Take a Breath (Take 1) (31 page)

   “Wow that was quick Ana.”  

    I smile, “I
seem to be on a roll today Michael.  I’ll look into it further,
but for now you’ve got this to go on.  It might be a good idea to
have a word with the homeless people round where he used to live in
Herndon; I believe there are some shelters round there too.”  He
gives me a look as if to say, don’t tell me what I already know, and I
blush.  “Sorry, I’m kinda teaching you to suck eggs aren’t
I?”  He frowns at me.  “I’m trying to teach you what you
already know.”  He nods his head, finally getting the meaning
behind what I’m saying.  Sometimes I forget where I am.  

   “Don’t worry Ana; I’ll be sure to look into it.  You did a good
job.”  I smile politely, thanking him, thinking that this seems to
be my day today, and I head on back to my desk. 

As
I approach my seat a flurry of activity seems to erupt round Jake’s
office.  Jake comes sprinting over to me looking pissed.  Oh
shit, what now?  

   “Ana, we’ve just had an anonymous tip off about
the Blonde Killer.  We’ve been given an address for a warehouse in
the Manassas area.  I don’t want to leave you Ana, but I have to
go.  I want to nail this son of a bitch.”  

    I smile at his
anxious stare.  “You go, I’ll be fine.  I’ll get a taxi back
or something.”  

    Jake’s not amused, “Oh no you don’t.  I’ve
called Joe over to come and collect you.  He’s the best man seeing
as he knows the house so well now.  He’s heading over to the
station now to take you back home,” he says.  

   “But I don’t finish
for another hour,” I challenge.  

   “No arguments, he’ll take you
home, check the house and wait outside until I come home, or someone
else relives him, depending on how long I’m gone.  Matthew should
be home by now, so I would feel safer knowing you’re both
together.  Just don’t forget to switch the alarm on ok?”  

    I
nod my head vigorously, nervous about what’s going on around me. 
He kisses my forehead and turns round.  “Jake?” I ask.  

   “Yes?”  

    Tears are now threatening my eyes as the fear begins to
take over.  “Please be careful.”  He strides back and gives
me a big bear hug.  

   “Don’t worry about me Ana, I’m always
careful.  Just make sure you’re safe.  I will check on you
regularly until we hopefully catch the bastard.”  

    I nod my head
resigned, as he heads off with his team.  

    I’m not sitting very
long when Joe enters the offices and greets me with a beaming grin on
his face.         

   “Hi Ana, how you doing today?” He asks
cheerfully.  

   “I could be better Joe, I must admit.”  He gives
me a sympathetic smile and asks if I’m ready.  I gather my things,
shut my computer down and we head off towards the car. 

We’re
driving on our way back when I ask Joe a question.  “They had an
anonymous tip about some warehouse in Manassas; do you happen to know
where it came from Joe?”  He keeps his eyes steady on the road and
shakes his head.  

   “I’m not sure where this tip came from, all I
know is we’ve had months of nothing and now all of a sudden we have a
possible lead.  I think Mr Bennett obviously feels any lead at
this stage is worth a look.”  

    The thought of Jake in possible
danger sends a little knot in my stomach. I decide to change the
subject, “How’s your wife doing Joe?”  He smiles obviously happy
to change topic to his loved one.  

   “She’s just about
perfect.  She’s pregnant with our third child now and
glowing.  It’s great to be a daddy again.”  

    The little
sentiment touches me.  “Congratulations Joe, how far gone is she
now?”  

   “She’s four months; in fact we go for a scan
tomorrow.  Looking forward to finding out if we’re having a boy or
a girl.  I’m not fussed which, I just want to stop calling the
baby ‘The baby,’ or ‘It,’ which is an even more of a horrible
word.”  

   “Well, you must tell me all about it Joe.  I’m really
happy for you both.  Send her my love, will you?” I
implore.   

   “Of course, thank you Ana.  It will all come
to you one day you know.”  

