Work Text:
if you love me
let me hear you
He forced open the front doors of the precinct with both of his hands as calmly as he possibly could. As calmly as his frazzled nerves and racing mind would allow him to. And everyone around him just seemed to know to stay out of his way. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get that message out of his mind. That message...and everything it implied.
Suk...
Listen...
I-
I wanted you to be the first to know. Because I know how much this means to you.
So-
It's about the case Zeyman was investigating, before he-
…
The suspect that was described leaving the scene at Petrov’s murder.
She's-
She's here, Suk...
...she turned herself in...
She confessed to the murder-
and-
She's asking for you.
…
Look-
I think you need to come in, and talk to her.
He couldn't help how his heart raced.
With what feeling, exactly..?
...how the hell should he know..?
When he'd been assigned to take over the Petrov murder-case, and had been given a description of the suspect, Jan simply couldn't believe it. It was just too uncanny: a young, beautiful woman with long, blonde hair and blue eyes. The description had sounded just like...
Jan shook his head.
It just couldn't be-her. Not her. And Jan had to consider the source when it came to the description provided for the suspect in question. They were just children, after all. Children who had just lost their caretaker-to a violent crime, no less... Surely they were shaken up. Confused.
They could have been mistaken, and got the description all wrong...
Or it could have just been someone that looked like-
But-
...it wasn't...
Stalking down the hall towards the closed interrogation room, Jan felt himself suddenly go cold as his steps came to a complete stop at the door.
He couldn't even reach out for the handle...
His hand lifted up, his fingers stretched out, and then his hand dropped to his side as his eyes crash-landed to the floor. And he found himself hesitating at the door as his heart erratically hammered against his rib-cage.
He couldn't explain this feeling inside of his chest.
He'd never felt this way before, not even when actively pursuing a suspect-chasing them down. This feeling was just so...awful... Weighted. And crushing.
...he couldn't catch his breath...
Why did this suddenly feel like the end..?
That what was really behind that door-was death.
The death of what, exactly? Jan couldn't tell. Not yet. And he knew the only way to find the answer to that, was to actually go into this room, and question the suspect inside. To get to the truth.
The truth about Petrov's murder, and-
The truth about the suspicious death of his beloved mentor, Inspector Zeyman. What exactly it was that he'd stumbled upon during his investigation, and why he'd died. And maybe-just maybe-Jan would be able to gain some semblance of justice for Zeyman, and his widow. All he had to do was open this door, go in, and question the suspect about their confession to Petrov's murder.
All Jan had to do...was his job.
Bolstering himself with this-and the fact that he was a good detective-Jan reached for the handle again and let himself into the room.
Stepping into the interrogation room, Jan closed the door behind him. Movement from his peripheral caught Jan's attention as the person at the table stood up when he'd come in. And as Jan turned to face them-and their eyes met-Jan's heart bottomed out and stopped completely.
“...Anna...” He breathed this so quietly, in such a pathetically weak whisper, that he doubted the woman at the other end of the room had even heard him.
Though the look she spared him lingered somewhere between pity and indifference along the delicate, rounded curves of her face as she held his wide-eyed stare with the infinitesimal crease of her brow.
“I'm glad you're finally here, Detective Suk.” The young woman uttered in an enchantingly feminine tenor. “I've been waiting to speak with you.” That soft, familiar voice drifted effortlessly through the space between them-like a knife to his heart.
...what..?
Why had she just addressed him with such cold formality? As if she didn't even know him. And for a single moment, this seemed to hurt him even more than the fact that she was here as a suspect in a murder investigation.
...how could she not remember him..?
“Anna-” Jan quickly approached her, crossing the room and moving past the table she stood behind. “what's going on, here?” He came so close to her, nearly bumping into her as they came face-to-face.
And he remembered the last time he'd come this close to her, how Anna had placed a small, delicate hand to his chest to subtly stop him. Her hand resting against his chest as she stared up into his eyes had felt so intimate. It'd made his heart race, and his cheeks flush at his own boldness. But she hadn't done that this time, as her hand remained behind her back. In fact, the two of them were so close now, that he could literally feel the warmth of her breath against his lips. The warmth of her body against his own.
When she didn't answer him right away-her eyes lowering from his face, to the floor-Jan's brows furrowed with the frown that twisted his lips as realization slowly dawned on him.
