’ Cherie managed a smile, that sounded heavenly. ‘Well, at least the Pineapple for your cake would be fresh’ She chuckled. ‘Yes, but you’d m...ss my pate’ He countered back. ‘Incidentally, what in heck were you mumbling about in your sleep last night? Something about swans?’ She covered. ‘Oh – I love swans, I was likely thinking of a visit to the park when I was a child.’ ‘Oh, I see. Okay, let’s get dressed, I’ll grab a quick shower and then it’s all yours and off we’ll go.’ Cherie sat there,. "The whole time?" Chief Pasiak asked."Yeah. We drank some beer, ate some pizza. Told some lies about how great we are at our jobs and shot some pool. It was almost midnight when we left the restaurant."The Chief smiled and said, "I hope you boys were sober when you drove home last night."Van Horn replied, "Of course we were, Chief. Then Ross butted in. "Did Hobbs leave your sight at any time between 8:00 and 9:15?" Other than nature calls to the men's room he was with me all evening."I thanked. He was so much fun to be with, and from the first day, he really didn't have a choice. He had a new best friend whether he wanted one or not—me.One weekend while he was visiting us we all went to Burlington to the yearly country Carnival called, 'Old Settlers.'When he wanted to go on some of the rides and he invited me to come along, I was embarrassed. I finally had to confess that I didn't have any money."That's okay, Josh," he laughed, "Aren't you my best buddy?" I sure am, Skinner," I. Not lose enough for me to slip out of but not so tight that they bothered me. He leaned into me and kissed me, our tongues dancing together before finally he drew away. He looked me in the eyes and raised one eyebrow, I nodded again.Gathering up the bundle of rope I saw that it was actually four pieces of the same length. He took each piece and with quick hands soon had one end of each tied to each one of the cuffs. He tugged on them a bit testing the knot and I felt the first quivers of.