|
PASSIONS HOME
PASSIONS BOARDS
MainBoard
FanFiction
Theories
unSpoiled
HellCats-OT
Rants
Polls
Blast
From the Past
Fan fiction and fond (mostly) memories
of soap days gone by
|
|
|
Falling For You
by Deanna Lynn
|
Chapter Fifteen
Luis grabbed his white T-shirt off the floor and quickly pulled it on before walking into the living room to answer
the door. He couldn't help but wish Agent Freeman or whoever the hell was at the door would go away. He had a
feeling that whatever Sheridan had been about to tell him was important. He still couldn't believe that he had
actually proposed to her. He hadn't meant to. The words had just tumbled out before he had time to think about
what he was even saying. But as soon as they were out, he knew he meant them. He did want to marry Sheridan.
He wanted to marry her more than he ever wanted anything in his life, but she had turned him down. He didn't
think he'd ever forget the pain that stretched across his heart when she told him she couldn't marry him.
Sure, she'd said she wanted to, more than anything in the world she'd said, but something was holding her back.
Something she felt would change things between them. He'd noticed the sadness and regret in her eyes and his
gut said whatever put it there was something she thought he wasn't going to like. What could be so bad? She had
admitted she loved him. She had admitted she wanted to marry him and yet she said she couldn't not until he knew.
Not until he knew what? He thought he knew everything he needed to know - he loved her, she loved him. What
more could he possible need to know?
Luis ran a hand through his black hair then made his way toward the door and threw it open. The man standing on
the porch had his back to the door, but when he finally turned and their eyes met, Luis had the distinct impression
they had met before. He wasn't sure where or when, but he knew they had. There was a spark of recognition in
the back of his mind, but the memory was fuzzy and distant. He shook his head figuring it would come to him eventually.
"Can I help you?"
"I suppose you can." The man said nodding and holding out a hand. "I'm FBI Agent Hal Freeman and
I'm here to see Sheridan Crane."
Luis took the pro-offered hand and eyed the man in front of him carefully. Although he knew logically there was
no way they could have met before, something kept telling him they had. "I'm Officer Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald
of the Harmony Police Department. Why don't you come on in. Sheridan will be out in a minute."
Luis searched the other man's eyes looking for something, something that would tell him that his hunch was right.
But he found nothing. In fact, there was absolutely no trace of emotion on the man's face and that's what had
Luis wondering. It had him wondering if maybe he was trying to hide something.
The man raised a brow and Luis realized he was still standing in the middle of the doorway preventing the other
man from entering. Luis shook his head and stepped back away from the door. "Sorry, I don't know where my
head is at."
"Don't worry about it." Agent Freeman replied stepping inside and going to stand in the middle of the
living room. Luis watched as he surveyed his surroundings almost as if he recognized the place, which was odd
considering Sheridan said she hadn't seen him in over two years and Sheridan had only been in Harmony for a year.
Luis started to ask him about his hunch that they had met before, but Sheridan appeared in the doorway before he
could. Their eyes locked instantly, but before Luis could so much as blink her gaze skittered away to the other
man in the room. If she hadn't told him she thought the man to be a second father, he would have been extremely
jealous of the light that suddenly lit her eyes when she looked at him.
"Hal," She said practically flying across the room into the other man's open arms. "I've missed
you so much! It's so good to see you."
"It's good to see you to, kiddo. It has been way too long." Agent Freeman said smiling and pulling
back to look at her. "You changed your hair. It used to be longer."
"Yes," She said her face lighting up with joy and laughter. "I cut it last year, right before I
came back to Harmony. I should have known you would notice that. You always noticed those kinds of things. Must
be that FBI training."
As Sheridan led him over to the couch and they sat down, Luis suddenly felt as if his presence had been forgotten.
He certainly didn't like the feeling. In fact, it bugged the hell out of him.
Sheridan could practically feel the tension running through Luis as he handed her and Hal a cup of coffee then
sat down in the chair across from them. He'd gone to make the coffee not even a minute after she and Hal sat down.
