“No,” said Anna. “It doesn’t mean anything until I see what the report says and we figure out what we are doing next in regards to the case.”
“That hardly seems fair, I mean, what’s in it for me? Why should I hand over my most valuable bargaining chip without getting something in return?”
“What are you talking about? In return you will get the feeling of doing your part. These results could help us put the killer behind bars and you’re just going to keep them from law enforcement because of some petty little fight?”
“I have my own team investigating the murders, remember, they are using the evidence to evaluate their leads. Why are you so sure you can solve this case before they can?”
“It’s not a competition.” She paused. “And if it was, I would absolutely win. You know that.”
“Fine,” he said. “You’re right. I’ll give you the results.”
“Thank you,” she said.
“If you go out to dinner with me.”
“What? No. Not a chance.”
“Then no deal.”
Anna frowned even though he couldn’t see her. “You know I could have you subpoenaed and force you to give them to me, right?”
“And how long do you think that would take? A few days maybe. Weeks more like it.”
“I can’t believe you are using the results to extortion a date out of me. You’re sick.”
“Oh c’mon, you’re acting like going out to dinner with me is some sort of torture. It will be fun. This Friday.”
Anna dug her thumb nail into a notch in the wood of her desk. “This is ridiculous.”
“Is that a yes.”
“Whatever. Just send the results as soon as you can.”
“I’m going to have to hear you say it.” She could practically hear his grin through the phone.
“Fine. I’ll go to dinner with you.”
“Fantastic! I’ll have my people send you the results right now.” He laughed. “Now was that so hard?”
“Oh bite me.” She hung up.
(page break)
“It says here that the DNA found on the knife at Valerie’s place does not match the DNA found on the clothes found in the woods.” Stella was squinting at the small print on the computer screen and reading out loud to Sheriff Wells, Anna, and Noah. Anna had called Stella just after hanging up with Noah, and Noah took it upon himself to personally deliver the results and be there for the ‘unveiling’ as he had put it. “And neither the DNA from the clothes or the knife seem to match the DNA found under Ellie’s fingernails.” Stella looked up from the screen. “There was DNA found under Ellie’s fingernails?”
“Yeah,” said Noah. “Apparently she scratched someone that night. She doesn’t remember anything, obviously, but one of my detectives who was first on the scene of Valerie’s murder noticed she had some dried blood on her fingers.”
“So if none of this DNA matches,” said Anna. “That means there were three people there that night?”
“Guess so,” said the Sheriff.
“For the other murders, it is suspected there was only ever one killer involved,” said Anna. Everyone in the room already knew this, but she found her brain and her intuition worked best together when she repeated the facts out loud, mentally laying everything out in front of her. “And now our working theory about Sam trying to save Valerie and saving the younger siblings doesn’t really fit.”
“Why not?” asked Stella.
“Now there are two witnesses to the crime,” Anna continued. “Before, when I thought it was maybe just Sam and his buddy Pauly, it made sense that Sam couldn’t convinced Pauly, who’s his friend, to back up whatever story the two made up and save their skins when they went to report the night’s events to whoever is in charge. But if there were two other people there who saw Sam go against orders, it makes it far less believable that they would both risk their lives to protect Sam.”
“Maybe the third person isn’t part of the wolf gang at all,” Noah suggested. “Maybe this potential vampire was there on accident?”
“On accident?” said Stella.
“Vampire?” said Wells. “Did you just say vampire?” He looked at Anna. “Did he just say vampire?”
“Oh right,” said Anna. “There’s something we forgot to mention. Sheriff, you might want to sit down for this. Stella, would you mind putting on a pot of coffee? It looks like it’s shaping up to be a long afternoon.”
First Date Blues
Unlike the previous one, the following week went by shockingly quick. Now that Wells and Anna had new theories to work out, they were quite busy. Not to mention, people in Idle Waters seemed to celebrate the sun coming out and the melting of the snow by staying out late drinking and making too much noise. They got a noise complaint or a report of public intoxication five nights in a row.
Anna was so consumed with her investigation, staying to work late and getting up at the crack of dawn to head in early, she nearly choked on her coffee Friday morning when Stella came into the office and asked if she was ready for her date with Noah.
“Oh my god,” she said, wiping some of the spilled coffee from her chin with the back of her hand. “I completely spaced! That’s tonight!”
Stella giggled. “You seem a little nervous.”
“I’m not nervous!” said Anna. “Or if I am it’s because I’m going to have to call Noah right now to cancel.” She picked up the phone and started dialing.
“Don’t you dare!” said Stella, rushing over to put her finger on the hook to hang up the call. “You have to go!”
“I’m too busy. I’ve got a lot to finish today and… and…”
“And what?”
“And it’s a terrible idea in the first place!” Anna tried to bat Stella’s hand away from the phone, but to no avail. “It would be crazy for us to date. We work together, and right now everything is just so crazy with this case, I don’t want either of us to get distracted.”
“But you need a distraction,” said Stella. “You have been working non-stop lately. If you keep it up at this pace, you’re going to totally burn yourself out, and then you’ll be no good to anybody. It’s just one tiny, itty-bitty little date.”