“You're handcuffed..?” He whispered into the nonexistent space between them, an ache creeping into his voice that he couldn't hide-even if he'd tried.
“Of course I was handcuffed, detective.” Anna whispered in that enchanting voice Jan knew he'd never be able to forget, as her eyes ever so slowly crept up his body-from the floor-to meet his face. “I've just confessed to murder-” She said in a hushed, even tone. “what did you expect them to do?”
This response shocked Jan so completely to his core that he took a horrified step back from the young woman.
No...
It couldn't be true.
This could not be happening.
“If we're going to get through this together, detective-” Her sweet voice reached his ears in a hushed whisper as she held an unreadable visage. “then you really must work on looking less surprised.”
“I am surprised, Anna.” Jan hissed through grit teeth, feeling utterly confused over what he was hearing. “I want to know what's going on.”
“May I sit, Detective Suk..?” She quietly asked as she continued to insist on distancing herself from him by actively avoiding the use of his name.
And each time that she did this, it was another dagger in his heart.
...why wouldn't she say his name..?
“Fine.” He puffed out in defeat-eyes cast to the ground as heat flooded his cheeks-and Anna gave a small nod of gratitude before taking a half-step away and sitting in the chair across the table with such fluid grace that Jan was briefly taken aback, for only a second.
Her beauty and elegance were simply breathtaking.
There was no possible way that she could be involved in something this ugly.
Not Anna...
She was too beautiful.
She was too pure-
even now...
So Jan simply couldn't believe that she was responsible. Not for something like murder. Slowly sitting himself in the seat across the table from her, Jan worked to school his expression into one of professional neutrality. And he knew he was failing miserably, but he tried anyway.
“So-” He cleared his throat with the swift twitch of his head as he met her eyes in a squinted stare. “you care to explain to me what's going on here?”
“I already told you, detective.” Anna slowly replied, holding his gaze. “I confessed to the murder of Mikhail Ivanovich Petrov.” She said, the bluntness of this admission of guilt coming to mar the elegant beauty of her lips. “I shot him.”
“See-” Jan quickly snapped, feeling his expression crease into a faint scowl of confusion. “I don't get that.” He said as his voice lowered some with the pointed look he spared her. “Why would you do something like that, Anna.”
Anna looked away.
“I have my reasons.” Jan heard her whisper from across the table, and he shook his head.
There had to be more to it than just that-she killed the man, and had her reasons. Why was she being so evasive? This crime couldn't possibly have been committed in cold blood.
...what were her reasons..?
“Anna-” Jan leaned into the space between them, and oh how his hand ached to reach out for her own before reminding himself that she had them cuffed behind her back. “look. I can't help you if you're not talking to me. Please.” He urged in a hushed whisper while Anna continued to keep her eyes along the surface of the table between them, her face as smooth as stone.
“I'm not asking for your help.” Anna whispered back in an even tone before her eyes slowly lifted from the table to meet his pained expression. “You can't save me from this, Jan.”
Jan's breath hitched in his throat at hearing the sound of his name along her lips again. There it was. A glimmer. A faint spark of the woman he'd met that night. The woman he'd fallen in love with.
The look she gave him from across the table. Jan's heart thrilled at the wave of relief he suddenly felt wash over him.
This was Anna.
“Petrov wasn't the innocent man he pretended to be.” She continued as she gazed at Jan intently. “He got what he deserved.”
“Is that why you killed him, Anna..?” Jan leaned in to ask, unable to believe that he was actually beginning to believe her story as he lowered his voice to a hushed whisper. “...did he hurt you?” Jan asked, trying to cling to anything at all that would improve this young woman's current situation.
...maybe her actions had been motivated by self-defense...
If that were the case, then it would be easier for Jan to protect her against the more serious consequences, despite her not wanting his help.
This was Anna...
His Anna.
And she was clearly in trouble.
So he couldn't just sit back and do nothing.
But when he's asked her this question-if the man had hurt her, in some way-he watched the infinitesimal ripple of emotions along her face before Anna's stunning, pale features smoothed over into marbled stone and those vibrant cerulean eyes drifted back to the table.
“Not anymore.” She whispered almost to herself as her expression remained empty and hollow as her voice. “Not ever again.”
