Take a Breath(83)

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 are 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 house 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 horrible.”

“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 and having a part of him growing inside me. 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, letting Joe search the house. I run upstairs and knock on Matthew’s door, which he opens quickly after.

“Hi Ana. You’re back early?” he asks.

“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.”

“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. School’s finally finished then. 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?” he asks.

“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 now, 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. 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. 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.