by Tori Fox
“Hey Anna.”
“Hi Niko.”
“You cold?” he asks me as a shiver runs through me. “Yo asshat, get the woman a blanket. She’s a victim, not a suspect.”
“Thanks, Niko.”
“You find this when you left work?”
I nod. “Can you guys get it cleaned up?”
The other cop brings me a blanket. Niko shakes his head. “Sorry but we need to call in a detective.”
My heart drops to my stomach. “Why? It’s just some random attack. Someone who has something against me.”
“More than likely,” Niko says as he peers into my car. “But, shit, I can’t really tell you this. But I am sure Noah will tell you anyway. But that rapist turned serial killer has started leaving notes for his victims before he kills them.”
The blood drains from my face. “What?”
He looks over my shoulder and then back at me. “You didn’t hear it from me.”
“Miss Cooper?”
I turn to see two men in suits walk up to me. They look vaguely familiar. I’ve probably served them at Jimmy’s.
“I’m Detective Wells and this is Detective Stone. I know the cops asked you questions already but we just need to ask you a few more.”
I nod and tell them everything I told the officers. Detective Stone walks away to inspect my car as an evidence team gathers the note and whatever the hell else they are doing. The other detective joins his partner and I wrap the blanket tighter around me as my mind goes in a million different directions. What the hell is going on?
“Anna.”
I stiffen at Noah’s voice.
“Are you okay?”
I turn to look at him. He looks miserable. His eyes bloodshot like he hasn’t been sleeping, his hair a mess like he’s been running his hands through it over and over.
Just seeing him has my heartrate increasing. I want him so bad. I want him to comfort me. I want him to make this all go away.
But I need to stand my ground. I cannot give in so easily.
I shake my head, knowing he wants an answer.
He closes the distance between us immediately wrapping his arms around me. “Baby, you’re freezing.”
He must feel me shivering. I am not sure if it’s because I’m cold or nerves.
“Come sit in my car. It’s warm.”
I silently agree even though I don’t want to.
He opens the door for me and I crawl in. He reaches over me and adjusts the dials on the console to turn up the heat. He opens the liftgate of his SUV and grabs another blanket, wrapping it around my legs.
“Detective Taylor.” I hear someone shout.
Noah looks me in the eye, worry etching face. “I’ll be right back.”
“Okay.”
He shuts the door and I watch him walk over and talk to the other detectives.
I close my eyes and lean my head against the headrest. The smell of Noah’s cologne infiltrates my nose. I miss that smell. It smells like home.
I must doze off because I am startled when I hear a door open. I open my eyes and find Noah sitting in the driver’s seat looking at me. “They will have your car ready for you tomorrow. I’m taking you home.”
“I’m sure Liam will be off work soon. He can take me.”
Noah looks over at me, seriousness written in his eyes. “You are coming with me.”
That really wakes me up. “I can’t, Noah.”
“I don’t care if you can’t. I need to make sure you are safe.”
“It was just some random violence.”
“Niko told me he told you about the case. I am not taking risks with your life.”
I look at him, rage building inside of me. “You should have thought about all those things before you agreed to let Claire move in.”
He sighs and rests his forehead on the steering wheel. “Anna, my biggest regret is doing that. It’s driven you away. Every day that passes that I wake up without you by my side my heart breaks more.”
Godammit. Why does he have to say those things?
I reach over and grab his hand. “Noah, I still love you. I tried not to. I tried to let you go but it’s fucking impossible. But I can’t be around her.”
“I know.”
“You know I love you or you know I can’t be around her?”
“Both,” he acquiesces. “I just want you near me.”
“I know.” I squeeze his hand and he looks at me with a sad grin. “Claire came to the bar tonight. She’s a cunt.”
That gets a smile out of him. “She is crazy. She is not the woman I was married to.”
“Glad to hear that because I was beginning to think you are psychotic too.”
He reaches over the center console and cups my face. “I love you, Anna. And I am trying to make this right.”
I press my cheek into the comfort of his palm. “I know.”
“I’ll take you to Liam’s.”
“Really?”
He gives me a curt nod. “It’s not what I want but it’s what you want.”
“Thank you.”
The drive to Liam’s is silent, both of us thinking about everything that’s happened. I wish I could go home with Noah. See Brutus’ sloppy face. Curl up on the sofa in Noah’s arms as we watch some stupid action movie. But the reality is we both need this space and time apart to get our lives in order.
Noah parks on the street in front of Liam’s house. We both sit there. I don’t want to say goodbye to him. Not after what happened tonight.
“Want to come inside?” I ask him.
He hesitates. And it breaks my heart a little. “I should go home.”
“Okay,” I say in defeat. “Thank you for the ride.”
He nods. “I’ll let you know when your car is ready.”
“Thanks.”
I get out of the car and head up the driveway. My heart breaking. I want nothing more than to feel Noah’s arms around me. But he is doing what I asked, giving me space.