Jan's heart tightly clenched in his chest as a bewildering sense of anger course through his veins like a wildfire. How could anyone have hurt such a wonderful, amazing creature like Anna?! What had this man done to her?!
This...
This monster!
Had he attacked her?!
Jan internally reeled with all of the horrifying possibilities as one awful image after another flashed through his mind.
If she'd tried to protect herself against his violent advances, and had ended up shooting him to defend herself, then it wasn't murder. Anna was just as much a victim as the dead man, and Jan had to help her from making a terrible mistake in confessing to ending his life.
“Anna, listen!” Jan spoke fervently through the rush of emotions he felt, his eyes pleading with her as he continued. “If this man tried to hurt you, and that's why you shot him-to protect yourself-then you need to tell me that!” He snapped, feeling every fiber of his being starting to vibrate. “Because that changes everything!”
“Does it?” Her eyes snapped up from the table to stare at him, and in that fleeting moment she looked as if she were in pain. “And what if it had happened ten years ago?” She asked in a sharp tone. “Or twelve?” She persisted as she continued to stare at him with the faintest knit of her brows. “What if he hadn't done a thing to me at the moment I shot him?” Anna asked before her voice lowered to a chilled whisper. “Would it change things then, Jan?”
Jan froze in his seat. He didn't know what to think. How to respond, or how to feel. He so desperately wanted to save her-and-she seemed equally intent on refusing his help. It felt like she was pushing him away again-just like that night-and he didn't understand. None of this made any sense.
Why-
“Why did you come here, Anna?” Jan asked a bit too sharply through the myriad of emotions now ravaging his heart. “If you don't want my help, why did you ask for me when you turned yourself in?!”
“Because I needed to see you again.”
This stopped Jan in his tracks-a deer frozen in headlights. Because he hadn't been expecting that. In fact, after that night-when she'd disappeared-he hadn't expected to see her at all, ever again. And, up until this very moment, he'd actually managed to make himself believe he was okay with that. It hurt, but he'd just assumed that when she left that's what she'd wanted.
“Isn't that what you wanted..?” These soft words echoed the thoughts in his mind as Anna stared at him intently.
Jan frowned at this.
“Not like this, Anna.” He replied a bit coldly through the slight scowl he spared her.
...not like this...
“No one else knows-” She whispered to him from across the table. “do they.” She gave the delicate, enchanting tilt of her head through a lidded gaze as she elaborated on her words. “About the two of us.”
Jan stiffened as he felt his body tense towards her words. Because he didn't want to admit that she was actually right. Everyone at the precinct thought that Jan was taking this investigation so personally because of his respect and admiration for Inspector Zeyman. And-in part-that was the truth. Or at least it had started that way. But it wasn't the whole truth, now. The only person involved with this case who actually knew that he'd met Anna before was detective Patera, when he'd briefly mentioned her to the man. Though he'd never shared when he'd noticed she'd held an uncanny resemblance to a murder suspect. He'd kept that to himself.
Jan grit his teeth as his eyes dropped to the table between them.
“No.” He whispered in a dark voice. “I didn't tell anyone about the two of us.” He admitted, his eyes boring holes into the table as he continued on. “Not even when you-” He couldn't even finish this before he heard her interject.
“When I became a suspect in your investigation.”
Jan's gaze flit up from the table as his brows knit together, his eyes filled with pain. Why was she doing this to him?
“Why didn't you say anything, Jan..?” She quietly asked in that soft-spoken voice as she held a gentle, inquisitive expression that caused Jan to quickly look away again.
“Because I never believed that it could have actually been you,” He said in a heavy-handed tone. “no matter how bad it looked.” He said as he lowered his voice. “Because-” Jan faltered along his next words before they parted his lips in a fragile whisper with the furrow of his brows at the table. “I so desperately want to believe that you're the same person I met that night.”
That person had been so warm, and so honest. So kind. So empathetic and compassionate.
...he wanted to believe that was who Anna really was...
“...you were trying to protect me...” This came even softer, and Jan's gaze narrowed on the table as his lips drew into a taut line.
When he didn't answer, she continued.
“You're trying to protect me now.” Anna insisted in a velvet whisper that made him ache.
That wasn't a question.
