Witness Protection

by Morgan, Paris

  She paused to take a breath before starting in on me again.

  “Your father was about to come over there and make sure that you were all right. What is going on? You never do this kind of thing.”

  “Sorry mom, I was asleep.” It felt a little awkward to be talking to my mother when there was a girl asleep in my room.

  “Well, we were worried. It’s three in the afternoon.” She accused me as if I wasn’t almost thirty.

  “I knew you were going out with friends, but you never sleep in this late. There was an incident at the bar you go to the Triple T and I was worried something had happened to you.” She had a point, but that didn’t stop her from continuing to hammer it home. “You know I get worried when I can’t get a hold of one of you for more than a few hours. It’s the mom thing kicking in and I imagine all sorts of horrible things happening to you.”

  I wasn’t sure if she wanted a response or was going to keep going, but the choice was taken from me as she started in with more questions. There wasn’t much I could tell her without digging a hole to bury myself in. Moms always figured out the details anyway so lying wasn’t an option.

  “They haven’t released the details about what happened yet. Were you there? Did you see the girl that got attacked?”

  I just groaned. Now that she knew I was alive, she was going to need all the details so she could verify if the rumors were true or exaggerated. “I’m okay. I promise.”

  “I was leaving when it happened and wound up taking one of the women to the hospital.” I ran a hand through my uncombed brown hair with a sigh. “It’s complicated. There’s a lot more to it, but I’m not able to talk about it yet.”

  “It was a crazy night, and I should have realized it would be on the news this morning. It’s a small town and those kinds of things travel fast. We just fell asleep, but it was your last call that finally woke me up.”

  “We?” My mother questioned, completely ignoring the fact that I was apologizing.

  “So, some huzzy is more important than your own mother. You couldn’t take a few minutes out of tangling the sheets to let us know you were okay. I guess I didn’t raise you as well as I thought I did…”

  “Whoa, Mom. Slow down and hold your horses for just a minute. It’s much different than that. I followed the girl or rather woman to the hospital and she—”

  “Justin Greenley, you’d better not have gotten some girl pregnant. I just couldn’t deal with that from you. You’re my baby. I tried to teach you how to be responsible and after all these years you’ve gone and thrown it all out the window.” Her words were a mix between anger and tears.

  “Mother, just SHUT UP!” I yelled into the phone instantly regretting it as silence filled the air.

  “Look, I’m sorry. I need to explain and you’re just filling in with so many different theories.” Exhaling, I tried again.

  “Allie was attacked, and her car was totaled. When they released her, I knew she’d need a ride home. It really shook her up and I didn’t want to leave her in an empty apartment. Like the kind of man that you raised, I offered for her to sleep here, and I’d take the couch.” There was no need to tell my mother that it wasn’t where I’d actually slept, but I’d offered so it was the complete truth.

  “She needed a friend to be there for her. We didn’t tangle any sheets and doing that kind of thing was the last thought on our minds after the events last night. I was simply tired, and it was almost five in the morning before we got here.”

  “Oh, Justin, that poor thing. I’ll be right over with something for you to eat.”

  Knowing that my mother was probably already headed to the kitchen to fix something, I had to stop her now before she alerted the entire town that Allie was at my apartment.

  “Mom, I really appreciate that, but no one can know she’s here. Her attacker is still out there looking for her. We didn’t even tell the police that she was coming over here, it was a spur-of-the-moment decision.”

  We needed a compromise that would be best for everyone, and I needed it fast.

  “How about this, Mom. If she’s up to it, I’ll bring her out to the ranch tomorrow and she can tell you the whole story. For the rest of today and tonight, if she can keep sleeping, I think it might be the best medicine for her.” Hoping this would keep my mother out of my hair until Allie was up and moving around. I wanted to have a chance to explain the inquisition squad at my family’s house before subjecting her to it.

  “I’ll let her know that you offered and see what she wants to do.”

  “Well, I guess I can let you handle things for tonight. I’ll start something for lunch tomorrow. Can you bring her with you to church in the morning?”

  My sigh must have finally alerted my mother that I was getting frustrated.

  “Not possible to that since she’s in hiding.” Leave it to my mother to try to find a way to make her plans mine.

  “She’s not really used to having a lot of people around. I think it might be a bit overwhelming for her. Let’s just take everything one step at a time for now.” Trying to be patient, but firm was hard with a well-intentioned mother.

  “I’ll message if she’s up to lunch tomorrow and then we can go from there.”

  “If you’re sure you don’t need help tonight?” She left the offer hanging there waiting for me to respond.

