Katie's Cafe

8

After saying goodnight to Tom and parting ways with him at the taxi office, I don't exactly know what I'm supposed to do now with all this new information that I'd just learned from him.

The entire taxi ride home, sitting in the backseat with Hannah's food resting in my lap, I'm not even sure whether I should tell her what had happened tonight at all.

I don't like lying to her about anything important, but withholding details was sometimes necessary to keep her safe. Still, Tom's a detective, and that's not something that's going to stay secret forever.

"I'm back," I say while locking the apartment door behind me.

"What did you bring me, I'm starving?" she comes walking in the kitchen.

"The usual, but listen Hannah, we really need to talk about something".

"What's wrong?" she asks me nervously.

"There seems to be an unforeseen obstacle that could fuck up everything, and I can't keep it a secret because you're probably going to find out eventually".

"What is it?"

"I ran into Tom at the bar earlier where I was supposed to pick that bloke up".

"Tom? As in Professor Loverman Tom?"

"Yes it was. We ran into each other just after I texted you, so I ended up ditching that man tonight and went off with Tom for a takeaway instead".

"Wow, so you really do like him then? I mean, it's not like it wasn't completely obvious in the first place," she laughs.

"Therein lies the problem".

"And why is that a problem exactly? He's handsome, smart, friendly and he obviously likes you too or he wouldn't have bothered asking you out in the first place".

"Hannah, he's a homicide detective," I decide to just blurt it out like ripping off a plaster, unpleasant but quick.

"You're joking right?" she sniggers.

"No, it's true. He told me so himself and here's the best part, guess what case he's been investigating since he started working here?"

"You've got to be fucking kidding me!?"

"Turns out they've already connected all of the victims, and they also know that it's a female killer because some of them were seen with a woman fitting the same description, me".

"Shit, so what are we going to do?" she's panicking by this point, pacing back and forth, nervously.

"Hannah, WE aren't going to do anything at all".

"Okay, so what are YOU going to do about this?"

"They clearly know that I've been picking them up at night, so I'll just have to change up my pattern to throw them off. Maybe go after the next one during the day, I guess?"

"But what if someone sees your face? It's completely different picking them up at night in bars with crappy cctv. Not to mention that any of those witnesses are probably drunk people anyway".

"Then I'll wear a wig or something, and try to change the way I look when I go out next time".

"Next time? If they've already linked all those men together, then it's way too risky going after the other two right now. You could at least wait a little while until the heat dies down a bit before you do the next one?"

"The one I stupidly let go tonight is only going to be around until Sunday. After that, I'd have to travel to the other side of the country to get near him again".

I'm trying to formulate a plan in my head, but my thoughts are too chaotic so I'm struggling to think straight right now.

"Well we have the new waitress Gemma starting first thing in the morning if you need to take a few hours off to come up with something?"

"No, I can't do that. I have to be there to show her the ropes".

"I can do that for you if you want?"

I know she's just trying to help me out and be supportive, but I don't like involving her in my problems.

"That's not your responsibility, Hannah".

"Neither is this for you. Doing all these horrible things isn't going to change what happened".

"Don't you think I know that? You weren't there, you didn't see what they did. Every time one of those bastards dies, it's like what they did gets washed away".

"But it doesn't though, does it? Not really".

"I still have the nightmares sometimes," I admit.

"I know".

Straight after she says those words, tears begin falling from my eyes without warning. She hugs me until I've finally calmed down and enough to carry on the conversation.

"So what are you going to do about Tom then?" she asks, handing me a tissue.

"I don't know".

"You can't just avoid him now or stop talking to him all together. It would look really suspicious after he's told you all that stuff about his job".

"So what am I supposed to do then, date him?" I laugh weakly as I wipe my eyes.

"Oh my god, you are a fucking genius!"

"What are you on about?"

Seriously, I have absolutely no idea what the hell this kid talking about half of the time, but she seems enthusiastic about something.

"You shouldn't be distancing yourself from him at all. You should be trying to get as close to him as possible," she looks like she's just discovered the cure for the common cold.

"Hannah, that's ridiculous. Why would I want to get closer to the man that could put me in prison for the rest of my natural born life?"

"To get information from him, you plonker? That way you can stay one step ahead of the investigation and you'll never get caught. If you can pull it off, then it's fool proof," she has a good point, but it's way too risky.

"So you want me to date Tom just so I can use him for what he knows? Isn't that a little cruel and manipulative though?"

"Are you for real? Says the woman whose spent months tracking down, seducing and murdering men?"

"Touché! Who raised you to be such a smart young woman anyway?"

"You did. Even though you're an idiot sometimes," she smirks.

Could I really go through with her insane idea? Either way, I had to make a decision, whether it's the right one or not is yet to be seen.

It really didn't sit right with me now that I know he's a widower. On the other hand, what choice do I have? If I fly too close to the sun I could get burnt, but what's the alternative?