Etched in Glass

by Nyxie Marrs

  She pulls me down with her as she falls backwards onto the bed. I try my best to not have all of my weight fall onto her as she forces her lips on mine.

  “Vega. I have to admit, you have been the most distracting person I’ve ever met.” I pull her into me. I don’t know what the hell has gotten into me, but she’s consumed my mind.

  “I didn’t think we’d end up like this, and my focus hasn’t been the same since I met you.” Her tired voice lightly drifts. Maybe for once she can sleep soundly.

  *​​*​​*

  Slight twitches from her body wake me up. They’re subtle, but something’s definitely bothering her. All I can do is be here. I put my arm around her and pull her into me hoping my embrace will be enough to calm her. Within minutes of being pressed into me, her breathing calms and she relaxes. I let out a deep breath, relieved it worked.

  It wasn’t long though. Her movements increase and no matter how hard I try to keep her against me, it doesn’t work.

  “Fuck.” She whispers as she sits up in a panic, and places her hand over her chest.

  “Vega?” I run my hand over her bare shoulders as she lowers her head. What the hell just happened? She takes in shaky deep breaths and leans into me as I sit up.

  “It’s just the same thing. You know. How I couldn’t prevent her abduction. I’m feeling guilty for doing this too while she’s near death.”

  “Vega. Just because it’s not twenty-four-seven doesn’t mean you aren’t working hard on this. You need rest too.” I rub her back, hoping I can say something comforting that will help her calm down.

  “I know.” She heavily sighs.

  I wish I can take that weight she’s carrying. She’s working so hard to finish this case, to bring those women home. I know she’s done a lot of research and spent a lot of time going through each file. Even with all of that stress, she has the strength to move forward and take every new detail head on. But I can see the slight fear in her eyes behind that confidence. There’s doubt, and I don’t want to see her doubting herself.

  “You are a damn wonderful person, Vega.” I pull her down to lay against me. “Let’s just relax as much as you can.”

  Chapter 41

  Vega

  Well, it’s easier than I thought it would be to make a break for it when he fell asleep. I pry myself out of his comforting warmth and damn did that affect me, but I need space. I need to get out of my head and regain focus. I can’t do that with Miles against me.

  I pull on some sweats, a loose shirt and walk into the living room. I’d love nothing more than a walk, but that wouldn’t be smart at this time in the morning. I settle for a light snack and bundle up in the blankets. It’ll be a long while until dawn. My habit of little sleep has stayed with me. I’m used to the three or so hours a night, I can’t go for much longer than that. I’m actually surprised at how easy it was to slip away from his hold on me. I swear he was wrapped around me as tight as he could be.

  I grab a file and read through it. It’s hard to give up old habits. I’ve got twenty-nine with thirty-nine, and thirty with forty. I wonder if there’s something similar here. It’s a shame we only have a few files on other women, I need to know all of his victims. I don’t think I’ve taken a look at their files like this though. Looking at comparisons. The women, twenty-nine and thirty-nine only have height and weight similar, but I don’t think that’s a factor. The bars are only a few blocks from one another. So these men may plan on taking women from a similar area. Maybe?

  I’ll have to see if we can find any open cases in other towns that may lead us to other victims. I place a marker on the map connecting the two cases. The only thing similar to each case is a fucking break up and the men who prey on them.

  The men. These women all had issues with men. How about I start there? I open the files for twenty-nine and thirty-nine. Their files contain a police report or two. Calls they’ve made trying to alert someone to the fact that they were in an abusive relationship. It was never taken seriously. Elara had one too. I quickly look over the other files realizing every woman here had done the same. There’s one, if not multiple police reports.

  I need to cross reference these women and their ex's, that’d be a damn weird thing to have happen. But not impossible if the men ended up being a common link. All the women filed restraining orders. Could that be the connection? I highlight a few files twenty-nine and thirty-nine filed with the court. But that officer’s face is bothering me.

  I pick up the list of officers who were on scene. That man, who is that man? I study the names on this list, I need to memorize these names in case it’s important. I just need to put a face to each one.

  A few hours have passed since I started looking at this information. That dream about Elara haunts me to no end. Miles tried to help, but there are some things his body can’t cut through.

  I know once I start coffee he’ll wake up too. I can’t have him lose sleep like me. That’s not fair to him. I lay my head back into the couch and rest my eyes for a minute. Why am I at a standstill right now? Why do we not have more information? I need to relax for a few minutes.

  I wake up to a grunting sound. A file slides off of my lap and my eyes meet an upset Miles standing over me.

  “Couldn’t sleep then?” He moves next to me and places a few files on the table. He does not look happy.

  “I guess not.” I pull the blanket up, and he leans me into him.

  “How long have you been up?” He tries to keep his voice light, but the frustration is hard to miss.

  “A while I guess, not like I was keeping track.” I make myself comfortable against him.

  “Do you want anything? If you’re going to rest here with me, why not go back to bed?” Bed. Saying it so lightly and smoothly like it’s my house too. It does sound good though.

  “You win.” We lay back in bed. His arms immediately wrap around me, and he pulls me against him.

