Heavenly Virtues

Part 14

She sat for what felt for hours in that small, uncomfortable bar chair. It had only been about 15 minutes by the time Detective Duffy came urgently through the doors of the bar, but it felt like longer. Kathy was still by the girls side. Kneeling down, rubbing her leg trying to coax an answer out of her about what was happening, but Ashley was miles away.

She jumped when Duffy placed his hand on her shoulder. "Sarah." He tried grabbing her attention. "Sarah." He said a bit more sternly. "It won't do any good, I've been trying to shake her out of it for the past 20 minutes." Kathy said standing to meet the man with a very worried look on her face.

He sighed heavily and looked down at the terrified woman. He turned to Kathy and smiled with a nod. "I've got her. Thank you for staying with her." When Kathy left them alone after a long worried look at the spaced out girl, Duffy kneeled beside her "Ashley." He whispered to her.

It seemed to pull her out of herself and she turned her head to meet his face. He gave her an apologetic look, and rubbed her arm as she started sobbing again. He looked around and saw the many worried and peering eyes on the two " let's go upstairs. We can talk more there." She stood with his help and they made their way upstairs, Duffy grabbing the bouquet and card on his way by.

They got up stairs and he sat her down at her table. "I'm gonna take your statement, I'm gonna record it and then we can talk more. Are you feeling up for that?" He asked looking to meet her eyes as he pulled out a small recorder. She nodded her head and he hit the record button placing it between them. He asked her to recount what happened then proceeded with questions 'have you noticed anything off?' 'Have you felt like your being followed?' 'Has he made any other attempts to contact you?' She shook her head to each question. No. She hadn't noticed.

That's what freaked her out. He had been inside the bar, watched her serve people. It had been so packed she hadn't even noticed him. But he noticed her. He obviously saw the boys that night, had he seen them outside of then? She had been so observant back home, she could always pick up on when he was around. Maybe it was just because she was so paranoid all the time.

"I'm going to ask the bartender downstairs if she remembers anything, is there any type of security camera downstairs?" She chewed on her thumb as she shook her head no. He stood up and tucked away the recorder into his pocket. He paused looking at Ashley who still looked shell shocked. He sighed and slightly leaned into the table "Do you have anywhere to stay tonight? Should...should you stay here? Do you feel safe?" She looked around the room contemplating his question.

Did he know she lived here? Or did he just think she worked here? She shook her head at him. "I- I don't want to put anyone else in danger. What if he follows me back to my Granda's?" She looked at him terrified at the possibility. He furrowed his eyebrows "what about... the two men that... that were here a few days ago?" She shook her head. "They- they don't know about anything... and that's who he was threatening. I- I think I have to distance myself from them for a bit." She said choking to get the last sentence out. "I don't think you should stay here Ashley." Her head dropped and she stared at her hands "I'll be fine. I'll jam the window and I'll barricade the door til morning." She said shrugging.

He gave her a concerned look but couldn't make her do anything so he would have to settle for that. He let out a big sigh "I'm going to have someone watching the bar for the next few days while you're here. I'm going to have someone tail you, to and from and at your work too." He rubbed the back of his neck harshly. "I'm not gonna let this guy get to you. I promise." She gave him a weak smile and nod before he left her apartment. She quickly got up and locked the door. She rested her forehead on the door and silently sobbed.

There was no way he could keep that promise. He could try, but that same promise was made to her by Detective Quinlan. She brought her hand to her throat at the memory. The gash had healed, it was fairly gnarly. It was still a bright red and it protruded out of her neck a bit. She ran her finger across the pronounced scar and looked to her dresser. It took some work but she successfully was able to get it in front of the door.