Page 30 of Protecting Anna
He sneered at her. A condescending, cruel look that made it clear he had something horrible in mind. Anna shuddered with fear as she looked at the man she once thought she loved. His slicked-back hair, the designer clothes he wore as a way to show off the riches he had gained by being a kingpin in the seedy world of drug dealing. The cold glint in his eyes was proof that the man had no heart, no soul. She knew without a doubt, he wouldn’t hesitate to do whatever he felt necessary to get what he wanted.
“Did you really think you could leave me? You belong to me, Anna Thorn. If you want to live in Portland, fine we’ll live in Portland. But make no mistake, you cannot get away from me. When we get home, I will show you what happens when you defy me like this.” His voice was chilling.
Anna stumbled backward, her eyes darting around seeing nothing but a parking lot full of cars—no people, everyone already inside enjoying the evening. No one was there to help her. Feeling the tendrils of hopelessness seep into her soul, she could only pray that his being here didn’t mean he knew that she had witnessed his act of murder.
“You don’t want me, Tim, not anymore. I have no idea how you found me, but—”
“How I found you?” He laughed, an evil laugh that made her feel like a bug he was about to squish with his Italian loafers. “You left the goddamn letter from that lawyer in my house. I finally found it last week, and decided to pay you a visit. Your helpful neighbor, Sally, was all too willing to tell me where you work. I’m surprised, Anna, I thought you would be more careful. You never know who you can trust, now do you.” His words were taunting, a cruel reminder that Anna had trusted Tim blindly at first.
Anna cursed her stupidity. In her rush to get away, the letter from Aunt Theresa’s lawyer must have fallen from her bag. And of course, it included the address for her Portland house. Before she could think any more about that, or worry if Tim had hurt Sally, he took another menacing step toward her. He was deranged. Did he actually think she would let him stay here, in Portland, with her? Fall back into his trap? Not a chance. Yet her strength wavered under the intensity of his evil power. Anna shuddered at the thought of what her fate may be, especially if he learned of the secret she held. Then again, maybe—just maybe—she could use that information as leverage to get away.
Taking a deep breath, Anna realized he had cornered her against the back wall of the pub. She held her hand in front of her, and, hating the tremble in her voice, she tried desperately to bluff her way into getting him to leave.
“I know what happened, Tim. I know you killed someone that night you took me to your meeting. I saw you do it and I’ve got video proof. If you let me go, I’ll go and get it to give to you, you can destroy the video and I will forget I ever knew you. But if you don’t, my friends inside are going to figure out I’m missing soon, and they know to send the video to the cops.”
If only her empty threat was true. Why had she not told Ryan the whole truth of why she was so scared of Tim. Instead, Ryan had no idea that she had the SIM card from her old phone hidden in her house, the only proof of what Tim had done. If she let him take her now, no one would ever know that he was a murderer.
“You dumb bitch.” Tim lunged at her, grabbing her arm painfully. She cried out, but he pulled her toward the parked cars. “Blackmail? Really? Goddamnit, Anna, you’re stupider than I thought. You’ll never be free of me. When I’m done with you, whatever you think you saw, whatever proof you think you have, won’t even matter anymore.”
Anna screamed as he wrenched her toward him, twisting her arm so hard she felt something snap. Her vision went blurry, the pain so intense she was certain she was going to pass out. This was it, the moment she had feared for so long was here. Tim would take her away, and she would lose everything once again.
* * *
“Here you go man.” Ryan pushed the last bottle of Frog River toward the waiting customer.Where’s Anna with the new case?he wondered to himself, realizing it had been several minutes since she had gone to the back. Spying one of the waitresses at the end of the bar, he called over to her, to see if she knew anything.
“Hey, Veronica, have you seen Anna? She was going to get some more bottles of pilsner, we’re all out.”
She came over with a confused look on her face. “Sorry, Ryan, I saw her going to the back storeroom about ten minutes ago, but that’s it.” She paused, thinking, before giving Ryan a worried look that made his heart sink. “I did see some rich dude heading down the hall after her though. I figured he was just going to the bathroom.” Veronica glanced quickly around the bar. “But I don’t see him here.”
He didn’t wait to hear what else she would say, Ryan took off running down the hall. He was dimly aware that Jake and Callie had noticed him leave, and hoped that Veronica would fill them in. Deep in his soul he knew Anna was in trouble.
Ryan slammed open the back door of the building just in time to hear Anna scream as the stranger holding her arm twisted it backward.
Ryan charged at the man, knocking him off balance. The element of surprise was with him, and he managed to get in some solid punches before the other man, who Ryan had instantly surmised must be Tim, was able to break away and stand up. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Callie crouching down by Anna, and Jake advancing slowly to lend his support in the fight. Thank god his friends had figured out something was wrong and had followed him right away. Tim must have seen the odds shift against him as well, because Ryan could see the indecision in his eyes as the evil bastard seemed to hesitate, likely debating his chances of trying to escape.
Ryan and Jake both tackled Tim as he turned to run, taking him down to the ground. Jake pinned him and pulled his hands behind his back. In the distance, sirens wailed. Someone must have called the cops.
Jake looked up at Ryan, a determined and protective glint in his eye. “I’ve got this bastard, Ry, go and see to Anna.”
With a nod of thanks Ryan stood up and turned, running across the pavement to where Anna sat, quietly crying as Callie held her injured arm. Callie looked up with a furious set to her face as Ryan sat down behind Anna and gently pulled her back against his body.
“He broke her fucking arm, Ryan.”
Breathing deeply to try and control the anger and adrenaline he could feel coursing through his veins, Ryan looked at Anna. She had turned her head buried her face in his shirt, curling into his body as much as her injured arm would let her.
Suddenly he was paralyzed with the uncertainty of not knowing exactly what else had happened to her. “Anna, baby, are you okay? Can you look at me?”
She peeked up at him with tear-soaked eyes. “I’m okay now you’re here. But it hurts, it hurts so much.”
“I know, sweetheart, I know.”
He leaned down slowly, pressing kiss after kiss all over her face. His arms tightened around her body, and when he felt her relax into his embrace, any doubts or fears that had once lingered in his mind washed away and all Ryan could feel was the strength and beauty of his love for the woman in his arms. He vowed then and there that he would make it his sole duty to ensure that she would never be alone, never be scared again. He murmured into her hair over and over how much he loved her, and that she was safe now. Slowly he felt her sobs slow down.
Ryan didn’t move a muscle from his hold on Anna until the police and paramedics arrived. Even then it was difficult for him to let go of her so that the paramedics could get her on the stretcher to assess her injuries. He looked up to see two police officers pull Tim up off the ground and slap handcuffs on him. He knew Jake would take care of informing the officers of what had happened, at least as much as they knew. Anna would still have to give her statement, but he quietly asked the paramedic who was loading the stretcher into the back of the ambulance if that could wait. Callie was standing next to him and must have overheard his request because she touched his shoulder to get his attention.
“They’re taking her to Oakville Memorial. I’ll call ahead to my colleagues; I think Mel’s on shift. I can try to talk to the cops who will be going there with her, they’ll probably recognize me from work. I can ask if they will wait until she’s had her arm treated before asking for her statement.”
Ryan smiled gratefully at Callie as he climbed into the ambulance beside Anna, who was now drowsy thanks to the pain medication the paramedic had given her.