“... I haven’t been on a date in years.”
“Even better!” Stella clapped her hands together and grinned. “This is exactly what you need. We’ll leave work at five, like normal people and head home so that I can help you get ready.”
Anna rolled her eyes. “Fine. But I’m not wearing anything fancy, or cutesy. I’m not even going to wear a dress.”
“We’ll see,” said Stella with a coy look.
Stella made Anna try on eight different outfits. First, she started by going through Anna’s own closet, scoffing every time she found another black pencil skirt. “Seriously, how many of these do you have?”
“What?” said Anna. “They go with anything.”
“They are boring. Your wardrobe looks like it belongs to someone who works at a funeral home. Don’t you have anything with color?”
“I have some dark blue jeans,” said Anna. “And a white top I think.”
“That might work,” said Stella. “What kind of top is it?”
“A t-shirt,” said Anna. “I work out in it.”
Stella threw her hands up and walked out of Anna’s closet. “That’s it! We’re going to my room. C’mon.”
“He wait!” Anna followed her down the hall. “I don’t want to wear your clothes.” Stella gave her a look. “No offense,” Anna said. “It’s just that we have such different styles. Your colorful clothes work for you, but they would look ridiculous on me.”
“Give me a little credit.” They walked into Stella’s room and she headed right for her closet. “I know what your style is. I’m not going to put you in some bright pink ruffle dress or anything.”
“Do you have anything in a more muted color?”
“How about this?” Stella pulled a dark purple, skin tight dress out of the
back of her closet. “It’s a little snug on me, which is why I bought to be honest.” She winked. “It’s my ‘for when I’m feeling sexy’ dress. I think it would fit you well though. Plus it’s a dark color so you can’t complain about that.”
“But it’s so… tight.” Anna reached out and felt the fabric. It was mostly spandex, which means it would stretch, but that also meant it would hug her body so close it would look like the dress was painted on. “I don’t know if I feel comfortable in this.”
“Just try it on.” Stella pushed the dress into Anna’s arms. “If you really hate how it fits, we can keep looking.”
Anna relented and slipped out of her work clothes, which consisted of a black pencil skirt, a green tank top, and sleek black suit jacket. When she first started working as a deputy, Sheriff Wells had asked her if she wanted to have her own kaki-brown uniform, to look more official, but she said she liked to wear her own clothes since it drew less attention to her when she was out in the field. That was half-true. The other reason she didn’t want a uniform is because she thought they were very unflattering, and even though she prided herself on not caring much about looks, the polyester blend get up was just too ugly.
She pulled the dress on over her sensible matching black underwear and bra. It was slow going at first, considering how tight the garment was, but eventually she got it over her hips and was able to slip her arms through the long sleeves. Stella was right, the dress did fit Anna pretty well. It came to right above her knee and it showed off her fit body.
Anna ran her hands down the front of the dress as she looked at herself in the mirror. “Okay,” she said. “I guess I don’t hate how it looks.”
“Are you kidding me!” yelled Stella. “You look so hot. Noah is going to die.”
“I don’t want him to die,” said Anna. “If you’ll remember, I didn’t even want to go on this date in the first place. Don’t you think this dress will send him the wrong message?”
“What do you mean the wrong message?”
“I just mean I don’t want him to think that he has a chance with me, you know.”
Stella frowned at sat on her bed. “No. I don’t know.”
Anna sat down next to her and sighed. “Can I tell you something?”
“Of course.”
Anna stared down at her hands and her uneven, scraggly nails which she’d been chewing on all day. “In my late teens and twenties, when most people were going on dates and having boyfriends, I was having to take care of my parents. My dad got sick and then after he died I had to keep my mom in check as her addiction started to take over her life.”
“I’m sorry, Anna, that sounds really difficult for someone so young to have to take on.”
“It’s fine,” said Anna. “But it didn’t leave much time for a social life, and then soon after my mom left I started working at a really high-stress, high-demand work environment, so I haven’t spent a lot of time with men in a romantic setting.”
“Oh, I see,” said Stella. “No wonder you’re so freaked. I’ve gone on a lot of dates in my life, so go ahead and ask me anything.”
Anna cleared her throat and continued to avoid eye contact. “I’m worried that if I wear this dress, Noah is going to think I want to sleep with him.”
Stella nodded. “Okay,” she said. “I get where you’re coming from, but I have to say, I really don’t think Noah is that type of guy. He seems to really care about you and I don’t think he would try anything on a first date.”
“But what if he does?”
“Then you just tell him you’re not interested in doing anything.” She said it as if that was as simple a statement as saying ‘the sky is blue’.
“Oh,” said Anna. “I can do that.”
“Of course you can!” said Stella. “You’re so strong and you never have an issue speaking your mind. Honestly, I’m a little surprised you are so worried about this in the first place. You just don’t strike me as someone who doesn’t know how to handle herself.”
“I can handle myself just fine,” said Anna. “But this is new territory for me, and I guess I’m a little uncomfortable because… well because I’m a virgin.”
