The Net: "Take Me Home"

The policemen had finally cut Angela loose. They let her go and watched her run towards the fields. She had nothing with her, except herself, the clothes on her back, and some money in her pocket. Just how much money, they didn't know.
"We should put this in evidence lockup," one policeman commented, while holding up her back pack. Everyone around him agreed when yet another cop pulled up in his cruiser and got out.
"What are you doing with that back pack?" he asked.
Angela was already out of sight.
"We were about to put it in evidence. Why? What's your problem?"
"Well, doesn't it belong to someone who needs it?"
"She must not because we let her go and she took off running into those fields and left it here."
"Give me that!" said the officer. He took the back pack and started to run to the fields.
"That Officer Resh, I don't think he makes a very good cop. He's too nice. That woman is a killer and he's nice to her.
Meanwhile, Jacob, in his new police uniform, ran through the fields looking for Angela, thanking God that he had recognized her back pack. She was nowhere to be found. Jacob screamed her name until he was hoarse, but never once did he hear her return his shouts. Living across the fields, he went home and checked the contents of her bag. All of her clothes were there, along with a bottle of water and his own name, phone #, and address on a well worn index card. All of the money he had given her was gone. Jacob put the water in the refrigerator and slid the rest, in the back pack, under the bed. He went back to work.
The next day, word came out that there was yet another murder done by Liz Marx. Jacob was the only one in the department who knew it wasn't true, who knew it was just another ploy by the Praetorians to try and capture their pray. And, just as the cops had let her go the other day, now they were out searching for her so that Sean Trelawney could come collect her up after they got her back into custody.
Everyday, Jacob would ask if Angela had been found yet by any of the other officers. He didn't use her real name. The rest all thought it was Liz Marx, and he couldn't possibly call her that, because it wasn't her name. So, he just called her "that brown haired woman" until everyone knew who he was talking about even before he'd uttered a word. And soon, they just told him the news without him having to ask. The answer was always 'no.' No, was good, and bad in this case. Good because that meant that there was a chance that Sean or the cops could find her and that she was safe from them. And it was bad, because this meant that Jacob didn't know where she was. She could have been terribly wounded somewhere on her own, or who knew what else.
Jacob waited and worried about Angela for almost a whole year, wondering what he should do, and if he should leave town and go search for her on his own. Not like he'd have much luck finding her after all this time. She'd had lots of practice hiding from Sean, and the authorities. She would be good at it now, too good even, for him to find her.
Then one day Jacob was putting his gun away and talking to a fellow officer about a recent case, when the officer suddenly burst out, "There she is! There's Lix Marx! Right here in your own house!" he had already gone for his radio as Jacob turned around.
Angela was indeed standing there, but one look at Jacob in his uniform and she took off running with tears streaming down her face.
"Angel? Angel wait!"
Jacob quickly changed into a pair of old jeans, a t-shirt, and sneakers so that he'd look more like his old self, they way she'd remember him, though without the bleach in his hair. He ran off after her. Up ahead he could still see her running. She didn't look very stable and he wondered how she kept going. She ran into a barn and Jacob followed her. He found her slumped down in a corner. She did not look good at all. Her clothes were tattered and torn all over, her face was pale, she was covered in cuts and bruises , and she was very thin.
"Angel?" Jacob walked over to her.
"Jacob? Is it really you?"
"Yes, it's me."
He sat down and pulled her into his lap. She threw her arms around him in a hug, thankful that she'd found him.
"Were you wearing a police uniform?" she asked after letting him go.
"I was."
Angela bolted upright and tried to get away but Jacob held her back and brushed the tears from her face.
"Angel, listen to me. I thought that by becoming a cop I could help you better. But then you disappeared and I never saw you or heard from you until now."
She began to shake a little as if she was cold. Jacob grabbed a nearby blanket, brushed off some hay and wrapped it around her. She didn't say anything. "Angel, what happened to you out there?"
Jacob held her close and she rested her head against his chest so she could hear his heart beating.
"Lots of things happened to me. Mostly I ran. I had to run a lot, you know, from Sean. He almost got me a few times, but I managed to get away. I slept whenever and wherever I could, and ate when I could too. I tried to save my money so that it would last. I ran out the other day."
"It's OK, Angel, you're safe now. Just promise me you won't run away again for so long without contacting me somehow. I was really worried about you."
"I promise."
They were silent for a while. "When was the last time you slept? "That depends. Do you mean a really good nights sleep or the last time I got any sleep at all?" "Both" "Well, the last time I slept at all was probably four or five nights ago and the last time I slept really well, that was the last time I was on your couch." "When was the last time you ate?"
"I don't know. The day before yesterday maybe."
"Oh God...We need to get you home, so you can rest and get some food. Everything will be much better from now on, I promise."
"Thanks."
"You found her!" several cops ran into the barn.
"Good job Officer Resh! You found Liz Marx. But might I ask what you are doing?"
"Her name is not Liz Marx. It's Angela Bennett."
"Well, whatever, she's still under arrest."
"No she's not. She's innocent. She hasn't done anything, least of all kill someone. And can't you tell she's not well? She's had a lot happen to her in the past year."
"So? If she's sick we'll send her to a hospital before prison."
"She's not going to prison if I have anything to say about it." Jacob stood up, still holding Angela tightly against him wrapped up in the blanket.
"Jacob, I want to go home, take me home," Angela said quietly.
"We're going home now," Jacob said, carrying her past the other officers and out the door. "As of today, right now, I quit. You'll have my badge and gun on your desk in the morning."
"No, Jacob, don't quit."
"If it means protecting you, I'll do anything."
Jacob took her back to his house where he put her in his own bed, and made her some soup and some tea. But by the time the food was ready, Angela was sound asleep. He pulled up a chair and rested his chin in his right hand and gently brushed the hair off her forehead while he watched her sleeping peacefully.
He then began to talk quietly to her as she slept, "I know it might be awhile before you're back to your old self again, I know. But you're back, where you belong, and I'm here now, to make sure nothing happens to you. I promise the cops will leave you alone. I'll make sure they don't take you away to prison. As for Sean? Well, he night be a bit harder to deal with. But when you're stronger, well, then we can deal with him together. Some day, we will get rid of him, once and for all and then we can lead a normal, peaceful life together. Oh, and Angel....I love you."