    I briefly think about how wonderful it
would feel to carry Jake’s child, having a part of him growing inside
me, but I’m still too young and Jake and I have never had a
conversation like this.  He may think now that he has Matthew, he
doesn’t need any more kids.  “It is a nice thought Joe, but not
quite just yet.”  He winks at me and we laugh, heading the rest of
the way in silence.

Chapter 25

We
get to the house and I let us both in.  I head over to the alarm
and quickly shut it off, whilst Joe searches the house.  I run
upstairs and knock on Matthew’s door, which he opens quickly
after.  

   “Hi Ana, you’re back early?” He asks.  

   “Hi Matthew,
your fathers gone to check out a warehouse in Manassas, he’s had a tip
off about this killer and he wanted me to come home and be with you,
whilst he heads off down there.  Joe’s in the house at the moment
searching the place.”  

   “That’s great.  I hope they find him
Ana, I really do.  It’s about time he was caught.”  

    He gives
me a hug towering over me with his big frame.  “How’s Cindy? 
When are we going to meet this nice young lady properly?”  

    He
chuckles, “Actually I was going to ask dad if she can come over for
dinner the weekend after next, when school’s finally finished. 
She can’t this weekend as she is going to some function in New York
with her parents.  Her dad’s some big hot shot lawyer, so they get
invited to all the big parties and such.”  

   “Well, it sounds great
to me Matthew.  We’ll see what your dad says, but I’ll look
forward to getting to know her a little more.”  I make my excuses
to leave as Joe comes marching up the stairs.  

   “Hey kiddo, how are
you?”  

   “Well, I would be better if it weren’t for the ton of
homework I got to do,” he grumbles.  

   “Well that sucks kid, but if
you work hard it all pays off well in the end.”  Matthew smiles at
Joe and heads back into his room.  

    He checks the remaining
bedrooms upstairs and when he’s happy, he leaves assuring me he’ll be
right outside if I need anything.  Once Joe heads outside, I place
the alarm on and suddenly feel very lonely down here all by
myself.  The urge to pull Matthew out of his room to watch a movie
with me is quickly taken over by the fact that he has lots of homework
to do, so I should leave him be.  He’s also at that age now where
teenagers like to hide in their rooms a lot.  I did it, but that
was mainly to get away from my mother and her overbearing boyfriends.
I’m sure that’s not the case for Matthew. 

I
sit on the sofa a few minutes twiddling my thumbs, when I think I
should just pour myself a glass of wine and settle for a movie.
Resigned to the fact I’m on my own for a little while, I head for the
kitchen.  Half way there I suddenly stop in my tracks at the sound
of the doorbell.  It must be Joe.  I felt silly as I never
offered him anything to eat or drink whilst sitting out there on his
own.  I shake my head and make my way to the door.  I look
through the peep hole as Jake would never forgive me if I just opened
the door to anyone.  To my surprise, it’s Tony.  “Hold on a
Sec Tony,” I shout as I quickly switch the alarm off to open the
door.  “Hey Tony.”  I look over to the car to wave at Joe,
but he’s not there.  “Where’s Joe?”  I pull myself over to
the door to let him pass.  

   “One of your neighbours wanted to call
him over the house.  Something about a lock on the back door being
tampered with.  I told him to go check it out and I’ll look after
things here.”  

    I shut the door behind him.  “I hope
everything’s ok?” I ask.  

   “I’m sure it will be fine, it may have
been one of their kids or someone messing around, but better to be safe
than sorry.”  

    I nod in agreement, “How are you feeling
Tony?”  He looked tired.  

   “A little better thanks, I just
wanted to say sorry for the way I behaved, and I really wanted to say
it in person, so that’s why I’m here.”  

    I was a little surprised,
“Apologise for what Tony?”  

   “You know the way I was with you a
couple of days ago, how I reacted when you came out of Mr Bennett’s
office?”  

    I nodded and proceeded into the kitchen.  I got a
bottle of my favourite Pinot Grigio out and poured Tony and myself a
glass.  “It’s ok Tony, there’s no need to apologise.  There’s
nothing to worry about. You shouldn’t have dragged yourself out of bed
when you feel sick, just to tell me you’re sorry.  I do appreciate
it, but you could have just called or text me.”  

