Anxious Jeopardies

Chapter Six

He pulled into his driveway. Ana opened the car door and was about to retort something when she heard a child's scream from inside the house. The door was open and they heard glass crashing. She ran inside before Jake could stop her. There was broken glass everywhere, more than the first time she'd been there. A cigarette was still burning, discarded on the floor. She heard someone's pounding feet around the back of the house.

"Sophie, come here!" Ana called, her voice cracking. She didn't remember the last time she'd been this nervous. Had the men come back? Or her mother? The little girl ran out from wherever she had been hiding and ran up to the redhead. She hugged her tightly legs.

"Ana! You came back!"

"Sophie, can you be quiet for me? You need to be quiet, okay?" The little girl nodded, fear evident in her eyes. Ana picked the little girl up and rested her on her hip in a protective gesture. A drunken woman, maybe in her forties, walked out from the kitchen.

"Who the hell are you?" She asked Ana, staggering to a wall. The girl wasn't sure how to respond. She felt protective hands on her shoulders and relaxed slightly.

Shoot. This wasn't supposed to happen. She wasn't supposed to trust.

"Mom, this is Ana. She saved Sophie." Jake's voice stayed calm, like he was used to dealing with his mother like this. Anger flared in the woman's eyes. Ana was sure that she was the only one to notice the woman pull out a pocket knife. She passed Sophie off to Jake, who took her with a threatening glance.

"Take her to the car and stay there. Please. I can deal with her. I can get her to go and never come back." The woman advanced. "But I need to be alone. Don't leave the car until I come and get you," she added, rushed.

Jake moved his sister to his other hip and stepped forward to talk to her, but she pushed him back gently with a glance behind. "I've dealt with her before. You aren't getting anywhere near her in your condition."

"Please just let me do this, Jake. I'll do whatever you want after. I promise. I won't put up a fight." She was getting closer, the point of the knife gleaming in the sunlight streaming a window. Ana pushed them out of the door. "Just go!" What if he got mad? His safety was more important, wasn't it? Of course it was. That was her entire job. Why was she even thinking about how he thought of her?

Jake looked at her once before reluctantly taking Sophie to the car. He locked the doors and tried to comfort the little girl, who was yelling, asking if Ana was going to be all right. The older boy tried to comfort her but didn't know if he was doing a good job. He was trying to convince himself just as much.

What if she got hurt? She was the first person who'd treated him like more than a glorified football player. His school life was fine. His home life sucked. She'd made it better. Exponentially. He could hear her voice once and a while. She was making him nervous. Shit.

"Don't get any closer, please, ma'am," she said. "I would probably also put away that knife if I were you."

"Why should I listen to you, little-miss-I'm-better-than-you? You don't know me," she stuttered. The woman was slurring so much that Ana could barely make out what she was saying. She had curly hair and her face was red and puffy.

"Because I work for the secre—Police. I work for the police." She fumbled for her I.D. and, once she had it, showed it to the woman. Ana's head was killing her. She was losing steam fast. She hoped she had scared the mother, although based on her face, the drunk didn't really seem to care much. "If you leave now and promise never to come back, you won't get arrested. If not, I'm going to have to take you into custody."

Ana wasn't handling this the right way. She knew she wasn't, but she wasn't exactly in the position to change everything. She felt her heart beating out of her chest and stepped back slightly.