Dawn Again

Thirteen

"Sir, we have found her. She popped up on the internet a few minutes ago." Words John had been waiting to hear for almost two years now finally made their way through the phone. "Send me the details." he snapped into the phone and disconnected. He waited impatiently for the email to pop up, and it did. He looked at the photos that Charles had put on f*******:, and chuckled, "So, my darling wife, you have changed your hair? I cannot wait to see you again!" John picked up the phone, "Bruce, I need to know everything about this person. I will send you the email. You have 20 minutes." Disconnecting the phone, John sat back, thinking about seeing his wife again.

In less than 15 minutes, John held the name, address, phone number and pretty much the entire story of Charles' life in his hands. This man had dared to call Ana his darling. John would soon find out exactly what else Charles had done with Ana. The end of his life was not going to be pretty. Neither was that of James Tucker. He was the reason John had lost his Ana. And now, the trap had practically closed around James. Ana would be by his side shortly. He did not intend to wait to see her until he was back. He would have her brought to him and take care of the bug Charles as soon as he got back home.

Now, to the task of finding and bringing Ana home. It was at times like this that John was especially proud of the tons of dirt he had on some of the most powerful men I the country. The director of FBI was one such man. John picked up the phone again and put the call through that would bring Ana home.

John remembered like yesterday the first time he had laid eyes on Ana. He was going to be speaking at a charity event that evening, and Ana had come to see him about it.

"Hi, Cassie! Can you please quickly get these three drafts approved from Mr Quinn?"

"Hey, Ana...good to see you. What is this?" John's secretary Cassie asked.

Ana had been working as a media and communications officer for the Vet's welfare charity for the last 6 months while completing her bachelor's degree. She needed to get the drafts for the print/online newspapers and f*******: and Twitter posts. She would then release them first thing the day after the ball.

John rarely ever had the door to his office open. But he had left it open today. And that is why he heard the voice. The voice was beautiful. It was happy. He wanted to see the woman to whom the voice belonged.

"Cassie. Send her in. I will have a look." he called out to his secretary. The next instant, she was at the door of his office. She was not tall, she'd probably not even reach his shoulder if not wearing heels. But it was her slight, delicate build that struck him...it was almost like she was a doll. She was wearing a pale yellow dress which hinted at her generous curves but could very well be classified as modest. She had her raven black hair in a loose bun which highlighted her slender neck. John was having trouble keeping his head on straight. This woman, without having said or done absolutely anything to arouse him, had managed to hike his heart rate up and his blood rush southward leaving him literally light headed.

John was known, among his team, as 'The Eskimo' for a very good reason. He never lost his cool - EVER. No matter how dangerous the situation, no matter how high the stakes, he was always calm and collected. This tiny woman, however, had tied him up in knots, and that was not a good place to be for John, and consequently for a lot of other people since John had a very strong influence over many many lives.

"Sir?" John's eyes snapped to the woman's. She had obviously been saying something. John collected his wayward blood, forcing it to flow up and not down, and said, "Yes?"

Ana explained the documents to him again, and John went through the media releases, making slight changes and then approved them. Ana picked up the papers, said thank you and turned around to leave, when John said, "Ana. Do you work for Vet's Welfare?" "Yes. Mr Quinn. I am the Media and Communications officer." she replied. John nodded, and continued, "Are you free tonight? Come to the dinner with me." Ana looked surprised and took a moment to realise that John Quinn had just asked her to be his date for the charity dinner where he was the guest of honor. "Thank you, Mr. Quinn. But, I cannot. I am sorry. Bye." she said, smiled and left.

John was left stunned. No one denied him, least of all a slip of a woman whose life he could easily wreck with a single phone call. John was furious. He called up his trusted Bruce, and told him to get everything he could on Ana, and also to put a team on her. He needed to know everything that Ana did for the next couple of days when he would make his move. No one denied him and got away with it. Certainly not Ana, who John needed beneath him like he needed his next breath. Later that night, John was told that Ana went straight home from work. So, she had nowhere to be. She just did not want to be with him!