He'd already admitted that to her only moments before.
Again, he didn't answer.
“Are you in love with me, Jan..?”
The air grew so dangerously thin-and Jan couldn't breathe. He looked up and her. And in that moment-with the way Anna looked at him, then-Jan swore that he could literally feel her breaking his heart.
...of course he was in love with her...
How could he not be?
And-somehow-he sensed that she already knew this, even before she'd asked him that question. It was the look in her eyes as she waited for him to answer. As he stared back at her in silence, Jan was struck with a memory. Something about love and hate being closely connected to each other-intertwined-like two sides of the same coin. And-in all honesty-he'd never been able to understand how that was even possible, until now.
“How can I possibly be in love with you, Anna-” Every word he said was so heavy as he held her gaze. “when it's obvious that I don't even know who you are.”
He thought he had...
That had been his mistake.
And this fact had been so painful for Jan to have actually admitted, yet Anna seemed so strangely at peace with his answer.
“...what exactly to you remember about the night we met..?” She asked, which took Jan completely by surprise.
It was such a strange question to ask. And it caused his brows to knit together in befuddled confusion.
“Everything.” He immediately answered this absurd question as he held her mesmeric gaze. “I remember everything about that night, Anna.” He bit back the bitterness in his words. “The way you looked. What you were wearing. What you drank.” He paused. “Even the way you smelled.” This parted Jan's lips without him wanting it to.
Too much.
The answer to this question was that he remembered too much about that night.
Perhaps it was merely a product of his profession. As a detective, he'd been trained to be hyper-aware of his surroundings at all times. Or-maybe-it was the effect Anna had on him. Maybe she was just that captivating.
“We spoke about why your mother was against you becoming a cop.” Anna whispered when the silence had gone on for too long. “Because she was worried that something might happen to you.”
Yes...
They'd talked about that...
In his intoxicated state, Jan had brought up the fact that his childhood dream had been to become a policeman-like all of the lawmen he'd idolized in the shows he'd watched as a kid. Heroes. All of them. And he'd wanted to be just like them. Then-when he'd met Inspector Zeyman-it seemed that his childhood hero had come to life, and Jan knew that being a detective was exactly what he was supposed to be doing with his life.
He'd felt so fulfilled. His entire life had been so utterly complete with this sense of purpose, not a thing missing. That was-until he'd met Anna. That night, he realized that she had been the embodiment of everything that he'd been lacking.
She was the other half of his soul. The one who completed him, he knew it.
And-
Jan wasn't sure if he would ever be able to figure out how to live without her.
“I'm not doing this-” Jan grumbled to himself with the twitch of the head. “I can't.” He said. “Not now.” This fell from his lips as his brows knit together. “Not with you.” He sighed, standing up as he placed both hands on the table with the hang of his head. “I just can't.” Jan lifted his eyes from the table with the raise of his head, his shoulders hunched over the table as he stared the young woman down. “Get up.”
Anna did as he'd told her to, and stood up from her seat at the table. Her eyes remained on him as she did so, slowly raising herself from the chair she'd been sitting in with her hands bound behind her back. She gave the attractive tilt of her head to him, her eyes narrowed as her expression remained entirely unconcerned.
“What exactly are you planning to do with me, Detective Suk.” Anna casually asked, returning to her initial formality with him.
“Noting.” Jan quipped in a firm tone that rang of authority as he approached her. “I'm passing you on to someone else.” He said, moving to the side and slightly behind her as he grasped her by the upper arm in order to being directing her to the door and out of the room.
“So this is it, then.” She whispered to him in a quiet voice, her face slightly veiled by the way she stood next to him. “This is the end.” Jan sighed though his nose towards this.
“It is.” He agreed.
She'd refused his help, and spectacularly implicated herself in Petrov's murder with her confession. She seemed bound-and-determined to accept the consequences of her actions. There was nothing else he could do for her.
...this was the end...
“Then there's something that you should know.” Anna whispered to him again, gaining his attention with her velvet soft voice.
“And what exactly would that be?” Jan's voice came thick with bitterness and resentment fueled by pain.
“Your mentor, Inspector Zeyman...” Anna began, and Jan recalled how he'd spoken of the man he'd admired at length with her that night. “I have something that belonged to him.” Jan felt his fingers curl just a little tighter around the supple flesh of her slender arm as he hissed in her ear.
