Chapter 7

Annie was still asleep when the Sheriff arrived but woke up when she heard the men’s voices.

“Annie, we called the Sheriff to report the break in and I think it might be a good idea if you get a restraining order against Ron.” Spencer said sounding like his old self and in full control of any situation.

“Why, do you think he will be back?” Annie asked knowing that of course he would be back.

“Honey, you know he will and even if he doesn’t try anything, we can have him arrested for violating the restraining order.”

The Sheriff examined the window and front door they had broken in, and then questioned Barney and finally Annie. She held up well and Papa sat and held her hand through the whole thing. Spencer hung out in the kitchen. He didn’t need to hear what happened to know that if he got the chance to take Ron out, he would. It might be worth it to know that Ron could never again get near Annie or ever bother her again. After the Sheriff left, Spencer took Annie out on the porch to talk. He sat quietly holding her hands. Finally, he spoke, “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry for what?”

“Sorry for today, for not being the Spencer you needed me to be. For letting that slime get close to you, for all the hurt and upset you are going through.”

“The Spencer I needed you to be is the Spencer that you are. You took Papa to the doctor because you knew I wasn’t up to it. You came racing back to my rescue. You even searched the house and barn because I was too afraid to stay here. You have been the strength I needed when I had none of my own. All the hurt and upset that I am going through is what I brought with me, before I even knew you. I am the one who is sorry. I flirted and let my attraction for you get out of hand. Even after you explained that getting involved romantically was dangerous until Ron was put away. You told me it was not a good idea to stay here alone today but I did it anyway. I am just grateful that you came back when you did. You have done nothing to feel sorry for. If you will stick around and help me out of this mess, then I will promise to obey your every command and not cause any more trouble.”

“This is a mess isn’t it? Look I’m not going anywhere, and we just won’t have any more mistakes but before we move on with this, I need to tell you something.” Standing up and running his hand through his hair, Spencer turned back to her. “Annie, my job is to protect you and after that is done then we will be able to work the rest of this out, until then we must fight the feelings. I may have to ask you to do some things that you won’t like but trust me when I say; I am not leaving your sight again. If this investigation by the Grand Jury doesn’t put him away, then I will make a trip to California and take care of things, you won’t have to live in fear anymore.”

“Oh, Spencer that is so sweet but don’t ever do anything like that for me. I could never let a good and honorable man become like the monster I was married to.” Annie put both her hands-on Spencer’s chest. He grabbed them to stop the touch, but she moved them up around his neck before he could lift them. Their faces were so close; their lips were almost touching. For only a moment she thought he would step away but when he didn’t, she knew he would kiss her. It was a tender and emotional kiss, almost like lovers saying goodbye, and then the need began, and their lips started to burn. The kiss became wild and completely out of control. They didn’t care who saw them; it was something they both had to get out of their systems. Being close every day and not being able to act on it would be hard but they would do it, they had to.

The day had been such a mess and so hard on Annie that Spencer said maybe it would be a good evening to eat out. Everyone agreed, but where would they go. After some discussion they decided not to go out but to order in, Chinese. Walt called a place in town and asked that it be delivered. Sloan put some plates out on the table, and everyone got something to drink. In just about 30 minutes the front door bell rang. Spencer paid the man, and everyone sat down to eat. It was great. Good food, terrific company and a nice quiet evening at home. Annie’s favorite part was when Sloan cleared the table and loaded the dishwasher. The evening was so pleasant. They watched some TV and even got a card game going. Barney had headed home before dinner and Boyd had just headed out to his car. Since Papa had come home from the hospital, he had been sleeping in the den downstairs. It was just off the short hall by the stairs and that meant that Sloan could use her room, she was still sleeping in Walt’s, but Annie didn’t want to go back upstairs. It may seem that she was over her earlier scare but by no means was. She had suggested that maybe she should sleep downstairs on the couch just in case Papa needed something. No luck, Papa insisted that she go upstairs to sleep in a real bed. He said she would rest better. But Annie knew that she would get no rest at all in that room. Spencer started turning out lights and locking the doors, Annie could feel Sloan steering her toward the stairs. Walt was already heading to the den and called back a tired ‘goodnight’. But when Annie’s feet hit the landing on the staircase, she stopped. Sloan was right behind her; he knew she was afraid but was being silly about this.

