Learn To Love Again

Chapter 4

I sat in the bath and closed my eyes, letting the warm, soapy water envelope me. The chords of one of my favourite jazz instrumentals pooled out of my earphones and shut out all other noises around me.

Somehow I just couldn't get the events of the day out of my head. Why had I been so awkward around Malcolm? It wasn't like me.

I tried to shift my mind to something else, anything else, but somehow it just always got back to that moment. I was happy when my phone rang, interrupting my thoughts.

I quickly answered the call.

"Hello?"

"Hi, is this Anna Saunders?"

I paused. I didn't recognize the voice. I wasn't sure whether or not I should tell the person who I was.

"Uh, who is this?" I asked instead.

"This is Detective Chris Sterling. I've been knocking on your door for a long time now and if you don't open up within the next two minutes I'm afraid I'll have to bust your door down."

I gasped as a cloud of confusion invaded my mind. I unplugged the earphones and brought the phone to my ears, as if the earphones were at fault for what I just heard.

"Excuse me?" I said.

"You heard me!" The voice barked, causing me to jump.

"I'm sorry but I think you have the wrong number," I said.

"I won't ask you again to open the door, Ms. Saunders," he said in a final tone.

I took a deep breath. "Okay."

I let the water drain from the bath and used the shower to rinse the soap from my skin, then wrapped a towel around me and went to my room to get dressed. I wasn't in any real hurry; either Mr. Detective was mistaken or this was a stupid prank.

Besides, what cop calls a person's cell to ask to open the door?

My thoughts were interrupted by a loud thud complemented with the shattering of glass coming from downstairs, followed by running footsteps. I had just finished putting on a casual floral dress and was on my way out of the room.

I froze for a second in the doorway. What was happening?

The footsteps accelerated as they got closer and so did my heartbeats. I stepped into the hallway and was shocked to see three men approaching the head of the stairs, then moving towards me.

I tried to back away and find some means of defense but before I could, the man in front had already grabbed hold of my arms and pulled out a pair of handcuffs. I cringed as the cold metal encircled my wrists.

"You're under arrest for the death of Dominique Wilson," he said as he grabbed my upper arm and began hauling me away.

A million questions came to my mind but I was so confused, none of them made it to my lips.

"What?" I finally asked as I tried in vain to pull away from the man's grasp.

He didn't answer. Instead one of the others, a short, bulky man, started speaking. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney, if you can't afford one, one will be assigned to you. You have the right..."

I zoned out. This was happening too fast...whatever was happening.

"You're mistaken. I'm not the person you want. I didn't kill anyone," I tried to explain. But the man, whom I'd assumed by his voice was Detective Sterling, tightened his grip on my arm, and the others just walked ahead of us.

As we descended the stairs and approached the front door, I gasped as I saw my door laying flat on the ground. One hinge was still attached to the door while the other remained attached to the frame. Bits and pieces of glass were scattered across the floor.

Detective Sterling lead us around the shatters and through the doorway. A silver Mercedes was parked in my driveway and I was lead to it.

I tried hard to resist as I was forced into the back seat of the car. I began to scream and soon a few people began to crowd the road just outside my driveway, but no one made an attempt to stop what was going on.

Detective Sterling got into the driver's seat while the other two men sat on either side of me. We pulled out of the driveway and onto the road.

"Does anyone mind explaining to me what's going on?" I asked.

Detective Sterling glanced at me through the rearview mirror, then turned his attention back to the road.

His dark, somewhat very handsome face was expressionless and his deep brown eyes were focused on the road ahead.

Was he ignoring me?

"What's going on?" I repeated.

"You can drop the act, Ms. Saunders," Detective Sterling finally said. "It's not going to help you."

"Mrs. Saunders," I corrected matter-of-factly. I hadn't gone back to using my maiden name after Patrick died.

"Mrs. Saunders. My bad," he said blankly.

"So...?" I prompted. "...what's going on?" My voice shook.

"Quiet, Mrs. Saunders!" He commanded, placing emphasis on 'Mrs.'.

I sat back kept my mouth shut, not knowing what would happen if I didn't. I was curious to know what was happening but at the same time dreaded finding out.

The car pulled up at the police station down town. The two officers on either side of me exited the car. I trier to grip the seat as Detective Sterling came to the door and grabbed my arm, then pulled me out of the car. I tried to pull away but his grip was firm and all my efforts were in vain.

My heart accelerated as I was pulled towards the door of the station. I dreaded what would happen when I got into the building. I tried not to cringe as the cold nozzle of Detective Sterling's gun found my temple.

"One wrong move, Mrs. Saunders, and you're gone."

________________________________________________________________________

A/N:

Relax, this is not about to turn into some wild action novel... It was just an opportunity for her to meet new characters.

Anyways, hope you enjoyed. Don't forget to leave your feedback.

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★It's Carmen. Love y'all!★