Pure Jealousy

Chapter 2: Bad News

\"Have you ever thought, for just one fleeting moment, that maybe I\'m not a complete bastard?\"

\"Nope,\" said Randy without hesitation. Matt Larson rolled his deep brown eyes at her. She was about to walk passed him, when he stepped directly in to her path, causing her to collide with his hard chest. Randy quickly suppressed the flare of desire that ignited at contact. She groaned exasperatedly.

\"Now what can I do to convince you that I\'m not a shallow, egotistical, conceited bastard?\" he wondered melodramatically aloud, a strand of his thick, dark brown hair falling temptingly into his eyes. He ignored it. She made to step around him, but, again, he stepped into her track.

\"You can get the hell out of my way! I\'m late.\"

\"Would that really convince you?\" he said doubtfully.

\"No, but this isn\'t exactly helping.\" She withdrew her gun from its holster and pointed it at his groin.. \"Now move it or lose it.\"

\"Gotcha.\" He glanced nervously at the Colt .45 Randy was grasping in her seemingly fragile hands. He followed her as she maneuvered her way around the various cluttered wooden desks and said good-bye to Earl Brown and Herb Johnson, the only other agents wer were willing to work as late as Matt and Randy. In fact, you rarely saw Brown without Johnson. But then, they were working on a case together. She exited the San Francisco FBI headquarters.


Holstering her gun, she was about to get in her Bonneville, which was parked in the lot next door, when her supervisor, Charlie Munroe, called her name and, with a newspaper in hand, ran toward her while Matt watched curiously from the door. \"Harris, you\'ve got a problem,\" Munroe said to Randy.
do? do?\" she said, confused. He unfolded the newspaper and watched cautiously as Randy read the headline of the front page. The colour drained from her face and her jaw tightened painfully, but she showed no other reaction.

MURDERER ESCAPES FROM ALBERTA JAIL

She swallowed nervously. \"What does that have to do with me?\" she asked, shooting an apprehensive glance in Matt\'s direction.

\"I think you know exactly what it has to do with you.\" Charlie dropped his voice a notch lower.

\"That doesn\'t necessarily mean he\'ll come here,\" she said not sounding al col convinced.

\"But you know the possibility is more than likely. So I want to arrange some protection for you.\" She shook her head with more force than was necessary.

\"I\'m twenty-nine years old, not nineteen. I can handle him this time. Plus I have FBI training.\"

\"You\'re one of my best agents. I won\'t have you getting killed, so Agent Larson is going to stay at you apartment and two other agents will stake out you place in a car.\" \'s eyes widened when she heard Matt\'s name.

\"No way,\" she objected, shaking her head again. \"He\'s not living with me.\" Munroe chuckled.

\"You don\'t have a choice Harris.\"

\"But sir,\" she squeaked. \"No.\" He ignored her, looking at Matt, who was leaning against the red brick wall, arms crossed over his broad chest, attentively.

\"Got your orders Larson?\" Matt gazed at Randy and grinned rakishly.

\"Yes, sir.\" Randy looked from Matt to Munroe and back again, her jaw hanging open.

\"It\'s a conspiracy,\" she murmured to no one in particular.

\"Larson will ride with you in your car, Harris. Agents Brown and Johnson will stake out your apartment in Larson\'[s car. Oh, do you want me to tell you how long Larson will live with you?\"


\"No, but you will.\"

\"Until we catch Billings.\" Randy groaned.

\"I can handle it myself,\" she persisted.

\"I don\'t want to hear it.\"

\"Shouldn\'t I be briefed on the situation?\" Matt interrupted.

\"Randy will tell you in the car.\" He handed the newspaper to Matt. \"And I expect you two to come back to work in one piece. Neither of you are allowed to Randy\'s apartment. Whatever you need will be picked up by Brown and Johnson.\"

\"What did I ever do to you?\" Randy whined.

\"Get in the car,\" Munroe ordered. Randy grudgingly opened the car door, sat down, and
started it. She waited until Matt got in to pull out of the parking lot, barely suppressing the urge to drive away and leave him there.

\"So why am I babysitting you?\" Matt asked. As he\'d known she would, Randy rose to the bait, giving him a look that said \"drop dead\" as she replied.

\"You are not babysitting me.\" He smiled.

\"Whatever. Spill it.\" Inhaling deeply, Randy began.

\"When I was sixteen, I dated a guy named Jeff Billings. We had only dated about two months before he started getting kind of possessive, so I dumped him. Then, when I was seventeen, I dated Todd Crandall. We\'d dated for almost two years , but Jeff, who was still completely obsessed with me, was jealous.\" Randy\'s grip tightened noticeably on the steering wheel, causing her knuckles to whiten. \"He murdered Todd and my parents. We were having dinner at my house.\" Her voice cracked. \"I was running late, picking out a movie to watch after dinner. I wasn\'t home or I would\'ve done something.\" A tear rolled down her cheek. \"My parents just got in way. They weren\'t supposed to be there. They had canceled their trip to Paris to be there for Christmas holidays once they knew I was coming home. I\'d been away, studying in Rome for a semester. I could\'ve done something, Matt. If only I\'d gotten home sooner. I got home and they were covered in blood . . . on kitckitchen floor.\" She broke off, unable to continue without sobbing outright.

\"Randy, you couldn\'t have known. It wasn\'t your fault.\" She ignored him.

\"Open the paper,\" she was able to force out of her throat. Matt unfolded it and scanned the article.

\"Ah, I see.\" His brow furrowed. \"But the girl in the article was named Randy Wilson.\"

\"I changed my last name so I could avoid all the publicity.\"

\"Do you have any other family?\" She shook her head, wiping away the last of her tears
and accidentally causing a strand of her strawberry-blonde hair to fall from its hold in the ponytail perched at the nape of her neck.

\"Everyone in my family was an only child and my grandparents died when I was in my
early teens.\"

\"For what it\'s worth, I\'m sorry,\" he said quietly, sensing that she was starting to get defensive.

\"Isn\'t everybody? Everyone is sorry and they can\'t do anything about it. Sorry, sorry,
sorry. People just don\'t get it! They don\'t know what it\'s like. You don\'t know what it\'s like.\"

\"Maybe I would if you\'d tell me.\" Shut up, Randy, you\'re saying too much, she thought. It\'s none of his business.

\"Back off, Matt.\"

\"You know, you\'re not the only person in the world who doesn\'t have any parents. There are people all over the world who have it a lot worse than you, you know.\"

\"I know that. Back off.\"

\"It\'s been ten years. Get over it. Move on. I bet you haven\'t had a serious relationship since this Todd guy died, have you?\" The look he gave her dared her to deny it.

\"I don\'t have serious relationships because I\'m married to my job. Now back the hell off!\" Her aquamarine eyes were shimmering with intensity, but were suspiciously damp. Matt exhaled deeply.

\"I\'m sorry, Randy. It\'s none of my business.\"

\"Damn right.\" There was an awkward and pregnant silence as Randy turned into the parking lot of her building.