Chapter 12

No one noticed the life drain from Annie. That was it! Looking down at the police report that she still had in her hands, there it was. On the Personal Property form, they returned two sets of car keys to her. The car was totaled so she hadn’t even thought about the keys but now she knew, it was the keys. The day that she left Ron, he was chasing her, and she was frantic to get away. She couldn’t find her keys, so she just grabbed Ron’s set lying on his desk. He wants those keys back for some reason. Maybe there is a key to something important on that ring, but she was now positive, that was what he wanted. Where were they? She remembered back and realized that they were at the beach house. When she left the halfway house, she had just tossed them in a box. They must still be packed away at the beach. When this all came together for her, Annie felt a great sense of relief. It finally made sense to her. But when she came out of her thoughts, she was standing alone in the kitchen. She had to tell Spencer, but he was already gone. Sloan was way out back starting to mow, and Dave’s truck was gone, he must have gone home already. She paced back and forth for a few minutes. She had to get those keys; if she left right now, she could be back before dark. That seemed important to her. Grabbing a note pad she left Papa and Spencer a note.

‘I know what it is, what he is after. I have to go home to get it. I will be back before dark. I will be fine. I love you both. Annie’

She had to call Tommy to let him know what she thought but he was away from his office and she just got his machine.

Finding her keys and purse, Annie headed for her car. She was barely to the highway before Walt and Spencer found the note. Spencer went insane.

“What is she doing? I swear that girl wants to get killed. What in the world was she thinking? Walt, what is her address?”

“I don’t know!” Walt said running his hand through his hair. Detective Clay is how I reach her.

“Tommy!” Spencer said grabbing the phone.

“Hey Tommy, it’s me Spencer. We have a problem. She figured out what Ron is after from that report you sent her and now, she has slipped out to get it. I have to go after her, but I don’t know where she lives.”

“What, where were you?” Tommy asked.

“What do you mean where was I? Tommy just give me the damn address so I can go.”

Tommy gave him the address and said he knew some people nearby that might help; he’d give them a call.

When Spencer got to the truck Walt was already in it.

“Don’t give me that look, I’m going!” Was all Walt said. Sloan agreed to wait at the house in case she came back. Walt and Spencer hit the highway like lightening.

Stopping at a little gas station on her way home was the first time that she had considered how dangerous coming back alone was. Maybe she should have waited for Spencer to get back. Well it was too late now she was almost there. Without thought, Annie released a sigh of relief when she hit the island. Her house was just a few blocks away and she would be safe again. When she pulled in to her garage, she started to cry. What had she done, if Ron followed her here, she would have to move again, and she really liked it here. ‘Pull yourself together girl, get the keys and get back to the farm.’ She told herself. In the house she dug through several boxes finding it hard not to take time to put things away, but when the sound of breaking glass got her attention, hiding became her only thought. She knew for certainty that it was Ron and he had followed her. She was dead now. He would kill her and then take all the time he needed to find whatever he was after. The nightmare was coming true. She ran to the laundry room and hid in a cupboard. She could hear him moving around through the house and then he called for her. “Annie, come out come out where ever you are. I know you’re here alone. You can’t get away Annie.” Ron was slamming doors and checking rooms. She could hear him getting closer. He had looked in the laundry room but not in any of the cupboards. Maybe he wouldn’t find her. Annie stayed very still. Oh, dear God she had only herself to blame for this, if she had just waited for Spencer. With that thought the cupboard door opened and Ron grabbed her. All she could do was scream. And then he hit her. She tried to get away, but he was strong, she remembered that about him, she could never get away because he was stronger than she was. He slapped her again with the back of his hand and she fell back hitting her head and then dropped to the floor. The room was spinning, and she could hear voices but was unable to understand what they were saying, it was the dream again. But it wasn’t, this was really happening. Walt and Spencer had gotten there just in time to hear her scream, Spencer found the glass on the back door was broken and he slowly moved in. He found Ron moving toward Annie with a knife, so he grabbed him. The two men wrestled with the knife for a few minutes and then Spencer pushed Ron away. When he did, Ron fell on the knife. Walt had already called the police and they were arriving just as Ron hit the floor. Annie was taken to the hospital, but Ron was not that lucky. The coroner said he died instantly. The police questioned Spencer and Walt for several hours but after Tommy called and talked to the Detective in charge they were released. Annie had to spend the night at the hospital but didn’t mind because Walt and Spencer stayed with her. When the sun came up the next morning, life was different for all of them. Spencer realized how much he truly loved Annie and wanted to be with her. Walt realized how horrible his life would be without her and he wanted her to come back to the farm and live. But most importantly, Annie realized she was finally free. Ron was dead and could never hurt her again. When the doctor released her, Walt said, “Let’s go home.”

Annie knew that he meant home to the farm, just as it had been. She also knew that Spencer and Sloan could go back to their real lives, doing whatever they had been doing before her, and that made her want to cry. Sloan was a dear, sweet man that she had grown to love like a brother and Spencer was a dear, sweet man that she had just grown to love. She didn’t want them to leave her life, but she knew it would happen.

