Take a Breath (Take 1) (30 page)

   “Don’t worry about it.  Ana-Lucia
Bennett.  It has a certain ring to it don’t you think?”  

    I
gasp in horror as he saunters passed me, pleased as punch with my
reaction.  I almost drop my coffee. 

I
stumble back to my desk not sure how my legs carried me there.  I
can’t believe he just said that and what does it mean?  My head is
exploding with all sorts of thoughts, but none of them help me out that
much.  I have this sudden pang when I realise Jessie isn’t
here.  I could really have done with her being in today.  I
need to talk to her about this.  I glance at the clock, its 11am;
she should be up and ready about now.  I pick up the phone and
call.  A couple of rings later she answers.  “Jessie, it's
Ana, how was it?”  

   “Ana, hi, it was great thanks, Jerry was the
perfect gentleman.  He took me to a steak house.  He said it
was the best steak house in Richmond and it was.  You must try it
Ana, maybe you should set up a date this weekend with Mr Boss
man.  I’m sure you two would like the hotel also.”  

    I’m dying
to tell her so get straight to it, “Jessie I think I just died with
utter humiliation.”  

   “What’s up baby girl, did you leave some
toilet roll hanging out your ass or something?”  

    I snort, “No, no
nothing like that.  I was introduced to this new detective
today…”  

   “Really, is he hot?”  

    I huff impatience settling
in.  “No, in fact he’s probably right up Tom’s alley on first
impressions, but that’s not why I’m calling Jessie,” I say in
frustration.         “Sorry Ana, go ahead.”  

    I continue, “When he
asked me what my last name was, right in front of Jake and Tom I said
Bennett.  I nearly died Jessie.”  She gasped first then
laughter erupts down my ear.  I have to pull it away until she
calms down.  “Not helping Jessie.”  

   “Sorry missy, I wished I
had been there.  What did Jake say?”  

   “Well a little while
after, he came up to me and said Ana Bennett has a certain ring to
it.”  Jessie went crazy down the phone.  

   “Do you know what
this means, he wants to marry you girl?”  

   “No, I think he was just
making fun of the situation.  We haven’t even told each how we
feel yet.  We haven’t said I love you, so how could marriage be on
the agenda so soon?” I say.  

   “I’m sure he’ll pick the right
moment.  It seems pretty obvious to me and anyone else watching
you two together, how you feel about each other.  Sometimes words
don’t mean a thing.”  

    I think for a moment about what she says and
I know Jake makes all the right noises, but sometimes you just need to
hear it.  “I know what you’re saying Jessie, but I still need
something, anything.”  

   “Oh my god Ana, listen to yourself, he just
practically told you that you should take on the Bennett name. There’s
only one way you can do that.  Unless he is planning to adopt you
of course, and I highly doubt he has that on his mind.  This is
big Ana, huge,” she screams.  

   “Ok, ok thanks.  I’ll take all
you said on board.  What are you up to with Jerry today?”  I
wanted to change the subject.  I’m reading too much into things
and need to just go with the flow again.  

   “Jerry’s just gone to
pay the bill; I’m waiting in the lobby.  We’ll be driving back
once he’s done.  I may want to lock him up in the apartment when I
get back and never let him out.  Ana, the sex last night, I mean
it normally is great but last night was fantastic.  Oh, he’s
coming over I’m going to have to go.”             “Ok, well I hope you don’t
wear Jerry out too much today.”  I start laughing.  

   “I fully
intend to girl.”  

    We both laugh saying our goodbyes, and I get
back to work looking at these burglaries again. 