“What did you just say?!”
“I believe he would have wanted you to have it, detective.” Anna calmly replied, seeming unintimidated by his slight show of force with his grip. “Though-” This came a delicate hum. “it's in the front pocket of my skirt.” She said through a faint pause before continuing on with her point. “So I'm afraid you'll have to retrieve it for me.”
Jan glowered at this. He was tired of being toyed with, and he'd had more than enough of this woman's games. But she'd never actually identified what it was that she had on her. And if she really did have something-something that could be dangerous-then it was his job to search her properly before passing her to another officer. It would be a dereliction of his duties if he didn't...
Taking a slightly safer stance further behind and less to the side of her, Jan cautiously placed his free hand along the woman's waist as he began to slowly slide down her hip towards her front pocket.
“The other pocket, detective.” Jan heard Anna hum, sounding almost amused at this as his hand automatically froze along the front of her hip.
Internally cursing himself, Jan quickly removed his hand and placed it on her arm as he kept hold of her while going in to search the pocket Anna had indicated. Again, his hand went to her waist, then down along her hip. When he did this, Jan sensed Anna infinitesimally lean against him, her back and bound arms pressed against his chest as he held her, his hand on her hip. He felt himself respond in kind as his eyes fluttered shut. So help him Jan dipped his head to absorb the scent of her hair, committing it to memory as his hand navigated the landscape of her body. His fingertips grazed the hem of the pocket, and he felt Anna's head tilt slightly back towards him. This was quickly followed by a breathy exhale that escaped the woman's lips, and a hushed voice that followed in the intimate quiet of this moment.
“Tell me something, detective.” He heard Anna whisper, held in place against him as Jan went to retrieve what was in her pocket. “Did you imagine us together like this when we first met..?”
The shock of this statement sent Jan back into reality as his eyes flew open. Realizing too late what was happening, he quickly grabbed the object from the young woman's front pocket before roughly spinning her around to face him. And along Anna's lips was the faintest curve of a little smile. Gone just as quickly as the intimate moment they'd just shared as the two regarded each other in tense silence.
Jan stared at her a moment before his eyes went towards what he'd managed to retrieve off of her. In his hand was a key. Not exactly what he'd been expecting to find as his eyes flit back up towards her face with the confused furrow of his brows.
“What's this.” Jan asked as Anna regarded him with a passive expression.
“A key.” She flatly replied, causing Jan to glare at her.
“What does it go to?” He demanded and again a bit more firmly, completely unamused by the woman's flippant response.
“I don't know.” Anna answered more seriously this time as she held his angered stare with a placid expression. “You'll have to find that out on your own.” She said.
“This belonged to Inspector Zeyman?” Jan asked, and the young woman gave a wordless nod of the head. “How did you get it?!” His voice grew a little bit louder as he took a step towards her. “Did you murder him, too?!” Jan came nearly chest-to-chest with her as Anna bravely held her ground while serenely gazing into his eyes.
“No.” Her voice sounded so calm and earnest. “I didn't.” She said with a slight pause before continuing. “But I do know who did.”
“Who?!” He yelled at her. “Who killed him?!” Yet Anna remained unphased in the presence of his anger.
“I'm sorry-” This fell in that same tender, soft-spoken manner as Anna's expression gently shaped itself in pity. “but that's something else that you'll have to find out on your own.” She said. “This is important, Jan.” Anna continued as her skylit eyes lingered along his face for a moment. “And I decided to leave it with you, because I trust that you'll know what to do with it.”
These words...
They seemed so eerily prophetic.
And Jan was getting the feeling that Anna was somehow trying to get him to help her. Though-
Help her with what, exactly?
He didn't know. And that made him feel nervous, because Jan's instincts and intuition were telling him that he was getting himself into something that was incredibly dangerous.
A knock on the door defused this mounting tension between them as Jan's gaze snapped towards the entrance into the interrogation room.
'Detective Suk? Is everything alright in there?' The muffled voice spoke from behind the door as Jan let out an audible sigh through his nose.
“Yeah.” He grumbled in a voice loud enough to be heard from the other side. “Everything's fine. Come on in.” This prompt caused the handle to turn over as one of Jan's colleagues cautiously peeked through the door when it came ajar.