The next day Ana was at work when she received a text message 'Picking you up at 7 tonight. Dress for dinner. JQ'. Ana decided that the sender must've gotten the phone numbers mixed up. For a very tiny moment she thought JQ was John Quinn, he had, after all, asked her to go with him to the gala last night, but quickly dismissed the thought. John Quinn was a handsome billionaire who would be unlikely to give her the time of day. Especially after refusing to be his date last night!

Ana ended the day on a happy note! TGIF! She was heading out with her friends from college for a dinner and the latest Star Wars movie. She was pumped. Star Wars was her absolute favourite and although the craze was waning what with the lukewarm reception to the latest episodes, Ana was still totally looking forward to 'Solo: A Star Wars Story'. She freshened up, put on a comfy cotton dress with blue and white stripes and her trusty blue wedges (Ana HATED tight outfits in summer. They made her skin itch. So she always went for flowy dresses which made breathing so much easier!) Ana was at the Landmark's E Street Cinema by a quarter to seven, and was glad to see Katie already there. Katie was Ana's best friend since forever.

"Sir, she is at the Landmark's E Street Cinemas. What do you want me to do?" John snapped the pen he was writing with into two when he heard this report. "Make sure she does leave your sight. And ask the other team to email me snaps of her parents. I will be there in 10." ordered John, and swept an arm over his desk crashing everything to the floor. It still did not feel good. He was so furious, his ears were ringing. John got into his BMW and was off in minutes. It was a good thing the girl was not too far from his office in DC.

John got to the cinemas and called up Bruce, "Ping me your location." Within 10 minutes John was looking at the girl who had caused so much chaos in his life. He strode to where the two women were standing, and said, "Ana. Did you not receive my message?" Ana gasped at the cold deep voice coming from behind her and turned around. "Oh my god! So it was you. Mr Quinn, I wasn't even sure the text was for me let alone it was from you! I never gave you my number." John took in her look from her head to her toes. His blatant regard made Ana take a step back. Unknown to her, that show of submission, although small, helped calm John down. He stepped forward, took her arm gently but firmly, and said, "Now you do. Let's go."

Before Ana could say anything, the woman with her blurted, "Hang on there! She is not going anywhere. We are here for a movie. Or has it escaped your notice that she already has plans ASSHOLE!"

"Katie! What's with the language? This is John Quinn." hissed Ana.

"I don't care if he is Prince Harry." Katie scoffed and added, "He may well be, for all the arrogance he is oozing."

John had stopped mid-stride at Katie's outburst, and Ana wiggled her arm to get it free. He did not let go. "Mr Quinn. Let go of my arm, please. I am sorry for all the misunderstanding. But as you can see, I already have plans. I really am sorry." Ana said softly.

"You are not. But you will be," replied John. Then, without moving his eyes from Ana, he ordered Katie, "Katie, leave us. Your friend needs to see this." Ana nodded to Katie, who fumed away, muttering, "I will be watching Ana. From right there!" and pointed to a spot just a few feet away.

As soon as Katie moved away, John let go of Ana's arm and unlocked his phone. He brought something up on his phone and offered it to Ana. "No one defies me, Ana. Least of all you. You will learn that. The sooner the better for you. Now, as you know, you are looking at your parents. What you need to understand is that the picture is taken 5 minutes ago by my man who is watching them. Do I need to spell it out further?" All blood drained from Ana's face as she looked at her parents' photo and then up at John's eyes. Her trembling finger covered her mouth, and she whispered, "Why?" "Another thing you should know about me, Ana. I hate repeating myself. But you don't know me yet. So, I will repeat myself. No one defies me. I tell you to go to dinner with me, you go. Period. Do you understand? ALWAYS."

After that, with her parents as virtual hostage to him, it was an easy ride for John to the total and complete acquisition of Ana.