Take a Breath (Take #1) - Jaimie Roberts Page 0,64

I manage to snap out of it long enough to ask Jake what in the hell is going on, and that’s when he gets back up again. I watch as he paces, raking his hands through his hair and rubbing his eyes. He looks exhausted.

“Jake?” I ask, even more anxious.

He stops his pacing and walks over to me. With a deep breath, he begins to tell me what he knows.

“A couple of weeks back at the last murder scene we attended, the Blonde Killer left a note.” I start shaking as it suddenly dawns on me what he’s about to say. “It said, ‘She is not my English rose’. He sighs again before continuing. “At the time, we didn’t know what to think and thought it a strange coincidence that in this area we had someone who seemed to have an obsession with a blonde, blue-eyed English woman. It was then we began shutting you out and searching for how many English, blonde women there are in this area. I would have given the case to Jessie to take over, but I felt she would never be able to keep this from you—seeing how you both seem so close. I also wanted to be sure first before I approached you with the information. Now it seems certain that you are his obsession.”

I look away, tears welling in my eyes. Jake grabs my shaking hands as I try to wrap my head around this information. Who is this psycho? And what does he want with me?

“Ana, look at me, please.” I look up at his eyes as tears are threatening to sting my own. “After the scene at the bar, I asked Michael to check out that asshole who grabbed you. Turns out he’s an investment broker a couple of blocks from the station. Not only that, he’s married with a kid. We tailed him for a while, but realized it wasn’t him when we traced his whereabouts on the dates of the murders. We found that he had been on business trips in Florida and New York when three of the murders took place.” He sighs again before trailing his hand down my face. “I’m so sorry that I kept this from you, but can you think of anyone who has been acting suspicious around you lately? Or have you noticed anyone acting strangely?”

A tear runs down my face as I try to wrack my brain over the past few weeks. In the end, I can’t think of anything. I shake my head.

“I will not let anything happen to you. Do you hear me? I promise I will protect you. We will catch this son of a bitch, and when we do, he will be sorry he ever looked your way, let alone managed to get in this house and leave a note.” He thinks for a moment before continuing. “I can’t understand that,” he finally says. “There is no sign of a break-in, and the alarms have always been switched on when we are out, which can only mean—” His eyes widen at the sudden realization.

He was in the house when we were.

After a few minutes of Jake cursing and me still in shock, the doorbell rings, causing me to jump out of my skin.

“It’s okay. That will be Michael.” He answers the door, and Michael walks in with Tom and another man. They all acknowledge me briefly, but their main focus is on the note.

Michael, seeing that I’m upset, walks up to me with a smile. “You okay? You do know he won’t get to you, don’t you? We won’t ever let the asshole get that far.”

I manage to muster a smile, nodding at him. I have every faith that they will protect me, but I can’t be watched over twenty-four seven. And that, above all else is what’s frightening me the most.

“Ana?”

I look up to find the strange man in a suit looking down at me. He seems to be in his early forties, about average height, with brown hair swept back, and a mole on his right cheek.

“I’m Agent Andrew Marcos from the FBI. I’m investigating the Blonde Killer, and I would like to ask you some questions, if I may? Can we go somewhere quieter?”

I glance to Jake, and he nods his head. I nod back, gathering myself together as I walk towards the living room. Once there, I take a seat on the monstrous sofa with Marcos sitting across from me on the other