He said he wanted to give them some time to catch up, but she couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to
it than that. He had seemed preoccupied ever since she came into the room. She knew their conversation earlier
had to be weighing on his mind. He had, after all, proposed and she had told him no. Did he believe her when
she said she wanted to marry him, but felt she couldn't? She hoped so. She would give anything to become his
wife. But she had to be honest with him first. He had to know about her past... about her nightmares.
She sighed inwardly then forced herself to continue listening to Hal. He was currently telling them about a case
he had worked on a few years ago. She wasn't really paying any attention to the details though. She kept glancing
at Luis out of the corner of her eye. She felt a touch of disappointment when she found that he wasn't looking
at her, he was looking at Hal. Much the same way he had been doing for the last hour and a half. Actually, he
wasn't looking at Hal so much as studying him. He was studying him almost as if he didn't trust him, which was
as odd as it was crazy. Hal was one of the most trustworthy men she knew. But evidently Luis didn't see that.
He was in cop mode again, she could see it, but she didn't understand the reason for it. How could she? It didn't
make any sense. Especially considering the fact that Hal had just agreed to make sure the charges against Luis
weren't reinstated. Not to mention agreeing to make a few phone calls and see if he could find out anything about
Luis having a lookalike. He was trying to help and Sheridan just didn't understand why Luis didn't look the least
bit grateful.
Luis studied Hal over the rim of his coffee cup. He still couldn't shake the feeling that he knew the guy from
somewhere. But where, he thought furrowing his brow in confusion. From what he said, this is his first trip to
Harmony, and Luis found no reason not to believe him... except for the feeling that said Agent Freeman wasn't being
entirely truthful. He saw Sheridan look at him out of the corner of her eye, but he didn't address it. He was
too busy concentrating on the man sitting beside her. For some reason, he felt he should keep an eye on him.
But that didn't make any sense. Sheridan had said the guy was like a second father to her and from what he had
seen, Hal thought the world of Sheridan, but something was still gnawing at him. Something was telling him that
Agent Freeman was not who he appeared to be.
"Sheridan." Hal said interrupting his thoughts. "I really need to get going. I have a case in
Chicago that needs my attention. I'll look into what you've told me today and I'll see what I can find out."
"Thank you, Hal." Sheridan replied as she and Hal stood up. "We would appreciate that very much."
Luis scowled at the use of 'we', but masked it quickly when Hal turned to him and held out his hand. He stood
then shook the man's hand.
"It was nice meeting you, Luis." Hal replied in a friendly tone, too friendly if you asked Luis. It
was almost as if he knew Luis didn't trust him and was trying to make him look bad for it. "Take good care
of Sheridan, I wouldn't want anything to happen to her."
Something in the way he said that set Luis' teeth on edge. "I plan to take excellent care of Sheridan. Nothing
is going to happen to her while I'm around. You can count on that."
Hal nodded then turned and started walking toward the door. Sheridan followed right behind him. "Good.
I'll let you both know what I found out."
Luis watched as Hal gave Sheridan a big hug. A second later, he was gone and Luis was left alone with Sheridan.
He planned to ask her some questions about Hal, but first he wanted some answers to his questions about them.
The first one being, why she had turned down his proposal.
The minute Hal was a safe distance away from the cottage he pulled out his cell phone and punched in the now familiar
numbers. "It's me. I just thought I would check in."
He listened to the less than pleased man on the other end of the phone then shook his head and began to relay what
he had learned. "No." Hal said answering the question the man on the other end of the phone asked.
"She said she wants to make sure the charges aren't reinstated. Yes, sir. I'll take care of it."
Hal quickly disconnected the call then took a quick look back at the cottage. Sheridan was a good person and she
didn't deserve the trouble she had gotten herself into. The cop seemed like a good guy too and he obviously cared
very deeply for Sheridan, which would only lead to trouble - for all of them. |
|
next
|
|
