The Desperation Inside

Chapter 12: Shadows in the Dark

The next day was punctuated by more storms and horrible weather. Jake groaned internally for what felt like the millionth time. . His ear piece beeped in his ear, indicating Drake wanted to talk to him. He made eye contact with Glory, motioning to his ear so she would know what he was doing. "Go ahead Drake."

"There is possible sighting of our missing woman in town. The owner of the local coffee shop reported it to the PD. They are sending over still shots from the surveillance cameras. Can Glory ID her?"

"Give me five minutes." Jake reached over to take Glory's hand. "OK, we need your help. There has been a possible sighting of Leanne in town. The shop owner is letting us see his camera shots. Can you look at the pictures and make sure it is her? If so, we have a starting point for local PD to start working from."

Glory's eyes widened. " She is here? That means he is too....." He could see the fear in her eyes and watched silently as she battled her emotions back down. "Yes, let me see them."

"Drake is pulling them up on the laptop for us. This is good news, Glory. It means they are not being as careful as we expected. He will screw up and we will catch them." He reassured her, taking her hand and guiding her to his bedroom. Drake sat at the desk with a laptop. A few clicks later he turned the screen for Glory to see. Jake watched her face anxiously for several seconds as she squinted at the grainy images on the screen. A shudder racked her slender shoulders as she nodded. "It's her."

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Glory could feel the fear rising up in her gut. They were close. She needed to run. Her body was trembling and tense with pent up emotions, and she needed to release some before she exploded.

"Jake, I know this is probably not a good idea, but is there any way we can go to the gym? I need to run, exercise, anything to get rid of some of these nerves." She watched as Jake seemed to think over the idea for a minute, before suddenly jumping up and striding out of his room.

Confused, she trailed him into the living room. He walked quickly over to his coat closet and smiled at her. "You are right, it isn't a good idea for us to go out. I do have something that will help you though." He opened the door and pulled out a fold up treadmill. A smile graced her face as he drug it over to the corner and plugged it up.

"Thank you!" She exclaimed, throwing her arms around his neck for a quick hug. "I am going to change, be right back!" Running into her room, she closed the door and leaned back against it and took a shuddering breath. She quickly threw on running shorts and her shoes. When she went back to the living room, Jake had the treadmill set up and waiting for her. Tossing her a bottle of water, he offered her a small smile. "Keep it under ten miles okay? I don't want you falling out on me."

She nodded and stepped onto the rails of the treadmill, starting the belt moving. Once it got up to speed, she plugged in her ear buds, tucked her Ipod into her pocket, hopped on and easily found her rhythm. Step, step, breathe in, step, step, breathe out. She could feel the blessed numbness settling in to her mind as the monotony of repetition lulled her into oblivion.

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Jake watched as she ran. Drake came out if the bedroom and stood beside him. "I notified the locals that it was a positive ID. They are on alert. Charlie is outside on patrol. You wanna catch a couple of hours of sleep while she is occupied? From what I have heard from Shaun, you have at least 2-3 hours before she is going to be done. I will stay in here with her."

Jake hesitated, knowing he needed the sleep but hating to let her out of his sight. "Yeah, that is probably a good idea. Make sure she drinks that water and don't let her go over 10 miles."

Drake nodded, and Jake slipped into his bedroom. He sat on the side of his bed and dropped his head into his hands, saying a silent prayer for protection over Glory. Heaving a sigh, he laid back and dozed fitfully.

Two hours later, feeling more tired than when he lay down, Jake emerged from his bedroom to find Drake standing by the bathroom door with a look of concern. "What's up?"

"Well.. I reminded her about 45 minutes ago that she needed to stop at 10 miles. She nodded, walked a little while to cool down, and then disappeared in there to take a shower. The water has been running for about 20 minutes... But I can hear her crying. I don't know what to do." Drake looked at him sadly.

Jake felt his heart twinge in pain for her. " Go on to take your nap so you can relieve Charlie. I will take it from here." Leaning his forehead against the bathroom door, he tapped lightly on the door. He could hear the soft sobs over the shower. "Glory, sweetheart, are you OK?" He listened for a few moments. "Glory, I am going to open the door so that I can make sure you are not hurt." He eased the door open to find her curled up in a ball in the tub. Her shoes had been tossed to the side, but she still had her running clothes on as the water streamed over her. She looked up at him helplessly as tears ran down her face. "Will it ever get stop? I close my eyes, and I remember everything they said and did. It's like every horrible thing is on a video reel that plays over and over and over.." She shook her head, and dropped her forehead to her knees in defeat.

Jake grabbed a towel and turned the water off. Without saying a word, he wrapped it around her and helped her stand. When her legs wobbled precariously, he lifted her into his arms like a child and carried her to her room. After settling onto her bed, he tenderly placed her between his legs, curled into his chest. He slowly rubbed her back, letting her get all of the tears out. When she had settled to shuddery breaths, he gently lifted her chin to look at him. "It will get better. I promise. It takes time, and there is no way to know how much time you will need, but eventually, the memories fade. You have to be patient with yourself. We will help you get through this. Me, Shaun, Drake, Charlie.. we are all on your side. One day at a time, ok?"