Take a Breath (Take 1) (26 page)

 
  I shuffle over to the door and open it, “Please Jake, you’re
being ridiculous now.  Oh hey Matthew, I didn’t see you
there.”  I immediately turn a bright shade of pink as Matthew
smiles at me.  

   “My dad is being ridiculous?  Who would have thought?  Nice dress Ana.”  

    I nod my approval and turn to Jake, “Well, thank you Matthew.”  

   “I take it Dad doesn’t like it?”  Jake crosses his arms in distaste.  

   “I’m not having my own son ganging up on me now.”  

 
  I try to quickly change the subject.  “You’re up bright and
early this morning Matthew.”  He scratches his head.

 
 “Yep, I just want to get this essay handed in to English and I
must admit I’m a little excited about this game tonight.”  

 
  I walked over to him and gave him a hug.  “I’m sure you’ll
definitely kick some ass tonight and we’ll be there cheering you
on.”  I give his head a little scuff and he jabs me in the waist
making me yelp.  He knows I’m very ticklish.  

   “Right, that’s enough downstairs for breakfast before we leave Ana.”  

    I salute him and Matthew starts laughing. 

We
all run downstairs to have some toast and orange juice to start our day
and we say goodbye to Matthew.  Jake quickly runs outside to speak
with Joe, who was sitting in the squad car.  He then swiftly
returns to the garage so we can leave.  “Is he ok out there?” I
ask.  

   “Yes, he’s fine.  Nothing happened during the night and he’ll be off in a minute, so he can home.”  

 
  I run back in the kitchen and told Jake I’d be back in a little
moment.  I quickly grab a blueberry muffin and a little carton of
juice from the fridge.  Jake see’s what I’m doing, so lets me rush
past him as I head out to see Joe.  “How you doing Joe?  I
feel bad for you sitting out here all the time.  Here I got you a
little something to eat and drink.  I know it’s not much but it’s
something at least.”  Joe who is in his 40’s bald and a little
overweight, gladly accepted the muffin and juice.  

   “It’s no problem Ana.  Just doing my job.”  

    I pat him on the shoulder, saying my goodbyes and Jake and I head off.  

   “That was nice of you to do that Ana.  You didn’t have to.”  

 
  I shrugged, “I feel bad for him sitting out there all night
watching the house.”  We wave to Joe as we pull out, and he is
happily sitting there chomping away at his muffin.  

 
 “It is his job Ana; he gets paid for sitting outside our house
all night.  It was still a nice gesture anyway.”  

    I smile deliriously at Jake.  

   “You want me don’t you?”  I snap my head up.  

 
 “Go on admit it; you want me right now in this car.  You can
tell me you know, I can take it?  You have that gooey look in your
eyes.”  

 
  I slap Jake on the shoulder, “Get over yourself already
Jake.”  I smile widely at him as what he says is true, although I
would never fully admit that to him of course.

We
get to work a little early and Agent Marcos along with some of the
other FBI agents are already there and getting to work.  Jake
squeezes my arm and disappears into his office with Marcos in
tow.  I sit down at my desk and boot my computer up.  Jessie
is not in as yet, but it’s not long before she comes bouncing in, locks
jumping up and down whilst she strolls.  

   “Hey Ana, you ok?  Was Jake gentle with you last night?  I take it you two made up?”  

 
  She has a mischievous smile on her face and I couldn’t help but
match it.  “Yes thank you we did make up and everything is fine
now.”  

 
 “I couldn’t believe Jake last night.  I’ve never seen him so
angry.  I mean, I know he can be intimidating at times but boy he
really shocked the hell outta me.”      I nodded in
agreement, “Welcome to my world.”  

    Her eyes bulged, “He’s like this all the time with you?”  

 
  Did she really not realise?  “Yes Jessie, all the time.”
  She looks up noticing that there is something different. 

   “What’s with all the Feds around here?”  

    I told her about what happened and why they were there.  She looked shocked.  

