Fugitive

Chapter 29

"Hi, I'm sorry I've been trying to get in all afternoon, but they wouldn't let me because I'm not family. I just wanted to make sure you were okay". Who is this woman? She looked like she hadn't slept in a while. She was a bit frantic. Hyped up on coffee maybe. Her hair was a dark colour. Brown, but almost black. It was somewhere between curly and straight. She seemed quite short, but not too short. She had a small nose and thin lips. She looked about my age. Possibly a year or two younger. I'm not good at determining age. She smiled. She had a nice smile. Her teeth were white and she had cute dimples that came with the grin. Her hair, at the moment, was a bit of a nest and she wasn't wearing any makeup, except for a bit of lipgloss, yet still looked naturally beautiful. Her under eyes were starting to taint a dark colour from lack of sleep. Her clothes looked slept in but somehow, she made it work. A simple pair of jeans and a red tee. Part native American, I think. After I'd finished checking her out a confused expression crossed my face. What was she doing here? "Oh sorry, oh my god you must think I'm some random creep. Well I am I guess. I'm Vanessa". Oh this is Vanessa. The detectives mentioned her. I guess with everything else I had to think about I'd forgotten. "The detectives mentioned you". I said. "Right". She stood there awkwardly for a few seconds before taking a few steps forward and holding out her hand. I reached over and shook it with the hand that wasn't cuffed to the bed. She smiled. "What exactly are you doing here"? I asked. Not minding that she was but really confused. I was suddenly wondering if my hair looked okay. Given the circumstances, if the handcuffs hadn't scared her off, surely my hair wouldn't. "Like I said I just wanted to make sure you were okay. It was terrifying finding you there. I heard the gun shot. I mean I probably shouldn't have investigated when I heard the gunshot. It kind of implies a dangerous situation. But I mean I had to go right? What if someone had gotten shot? Which you did. So, I guess it's lucky I came. Then again surely someone else had heard it too. I just ran in there to see you bleeding out. God there was so much blood it was terrifying. I called 911. On a bit of an adrenaline rush I must confess. Not that you're near death experience was an exciting experience or anything"... She was talking very quickly. Rambling. I interrupted. "You're the one who called the ambulance"? She stopped talking. "Uhh, yeah. Yep". Suddenly it because a lot clearer. "You were the woman there. You were in the ambulance with me". "Yeah, I wanted to come. I've never seen someone like that before. In real life. It was"... "You can say exciting. I won't mind". "Ok... it was really exciting. Scary. But exciting". A sudden thought crosses my mind. "You didn't see anyone else did you? A man running from the building? Or several men running from the building. I just don't know what happened. Or who shot me and why. The police don't know either. I need to figure it out before they come back to finish the job". She shook her head. "No, I'm sorry. The detectives already questioned me and asked the exact same thing". "And what did you tell them". "Same as I'm telling you. That I didn't see anyone. I just heard the gunshot. The door was already open so I ran straight inside. All I saw was you there on the ground. No one else". I nodded. "What happened exactly? Why were you there"? "I was meeting with the guy who killed Cat and Toby to get him to confess". "You know who killed them"? I nodded. "Why can't they arrest him"? "No evidence". She looked down. "So do you know what happened"? "All I know is that I was talking to Dennis". "Dennis"? "The man who killed them". She nodded and gestured for me to continue. "I was talking to him and then I got shot. By someone else in the building. Earlier the police told me that there was someone on the roof of a warehouse next to the one we were in, ready to take me out with a sniper riffle. He would have, if another sniper hadn't shot him first. The other sniper was working with the guy who shot me, we assume. So, there were two groups there trying to kill me that day. I don't know why they didn't just let the sniper finish the job. Then the other ones wouldn't have had to interfered. The fact that they did interfere is strange. I just don't know why". "I take it you've thought about who would want to try and kill you"? I nodded. "The list has gotten significantly longer recently". "Any thoughts"? "No. Not really. I don't know". I changed the topic. "What are you still doing here"? "I needed to make sure you were okay. They wouldn't let me see you after surgery. So, I had to wait. I slept in the waiting room". "You slept in the waiting room for me"? She blushed. "Well, yeah. I haven't left actually. Except for a quick run home to shower and change". "That's crazy", I said. "No one would do that. Why would you wait around for a stranger. A murdering stranger at that". I added the last part as a second thought. It was out in the open now. She blushed again. "You're not really a stranger to me. I know I'm a total stranger to you. But I've been following your story on the