I
begin to shift through the endless cases of burglaries we’ve had from 4
years ago onwards, knowing I’ve already tried to look at more recent
ones, and nothing has compared to what has been happening in these
cases.  I’ve been at it for a couple of hours and my head starts
to hurt, and my eyes begin to blur a little.  Just when I think
I’m about ready for a break, I come across this case that happened
around five years ago.  An elderly couple, just the same as the
others were held at gunpoint, whilst two others raided their
home.  It all sounds a little too coincidental for me, so I rub my
eyes and read on.  The names Adrian Simmons, Clark Baxter and
Brent Maxwell, all from the Roanoke area were caught tried and
convicted.  Adrian Simmons for Armed Common Law Burglary, was
given 10 years custodial sentence whilst the other two were convicted
of Breaking and Entering with Intent to Commit Burglary, and given 4
years a piece.  Heart pumping, I start to look to see when each
one was released.  As far as my records were concerned Adrian
Simmons was still in jail, whilst the other two were released 6 months
ago.  I find their addresses, which are still in Roanoke and
gather all the details for Jake. 

    I
quickly head over to his office and knock on the door, still feeling
the embarrassment of my earlier slip up, but pumped at now finding this
information. 

   “Come in.”  

    I open the door and find Jake sat at his
computer looking serious.  He sees me standing there with a file
in my hand.  

   “What you got for me Ana?”  

    I clear my throat
before I begin, “Well, I’ve been looking back through these burglaries
and I think I may have found something.”  His interest is piqued
so I begin telling him what I’ve found, giving him all the details,
names and dates.  He smiles looking proud of what I’ve done, his
chest bulging out of his shirt as he inhales.  

   “That’s a good job
Ana, well done.”  

    I blush and thank him.  

   “I’ll get some
people on to this right away, you did well.”  

    My god I love this
man.  He sits there one solid hunk of a sexy beast.  There
should be a law against looking like him.  He’s just way too
much.  I want and need every single molecule of him.  

   “I must
say you’re very sexy right now Miss Sinclair.  You don’t know how
tempting it is to grab you and pull you over to me, throw my things
aside and ravish you on my desk.”  

    I almost purr in
anticipation.  A different kind of heat reaches my face now, and
down towards my legs.  I shift in the chair and uncross, then
cross my legs, Jake staring at me intently, watching my every
move.  I manage to stutter out “Ok,” and Jake laughs at my
eagerness.  

   “Now, now Ana.  You know that’s one rule I cannot
break, even for you.  As much as I would love to lick every part
of that beautiful body of yours, I have work to do.”  

    I frown at
him and he laughs.  “Now go on Ana, leave that file on my desk and
get.  You’re too much of a distraction in here.”  

    I swing my
heels and leave his office, despite the desperate aching need between
my legs.  How am I going to get through the rest of the day
now? 

I
return to my desk and find a chicken salad bought from my favourite
‘Take a Pick,’ sandwich bar across the road from us.  Jake again,
he won’t let me out in broad daylight, just to walk a few metres across
a road.  He’s managed to get people to be my gofer now.  I
sit down and bury my head in my hands.  

   “I’m sorry, I thought you
liked the chicken Mrs Bennett?”  

    Tom the asshole takes a seat on
my desk.  “Yes, very funny Tom.  I’m never going to live this
down now, am I?”  

    He shakes his head and laughs, “I’m afraid not
Mrs Bennett.”  

    I glare at him which makes him laugh even
louder.  “Where’s your new sidekick?  Has he grown sick of
looking at you already and put in for a transfer?  I wouldn’t
blame him.”  

    He places a hand on his chest.  “Now that hurt
Ana.  I have very delicate feelings that you’re stamping all over
right now.”  

    He pulls a pouty sad face and I start laughing. 
No matter how much of a slime ball Tom is, I must hand it to him; he’s
a funny slime ball.  

   “He’s gone for some lunch.  I thought
I’d let him loose for a little bit.”  

    I squeeze his arm, “Thanks
for the salad Tom.  It is appreciated.”  

    He looks down to
where my hand is placed, “You know if you just move your hand a few
more inches to your left, that would be perfect.”  

    I yank my hand
away.  “Eww Tom, that’s gross, piss off you little sick piece of
shit.  Just think I was trying to be nice to you as well.” 
He rises from my desk laughing hysterically as he makes his way back to
his desk.  Everyone is looking now, wondering what on earth has
just happened.

