"So? What did she say?" Tim asked as Calleigh walked into their house.
"Nothing." she said.
"Nothing?"
"Did I stutter?"
"She said something."
"Tim... just leave it alone."
"I'm not leaving it alone. What happened?" Tim felt his anger slowly rising and Calleigh sighed and lowered herself onto the couch. "So she didn't say anything?"
"We hit a bit of a snag." Calleigh said.
"What kind of snag?"
"I, apparently, don't understand."
"Understand what?"
"That she and Richie are in love and nothing is going to change that."
Tim thought for a second and Calleigh swore she saw steam come out of his ears.
"Tim, don't do anything."
"Don't do anything! He's hurting her and you're saying don't do anything?"
"Let her realize."
"If I let her realize Calleigh, it could be too late!" Tim yelled, making her flinch. His cell phone gave a shrill ring and he flipped it open. "What? Yeah... mhmm... she is? Okay I'll be right over."
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"Miss Whitmore?" Tim sat down near the hospital bed and looked at the young woman. She groaned softly and turned to look at Tim.
"Yes?"
"I'm Tim Speedle with the Miami-Dade Crime Lab. Do you remember what happened?"
"I was attacked. And call me Donna, Mr. Speedle."
"Okay. Then you can call me Tim. Do you remember anything abotu when you were attacked?"
Donna thought hard for a minute.
"I entered my apartment and someone pushed their way in from behind me. We struggled and..." Donna took a deep breath.
"It's okay. Your doctor told us. Did you see his face at all?"
"Yes. Actually I did." Donna said. Tim's look brightened.
"Donna, would you mind talking with a sketch artist?"
"No. Not at all."
-----------S/C----------
"Jane!" Tim jogged to catch up with the sketch artist and the redhead turned around and smiled.
"I was coming to find you." she said.
"It's finished?"
"Yep." Jane nodded, handing Tim a folder. Tim opened it and he scanned the picture of the young man before him. "You okay Tim?"
"I know where to find him." he muttered. "Thanks Jane."
"No problem Tim." she walked away as Tim pulled out his cell phone and quickly dialed a number.
"Paula, if I get any calls take a message. If it's Anna, tell her to call my cell phone." he said. Paula nodded as Tim disappeared into the elevator.
-----------S/C----------
"Mom?"
Calleigh looked up as Maggie walked into her room.
"Hey. How was practice?"
"Good. Um... can we talk?"
"Yeah. What's going on?"
"Yesterday when I was at Anna's..."
"Yesterday when you were at Anna's what?" Calleigh asked.
"Richie wasn't there."
"Maybe he went out with friends."
"No. Anna... Anna told me she kicked him out a long time ago. She said not to tell you but... I heard you and Daddy talking."
"Honey, I called there today. Richie answered the phone."
"Well... Mom, something's not right." Maggie said.
"Don't worry about it Maggie. I put a plate aside for you. Heat it up for two minutes." Calleigh said.
"Okay."
-----------S/C---------
Anna heard a knock on her door and as she opened the door, a hand swung out at her, causing her to fall onto the floor. Richie slammed the door closed and Anna scrambled to get away from him.
"You told your mom." he said. "I saw you at the mall."
"You were following me?"
"I told you when you left we weren't finished."
"Richie, just leave me alone." Anna pleaded. He shook his head and grabbed her by her hair, making her yell out in pain. He yanked her onto her feet and held her close to him.
"Shut up." he hissed into her ear. "Don't want the neighbors calling the cops again."
"You're crazy."
"About you. Just let me stay with you."
"No. You hurt me. And those girls..."
"I did that for you Anna." Richie said, pushing her into the wall. "I did it because of you. I needed you so bad. But they weren't good enough. They weren't you. There's only one you."
He pressed his lips against hers roughly and Anna squirmed beneath him.
"Get off!" she tried pushing him off her but he pressed harder against her. The phone started ringing. "Let me get it."
"Let it ring."
The answering machine came on.
"Hi it's Anna! I'm not here right now so leave a message after the beep."
"Anna, it's Daddy."
"Aww how sweet." Richie mumbled, kissing Anna's neck.
"Baby, pick up the phone please. Look I'm on my way over. It's something about Richie. He... he's been the one killing all those girls. Anna, I know you're gonna say no but believe me. I just got a witness to describe her attacker. I saw the sketch Anna. It's Richie to a tee."
"He's right. It was me. I figured she had died. We'll be long gone though. But first I want to have a little fun with you. Then we're gonna stop at your parents' house. I told you what I'd do Anna if you talked."
"Richie, stop." she whimpered. "Please. I'll let you leave. We'll forget about it."
"Nuhuh. I want my way with you first." he pulled Anna along towards her room and she desperately tried to get out of his grip. Richie threw her onto the bed and climbed on top of her so he was straddling him. Anna struggled against Richie and he sighed.
"Where's the tape?"
Anna stayed silent and kept squirming under him.
"Anna, where's the tape?"
"Richie, get off me! You don't have to do this."
"But I do. You're so much better than they were." he rolled off her and walked out of the bedroom. He came back a few minutes later, a roll of duct tape in his hands. "We'll have to do it the hard way I guess huh?"
Anna jumped off her bed and knocked Richie into the wall, allowing her to get into her small kitchen. Richie rubbed the back of his head and ran after her. Anna had a knife in her hand now and Richie laughed, tossing the tape away.
"You're kidding right?"
"I swear to God if you come any closer I will hurt you."
"Yeah mhmm." Richie grabbed her by the neck and tightened his hand against her windpipe. Anna gasped for air and trailed the knife over Richie's stomach. He gritted his teeth and yanked her arm back, holding it until the knife clattered to the floor.
"ANNA!"
Tim banged on the door loudly, yelling Anna's name. Anna struggled against Richie and he pressed her up against the counter. He finally let go of her neck, allowing her to yell.
"DAD!"
Richie slapped his hand over her mouth and Anna bit him, hard, forcing him to let out a yell. Tim kicked the door open and trained his gun on Richie.
"Get away from her."
Richie didn't move and Tim cocked the gun.
"Richie, this gun is aimed at you and if you don't move or do something stupid then I will shoot you."
He reluctantly pulled away from Anna, who slid onto the ground in a heap of sobs. The uniform grabbed Richie and handcuffed him as Tim holstered his gun and went over to Anna.
"Come here," he pulled her into his arms and she cried into his shoulder. He glanced over at the uniform. "Get him out of here. And I'm not finished with you."
"Yeah okay." Richie sneered as the uniform dragged him away.
"Daddy, I was so scared." Anna cried. Tim held her tighter and kissed the top of her head.
"I know but it's okay. You're fine."
"I wanna come home."
"Okay. I'll take you home."
"I should've told you."
"No, baby it's not your fault."
"Then why does it feel like it is?"
----------S/C--------
A/N: epilogue is next...