news. I don't think you did it. I don't think you could if you wanted too. It was just really important to me that you're okay. And that you get to prove to the world that it wasn't you". I smiled genuinely. She really thought I didn't do it. "You know, it is such a relief to hear someone say that". She smiled. That beautiful smile again. "So, Vanessa. Do you have a last name"? "Catori", she smiled. "Nice to meet you Vanessa Catori". "Nice to meet you too Jacob Rogers". Hearing my name escape her lips was something else all together. She seemed so genuine. "So, Vanessa, how old are you"? I asked. "Twenty-two. Twenty-three in a couple of months". She sat down in the chair at the end of the bed. "Are you in college"? "Medical school actually. It's my first year. I have this thing with needing to help people all the time. I want to do my part you know"? "Yeah, that was my thing about being in the marines. I felt like I was actually doing something. Helping people". "Yeah! That's exactly it". There was silence for a moment. Not an awkward silence. Comfortable. But I still racked my brain for something to say. Just to keep the conversation going. I didn't want her to leave. "Hey. I've been meaning to say... Umm. Well, I'm sorry. About your sister and Toby. They seemed like really great people". That wasn't what I was expecting. It caught me off guard a bit. Turned the whole conversation around. Made it take a bit of a dark turn. But I didn't mind. She made me want to tell her everything. Spill my heart out, so to speak. "Oh, yeah... thank you. Yeah, they were. They were great. Toby was just so young, every time I see a child I think of him and how he could still have that life. And Cat was amazing. She was a great mom, a hard worker and the purest person I've ever met". Vanessa smiled. I chuckled under my breath at an old memory. "I remember once when I was really little I got a toy car. Cat watched me play with it and got jealous. She'd gotten a doll but she wasn't really the doll type until she got a little bit older. So, she begged Mom for a toy car like mine for days. She would cry and cry because she wanted this toy car so much. Mom finally gave in and bought her one the exact same as mine. For a few days everything was great, we raced out cars together and rolled them down the driveway. Then my car broke. Two of the wheels fell off. I was devastated. Cat ended up giving me her car. Mom was angry at her for weeks afterwards. Because Cat took my car and told our mom she'd broken it. Mom gave her a lecture about taking care of her things and how she wanted it so badly but broke it after a few days. She was just good like that". "Wow, that sounds really amazing", Vanessa smiled and giggled a bit. "I have an older sister too, but she sounds like the exact opposite of Katherine. She was sent from hell, I swear. She was always taking my things and cutting the hair off all my dolls. She never let me borrow her clothes and always scolded me for doing things when it was none of her damn business to do so. I love her to bits but she was a nightmare to grow up with". "Do you have any other siblings"? "Two brothers. Both older". "Bet you loved that. Being the youngest of four kids, I mean". "Actually, I did. I was the baby of the family. Which meant I was never given any responsibility. At the time it seemed good, but now I realise I could have benefitted from having something to take care of. My two older brothers were amazing, a little over protective. I didn't get my first boyfriend until I was 17, because they were always hanging around. It's not like they would scare off any guy that talked to me. They were just around so often that no guy would dare approach. I used to get so mad at them for it. High school boys are a little immature for my taste anyway. Si I guess I owe them", she laughed. I wanted to hear her laugh again. I thought about asking her what her taste is. But that would be a bit forward. Her eyes glanced to the TV, still on mute. A new series had started. "Oh my gosh. I love this show", she reached over me for the remote. "Sorry, do you mind"? I shook my head. "Go for it". She turned it off mute and started explaining exactly what was going on to me. Apparently, the show is called Orange is the New Black. I recognise it from late nights when Cat was catching up on the TV she missed. I never hung around because I wasn't a big TV watcher. That was normally when I would take Toby for a bit and entertain him. Read him a story at night, help him get to sleep, things like that. I used to check for a monster under his bed every night. He was the sweetest kid I'd ever met. Vanessa rambled about Orange in the New Black while I escaped to my thoughts. About half way through she stopped. "You're totally not interested are you"? I smiled sheepishly. "Nah, not really". "Sorry, I'm being rude. I shouldn't just come in here and start watching TV. I can go if you want". "No, I don't mind. Honestly. It's really nice to have some company actually". "Yeah"? She asked. I nodded. She switched the TV back to mute and said something about it being a rerun anyway. She turned to me and got straight into it. "Well then Jacob. What's you're deepest and darkest secret"?