Requiem for a Love (Requiem #2) [ON HOLD]

Chapter 15: The Favor

February 4th

Ben

Ana's finally cracked. She endured so much in the past fifteen months, but for some reason, she waited until now to lose touch with reality. Maybe it was the shock of learning that Ryan's body was missing. Or the stress of hearing about the investigation of the cabin. Or maybe it was my short-lived hypothesis that Ryan might have survived. I don't know what did it, but she's officially lost it. She called in her favor with the US Marshals to do the most inexplicable thing: get a private meeting with Joe Burke.

I don't watch reality TV, but even I know who Joe Burke is. He's the scuzziest, most arrogant, and hedonistic dirtbag ever produced by the reality TV trend in Hollywood. Frankly, I'm shocked he's never been accused of sexual assault.

Ana refused my strong suggestions to talk to her therapist first. Aside from the flagrant disregard for the potential usefulness of her IOU from the Marshals, she's acting surprisingly calm and level-headed. Certainly more than I'd be in the same situation. Though she hasn't said as much, Ana seems to think a meeting with this celebrity could be helpful in some way. The curiosity is enough for me to refrain from outright objection.

She remained just as calm after the Marshals gave us a time and place for the meeting. We packed our bags for the trip and ended up packing everything we had with us in the safe house. Ana seemed dismayed when she commented that everything she owned fit into one bag.

When we find ourselves in the private back room of a high-end restaurant in Santa Monica, Ana finally begins to show signs of nervousness. I can see her hand shaking when she reaches for a glass of water. Her eyes dart around the room at every sound.

I glance at my watch. He's late. As the minutes tick by, Ana's anxiety becomes increasingly apparent.

"Remind me why you wanted to meet this guy?"

She glances over at me with slightly narrowed eyes. "He might be able to contribute something to this investigation."

I can feel my eyebrows raise in incredulity.

"This guy, really? How?"

She sighs and looks back to the closed door. "It's a long shot. In the dark. Blindfolded."

I settle back on the assumption that she's lost her mind.

Finally, nearly forty-five minutes late, the infamous Joe Burke and his entourage arrive.

I stand when they enter the room, but Ana doesn't even look up at the playboy. A crease forms in her brow and she stares intently at the table in front of her.

I step forward and hold out a hand automatically. "Ben Ramirez, FBI." Even though I'm only with the FBI temporarily, I can't resist tacking it on at the end of my introduction.

Burke doesn't spare me a glance, stepping past my outstretched hand and focusing on Ana across the table.

"I've gotta say, I'm impressed. I've had a lot of girls try to pull strings to meet me, but the FBI?  This is new. What are you hoping to get? Selfies? An autograph?" He leans closer and his voice deepens. "The greatest night of your life?"

Ana looks up at him sharply. He laughs like she's his crazed groupie and he's just exposed her pathetic behavior. I can see her jaw clench as she stares at him, but her gaze slides away like she can't stand to look at his face a moment longer.

"Cat got your tongue?" His expression becomes knowing and he quirks an eyebrow. "Or are you thinking about something else involving tongue?" 

"No! Stop it," she says, rubbing her hands over her eyes. "You just-" she breaks off, but after a moment she mutters under her breath, "look like someone I used to know." She says this with more than a little sadness in her voice. Then she collects herself, sits taller, and meets his gaze with no hesitation. "Actually, I'm here to speak with you about your family's big secret."