Pauly" grabbed her.

She quickly stripped from her business suit and slid into the pajamas she'd brought with her, then brushed her teeth and went out to the main room.

"I haven't really eaten all day. Do you know when your relief is arriving? I have an extra blanket either you or they could use to sleep on the couch. It's comfy and clean. We can order pizza if you like; I'm... without a cell." She sighed. "Could you order? 555-7437."

The pizza arrived without incident; Jack's replacement Regina arrived. A squat black woman, about Rachyl's height, but twice her mass, the newcomer was at first surprised to be guarding a woman as "skilled with her God-given weapons" that the redhead seemed to be, but the pair quickly warmed up to each other. They chatted and watched Miss Congeniality 2 until Rachyl virtually passed out on the couch.