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."

This seems to take him by surprise. He arches an eyebrow and looks intrigued. "And what might that be?"

"Something you'd probably prefer we discuss in private."

He breaks into condescending laughter, then sighs dramatically. "Of course, you want some private time alone with me to discuss "Clever trick, but it's not going to work. Sorry sweetheart, but you're just not my type. Desperation is so tacky."

Ana's expression becomes disgusted. "I'm not interested in sleeping with you, I'm trying to ask you about your brother."

His expression changes from unsubtle self-satisfaction to genuine confusion. "My brother? My brother died six years ago. Why would you want to know anything about him?"

"I know what really happened to him back in Afghanistan. I know what your family tried to do to him, and I know the truth about why his funeral was closed-casket."

I watch as Burke's incredulity begins to morph into something else.

"I know why your family hired a private doctor and had him removed from the military hospital. I know why your family didn't sue that doctor for malpractice, even though he was recovering from his injuries. I know why an autopsy was never performed."

Burke's expression has hardened into something dark. This isn't an expression he uses for the cameras.

"I know why your father created a shell company that purchased land in Alaska and had a cabin built-"

"Oliver," Burke says, addressing one of his entourage, "we're done here." He begins to turn away, but Ana leaps up from the table.

"Spring Break, Boca Raton, silver Cadillac."

Burke freezes mid-step. The tension in the room hits an all-time high. I watch Burke carefully, my hand drifting to my hip. He slowly turns back to face Ana.

"Who are you, and what do you want?" he asks, his voice cold.

Ana smiles.

"No one. I'm no one. All I want is to ask some questions about your brother. Then I'll go away and you'll never have to worry about me again. I'm not interested in airing out your dirty laundry, but if you don't tell me what I want to know," she pauses for effect and looks at him demurely. "I'm not above toppling your little empire. You should know by now that I can."

Burke's expression of cold fury cracked a few times during her little speech to reveal a deep-seated fear. Now as he regards her in silence, he has settled back on anger, standing tall across the table from her, trying his best to loom over Ana intimidatingly.

"Oliver," he says, his eyes not leaving Ana's face. "Our guest here will be joining us at the house in twenty minutes. Make sure they get there uninterrupted. And you," he says, pointing at Ana. "Not one word. To anyone."

"Ben is coming too," she says, looking to me.

"I don't think so," he says.

"Ben knows everything I do. Don't you, Ben?"

