He walks back to me and gathers me up in his arms. “Don’t worry about me. I’m always careful. Just make sure you stay safe. I will check on you regularly until we catch this bastard.” I nod as he pulls away. With a gentle swipe of my chin, Jake heads out with his team.
I’m virtually on my own; the only people left are analysts and a couple of officers milling around. It feels strange. Jessie isn’t here, Jake isn’t here, and virtually the whole of the station is out trying to catch someone who is after me. It makes my gut twist.
I don’t have time to dwell on this for long because Joe walks into the office and greets me with a beaming smile. “Hi, Ana. How are you doing today?”
“I could be better,” I admit.
He gives me a sympathetic smile and asks if I’m ready to go. I gather my things and shut my computer down. With that, we head off towards the car.
We are on our way back when I ask Joe a question. “They had an anonymous tip about some house in Manassas. Do you happen to know where it came from?”
He keeps his hands steady on the wheel and his eyes glued to the road when he shakes his head. “I’m not sure where that tip came from. All I know is that we’ve had months of nothing, and now—all of a sudden—we have a possible lead. Captain obviously feels that any lead at this stage is worth following up on and taking a look at.”
The thought of Jake in possible danger creates a tight knot in my stomach. I decide to change the subject so I don’t have to feel this gripping pain any longer. “How’s your wife doing?”
He smiles, obviously happy to change the 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. How far along is she?”
“Four months. In fact, we are going for a scan tomorrow. I’m looking forward to finding out if we’re having a boy or a girl. I don’t care which it is; I just want to stop calling the baby ‘the baby’ or ‘it’, which is horrible.”
I smile brightly. “Well, you must tell me all about it. I’m really happy for you both. Send her my love, will you?”
Joe nods his head. “Of course. Thank you. It will all come to you one day too.”
I briefly think about how wonderful it would feel to carry Jake’s child and have a part of him growing inside me. I’m still so young, and Jake and I haven’t had that conversation yet. He may feel that since he has Matthew, he doesn’t need to have any more kids.
“It’s a nice thought, but I have a hunch it will be a while before that happens.”
25
When we get to the house, I let us both in. I swiftly walk over to the alarm and shut it off. Joe immediately does a search downstairs, leaving me to run upstairs to check on Matthew. I knock, and he immediately answers, much to my relief.
“You’re back early. Is everything okay?”
I nod my head with a soft smile. “Your father’s gone to check out a house in Manassas. He’s had a tip-off about this killer, and he wanted me to come home and be with you. He wants to be a part of this, so he’s heading down there. Joe’s in the house at the moment, searching the place.”
He looks a little concerned. “It’s about time he was caught, but it always makes me nervous when I hear about Dad going somewhere that could be dangerous.” That same knot winds tightly in my stomach and he notices. “Sorry. It is something you get used to, but you will never stop worrying.” He gives me a hug, towering over me with his big frame.
As we pull apart, I change the subject to something brighter. “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. School will finally be over then. She can’t this weekend because she’s going to some function in New York with her parents. Her dad’s some hot-shot lawyer, so they get invited to all the big parties.”
“Well, it sounds great to me. We’ll see what your dad says, but I’ll look forward to getting to know her a little more.”
Matthew’s about to say something when Joe emerges at the top of the stairs. “Hey, kiddo, how are you?” he asks.
“Well, I would be better if it weren’t for the ton of homework I’ve got to do,” he grumbles.
Joe smiles. “Well, that sucks, kid, but if you work hard now, it all pays off well in the end.” Matthew smiles, and Joe points to the other rooms. “I’ll just go check the rest of the rooms upstairs.”
He checks the remaining bedrooms upstairs, and once he’s happy, he leaves, reassuring me he will be right outside if I should need or want anything.
Matthew then goes back into his room, so I follow Joe down the stairs. Once he’s out, I place the alarm on, and I stand there feeling very lonely. 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. He’s also at that age where teenagers like to hide in their room a lot. I did the same, but that was mainly to get away from my mother and her overbearing boyfriends. I’m sure that isn’t the case for Matthew.
I sit on the sofa a few minutes, twiddling my thumbs, but boredom soon sets in. It also doesn’t help that I’m worrying myself over Jake.
Resigned to the fact that I’m on my own for a little while, I walk to the kitchen to fetch myself a glass of wine. Half way there, I suddenly stop in my tracks at the sound of the doorbell. It must be Joe. I feel guilty as I never offered him anything to eat or drink while sitting out there on his own. I shake my head, making my way to the door. I look through the peephole 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, how are you?” I look over to the car to wave at Joe, but he isn’t there. “Where’s Joe?” I ask, pulling myself over to the door to let him pass. I notice how much better he looks. The color’s definitely back in his cheeks now.
“One of your neighbors called him over to their house. Something about a lock on the back door being tampered with. I told him to go check it out, and I’d look after things here.”
I shut the door behind him. “I hope everything’s okay?”
Tony smiles. “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?” He still looks a little tired, but definitely better than he was.
“A little better, thanks. I just wanted to say sorry for the way I behaved. I really wanted to say it in person, so that’s why I’m here.”
I’m a little surprised, so I frown. “Apologize for what?”
He looks embarrassed. “You know, the way I was with you a couple of days ago, and how I reacted when you came out of Mr. Bennett’s office?” I nod and proceed into the kitchen. I get a bottle of my favorite Pinot Grigio out and pour Tony and myself a glass.