“...sir..?”
“Officer Balek.” The call of the man's name caused him to open the door further as Jan looked him in the eye, once again grabbing hold of Anna's upper arm. “I need you to take this suspect into custody, and have her booked.” The lower-ranking officer nodded, his gaze darting between the two questioningly before looking back at Jan.
“Yes, sir.”
With that, Jan passed off the young woman to the officer in silence. And Anna..? She never even looked back when she was escorted out of the room by Officer Balek. And just like that, she was gone-again. Jan slowly walked towards the door, and closed it. The palm of his hand slid down the door, and Jan was left in the aftermath of everything that had just happened.
...he couldn't walk back out there and face everyone...
Not yet.
He took a step back from the closed door, and his hand went to veil his eyes. Jan felt a wave of emotions violently crash over him as his shoulders silently trembled and he felt the warmth of tears begin to run down his cheeks.
How could he have let this happen?
How could he have been so stupid?!
How would things ever feel normal again?
He didn't know. So help him, Jan had no idea how things would ever be the same. All he could do in this moment was mourn and grieve over the loss of something he was starting to realize he'd never had to begin with. He knew he needed time. But he also felt as if no time in the world would ever be enough time to come to terms with what had just happened.
He'd just lost the one person that had made life worth living.
And then he'd discovered that he'd never really had her at all.
She wasn't who he'd thought she was. And that was probably what hurt the most. That he'd been completely fooled by her.
Jan had no idea how long he'd just stood there, silently weeping in the interrogation room. But a sharp knock on the door interrupted his heartbreak as the same officer opened the door. And the look on his face was something Jan could identify immediately.
Worry...
And fear.
“Detective Suk!” The young man exclaimed. “She's gone!”
“What?!”
“The suspect, sir!” He stammered. “She escaped!” Before the young police officer could say anymore, Jan was out the door, quickly stalking down the hall as Officer Balek followed behind in an attempt to keep up with him. “I'm so sorry!” His voice was wracked with guilt. “She told me she was feeling ill, and needed to use the restroom. She looked awful, sir.” He quickly explained. “And then she told me from behind the door that she was having trouble, and asked me to get a female officer to help her, so-” Balek faltered along his words. “I did.”
Jan immediately turned on his heels and railed on the poor young man.
“You did what?!” He snarled, causing the officer to shrink back in fear.
“Sir-”
“You left her alone?!”
“Only for a minute, sir! I swear!” The young man tried to defend himself against Jan's wrath. “But by the time I came back with another officer, the bathroom door was wide open, and she was gone.”
Jan turned back around-the key he'd confiscated from the young woman firmly clutched in his fist-as he stalked away and left the young man looking as if he were about to wet himself. But Jan simply didn't have the time, energy, or effort it would take in order to stop and empathize with the new officer who had simply made a rookie mistake. If he were quick enough, perhaps he could actually catch Anna before she disappeared.
She was a murder suspect in an active investigation. And he simply couldn't allow her to just walk out of here and escape like this.
Running towards the front doors of the police station, Jan approached the middle-aged woman at the front desk-nearly startling her to death.
“Detective Suk!” She squeaked out, alarmed at his frantic appearance.
“Did a young woman just pass by here and leave the building?!” Jan shouted, not having the time to speak more politely to her.
“Y-yes-” The poor woman stammered. “actually.” Her brows crease together as her gaze narrowed on him. “About two minutes about.” She said, her eyes darting along Jan's face. “Come to think of it, she was actually here for you, detective.” The woman at the desk continued. “She told me that she knew you were busy at the moment, and she didn't want to bother you. She was really so sweet about it, too.” She said as she continued to eye him, which really began to bother Jan as she continued in a quieter tone. “She said that she was just stopping by to return these to you.” Her small hand pushed forward a set of handcuffs, and a key.
His key, to be more precise.
Jan's expression paled then, because it hit him all of the sudden that-while he had been searching her pockets-he'd inadvertently allowed Anna to get close enough to his body to take his set of cuff-keys.
“Dammit!” He cursed at himself in a hiss through clenched teeth.
How could he have let that happen?