They both look at me, Burke's eyes glaring, Ana's eyes silently commanding. I have no idea what Boca Raton has to do with anything, nor do I have any idea who the brother was, but I put on a cold smile and stare back at this spoiled brat like I've got enough dirt to blackmail him into the next century. I can play the intimidating stare game. I'm pleased to see him blink first and look away uncomfortably.

~~~

When the staff shows us to a lavish, private office on the third floor, Ana seats herself on a couch facing the desk, away from the door. I choose a seat next to her where I can see both the desk and the door. Finally alone for the first time since the restaurant, I seize the opportunity to ask what the hell is going on.

She sighs, rubbing her hands on her pant legs nervously. "It's complicated. And a really long story. Thanks for playing along back there. If you could just keep that up, I'd really appreciate it."

"I don't appreciate being thrown into this blind," I point out.

Her mouth twists in consideration. "I am sorry about that. We're dealing with some crazy rich people here and I'm protecting a lot of secrets that aren't mine. It's hard to know when it's right to share other people's secrets."

"Are you about to blackmail these people? You realize I'm a police officer and that's illegal, right?"

"Are you even seeing this guy? Are you telling me that if blackmailing this awful excuse for a human being helps with your investigation, you're still going to have a problem with that?"

I don't offer a reply immediately. This is a moral gray area. I can't pretend like it wasn't satisfying to watch Burke squirm, nor that it doesn't seem like karma, but evidence gained through blackmail is definitely not going to hold up in court.

Taking my silence for acquiescence, Ana continues. "Besides, even if they don't tell me a thing, I'm never going to go through with it. Ever. I won't expose him."

"I don't think your intent matters that much. Blackmail is defined as the act of threatening someone with the release of damaging information for something in return. Whether or not you carry through with the threat is-"

I cut myself off and look over when a door at the other end of the room opens. Burke walks in, followed by a much older, vaguely familiar woman. While Burke is looking more scared than angry, the woman's gaze holds only contempt. She sits at the desk and gives each of us a long, cold stare before addressing Ana.

"What is it that you want?"

"Like I told your son," she gestures to Burke, "I only want the answers to a few questions. Then we can forget this whole thing even happened."

"What sort of questions? You behave like someone who thinks she knows all the answers."

Ana swallows. This woman - Mrs. Burke, it seems - is starting to win at the intimidation game.

"Is he still alive?"

Mrs. Burke laughs. "What a question to ask." The smile disappears from her face in an instant. "You know very well that my son died six years ago of complications from injuries sustained during his service in Afghanistan."

Ana scoffs, but her fierce determination from earlier is waning. "You know very well that your supposedly dead son regularly communicates with your family, and not through supernatural means."

Mrs. Burke raises one precise eyebrow but says nothing.

"I've seen him, spoken with him, and touched him only a few months ago and he's not a ghost. He was alive last October. I want to know if he's called you since then."

Mrs. Burke turns to her son. "Have you received any phone calls from your brother in the last four months?"

He blinks at having been addressed, then I watch his expression as he thinks. "No, I haven't," he says.

My experience says that he's telling the truth. Since before I went undercover, I'd been studying how to read people, pick up on cues and tells. Joe Burke seems to have answered honestly. But he seems oddly relieved. Too relieved. There's something suspicious about that.

"There you have it. Anything else?" Mrs. Burke asks.

Ana's face has fallen. She looks down at the floor, all her confidence seemingly drained.

"Are you sure you haven't heard anything from him at all?" Her voice is tinged with desperation.

With an air of impatience, Mrs. Burke replies, "If you have no further questions, I'll have our security escort you back to your vehicle."

Her son approaches and begins to whisper in her ear. She frowns and stands. "Excuse us for a moment." She pulls Burke with her out a side door. Momentarily, their hushed voices are heard filtering in from the hallway, though not loudly enough for words to be distinguishable.

On the other side of the room, the main door opens and I turn to look. A man walks in and I can immediately tell from the short brush cut and the way he holds himself that he's ex-military. Another one of their private security guys, probably here to escort us out. This one looks around the room, his gaze not lingering until he sees me.

"Ben Ramirez, from the FBI?" he asks,

"Yes," I reply, wondering why he wants to know and why he is speaking to me with his face angled toward the rest of the room instead of me.

"I need to speak with you about a kidnapping and witness intimidation."

I glance back at Ana and see her face has gone white, her eyes wide. Her jaw drops and her lips part slightly. Adrenaline courses through me. I don't know what's going on, but something here isn't right. This day has been full of surprises and I'm not eager for any new ones. I stand and move toward her.

"Ana?" I ask, but she doesn't respond. She looks up at me, her eyes still enormous, but it's like she's looking through me.

I look up at the man standing behind the couch Ana is sitting on. His expression has faltered too, his gaze now on the back of her head.

Ana stands and I grab her arm, ready to shove myself between them if he proves to be a threat. My anxiety is mounting. I think Ana knows him and I'm afraid of what that could mean.

She turns around to face the man and I can feel her wilt slightly upon seeing his face.

"Oh my God," she lets out with a breath. "Ryan?"

I look back at the man. He has finally turned his face toward us and I see that the other side of his face is disfigured by extreme scarring. At the same moment, I hear noises of shock and dismay coming from behind me. I turn to see Mrs. Burke and her son have re-entered the room and are staring at us. I turn back to find that Ana has pulled out of my grasp and is in the process of flinging herself over the back of the couch.

Suddenly it all comes together. Why she came to these people about their supposedly dead son and their shell company that owns a cabin in Alaska. Why this man wanted to talk to me about a case of kidnapping and witness intimidation. Why she wouldn't tell me about this missing member of the Burke family and protected Ryan's identity so fiercely. Why she said that Joe Burke looked like someone she knew and how she knows so much about the Burkes' secrets. The mystery hermit cabin-dweller from Alaska is Ryan Burke. And he's alive and standing in this room.

She lands on the other side with a quiet thump and rushes to the scarred man, throwing her arms around him. He stares down at her. In the half of his face that can show emotion, I see shock and relief.

"I love you," Ana says, her voice so soft that I only just catch her words.

The scarred soldier wraps his arms around her and kisses her.

~~~

Short Author's note - for the love of all things sacred, PLEASE don't go back to previous chapters of Requiem for a Love OR Requiem for a Soldier and put spoilers for this plot development in the comments!!!! (If you do, I will remove them, and I really hate deleting anyone's comments.) HOWEVER, if you feel so inclined, I certainly won't mind if you leave comments encouraging people to read the sequel. A lot of readers were very upset after the epilogue of Requiem for a Soldier and rage-quit on the series as a whole, which makes me sad - sympathetic, but sad. Just don't spoil this, you guys!!

I've been experiencing a combo of writer's block and unfamiliarity with characters' backstories leading to inability to write beyond this point so don't expect the next chapter for... a while. But I promise I'm not giving up on the story!