  “Don’t worry about work stuff. We’ll get to it, promise.” His lips softly touch my shoulder. This is new.

  *​​*​​*

  “Hey, sweetie. You okay?” He whispers into my ear. That gruff voice is hinting something other than just waking me up.

  “I’m fine, Miles. Call me anything other than Vega again and you’ll regret it.” I say as he rubs my shoulder.

  He chuckles into my neck, placing a kiss. Those two acts did things for me that I hadn’t felt before, and it’s stirring. The whisper of the nickname definitely isn’t going to happen. That’s too damn intimate for me, and too damn soon. I mean, we’re just having sex. As far as I know that’s it. Unless it’s meaning more to him right now, that’ll fuck things up.

  “I’ll go make something to eat. Feel free to stay here as long as you want. Then we can talk about any progress you may have found this morning. Sound good?” He runs his hand down my body.

  “Sure. What sounds good is a nice hot shower. I’ll start there if you don’t mind.”

  “I’m fine with that. In fact-.” He starts to get up.

  “No.” He stops and looks at me.

  “You sure?” That low whisper into my ear sends chills through me.

  “I can tell you to fuck off if you’d like. I’m sure, Miles.” He gets up but not before stealing a hot kiss. I really should put an end to this. It’s getting too diverting. I’m partly to blame for these mixed actions too.

  Twenty minutes later, Miles and I are sitting on the couch. And now I’m thinking what a mistake this is. His charm, his soul penetrating eyes, the way he says my name, it all melted my normal standoffish self. Now we’re here and I’m worried this has complicated things.

  “Vega. I apologize for this morning.”

  “Sex? You apologize for that?” I joke. I know what he’s really talking about, and I want to avoid it.

  “No. I have absolutely no regrets about that.” He tightens his arm around me. “I meant the-.”

  “I get it.” I say quickly. I really want to end this discussi
on. “So. I-.”

  “You avoid this topic specifically, don’t you?” So we’re not going to end that conversation.

  “Nothing to discuss, is there?” His expression looks like I just ripped his heart out. I don’t talk about this stuff. Dates are one thing, a stable boyfriend is another. Stable isn’t common for me. Everything for me doesn’t work out, mostly because I close myself off. For a damn good reason too.

  “I was thinking there would be.”

  “Your timing is as good as Redmond's, Miles. You realize that?” He wants to talk, fine. I’ll let him in on my thoughts. Maybe my impetuous attitude can make him back off.

  “Didn’t mean for this to happen exactly, Vega. But it did. And I’ve not been the one to push it.”

  “No. You’re right. It’s been me.” I get out of his hold and walk down the hall. “And I’m thinking I’ve messed things up, there shouldn’t be anything this intense in a short time. Let alone a time like this.” I say as I put on jeans and grab a few things. Worry rushes into me at the thought of starting any type of relationship. I can’t. I shouldn’t be doing anything while Elara is out there.

  “Vega. Where are you going?” I knew I’d get that worried look as soon as I stepped back into the living room. He’s basically been at my side since I met him. I wonder if he’s going to stop me.

  “Space.” I grab my keys and head to the door. He catches up to me, placing his hand on my shoulder. The same gesture he’s done before that’s stopped me in my tracks. I take in a deep breath. I can’t let this happen right now. “I was going to go through the files we have, see if the ex's we’re similar or if there’s anything in those lists that can lead us somewhere. You’re right. I don’t have be working on this so hard. I need to.” Without looking at him, I take in another deep breath and walk out the door.

  Not even five minutes go by and he already has Redmond texting me. Yeah, yeah. I get it, but I’m not getting into it. I doubt I’ll check out my apartment right now. I know better than to go back there alone. I just need a walk. That has to help me go through all of this mess, something to take my mind off of the seriousness of Miles and refocus on the case.

  There’s a little park Elara and I used to take walks in. Has a very nice path most joggers use. Taking a walk alone in a secluded area may not be the smartest thing, but it reminds me of Elara. I need that right now to get into my focused mind and finish this.

  This situation with Miles has stirred up a bunch of things that I shouldn’t be thinking about. I’ve not had anything serious for a reason. One bad situation can isolate you, it can also build your walls. I’ve intentionally kept things as far away from serious as possible. Then here comes charming Miles to break through the damn barriers I put up. At a time that it really shouldn’t happen.

  My phone chimes. Great. They’ve enlisted Anya. I hope she knows what they’re up to. That she’s a pawn in their tracking of me.

  Lunch?

  She’s being used by them. That’s just not right.

  Miles and Redmond put you up to this?

  I hope she won’t lie for them.

  Technically, yes. Red just mentioned you might want a girl’s talk kind of thing. I wouldn’t mind if you wanted to.

  Damnit, Anya. You’re too damn nice to say no to.

  Sure. You only. Where?

  I Hope she understands the situation and that I need only her. I can’t talk to Miles right now, Redmond either. I can’t have that distracting conversation with him right now.

  Chapter 42

  Red

  “What do you mean she left?” I’m actually surprised he let her walk out of the damn door by herself.