“Honestly, detective.” The woman leaned towards him slightly as she whispered in a hushed voice from across the desk. “You should really be more careful where you leave these.” She spared him a pointed look that spoke volumes about what she now thought of him. “They're not exactly a toy you can just play around with, you know.” Had Jan not been so absorbed in finding Anna again, he might have actually been quite horrified by the misconceived notion this woman has just conjured up in her mind.
Instead, Jan bolted from the desk and burst out onto the sidewalk to the sound of her disapproval.
“Detective Suk!”
“Anna!” Jan screamed her name through the crowd of people.
Perhaps the call of her name would cause an involuntary reaction. A pause. A turn of the head. A flash of movement. Anything. Anything at all that would give her away in the crowd. Yet all he received were wary glances from strangers as they quickly past him by.
As he stood there, scanning all of the different faces, someone else came through the door, onto the sidewalk with him.
“Sir!” The familiar, worried voice of Officer Balek met his ears. “Did you find her?!”
A forced sigh pushed through Jan's nose as he gave the hand of his head with an angry glare to the unforgiving concrete beneath his feet. And his hands began to tremble. He simply couldn't believe that she'd disappeared on him for a second time.
A sharp pain blossomed in the palm of his clenched fist before Jan raised it slightly and slowly unfurled his fingers from around the key he now had. The key he'd gotten off of Anna when he'd searched her. The one that-it seemed-she had wanted him to have.
because I trust that you'll know what to do with it
“Wait-” Jan hissed through his teeth as he stared at the key in his hand.
...it couldn't be...
“Detective Suk? What should we do?” The voice of the young man standing next to him barely registered in Jan's awareness as his eyes burrowed into the key.
He just stared at it, there in his hand.
That couldn't possibly have been her plan, all along. Was this the only reason she'd come back to him after having vanished that night? To give him this? No. She hadn't just 'handed it over' to him. Jan realized now that it hadn't been something that simple. It had been more than that. She'd entrusted him with it. She'd placed it in his care-him specifically-for safe keeping.
...why..?
What secrets would this key unlock..?
He didn't know. But Jan knew that this was where he would need to begin when unraveling this mystery.
"Send out a new description of our suspect," He quietly murmured to the officer next to him. "and issue an All-Points Bulletin for her apprehension and arrest." His hand curled back over the key before drifting to his side as Jan turned to go back into the building.
"Sir?" Officer Balek stammered. "Where are you going?"
Jan didn't turn around when he'd been asked this. He merely pushed open the door to let himself back into the police station before giving the faintest pause in his step as he answered the man.
"I have something I need to look into."
THE END
You've been dressin' up the truth
I've been dressin' up for you
Then you leave me in this room
this room
Pour a glass and bite my tongue
You say I'm the only one
If it's true, then why you runnin'?
you runnin'
Mmm, Mm-mm
If you're really bein' honest
If you really want this
Ooh woah
Why you actin' like a stranger?
What's with your behavior?
Ooh woah
Say my name!
Say my name!
If you love me
let me hear you
Say my name!
Say my name!
I am dying
to believe you
I feel alone
in your arms
I feel you breakin'
my heart
Say my name!
Say my name!
If you love me
let me hear you
...
Let me hear you
...
I got darkness in my head
Don't believe a word you said
Still I let you in my bed
my bed
Got too many different sides
Got designer in your eyes
Somethin' has to change tonight
tonight
tonight
Mmm, Mm-mm
If you're really bein' honest
If you really want this
Ooh woah
Why you actin' like a stranger?
What's with your behavior?
Ooh woah
Say my name!
Say my name!
If you love me
let me hear you
Say my name!
Say my name!
I am dying
to believe you
I feel alone
in your arms
I feel you breakin'
my heart
Say my name!
Say my name!
If you love me
let me hear you
…
Let me hear you
…
…
Let me hear you
…
Say my name!
Say my name!
If you love me
let me hear you
Say my name!
Say my name!
I am dying
to believe you
I feel alone
in your arms
I feel you breakin'
my heart
Say my name!
Say my name!
If you love me
let me hear you
Say my name!
Say my name!
If you love me
let me hear you
Say my name!
Say my name!
I am dying
to believe you
I feel alone
in your arms
I feel you breakin'
my heart
Say my name!
Say my name!
If you love me
let me hear you