I’m
about to tuck into my salad feeling drawn from staring at the computer
practically all morning, when one of the other Analysts Mandy comes
over.  

   “Hey Ana, how are you?  Do you want some coffee; I’m
going to make one?”  

    I smile but I’m a bit wary.  Normally
she doesn’t speak to me that often, let alone make me coffee. 
“That would be lovely Mandy, thank you.”  She beams at me, grabs
my mug and heads for the coffee room.  Now that was weird.  A
couple of minutes later and a few bites into my salad, she comes
bouncing back.  Here you go Ana, black isn’t it?”  I nod and
say thank you.  

   “I just wanted to say that I feel bad you know,
what you must be going through.  We’ve been kind of told to leave
you alone but if it were me, I would want someone to talk to.”  

    They’ve been told to leave me alone?  When did that happen? 
I’m not a leper.  Jake and his over protectiveness.  “You
were all told this?”  She sees the mortified look on my face and
blushes, realising she may have made a bit of a blunder.  

   “Erm,
well yes.  I think Mr Bennett thought that maybe you would be
better off not having people fuss around you.  Sorry, I thought
you knew.”  

    I grab and squeeze at Mandy’s arm.  I’m shocked,
when I realise just how thin she is underneath her blouse.  I look
up to her deep brown eyes and for the first time really see
Mandy.  She has the sincerity there that I hoped for, which
immediately puts me at ease.  I ask her to sit in Jessie’s chair
so I can have a chat with her whilst on my break.  I learnt a lot
about Mandy in that half an hour.  She is not that much older than
me, born and raised in Sterling, and has been living on her own in an
apartment for the last five years.  She has a lovely young man in
her life, which she has been dating for the last year.  They are
now talking about moving in together.  She has two sisters and
three brothers so quite a family, but they lost their father two years
ago, which I could see was still fresh in her mind.  She obviously
loved him a great deal.  I realised as she was talking, just how
jealous I was of Mandy.  I had never had any brother’s and
sister’s growing up, or a father, well a true father in all sense of
the word.  Just one numpty after another, that my mother seemed to
like jumping to.  Apart from Jake of course.  I became aware
from talking to her that she was just a very shy girl, but all that
seems to disappear when she speaks of the ones she loved.  I was
really warming to Mandy now.  After she had finished talking about
her family, and told me she was there if ever she needed me, she got
ready to move back to her desk.  “You know when all this is over
it would be really nice if we went out for a drink one day after
work.  That’s if you want to?”  Her face lit up which made me
feel bad that I’ve never bothered with this lovely girl before.  

   “That would be great.  I would really like that.”  

    She gives
me a real genuine smile, which I return wholeheartedly.  “So would
I Mandy.”  She then scurries back to her desk whilst I finish off
my salad, and the rest of my coffee. 

Shortly
after our talk, I glanced a look at the time on my computer and
realised just how late it was.  It’s after 3pm, where has the day
gone?  Michael comes over a little while later handing me a case
of Indecent Exposure. 

   “This one’s a sick bastard.  He goes to the
public parks where children play and exposes himself.  I hope you
can devote some time to this?”  

    I eagerly nod my head, “Of course
Michael, I’ll look into it straight away.  Why hasn’t he been
caught yet?” I ask.  

   “Well, he seems to go to different areas and
when the police are called he’s nowhere to be found.”  

    I thank him
and get to work straight away, looking into crimes of a similar nature
where the perpetrator has been caught.  The man is described as
scruffy with long brown hair and in his 40’s.  I look back nine
years and a possible name comes up, which I jot down.  This man,
Jacob Rawlings was caught after his 9 year old niece complained to her
parents that she was being touched by Uncle Jacob in ways he shouldn’t
be.  I felt sudden nausea reading it, I don’t know how people
could want to do things like that to children.  I list him down,
as he would be in his 40’s now and out of jail the last couple of years
with no fixed abode.  This would definitely explain the reason for
this man's appearance.  I wander over to Michael to let him know
what I had found.