   “You don’t really think it’s one of our guys do you?”  

 
  I shake my head in protest, “No of course not but they believe
it must be someone I know, so this is just a process of
elimination.  Nothing to worry about.”  Jessie nods her head
in understanding.  “So when are we seeing Jerry again?”  She
beams, she looks so happy.  

 
 “Tonight.  He is taking me to a restaurant he knows in
Richmond.  In fact I want to speak with Jake so I can ask for a
day off tomorrow.  He wants to book us into a hotel so we don’t
have to come back until the morning.”  

 
  I look over to Jake’s door.  “He has an agent in there with
him at the moment.  I’m sure he will be finished soon.  He’s
been in there a while.”  With that said the door swings open and
Agent Marcos’ head pops out of the door and looks in my
direction.  

   “Ana, can you come into the office for a moment please?”  

    I dutifully get up and look at Jessie and I shrug my shoulders at her questioning eyes. 

Inside
the office Jake is sitting at his desk and motions for me to sit
opposite.  Agent Marcos then sits in the seat next to me and
glances my way.  

 
 “As you know from my visit last night we are going through
individuals this morning one by one, and we are taking their DNA. 
We have most of the people here at the party which we will go through
first.  The only one not here is a Tony Andrews.”  

 
  He looks at his notebook and then flips it back.  “He
wasn’t well yesterday.”  I turn to Jake.  

 
 “I’ve already told Agent Marcos that Tony won’t be in today as he
is off sick.  I have told him about what’s happening here so he
knows.  He will try and be in tomorrow so he can do his part and
give a sample.”  

 
  I nod and Jake smiles at me.  “Is that everything?”  I
look to Agent Marcos and he nods.  “I guess I better get back to
work then.”  I pick myself up and head for the door.  I swing
round remembering to ask, “Oh Jake, Jessie wants to see you about
taking tomorrow off.”  

    He nods, “Ok fine, just tell her to submit a leave form and I’ll sign it.  She can have it off.”  

    I smile, happy knowing Jessie will be pleased and head back to my desk. 

I tap Jessie on the shoulder and she swings round.  “Guess who’s got tomorrow off?”  

    Jessie beams, “Seriously?”  

 
  I nod, “you just have to submit a leave form and he’ll sign it
for you.”  She stands up and gives me a big hug excited about the
news.  

 
 “Thanks Ana, this is great.  I guess having a best friend
who is giving it to the boss man every night helps me out a great
deal.”  

    She winks at me and I nudge her.  

   “So tell me, what did Jake and that agent want in there anyway?”  

    I pull my hair back behind me and before I’m able to speak Jessie gasps, “Where did you get that?”  

 
  I notice she’s pointing to my wrist and I smile.  “Jake
gave it to me yesterday.”  Her face looks like it’s dropped to the
floor.

 
 “Shit Ana, do you realise how much a watch like that costs? 
It’s Cartier; they’re worth about $2,500.  Did you know
that?”  

 
  Now it was my turn to be stunned.  I had no idea. I thought
maybe a few hundred dollars but not that much.  

 
 “Ana, you realise what this means don’t you?  A man does not
buy a woman a watch like that if he wasn’t serious about them.  He
loves you baby.  Looks like you’ve found your one.”  

    I’m still stunned by what Jessie’s just said.  

 
 “Ana, you bitch I hate you.  Jerry and I are nowhere near
where you and Jake are at the moment.  This is like, would you
like to marry me stuff.”  

 
  I quickly find my voice, “Jessie, no.  We haven’t even
discussed ‘us’ yet. I don’t even know if you can really call us an
‘us.’  He doesn’t say anything and I don’t want to ever spoil the
moments we have together.”  

 
  Jessie shakes her head, “Sounds to me like you both feel the
same way, but are both afraid to admit it to one another.  You and
I both saw the way he reacted at the bar last night.  It’s like
crazy love, he lives and breathes you love.  Can’t you see
it?”  

