Chapter 12
Elizabeth sits at a table by herself, coffee and a plate with a scone on it sitting in front of her as she waits nervously for Zane to join her. She didn’t know what she is going to do when he gets there but she knew that she had to do something in order to protect herself, Janice, and the other people who may become a target by the thief. She lets out a slow breath, trying to calm her heart down as it races against her chest. She sips her coffee and picks at her scone, staring down at it as her appetite for something sweet disappears. She feels suddenly sick to her stomach and the thought of eating is no longer appealing.
“There is my beautiful muffin.”
Elizabeth looks up, gasping when she hears his voice from behind her, turning in her chair to look up at the handsome man standing just a bit in the darkness. “Oh jeez Zane, you scared me.”
Zane laughs and walks around the table, looking down at her coffee and scone, “Oh starting without me I see? Well let me just pop inside and get myself something to drink and eat.”
She forces a chuckle and nods,” Sorry but you know this sweet tooth of mine.”
“Don’t I ever!” Zane laughs and heads inside the quiet shop.
Elizabeth puts her left leg over her right knee, her leg beginning to bounce from nerves as she sips her coffee again, waiting for the man to return. She thinks about all of the times they spent together and all of the stories about his family and friends that he told her. Were any of them true or were they all just a bunch of lies in order to gain her trust? Was he just using her to get to Janice or was she next on his list to murder?
“My dear you are miles away. Can you come back to me here?”
Her eyes flutter as she looks up to see that Zane has made his purchases and is now sitting in front of her. She smiles and sighs heavily, “Sorry I was just thinking about the recent cases and how overwhelming it is getting at work. So many mysteries to solve and so many crimes. It is never-ending. I just want a break, you know? Maybe go traveling sometimes.”
“I understand that for sure,” Zane says, reaching across the table to take a hold of her hand. “We will have to go traveling together once you are able to take time off of work again.”
She sits up, moving her hands away from him and peers over his shoulder, “I guess I am not the only one out trying to subdue the sweet tooth.”
Zane watches her for a moment before he turns to look over his shoulder and sees a young woman from Elizabeth’s office heading their way. “Ricky right?”
“Yep, I swear she might even be worse than me.”
Zane turns around laughing and slaps the table, “Someone worse than you when it comes to sweets? I highly doubt that.”
Elizabeth shrugs, “Where do you think I get most of my sweets from at work?”
Zane gasps then turns just as Ricky is about to enter the coffee shop, “Ricky, darn you, stop giving my girl all those sweets at work.”
Ricky peers around the open door to see who is talking to her and grins when she sees Elizabeth and Zane sitting at a table nearby, “Never!” She then heads inside, the door closing behind her.
Zane shakes his fist at the door before he looks back at Elizabeth who is laughing and crying at the same time over the two’s interactions. Zane laughs and takes a bite of his blueberry muffin while Elizabeth wheezes and does her best to calm down. Elizabeth finally is able to control herself and wags her finger at Zane. He holds up his hands to ward off the wagging finger before he drinks some coffee.
“Don’t you dare take away my candy source from work, young man, or you will get the blunt of me being without candy after work,” she threatens him.
“No anything but that. You’re scary when you haven’t had any sweets or any coffee for that matter,” he kids.
Elizabeth sips her coffee and bites into her scone, Zane’s joke having eased her fears for the time being as they discuss their jobs and what they have been doing since they last saw each other earlier that day at the office. Once the office is brought up, Elizabeth remembers why she is there and what she has to do in order to protect the others. She has to get him to go back to her place where she can…what can she do? She doesn’t know how to subdue the man and he is a lot stronger than she is even though she has had a lot of training on taking down a suspect. She wracks her brain as she thinks about what she can do in order to capture him so that his killing spree comes to an end.
Zane notices her demeanor has changed once they talked about the office and he cocks his head to the side, seeing in her eyes that she is thinking about something very seriously even though she keeps talking to him. He thinks about their talk on the phone and how he had pointed a finger at a man he had seen before but didn’t remember if he had been at the office that day. Maybe he has goofed and she knows that he isn’t what he pretends to be but how can she? Zane has her head over heels in love with him in just a few short months.
