The Interstellar Police Force, Book One: The Historic Mission by Raymond Klein (ebook reader 7 inch txt) 📕

sat at a table outside of Le Pot Au Feu and ate. There were four other couples in the outdoor seating area, and one woman was disgusted when she saw the Doberman sit on a chair and eat his food off a plate from the table. Jennifer was full, but ordered dessert anyway and shared it with the both of them.

They talked over coffee. Jeff regaled Jennifer with some of the exciting cases he and his partner had worked on in their long career in law enforcement, carefully omitting details that wouldn’t apply here on Earth. Jennifer remarked that she wanted to meet his partner someday, and that he sounded pretty cool. Jennifer then started talking more about the fire and how she managed to make her way downstairs after retrieving her picture. She said how she had to feel her way downstairs through the thick black smoke and out a side back door right into the arms of a firefighter who was running in. They talked until 9 pm. Jeff paid the tab and the three of them exited the patio and walked back to the Thunderbird. Jerry wasn’t surprised. No tip. Again!

Jeff pulled the Thunderbird into the garage below their apartment. “Jeff,” Jennifer said again. “Really! I can stay at the Motel Five on 5th. It’s okay!”

“Nonsense,” Trent said, with a wave of his hand. “We have plenty of room. And tomorrow we go shopping and we’ll buy you a whole new wardrobe.”

“Jeff, that’s sweet of you, but you don’t have to! I have a bank account, you know.”

“Ahh!” he said, raising his hands to his head. “My human ears don’t hear you. Myears don’t hear you.”

She laughed as she grabbed her little white bag of meds and they all got out of the Thunderbird. “Oh, before I forget.” Jeff reached into his coat pocket and handed Jennifer the framed photograph of her and her dog.

She took it from him, “Thanks for carrying this for me.”

“You're very welcome,” he said, as they headed for the back garage stairs with Genghis leading the way. “We’ll also pick you up a nice new piece of glass for that.”

“Ahh, Jeff!”

“Come on,” he said, half-way up the stairs. “I’ll put some coffee on.”

“Boy! You sure do drink a lot of coffee.”

Chapter Thirty-Five

Jennifer woke and for a few seconds wasn’t sure where she was. Then, she remembered. She was in the bedroom across the hall from Jeff’s bedroom. She lay there and stretched her arms out, thinking how she slept really well. She was still wearing the hospital scrubs that were given to her when she left Saint Mary’s. Her hands and feet were no longer sore, just a little red, like a mild sunburn. She got up and walked to the door which was ajar and opened it farther and stepped into the hall. She could hear the Cartoon Network on the television and saw Jeff at the stove in the kitchen, his back toward her. As she ventured toward the living room she saw Genghis. He was sitting on the couch as if he was really watching SpongeBob. His left ear rotated in her direction, followed by his head. As he looked at her, he gave a muffled woof.

Trent turned and said, “Well, good morning, Twinkie. Did you sleep well?”

“Morning,” she said, as she walked into the small living room. “I did, thank you.” She saw an unusual-looking computer on the coffee table in front of Genghis with what looked like a recipe for scrambled eggs on the screen. “That’s a weird-looking computer. What is it? A Mac?”

Trent and Genghis had completely forgotten that their IPF-issued computer was on the coffee table. He stared at it for a second and said, “Yup!” not really knowing what a Mac was. Then, quickly changing the subject, “I made some breakfast food. Look, scrambled eggs, enough for all of us.”

“Cool!” She walked over and took a seat on the stool in front of the bar overlooking the kitchen. Jeff put some eggs on a plate, got some silverware out and placed them in front of her. “Toast will be ready in a second,” Jeff said, loading up another plate. He brought it out for Genghis, placing it on the coffee table and strategically turning off the computer so that screen and touch-screen keyboard both went black. Genghis hopped off the couch, sat on his haunches, and started eating.

“It’s funny the way he does that, sitting on the couch,” Twinkie said while turning back to her plate.

Jeff got a red NFL Tampa Bay Buccaneer coffee mug from the cabinet and poured her some coffee, then took his plate and sat next to her at the bar and started to eat. “Twinkie, if you don’t mind and if you're feeling okay, Genghis and I would like to do a little investigating this morning. Will you be comfortable here by yourself for a couple of hours?”

“Yes, I’ll be fine, thanks.” She looked at the television. “You have basic cable, I’m good. Just do me a favor.”

“What’s that?” Jeff asked.

“If you find that bastard who torched my building, pop a cap in his ass for me, will yah?”

Jeff had no clue as to what she meant, but laughed anyway and said, “Will do. And then, when we get back, we will all go shopping.”

Jennifer was at the living room window. From this high advantage she could look right into the car as Jeff backed the Thunderbird out of the garage. Genghis was sitting in the passenger seat, and Trent had his back twisted with his right arm on the back of Genghis’s seat as he looked behind while backing onto the street. He swung around and put the Thunderbird in gear and started driving down the road. But before they were completely out of sight, Jennifer thought she saw a blue light flash in front of Genghis. She dismissed it as just a reflection.

Jennifer walked back into the kitchen, poured herself another cup of coffee,