  “Things happened. She needed 'space', Red. I don’t know where she went and I have no idea when she’ll be back.” He’s worried as hell. Knowing the abductors knew where she lived has him terrified they may be watching her. And he just let her walk.

  “What did you do? I thought you two were getting along. What happened?”

  “I may have freaked her out. Tried to get her to talk about a subject she obviously avoids. I sure as hell wasn’t going to force her to stay here once she made up her mind on leaving.” I’ve never heard this hurt tone from him. The sound of papers shuffling come over the line.

  “What are you doing right now?”

  “She woke up early. Went through some files trying to find something. She mentioned it before she rushed out of here. Figured if she’s not here to work on it, someone should.” Is he seriously not going to go search for her?

  “Aren’t you worried?”

  “Of course I am.” His growling response definitely tells me he’s only focused on her, but why not go after her?

  “Okay. I’ll go see what I can find. Meanwhile I’ll get Anya to contact her.”

  “That would be great. Someone needs to be in contact with her. You know damn well she’ll figure it out though, you think she’d still talk to Anya?” I have that exact worry. Vega is a smart woman. She’ll definitely know why Anya is contacting her.

  “I’m sure she will. But it’ll be the best chance to know where she’s at. What do you have so far?”

  “Nothing. That’s just it. She paired up the abductions with the women who seemed to have 'replaced' the ones that we’ve found so far. Not a bad way of looking at it. She was crossing the names of friends and ex's to see if there was someone in common.” That would be an interesting thing to find. Then we’d have the beginning of a suspect list.

  “What about the stuff I gave her yesterday? Get anywhere with that?”

  “No, she’s right. Pictures are better because she knows what he looks like. If she knew his name we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

  “True. Anya just replied. Vega is going to meet her for lunch in a bit. Didn’t say anything else other than that.”

  “See if you can get her to tell you when and where. I don’t want to ambush her, but I need to talk to her.”

  I chuckle. I saw how he looked at her yesterday. This is more than an infatuation for him, I’ve never seen that look on his face. That possessive attitude he gets when she’s around anyone makes their attraction damn obvious.

  “You okay?” It had to be asked. He hasn’t been distraught like this before and it’s concerning.

  “I’m fine. As long as she is. You know that Red. I can’t explain it, but I know you can see how important she is.”

  “Oh, I see it Miles. I can only imagine what you said to her to make her run. I can also imagine it wouldn’t take much to spook her. I think there’s a lot about her you should get to know before you get further involved. She seems troubled, and not just from this case.”

  “Too late on the further involved, Red. Hence the trying to get her to talk about the one topic she’s avoided with me. A relationship.” I didn’t expect them to get there that fast. I thought Vega would have stopped it before anything became serious between them. I can see why she left after a topic like that. She’s big on focus and this case, and that would be one big ass distracting conversation.

  “She’ll be fine, Miles. We won’t let anything happen to her. Let’s see what we can find and we’ll go see them at lunch.” I’m against interrupting their calm talk at lunch, but if Miles doesn’t see her safe soon, he’s going to fall off that cliff of sanity.

  Chapter 43

  Miles

  Of course my first call was to Red. I couldn’t follow and risk pissing her off more. If Anya talks to her, maybe it’ll help calm her down. Either way, I need to make sure she’s okay and I need to talk to her.

  I’ve got a few hours until they’re meeting for lunch. Hell, I hope it’s nowhere near a bar. So, let’s take a page out of Vega’s book and dive full concentration into this. I’ve got her files from twenty-nine to current, a few other files are scattered, but we don’t know their order. Vega was putting together the missing to the found. I have to say, looking at these abducted women as 'replacements' for the ones being found can make sense. Does
n’t necessarily mean there’s a connection, but it’s worth a try. Twenty-nine and thirty-nine are from the same area. Their bars were only a few blocks away from one another. Both have files of police calls and arrests from abusive relationships.

  Files thirty and forty. Interesting. Lived in the same area. Both had an abusive ex they ditched. Different men though. Vega has highlighted restraining orders these women placed on an ex. A few have filed more than once which is interesting. Again though, different ex's.

  Okay, that’s going nowhere. So not only were these women victims of abuse, some have been abducted shortly after they freed themselves of that situation and had restraining orders put in place. Wait. My heart speeds up at the thought of a connection.

  I search the other files we have. A lot of these women had this similar situation. Only their abductions weren’t closely followed after the restraining orders. All these women, twenty-nine to current, are in the same county. Their orders would have been processed at the same courthouse. Well that’s a commonality.

  “Red.” He answers.

  “Hey. I need some information on a few restraining orders. Where are you?”

  “At the office. Just finished talking to Anya. What information?”

  “Well, our victims all had restraining orders put against an abusive ex. The fact they were in such a relationship could have left them depressed. Though I can’t find any similarities in their relationships.”

  “What information do you need?”

  “Their ex's were all arrested once or twice, then the order put in place. All in the same county if that makes sense.”

  “What are you thinking?”

  “Red. If Vega saw an officer at the scene that may have been the guy at the bar, an arresting officer could have all the information he needs to follow these women. Right?”