Finding Fire

Chapter Two

When Anna got back to her apartment around six thirty, she couldn't stop thinking about her meeting with the Stakes. She thought of the few murders they'd gone over, trying to determine if the deaths were supernatural in any way.

One in particular stood out. The daughter of a congressman. Her father was probably the only reason the poor thing had gotten any space in the newspaper at all. There'd been no photo of her in the article. Just one life, full of potential, wiped out way too soon. Just like Evie...

It made Anna sick. The image of empty, black eyes came back to her mind. She shook her head to get rid of the vision and then looked out the window to clear her mind. The sun still gave light to the city, though most of the streets were now in shadow.

She quickly changed into sweatpants and a t-shirt, tossing her cell phone and identification into a light shoulder bag. From the nightstand drawer, she pulled out a .45 caliber pistol. She didn't have anything fancy like silver bullets, though she hoped anything that came at her from the shadows would at least pause when shot with normal bullets.

With everything securely in her bag, she put on her running shoes and grabbed her MP3 player. She set it on a soundtrack from an older action sci-fi movie. Fast songs to keep her pumped up.

She started to run in the cool air, swerving between people while she moved her feet to the pounding song in her ears. Her lungs started to work for oxygen while her heart pounded faster. As she ran, she imagined a pair of black eyes following her every move. Thought of Mr. X sitting somewhere with Dennis's personal information in front of him.

What kind of intel did he have on her? Did he have the file from the Westpoint Police Department? The one mentioning the crazy child who had seen monsters? She ran faster to try to clear her head, trying to focus on the book assignment her students were working on now. Trying to think about what she could do to make the students falling behind do better in class.

She turned a city corner about two miles from her apartment. She'd been on such a grueling pace she thought she could feel her body vibrating. Suddenly she realized it was her cell phone that caused the vibrations and not her body.

She shook her head at herself and stopped next to a bus stop. She pulled off her headphones and twisted her bag from her back to her front. By the time she had her phone, it had stopped ringing.

She flipped open the older model cell phone to see whose call she'd missed. Before she could see the missed call, her phone rang in her hand. The unexpectedness of it caused Anna to jump. She looked at the screen. All it said was unknown number.

Usually she wouldn't take calls while running, but on this particular night, she could use a distraction from her dark thoughts. Hoping it was a student asking for help, she pressed on the green Answer button.

"Anna Roberts speaking," she said in her professional teaching voice while she made sure her heavier breathing couldn't be heard on the other end of the line.

"Hello, Ms. Roberts. I hope I didn't catch you at a bad time." The caller was male but didn't have much of an accent. A deep voice that resonated of upper class. It irked Anna that he didn't announce his identity immediately.

"Your timing is fine. May I ask who is calling?" Anna tried to sound as pleasant as possible.

"I apologize. I believe you may have heard of me. You may call me Mr. X."

Anna stood up straighter at the ridiculous, yet ominous name.

"What do you want?" All pleasantness had left her tone.