The Crucifix Killer - Chris Carter [111]
‘How are you, babe?’ she said softly.
‘I’m OK . . . tired though.’
‘Are you hungry? Did you eat? There’s food in the fridge. You’ve gotta eat something,’ she insisted.
Garcia didn’t feel hungry. In fact his appetite had been nonexistent since he walked into that old wooden house a few weeks ago, but he didn’t want to say no to Anna. ‘Yeah, I could eat a little.’
They both walked into the kitchen. Garcia took a seat at the small breakfast table while Anna retrieved a plate from the fridge and placed it into the microwave.
‘Do you wanna beer?’ she asked, going back to the fridge.
‘Actually, a single malt would do me better.’
‘It won’t go with the food. Have a beer now and if you still want one later . . .’
She passed him an open bottle of Bud and sat across from him. The silence was broken by the microwave bell announcing his late supper was ready.
Anna had cooked one of Garcia’s favorite dishes – rice, Brazilian beans, chicken and vegetables, but Garcia had only managed about three spoonfuls before he started rearranging the food around on the plate without ever bringing it to his mouth again.
‘Is there something wrong with the chicken?’
‘No, babe. You know I love your cooking. I’m just not as hungry as I thought I was.’
Without any warning Anna buried her head in her hands and started crying.
Garcia quickly moved towards her and kneeled in front of her chair. ‘Anna, what’s wrong?’ He tried lifting her head from her hands.
It took her a few more seconds before she finally looked at him with eyes full of tears and sadness. ‘I’m scared.’
‘Scared? Scared of what?’ he asked concerned.
‘Of what this new job of yours is doing to you . . . what it’s doing to us.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Look at you. You haven’t slept properly in weeks. On the rare occasions when you do fall asleep it’s only a matter of minutes before you wake up in a cold sweat almost screaming. You haven’t been eating. You’ve lost so much weight you look ill, and me . . . you don’t even look at me anymore, never mind talk to me.’
‘I’m sorry, babe. You know I can’t talk to you about the cases I work on.’ He tried to hug her, but she pulled away.
‘I don’t want you to tell me the details of your investigation, but you have become a ghost around here. I never see you anymore. We never do anything together anymore. Even little things like having a meal together have become a luxury. You leave before the sun is out and you only come back at this godforsaken time. Every day I watch you come through that door looking like you’ve left a little bit of your life out there. We’re becoming strangers to each other. What will happen six months or a year down the line?’ she asked, wiping the tears from her cheeks.
An overwhelming sense of protectiveness rushed through Garcia. He wanted to take her in his arms and reassure her, but the truth was he also felt scared. Not for himself, but for everyone else. There was a killer out there that took pleasure in inflicting as much pain as the victim could possibly take. A killer that made no distinction of race, religion, social class or anything else for that matter. Anyone could be the next victim, anyone including Anna. He felt helpless.
‘Please don’t cry babe, everything will be OK,’ he said, softly touching Anna’s hair. ‘We’re making progress on the investigation and with just a bit of luck we’ll be closing the case very soon.’ Garcia wasn’t sure if he believed it himself.
‘I’m sorry,’ she said still tearful. ‘But no other case you’ve worked on has affected you this way.’
Garcia didn’t know what to say.
‘I’m scared of what this job may do to you. I don’t wanna lose you.’ Tears filled her eyes once again.
‘You’re not gonna lose me, babe. I love you.’ He kissed her cheek and wiped away the rest of her tears. ‘I promise you everything will be fine.’
Anna wanted to believe him, but she saw no conviction in his eyes.
‘C’mon, let’s go to bed,’ he said helping her up.
They both stood up slowly. She hugged him and they kissed.