    He takes my hand,
“I just wanted to explain to you how I feel.  You’re the one,
always have been.”  

    I smile a little uncomfortable as I make my
way over to the sink.  I start washing some dishes just to try and
escape the awkwardness when Tony speaks.        “You have always been my
English Rose Ana.”  

    My eyes nearly bulge out my head and the plate
I’m carrying nearly slips from my fingers.  I go still, I can’t
move.  The water’s still gushing and I’m standing there
frozen.  Did I just hear correct?  Please god no. 
Please, not Tony.  I feel his fingers on my face and I jump out of
my skin.  Tony nears me and switches the water off and inhales the
scent of my hair.  

   “Don’t worry Ana; I’m not going to hurt
you.  I couldn’t hurt a rose like you.  Ever.”  

    I start
to tremble and he tries to soothe me but I’m terrified.  “Why
Tony, why did you do it?”  He stops stroking my face and
sighs.  

   “Why do you always have to try and spoil the moment
between us Ana?  You know those other girls they were just sluts
flaunting themselves around like dogs on heat.  They would want to
take me back to their house and do all sorts of disgusting things to
them.  I’d never met them before in my life, but because I’ve got
a badge and a gun, they think I’m game.  They disgusted me
Ana.  But you, you have always looked so innocent, so beautiful
and so delicate.  I’ve been waiting for the day I can take you
away from all of this so we can finally be together.  Don’t you
see Ana, we were meant to be?”  

    I start sobbing.  All those
poor women, what they must have been through, and all this time trying
to find who it was.  In the end he was right under our noses the
whole time laughing at us, goading us.  I felt sick. 

   “That night
at the barbeque was when I really thought I had to action my
plan.  You looked so lost Ana.  I wanted to whisk you up in
my arms and take you away from it all.  I have a place we can go,
an old farm.  We could stay there and grow old together and make
lots of babies.”  

    The bile rose in my throat and I fought hard to
keep it down.  

   “But then that night after I left.  I saw you
two through the window.  What he was doing to you on that table,
it was disgusting Ana.  I never thought you could do that to
me.  You were always so loyal and sweet.  I got angry Ana,
really angry.  That girl, she was just like the others, just like
you.  I fucking hated her, hated you for what you did.  After
a couple of days of calming down I realised maybe I didn’t see correct,
maybe Ana still is my rose.  I bet he forced her like her other
stepfather did.”  

    I cringed, how does he know about that? 
Even Jake doesn’t know about that.  Tears were running down my
face.  I didn’t know what to do, should I scream, should I try to
run?  Tony had a gun and Matthew was upstairs, I had to try to
keep him talking and maybe someone will come for me eventually. 
           “Shh, Ana please don’t cry, you know you’re safe with me don’t
you?  I won’t hurt you.  There’s no need to be afraid
anymore.  You have me and I won’t let anyone touch you.”  

    He
throws his arms around me and rocks me back and forth.  I’m still
trying to keep the bile rising in my throat down and the trembling in
my whole body from giving me away.  What do I say to a psychopath
like Tony?  You think you know someone and in fact you don’t know
them at all, what kind of secrets they're hiding. 

   “This
is what we’ll do Ana; I have my car out front.  I can take you
away now.  I have everything in place.  We can escape.”  

    I look up at him in shock, “But what about the squad car
outside?”  

    He waves a hand dismissively, “You mean that asshole
Joe?  I took care of him Ana, he won’t be any trouble.”  

    Oh
god, what does he mean he took care of him?  Please no more death,
please say Joe is ok.  “I will have to go pack a few things Tony,
I can’t just leave.”  

    Tony grabs my hand, “Look, we have no time
for packing as they will be after us Ana.  We need to go
now.  I will buy you all the clothes and things you need when we
get there ok?”  

    The fear inside me is increasing.  How can I
stall him any longer, where is he taking me and once I leave, will that
be me disappeared forever?  Just then my mobile starts to ring and
the urge to go and answer it is all too great.  I go towards it
but Tony stops me.