From Pemberley to Manhattan [COMPLETED]

Chapter 68

48 HOURS EARLIER

NEW YORK

Terry checked his own refletion on a window. His smile was too forced, an indication of how anxious he felt. He was holding a bottle of wine in his hand, hoping Fanny wouldn't consider it a wrong move on his part.

When he'd called her to tell her he had news, she'd expected to receive it from the phone, not personally. That was his fault; since he got the Gibson case, he'd been working every single night of the past week, and had not been able to meet her whenever he found out something about her friend.

It didn't help matters that Doug hadn't been his normal self ever since Nat had broken up with him. He'd been missing work, and, when he was there, he seemed to be too distracted to do his job. Now Terry had discovered what the other detective had been doing while he was supposed to be assisting him with the Gibson case; Doug had been doing his own investigation of Nat's whereabouts as well.

That was precisely the information he was about to share with Fanny. And he was nervous, for he had no idea how she would take it.

"Hello, there!" She had a grin on her face when she opened the door for him.

He couldn't help gasping. Oh, dear Lord. Fanny was wearing a short and black leather dress with spaghetti strap, sexy fishnet stockings and black high heels. She was still smiling when she took the bottle of wine from him.

"Hi", was all he managed, after about thirty seconds of doing nothing but gaping at her. She seemed to find his reaction amusing.

As Fanny took a few steps back, so he could enter her apartment, he thought he heard a noise, something metallic, but his mind was so full of all things Fanny, he dismissed the thought almost immediately.

"You said there was something you needed to tell me..." Suddenly, there was a glass of wine in his hands, and he noticed the bottle had already been opened. How long had he been staring at her?

"Yeah, well..." She poured a second glass for herself, and tasted the wine he'd brought with her eyes closed. Her wine tasting was very erotic. But again, everything Fanny did seemed erotic to him, especially in the past few days. What was Terry about to say? "Oh, of course. I have some good news and bad news. How should I start?"

"Bad news?" She placed the glass on a coffee table near the couch, and walked toward him. Her grin had been replaced by a frown.

"Not really bad. You see, Doug has found out where Nat and Darcy are, and he told me they were safe", he explained quickly, for Fanny was truly distressed about her friend. She exhaled sharply as she heard the news.

"That's great, Terry. Where are they? How can I get in touch with them?" They were inches away, and he could feel her breath against his face.

"That's the bad news, I'm afraid. He refused to tell me where they were. And, about half an hour ago, he asked our captain for a week off, and went to the airport." He also gave that information quickly, already expecting an explosion.

"Half an hour ago?!", Fanny asked. When Terry nodded the answer, she finished, "Then we can still catch him at the airport. Let's go!"

The drive to JFK International airport was fast; still, Terry noticed Fanny didn't seem to settle in the seat of his car. She was even sweating at some point, which he considered odd, since it was kind of chilly outside and he'd left the windows open.

"Are you feeling okay?", he asked her once.

"Uh-huh", she answered, still fidgeting a lot.

He decided to leave her alone, and, as they arrived at the airport, she seemed to be a little calmer. That was, until she stood up. "Oh, God", she said to no one in particular, and he again asked if she was ill. "I'm great, thanks", she wiped the sweat off her brow and forehead.

Terry went to one of the TVs to check out the departures, when he heard Fanny yell, "There he is!"

He turned and saw what he believed was Doug's broad shoulders, but he had already passed security, and neither of them had flight tickets. Fanny, however, didn't seem to care. She ran to the line for the security checkpoint, passing everyone in it with hushed apologies, and quickly went through the screening machine, which beeped furiously.

"Excuse me! I'm a detective with the NYPD!" Terry rushed to identify himself, when he saw Fanny furious for being stopped by the airport security.

"What about her?", an angry-looking security asked him.

"Civilian", Terry admitted under his breath.

"Then we'll have to screen her", the big man informed. "Do you have metal objects on you, ma'am?"

"Shit", she cussed in response, making the security giant frown and Terry surprised. He'd never seen Fanny blushing from embarrassment before! She pulled one side of her dress up, almost showing her panties, then took handcuffs from her hips. Terry found out where the metallic clicking he'd heard back at her apartment had come from after all.

The unexpected object made the man frown further, "I thought you said she wasn't a cop", he said to Terry.

"She is right here. You can ask her whatever you need to know", Fanny clarified, showing annoyance at being ignored. "And, no, I am not a cop."

"Then why–", the security guy began.

"It was supposed to be for him", Fanny answered before the man finished the question, indicating Terry, who was now on the verge of laughing, for she was almost as red as pepper now.

"Right", the security guard mentioned, after clearing his throat a few times. "Anything else that might make the machine beep?", he questioned, not sure if he wanted to know.

"Shit", Fanny cursed again, pulling the hem of the other side of her hips, taking something in the shape of a–

"Good God, woman! Hide that again, please! There are children here!" Now the security guard was sweating and blushing too, which made Terry want to laugh even harder. This was so good he'd forgotten all about the Nat-and-Darcy-and-Doug drama. "Should I ask if there's anything else metallic on your person?"

"Well...", Fanny began, a smirk illuminating her face. Now that she realized she'd embarrassed the guard, she felt the guy was in the palm of her hand. "There is something else, but I can't show it here. You know, the children and all."

"What is it?" That time, it was Terry who asked, curiosity and excitement making his blood pulse strongly in his body. The security guard glanced around probably looking for emergency exists.

"Well, there's a book I read a while ago with these silver metal pleasure balls in it that made me want to try them out", her wicked smile almost had Terry kissing her right there, at the airport, in front of everyone. By then, the guard had returned to his post, still sweating.

"And where are those balls exactly?" Terry wanted to know, his hands holding Fanny by the waist in a possessive stance.

"In me", she whispered in his ear, amusement in her voice.

Oh, she was so his future wife.

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