 
 “Jessie, I don’t know.  I just don’t want to spoil it. 
I’m happy as we are and I don’t want to ruin any time we spend together
by using a few choice words.”  Jessie looked
exasperated.  

 
 “Girl, I love you but you can be so pigheaded at times. I don’t
know whether to hug you or smack you about the head.  And don’t
look at me like that.  You know it’s true.”  

    I close my mouth shut and speak no further.  I don’t want to argue with her.  

   “Anyway change the subject, what did the agent want?”  

 
  I told her that he basically repeated what he said last night
and it’s then that I notice Michael being called into the room for
testing.  “Oh Jessie, I feel so bad about this.  It’s all my
fault this is happening.”  Jessie grabs my hand.

 
 “You can’t think like that Ana.  If everyone here is
innocent, they won’t mind and if they do mind, then they are obviously
hiding something.”  

 
  I squeeze her hand back, “Oh Jessie, what would I do without
you?”  She flicks her hair away from her face.  

   “I really don’t know to be honest.”  

    She gives me a cheeky grin, which I return, and we get back to doing some work. 

I
try my hardest to concentrate on what’s in front of me, but it’s so
hard knowing every time someone’s name is called, they probably
secretly hate me deep down for being the one to cause all this trouble.
Of course everyone must know by now, although no one is saying
anything.  They have to be given some sort of explanation for why
they’re doing this and people around here are not stupid.  I try
so hard to bury myself in work and block out what is going on around
me.  When it gets close to lunch a hand flies in front of my
face.  I look up and find Michael standing there.  I look at
him and frown.  

   “Come with me for a coffee please.”  

 
  I take his hand but I feel nervous.  Does he want to shout
at me?  We get into the small kitchen room where Michael grabs me
a mug and pours a coffee for me.  I wait for the barrage of words
to come flying from his mouth, but he seems calm.  

 
 “Ana, are you ok?  You don’t look yourself.  I thought
I had better take you from your desk for five minutes just to get you
away from it all a bit.”  

 
  He hands me the coffee and I thank him.  “It does seem a
bit overwhelming to be honest.  I feel like this is all my fault
and that everyone will hate me for it.  I don’t know.  I just
feel bad that’s all.”  Michael comes toward me and offers me a
hug, which I accept.  

 
 “Ana, no one hates you ok.  Everyone is just so keen to nail
the son of a bitch, that if it takes us all having a strand of hair
plucked from our heads, then so be it.  You can’t feel bad about
this ok?”  

    I nod my head on his shoulder, trying to wipe the tear that has escaped and ran down my cheek.  

   “Am I interrupting something?”  

 
  Michael and I both jump and I look to see Jake standing in the
doorway.  He sees my upset and anger quickly fades to
worry.  

   “What’s the matter Ana, has someone said something?”  

    He gives Michael and evil look and comes rushing over to give me a hug.  

 
 “Ana’s just upset that’s all.  She thinks that people will
hate her, because she is the cause to what is happening around here
today.  I just tried to tell her that we all want the same thing
and that’s to catch the sick asshole, so she can never be hated for
that.  Sir.”  

    Jake nods and Michael quickly moves out the coffee room.  

   “Why didn’t you tell me you felt like this?  

 
  Jake cups my face and the tears begin to fall.  “I don’t
know, I just want it all to go away Jake.  I want to shut my eyes
and know that when I open them, that it’s all been a bad dream and I
can carry on with my life knowing that everyone around me is safe, and
that I’m not hated for bringing this sick individual out from under the
hole he’s crawled out of, because of me Jake.  Not anyone
else.  Me.  He wants me and I just feel so bad.  It’s
just so wrong, all of it wrong.”  Jake squeezes my head
lightly.  

 
 “Shh, Ana, please don’t do this to yourself.  You’re not a
bad person do you hear me?  I won’t let you run yourself down like
this and be the victim.  It is not your fault.  None of this
is your fault.  Ana, look at me.  He decided to do
this.  He is the sick fucker.  He made his choices.  Not
you.”