Usually, it takes longer but this woman seemed desperate for love so it has been quite easy to persuade her that he is the one for her. He has to keep her eating out of the palm of his hand so that he can get closer to Janice and then once the time is right, kill them both, wipe their memories, and disappear before Simon, Jock, and Jarred can even piece together what had happened to their friends. He decides that even though London has been a fun playground, after these last two deaths, it would be time to travel elsewhere. He has always wanted to visit Ireland or maybe even further like Canada. Maybe even a warm island type place so that he can get a tan and kill at the same time.
Elizabeth nods her head without him noticing and decides that she has to get him to her place so that she can get him to spend the night. She has some sleeping pills that she might be able to hide in a cup of water or tea and then once he is out like a light, tie him up. It is a long shot but she has to try something and that is her only plan at the moment. She taps her coffee cup, “I think I am done for the night. Want to come back to my place and watch some of those funny shows we like to watch at night? I can make us some relaxing tea or just some cold water and we can unwind from life that way.”
Zane grins at her, “That sounds amazing. I am totally game for that.” He picks up his almost empty coffee cup and empty paper plate, dumping both into the nearest trash can.
Elizabeth follows his lead and they walk hand in hand away from the coffee shop saying good bye to Ricky as they pass her where she sits outside. Zane makes an ‘I am watching you’ gesture where Ricky rolls her eyes and mouths ‘bring it’ back to him causing the group to laugh. Elizabeth tells Ricky that she will see her later at work and they keep walking off towards Elizabeth’s apartment. Ricky turns back to her nightly snack, not thinking anymore of her encounter with Zane and Elizabeth.
Elizabeth unlocks the door and walks inside, flipping on the lights to her living room, yawning widely. “I might actually fall asleep on the couch while we watch our shows.”
“That is okay. I love when you fall asleep in my arms,” Zane says as he closes and locks the door behind him, heading to sit down on the couch.
“You get the shows on and I will make us some mint tea to help us relax,” Elizabeth says as she deposits her purse on the table beside the door and heads off into the kitchen but freezes. “Wait, no first bathroom then tea.” She laughs and waves at him as she heads for the restroom to quietly retrieve the sleeping pills. “Maybe I should have skipped the coffee and just had a scone then tea with you here.”
Zane laughs at her as he switches on her old TV, looking through the small amount of channels for their favorite funny shows. He hears her sneezing in the bathroom and turns his head towards the door shouting, “Blush you!”
“Thanks!” she says before flushing the toilet and washing her hands, having already slipped a handful of pills into her pocket since her pants were too tight for the whole bottle. She exists, looking at the TV, “Oh good, they haven’t started yet.”
“Nope now hurry up!” Zane says as he sits back on the couch, propping one leg up on his knee, and spreads an arm over the back of the couch as he waits for her.
“Okay, okay sheesh. I am going as fast as I can,” she tells him as she slows her walk down.
“Ha! Ha! Very funny.”
Zane shakes his head as Elizabeth laughs and disappears into the kitchen. Once in the kitchen and out of sight, she rushes over to get her tea kettle, fills it with water, turns on her stovetop, and starts boiling the water. While she waits for the water to heat up, she pulls out two saucers and cups. She then pulls out the pills and sets them on the countertop, picking up the first one and breaks it open, pouring the inside of the pill into the cup she plans to give Zane. She continues this until all of the pills are empty inside the cup and the water is ready. She grabs to tea bags from one of her bags and lays them in the cups before pouring the steaming hot water into both. She pours a bit of sugar in hers and stirs hers up before she ads a bit to Zane’s as well. As she is stirring, Zane appears at her elbow, startling her, and causing her to jump, spilling a bit of the tea on the counter next to the cup.
Zane laughs at her reaction and kisses her cheek, “Sorry about that.” He grabs a rag that is hanging off of the oven handle and wipes away the tea before returning it and looking at her. “Oh fancy! A little sugar to bring out the mint taste more.”
“You know it!” She finishes stirring his tea and carefully hands it to him. “Now go sit down while I clean up.”
“Yes ma’am,” he says and exits, sipping the tea. “Oh yea that’s the stuff.”
Zane readjusts himself so that they can sit comfortably together, watching the show and laughing when things went awry in the TV show. He sipped his tea from time to time, having placed the saucer on the table but held onto the cup. Soon he places the empty cup on the saucer and just relaxes while Elizabeth sips on hers until the cup is empty. They watch the shows late into the night until the shows are over, the TV grows dark, and they are both asleep on the couch.