Stella smiled, and at first Anna thought she was mocking her. Anna stood up and started to walk out of the room. “Nevermind,” she said. “I don’t want to talk about this.”
“Hang on!” Stella called after her. “Anna!”
“You were about to laugh!”
“I was not!”
Anna hesitated in the hallway and stared intently into Stella’s face, trying to gauge from her expression whether or not she was telling the truth.
“I only smiled because I was glad you felt close enough to me to share something like that!” Stella explained. “I wasn’t going to laugh, I swear.”
Anna sighed. “I’m sorry,” she said. “It’s just I’ve never told anyone that before.”
“I get it.” Stella grabbed Anna’s arm and guided her back in the room.
“I don’t care.” Anna caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror as she passed and she had to admit she looked pretty damn good. “I think it’s stupid and sexist how much significance is placed on a woman’s virginity in the first place. I guess I just wish I wasn’t one because it adds all this extra pressure to any type of romantic interaction I have with another person, you know? Like, do I tell them? Is that weird? Is it better to just say nothing and get the whole ‘first time’ thing over with?”
Stella shook her head. “I don’t know what to tell you. If you want me to lie and tell you my first time was amazing and romantic, I can do that, but I’m not a very convincing liar.”
Anna laughed. “It was bad?”
Stella winced. “I mean, it wasn’t good. But it was with a boy I’d dated all throughout high school and he was very sweet. I’m glad it happened like that, but that doesn’t mean I look back on that night with fond memories per say.” Her cheeks were flushed and she let out an awkward laugh-cough. “He still lives in town. I run into him now and then. That’s always a little strange, but I guess that’s to be expected when you live in such a small community.”
“For a while now I’ve been thinking about just finding some random guy and just doing it. Take the pressure off, you know? Then, once that’s done, I can actually have a chance at having a normal dating experience with a guy I might really like.”
“Like Noah?”
Anna didn’t answer at first, but she knew deep down there was no point in lying. Stella could obviously tell she had feelings for him. “Yeah. Like Noah.”
“Listen,” said Stella. “There’s no reason to be nervous about tonight. Noah is a nice guy, he’s not going to expect anything from you on a first date. You can just relax and have a good time. No pressure. Then, if you find that you really like him and you want to keep seeing him romantically, you can deal with the awkward virginity discussion then. How does that sound?”
Anna smirked. “I would have liked you to come up with a plan in which I could avoid the awkward virginity discussion altogether, but I guess that’s asking too much.” She reached out and grabbed Stella’s hand. “Thanks for all your help. And for letting me borrow this dress.”
“It really does look fantastic on you.”
Anna stood up and took another look in the mirror. “It does, doesn’t it?”
Noah arrived to pick Anna up promptly at seven. His assistant had called the station earlier to solidify the details with Anna, and to inform her what time he’d be there and to double check she had no dietary restrictions he should consider when picking a restaurant.
“I’m glad you said you eat just about everything,” he said as the two of them drove into town. He was wearing a pair of black slacks, a light blue button down shirt and a black jacket. He hadn’t said anything about Anna’s outfit, but she could tell by the way he’d stared at her, wide-eyed, when she opened the door that he was impressed. “There’s this cute, family owned Italian restaurant one town over, but th
ey have a pretty limited menu.”
“Sounds great.” Anna couldn’t find a comfortable sitting position that didn’t cause the dress to rise up to her mid-thigh. She kept having to arch her back awkwardly and pull it down where it belonged.
“I hope you’re hungry too, because they have huge portions there.”
“I haven’t eaten anything today really,” said Anna, leaving out the fact that the reason she hadn’t eaten anything was because she was so anxious about their date.
They pulled onto the highway, heading South out of town. As they came up to the
unpaved road that would have taken them to the gravel, a beat up dark blue pickup truck came speeding around the corner and pulled right in front of them. Noah slammed on the breaks, sending both him and Anna jerking forward. He was about to press his hand to the horn when Anna shouted for him to stop.
“Wait!” she yelled. Even though she hadn’t gotten a great look at the car, she knew whose it was. “That’s Sam Cottons.”
“What?” Noah squinted ahead, trying to see better the truck which was now barreling down the highway. “Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
“Well so what?”
“So what?” Anna gawked. “So follow him! We have to see where he’s off to in such a hurry.”
“But what about our date?”
There was a slight octave shift in his tone and Anna realized just how important this night was to him. “I’m sorry, Noah, I was looking forward to dinner too, but we can’t let him get away. C’mon, this could be a huge break in the case. He’s headed out of town, probably to meet up with the rest of his gang!”
“Or he’s been kicked out of every bar in a twenty mile radius and now he’s out looking for a new place to get sloshed.”
“I have a feeling he’s going somewhere significant.”
“Do you really have a feeling, or are you just saying that because you know it will convince me?”
Anna shook her head. “I really have a feeling. We can have dinner tomorrow night.”
“But—”
Anna rolled her eyes and put her hand on Noah’s knee. She looked into his eyes and smiled kindly, then pushed down on his leg hard, causing him to accelerate.
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