“Come on Annie, Spencer and I will be right beside you, you know you can do this.” Sloan offered as he tried to coax her upstairs.

When Annie turned around, she could see Spencer locking the front door. She did trust him, all she would have to do is scream and he would be there. Ok, she took a deep breath and started back up the stairs. At the top she paused for a moment and looked at her hand touching the rail. Had Ron touched the rail, she pulled her hand back like it had been burnt. Sloan seemed to know what she was thinking.

“We can give the house a good cleaning tomorrow if you like but for now its bed time.” Placing his hand at the small of her back he gave her gentle guidance to Walt’s room. Everything seemed to be ok, nothing seemed out of place. But Sloan was definitely right about cleaning the house tomorrow, Annie couldn’t stand the thought that Ron had touched anything in the house; she could get an early start tomorrow. Sensing that Annie was still having problems with entering the room, Sloan walked past her. He closed her blinds and even looked inside her closet.

“All clear.” he smiled.

“You must think that I’m crazy or just acting childish, but you will never know the power and control that man makes you believe he has. He is smart, hateful and very evil so fear is the only reaction I have when he is around.”

Moving over to the bed, Sloan fluffed her pillows and turned down her covers.

“Get some rest Annie, you’re safe.” As he left her room, he pulled the door partially closed.

Annie quickly put on her nightshirt and crawled into bed. Only a few minutes later Spencer pushed the door part way open and looked in.

“You ok?”

“Yea, I think so.”

“Ok then, sweet dreams.”

“Spencer.” she called out before he could get away.

“What honey?”

“Would you think I was acting like a baby if I asked you to leave the door open and left a light on tonight?”

“No, of course not, but you know I’m just a few steps away. If you just breathe funny, I’ll be in to check on you.”

Annie reached over and turned on the light on the nightstand. The soft glow made her look like and angel. It was taking all Spencer’s will power to stay in the hall to wish her sweet dreams, but she was so beautiful and frightened. He really just wanted to go across the room, scoop her up in his arms and take her to his room, but not yet, not until Ron was put away.

“Good night.” was all he said and then headed to his room. When he turned to pull the door closed a little, he could see Sloan standing in his doorway watching, making sure that Spencer hadn’t given in to his desires.

Exhaustion must have claimed Annie quickly because only a short time later, Spencer planned to sneak down stairs to call Tommy, when he passed Annie’s’ room, she was asleep. He reported all to Tommy and explained his plan.

“You need to let me know if Ron comes back for any Grand Jury hearings and if so, if he disappears again. We know where he’ll be headed.”

“She got to you, didn’t she?” Tommy asked.

“How did you know?” Spencer asked.

“You gave me lots of clues but when you took Walt to the doctor and let her talk you into leaving her home. Well I think that says it all.”

“How can you say that; I was just being nice.”

“In all the years and cases I have known you through, never have you let your guard down before. It was always a job, something to get done so you could move on, you’re a pro, the best I’ve ever known but I could tell by the way you talked about her, that you waited until she was in bed and asleep before you called in your report. There are lots of clues so snap out of it before you get either one of you killed.”

“Same speech Sloan just gave me. Annie and I talked about it, she knows I’m attracted to her and I think she is toward me too. She knows I can’t act on my feelings for lots of reasons, but the most important one is that I would never take advantage of a situation. She depends on me to protect her; until this is over, I will be Professional.”

“Good! Now I have a small confession of my own. I knew you would fall for her. Hell, I did. Not in the same way but just as a man. You know, I needed to protect her, couldn’t stand to think of the pain and upset that she must have suffered through, I wanted Ron dead. She is a special woman, when you think about protecting her, then you turn the coin over and see just how strong she really is. She is smart, caring and just basically a good person. I won’t even get into what a beauty she is.”

“Ok, ok are you trying to send me over the edge? So, you set me up, huh?

“Not exactly set you up, I just knew that you would be the perfect person for what she needs.”

“Well Tommy, I take that as a compliment since I know how strongly you feel about her.”

“Good, then get some rest so you can protect her and we’ll both be happy.”

“Got cha. Night Tommy, talk to you later.”

They hung up and Spencer quietly went back to bed.