I make it to the front step of the house and look for my keys when I feel his presence behind me.
I drop my bag to the ground just as his lips hit mine.
The kiss brings back the chills I had earlier. A mix of need and want tied perfectly with a bow. It doesn’t last long but it was enough. Noah grabs my hand and squeezes holding on to it as he walks away. He lets it go and walks back to his car.
I head inside and go straight to bed. I curl up around a pillow wishing it was Noah’s body.
My phone chimes with a text and I relax a little as I read it.
Noah: You’ll be back in my arms soon. I love you.
27
Noah
I sit at my desk looking over evidence from the past two murders and comparing notes when Marcus drops a sheet of paper on my desk. It’s a picture of three IDs, all with Claire’s face on them.
I look up at him. “Do I even want to know what you had to do to get these?”
He shakes his head. “Probably not.”
I mock throwing up in a garbage can and Marcus chuckles at me. “I didn’t sleep with her, Noah.”
“I couldn't care less if you did.”
Marcus looks at me strangely. “You seem to be in a better mood.”
I smile at him, a genuine smile, not the fake one I have been sporting around the precinct for the last month.
Ever since I took Anna home on Friday night she has been texting me every day. Our conversation gave me hope in us. And I think she felt the same. I didn’t want to fight with her. I did just want her to come home with me so I could watch over her but I know she needs her space. I don’t blame her. If Kyle were alive I wouldn’t want him living with us.
All I needed to hear were those three words from Anna and she gave them to me freely. She still loves me. And the kiss we shared reassured me things will be okay. And that’s enough to let me continue to make do in the situation we are in. I know she is safe with Liam. He would never let anything hurt her but the case I’m wo
rking on weighs heavily.
As I review evidence that the note in her car is not the MO of our perp, I release a sigh of relief, but I want to know who the hell left that note in her car. She told me Claire was at the bar Friday night. The words on the note make sense with Claire’s madness. But we ran some prints and they aren’t Claire’s.
And now that Marcus got this information for me I am so much closer to having Anna come home. I smile at Marcus. “I am in a better mood. This helps a lot,” I say as I hold up the paper.
“Oh, that’s not all, Taylor. Not only does she seem to have three identities, but I found something even better.” He throws a stack of papers on my desk. “I found multiple credit cards with the name Eduardo Torres on them in her wallet. So I did some digging. Torres is married. Married to a woman named Marie Torres maiden name DeWitt. The same name that shows up on that ID.”
“She changed her name. Why couldn’t we find this out before? We searched her social.”
He points at the papers on my desk. “She changed her name twice. Once right after she left you. I think that must have been the name you found. And then she must have changed it again when she met Torres. But somehow she changed her social because it’s a different number. It’s why you couldn’t find her. Her and Torres have been married for almost four years. He has a huge investment firm. Lives on the upper east side of Manhattan.”
Four years? We were still married at that point. Which means this marriage isn’t legal.
“I also found court documents. He is filing for divorce.”
I scan through all the information Marcus found out. If my divorce doesn’t stand with the court, then she would have been legally married to me when she married someone else. We have proof of her having two social security numbers so her new marriage would be null and void. “I’m guessing she was hoping to get money out of her husband.”
“It would appear so but she signed a prenup. She can’t get anything from him.”
“Then why would she come back to me?”
Marcus sits on the corner of my desk. “If your divorce was never legal like you said she is trying to prove then she could be coming to you for the money.”
I shake my head. “That makes no sense. She had a good job when I was going through that divorce. She was doing fine for herself. I wouldn’t have had such harsh terms if I thought she needed help.”
Marcus grabs his chin like he’s thinking. “I couldn’t find a job history for Marie Dewitt or Marie Torres, at least for the last three years.”
“I need to go talk to my brother.” I gather up all the papers on the desk and shove them into a manila envelope. “Marcus, you didn’t need to do all this.”
He shrugs as he stands. “Like I said, you’re only as good as your partner. I need to make sure you have my back like I do yours.”
I smack him on the shoulder. “I owe you one.”
“You owe me more than one!” he shouts as I race out of the precinct.
I barge through my brother’s office door and find him on the phone. He flips me the bird as I shut the door behind me. I throw the envelope on his desk and he opens it while saying mmhmms and rights on the phone.
He flips through the documents, his eyes bugging out as he reads.
“I need to go,” he says into the phone, hanging up immediately. “Where the hell did you get this?”
“Marcus seduced her to get her IDs.”
“No shit.” He looks up at me for a second with a smirk. “This is fucked up. That woman is crazy.”
“No shit.”
He mumbles as he looks over the evidence. “If her marriage to you is considered legal still, then this marriage is null and void. What is she after?”
“Marcus found a prenup on that marriage. She wasn’t going to get a penny.”
“If Torres finds out about this it will make it a lot easier on him. I need to look into his divorce proceedings. I’ll contact his lawyer.”
“I thought when you finally found her she had a good job. Why would she need money?”