“Before we go home though, I need to get something from my house.” Annie announced.

“Honey, I don’t think you really want to go back there, do you?” Spencer asked.

“Yes, I do, I have to, and besides it is my home.”

When they entered the house, Annie looked around like she had never been inside before.

When she looked in the laundry room there was evidence that the day before had really happened. But as Annie turned around, the look on her face was not one of horror but one of peace. Reaching in to a box and pulling out a set of keys she smiled.

“You know, I lived in this house for weeks and never saw the beauty of it. This was my prison and I just lived in it in fear. But now the fear is gone, and I think I can live here. These are the keys that I think Ron wanted, when you go back to California give them to Tommy for me, would you?” she asked placing the keys in Spencer’s hand. The touch was wonderful, he was wonderful.

“Sure, but don’t you want to give them to him?”

“No. As much as I’d like to see Tommy again, I don’t want to go back there ever again.”

“Of course, but you know Tommy may need you to come back to testify.”

“I guess I’ll just have to deal with that if it happens.” Putting her hand in Walt’s she said, “Let’s go home.”

Leaving her car in the garage, they climbed into Spencer’s truck and went back to the Farm. Dinner was quiet that evening. Everyone was waiting for Spencer to say that he was leaving. He tried several times but just couldn’t say the words. When Walt got up and said goodnight, Annie followed stopping only to touch Spencer’s cheek and say “Goodnight.” He smiled but couldn’t speak. After the house grew quiet and all the lights were out, Spencer paced the floor. He needed to talk to Annie but didn’t know what to say. He had to go, it was time. He wasn’t a dairy farmer; hell, they didn’t even need him anymore. He didn’t even know why he didn’t want to leave. He had been involved with women before. He had even had some pretty strong feelings for other women, he got over them, and he would get over Annie. He needed to talk to Annie. Quietly he walked to her room. The door was open, but he couldn’t go in. He just didn’t want to have this conversation, so he went back to his room.

The next morning Annie woke to voices. They were happy, friendly voices and they were outside. She had over slept, and it was the guys out by the barn. By the time she dressed and got down stairs everyone was coming in the back door.

“Hey guys, why didn’t anyone wake me?” she asked.

“Morning Sweetie.” Walt said moving to her for a hug and kiss on her forehead.

“Milking is all done.” Dave announced bouncing in the back door. “I think I will head home now but I will be back later today for milking. Grabbing a cookie off the counter and heading back toward the door. “Ok with you boss?” he asked looking at Walt.

Walt simply smiled and nodded.

As Dave passed Spencer and Sloan he stopped.

“Hey guys it sure was nice meeting you and things will just never be the same around here without you.” Dave shook their hands and headed for his truck.

Annie just stood there with her mouth hanging open.

“Great kid.” Sloan said.

“Yea but he sure has a big mouth.” Spencer added looking at Annie.

“You’re both leaving, today aren’t you?” she asked.

“Yes. I have a job waiting for me in Asheville.” Sloan said.

Annie stopped and looked at Spencer.

“I have to head out right after lunch too.” Spencer offered.

Annie stood there fighting back tears. This was supposed to be a good day, a day to celebrate but she certainly didn’t feel like celebrating. How could Spencer just leave?

“Well then you two should be packing. Any requests for lunch?” She asked holding her head high and trying to act strong.

“Don’t put yourself out Annie; I can grab something on the way to the airport.” Sloan offered.

“You will do no such thing. The very least I can do is feed you before you gooo.” The last word came out hard, but she was not going to break down in front of them. However, as she looked around, she could see that all the cameras and window locks were gone. They must have taken them off and packed them up early this morning. What was she going to do, they were really leaving? Her heart was breaking into millions of little pieces right there in her chest. She thought back and realized that she had been attracted to Spencer the very first time he walked into Walt’s hospital room. And the first time he held her in his arms it was true chemistry. This was not gratitude; she was not trying to pay him back for helping her. She truly loved him. He loved her too, she could tell. This was not just a job for him; he had deep feelings for her, so why was he leaving?

Walt was saying something to them about a detour on the highway and they moved on into the living room. As soon as Walt headed back outside Annie headed for Spencer. His door was open, and he was stuffing a t-shirt in his bag.

“Got a minute?” she asked.

“For you anytime.”

“You’re leaving?”

“Yea, I need to get this key ring to Tommy and take care of some things I’ve been putting off. I wanted to talk to you about this last night and even came down to your room, but I just didn’t know what to say.”

“What about now?”

“I still don’t know what to say. I didn’t want you to find out that I was leaving today the way you did. I was going to talk to you about it but when we were alone.”

“Well we’re alone now.”

“You’re not going to make this easy on me, are you?” he asked.

Annie stood there for a moment and then realized that she was the one in the wrong. He had dropped everything to come and protect her. He had saved her life countless times. He had calmed and comforted her throughout the whole ordeal and always had her best interests at heart. She was the clingy, emotional one. They had shared a few kisses and a few tender moments but that was not a commitment. He was obviously having a hard time getting out of a situation that she had created. With all that suddenly clear, Annie smiled.