Annie heard a noise and jumped up, it was the monster. He was coming up stairs. She had to hide, the closet in the bunk bed room, if she could only get there, but then she was there. The monster was still coming ‘Annie’, ‘Annie, I know where you are’, the closet door opened and the monster had her, she wanted to scream but couldn’t. Just as the monster reached in to grab her, she woke up. It was a dream; thank God it was that dream again. Annie lay very still and quiet for a moment. Yes, she was at home, it had been another nightmare. The clock on the nightstand said it was only 1:00. She got up slowly and moved toward the hall. The whole house was dark and quiet. Nothing was wrong but she was still afraid. Moving slowly toward the bathroom, Annie went in and washed her face. When she opened the bathroom door again, she could hear Spencer breathing, it wasn’t like a snore but just like someone sleeping. She looked in his room and he was sound asleep. This was really what she had wanted from the moment she woke up. She quietly moved across the room and slid in under the covers. She wouldn’t touch him; she just didn’t want to be alone. She fell asleep telling herself that. Spencer abruptly woke when he felt someone touch him. It was Annie. She was lying up against him. He must be dreaming, when did she get in his bed? Trying to calmly think it through, Spencer realized that he had been having this same dream. But in his dream, she had come to him as a lover. Lying there now, she looked like a little girl. He wanted to stay and put his arms around her but decided that might not be the best idea. The sun had not yet started rising but Spencer knew it wasn’t far off. As he slipped out of bed and looked out the window, he could tell that it was the dark, just before the dawn. He had noticed years ago that the last hour just before sunrise was always the darkest part of the night. This was usually when the low life scum that he was always after, would make their move. Looking back at Annie, he grabbed his pants and headed downstairs. In a short time, the coffee was ready, and he was just pouring a cup when movement behind him caught his attention, it was Walt.

“Morning Spencer, that coffee sure smells good.”

“Morning Walt, here take this cup, I just poured it.” Spencer put the cup on the corner of the table for Walt and reached up for another.

“I heard movement in your room last night Spencer, didn’t you sleep well?” Walt asked.

Spencer stopped pouring his coffee. He wasn’t too sure how to explain to Walt about last night.

“I slept well, I did get up once in the night to call Tommy, you know Detective Clay, I would really prefer Annie not know about some things. I don’t want her upset any more than she already is.”

“Well I feel the same way.”

Spencer was getting the feeling that Walt was trying to tell him something.

“Is there something specific you’re talking about Walt?”

“Well since you asked. I’m an old man Spencer.”

“Don’t give me that old man bit, Walt” Spencer said sitting at the table by Walt. “You’re rough as tacks and hard as nails and I would never want to be on the other side of your push.” Spencer said smiling.

“Ok, let’s start this over. Annie is all I have in this whole world. She has been through something terrible. She won’t tell me about most of it, I guess she thinks that she is trying to protect me from something. She trusts you and it is really apparent that she has taken a fancy to you. I can do what it takes to protect her from this psychopath that she used to be married to but what I guess I’m asking is do I need to protect her from you too.” Spencer tried to look shocked, but the gleam in his eye said different. “My Annie has been hurt, and I guess what I’m saying is that I plan to see to it, that she isn’t hurt again.”

“Walt, I’m not going to hurt Annie.”

Walt studied Spencer’s face. “You know son, I’m usually a good judge of character, and I thought when we first met that you were an ok guy. I never worried about leaving you two out here alone when I was in the hospital, my instincts told me you were a good guy, but I’ve seen the look in my little girl’s eyes, she has fallen hard.”

“Maybe it’s a rebound thing, Walt.”

“I don’t think so, if anything I would have expected her to steer clear of men for a long time, but my eyes tell me different. She has been through so much. Don’t get me wrong Spencer, but she doesn’t need your pity, just your honesty.”

Spencer stood to refill both cups.

“To be perfectly honest Walt, I have some strong feelings for Annie. I only hesitate because my first responsibility to Annie is to protect her.”

“And?” Walt asked.

“Annie is a smart, honest, beautiful and loving woman and I’m not sure that I am the kind of man that she would really be happy with. We have a strong physical attraction but to make something last, takes so much more. I have never been in a long-term relationship before and I have to tell you, the thought scares me.”