Carson shrugs. “Who knows, but I’ll have my P.I. dig deeper into all these IDs.” He pauses over the pictures and squints. “Dewitt? Why does that name sound familiar?”
“I’ve never heard it.”
Carson jolts from his chair and runs over to his safe, punching in the code and pulling out a folder. He flips it open and a predatory smile crosses his face. He sits back at his desk and types into his computer. I wait patiently for whatever breakthrough he just had when he throws the papers he pulled out of the safe at me.
“Those are the documents I received right before your divorce was finalized. The papers showing she contested the divorce. But after you said something to me about them needing to be signed for I racked my brain over and over. They came in a regular envelope. Nothing special. But I didn’t think too much of it. Look at the name of the law firm.”
I glance down and see M. Dewitt Law Offices as the sender. I glance up at Carson just as he spins the monitor around. “They don’t exist.” He switches over to a new screen and shows me a generic-looking template of a letter contesting a divorce on the internet that looks exactly like the one in my hand.
“She made it up.”
“Bingo, brother. That is not a legal document. She didn’t have a lawyer.”
“My divorce is still legal?”
“As far as I can tell. But I need to find out a few more things. And I need to get in contact with Eduardo Torres’ lawyer.”
I stand and breathe a sigh of relief.
Carson walks around the desk and gives me a hug. “This is almost over, Noah. You can get your girl.”
I park in the street outside of Liam’s and take huge strides to the door. The text from Liam didn’t tell me much just that I needed to come over right away.
Liam opens the door for me, and I am thankful he’s been here. I didn’t like her living here at first because of his roommates but he’s kept an eye on her. And he texts me updates all the time.
I follow him into the living room and find Anna as pale as a ghost sitting on the couch.
“It was in the mailbox,” Liam says.
I look at him and then glance at the coffee table to find another letter sitting on it, just like the one we found in Anna’s car.
I rush to Anna’s side and wrap her in my arms before I look at the note.
You won’t get away with this.
“That’s it,” I say to her. “You’re coming home.”
She shakes my arm off her. “Noah, I can’t. I told you I won’t be in that house with her.”
I should tell her everything that is going down with Claire, everything we found out, but right now all I see is red for whoever is leaving these notes for her.
“I can’t protect you here.”
“I don’t need protection,” she grits.
I gesture to the note. “Clearly you do if you are being threatened.”
“And what if it’s Claire, what if she is leaving these notes for me?”
I grip the back of my neck. “It’s not. We ruled her out. The best place you can be is under my watch.”
“No.”
“Anna, listen to him,” Liam interjects.
“I won’t be made a fool of,” she says as she paces the living room.
I groan as I stand in front of her. “You won’t be.”
“I’m not going.”
Fuck this. I know she won’t listen to me. She never would have told me about this note, it was Liam who texted me. I hate to do this but I have no other choice. I grab her around the waist and hoist her over my shoulder.
“Noah, put me down.”
“No,” I state as Liam clearly understands my intention and runs to the door to open it for me. “You are coming home.”
“You cannot force me to do this.”
“Too bad. I am.”
I manage to open the back door of my SUV issued by the police department. It’s got a screen and child locks s
o she won’t be able to fight me.
“You are treating me like a child!” she huffs as I throw her into the back seat.
“No, I am treating you like the love of my life and all I want to do is protect you.” I slam the door and move around to the driver’s seat.
The drive back to our house is silent. I glance at her through the rearview mirror a few times but she sits with her arms crossed, glaring at me.
I breathe a sigh of relief to see Claire’s car isn’t around. I get out of the car and open the back door for Anna. She jumps out and storms into the house.
I follow her inside, pushing Brutus away as I watch her climb the steps. I follow her into the bedroom. She stops in front of the bed, her fists clenched at her sides.
I shut the door behind me and lock it.
“You going to lock me in this room like some kind of damsel?”
“Anna,” I sigh. “I’m not locking you in here. We need to talk.”
“I’m tired of talking, Noah. I don’t want to hear any more about that bitch living downstairs. I just want her gone.”
“She will be sooner than you think.”
She rolls her eyes at me and her hand goes to the necklace I gave her. “This is getting old, Noah.”
“I know.”
“Ugh, why can’t we just go back to how it was before?” she says, flustered. “I keep holding on to this false hope that we can but I am not so sure anymore.”
“Anna.”
“No, I’m done, Noah. I’ve had my heart pulled in too many directions. I don’t care if you aren’t fucking her. I just need peace and I can’t have it with her around. We need to just end this. Maybe when it’s all over we can find our way back to each other.”
“And you think I am at peace in this situation?”
She crosses her arms over her chest. “I don’t see you doing anything to change it.”
“I’m working so hard to fix this. Fix us, Anna. I need you.”
“I don’t think you do.”
“Fuck,” I yell. “We are so close, Anna. The divorce will hold up, I promise you that.”
“Can you promise me you don’t have feelings for her?”