  “I love you, Mom. We’re good. Bye now.” I hung up and realized that a shower might be the next thing on my list now that my mother wasn’t going to barge in on me.

  Then I would start fixing some food because the next thing Allie would need was something to eat. Nothing like food and rest to help someone recover from trauma.

  I heard the groan from the bedroom about the time the food was finished cooking.

  “Hey, how are you feeling?”

  She was sitting up with her legs hanging over the side of the bed.

  “Like a semi ran over me. What time is it?” She glanced around searching for a clock.

  “It’s almost seven in the evening, sleepyhead. You’ve gotten to sleep for quite a while, but I’m willing to bet if you shower, and eat something, that you’d be able to go back to bed again.”

  “Food.” A starved look appeared in her eyes, “Is that what I’m smelling that is so amazing?”

  “Chicken soup.” I beamed proudly. “My brother dropped off a few things for me and I got it started earlier so that whenever you woke up it would be ready to eat.”

  “It sounds lovely.” A look of panic spread across her face, “Megan and Sally have no idea what’s happened. They’ll be worried.”

  She scrambled from the bed to the floor where her backpack was sitting to find her phone.

  Reaching out a hand to steady herself from the quick movement, she looked slightly green.

  “When you’re finished with your call, do you want to take one of those pills the doctor gave you?” I held out a bottle of water just in case.

  “No,” Then she seemed to think about her answer, “if I don’t feel better after I’ve eaten something then I’ll take one before I go to sleep. Unless you’re going to take me back to my house?”

  The fear in her voice was more than enough of an answer to that question for me. She didn’t need to be on her own.

  “Nope, you can stay here for as long as you need.” I started toward the closet for a clean shirt and pair of shorts that had a drawstring. “Hop in the shower and when you’re done the food will be ready. Just be careful and go slowly so that you don’t faint on me.”

  There wasn’t really a way to not overhear what she was saying as she talked to her friend.

  “Megan, I’m fine. Is everything okay with you and Sally?”

  “So, you know what happened last night? Have you heard if Julie’s still doing, okay? I just woke up and haven’t had a chance to check on her yet.” Her relieved sigh was the answer I’d been hoping for.

  “Thank goodness, I just woke up and realized that I’d been out of communication for
way too long. She was looking tired after surgery, but I left to sleep in a real bed without being poked all night.”

  Her voice dropped and it was hard to make out the words.

  “Justin wouldn’t let me go back to my apartment. I’m at his place now which is why I was calling to check on you.”

  “Justin, what’s your last name?” She yelled and I stuck my head in the room.

  “Greenley, why is it on the don’t date list of women now?”

  “No, Megan wants to know if you’re related to her lawyer, Mark Greenley?”

  I motioned for the phone, “Hey, Megan. I’m Justin, Mark’s cousin. I promise I’m taking good care of Allie. She hasn’t eaten in over twelve hours, so I’d like to feed her and make sure she gets some more rest.”

  "Well, Mark’s a good guy so I’m hoping that you’re carrying on the tradition for the family. There’d better be no funny business going on over there though.”

  “No ma’am.” I deepened my accent with a little of that southern charm just for Megan. It was amazing how many people were worried about me having sex with Allie. “There isn’t going to be any funny business which is just what I told my mother.”

  “Good.” Megan seemed to be satisfied with my answer.

  “Speaking of my mother, she would be ecstatic if you could come to lunch tomorrow with us.” I offered hoping that Allie didn’t get mad at me.

  “We don’t know you or your family. We have a very difficult situation at the moment.” She protested as Allie gave me an annoyed look.

  “Allie explained some of it to me last night. My mother would love to have someone to cook for and fuss over. We don’t let her do it to us very often anymore. If you’re worried about it, ask Mark if my mom will mind. He’ll set your mind at ease.”

  “Your mom is Georgia, isn’t she?” Megan sounded as if she was considering it. “I’ve seen her around town, and she seems really nice. I don’t want to cause her any trouble though or put her out.”

  “Yes, that’s the one. She loves having company, so you won’t be causing her to go to any trouble. Most Sunday’s we do lunch at their house for anyone who’s able to come. It will be a safe place for Sally and your ex-husband Mike won’t be looking for you to be there.” I grinned as Allie placed a hand on her hip that said I was going to be in trouble when I got off the phone.

  “Plus, Allie will feel much better when she can see for herself that you’re both okay. Please say yes.” I pleaded.

  “Well, I guess if the officer watching us says we can.”

  “Wonderful. I’ll text you the address. You can be there any time after twelve-thirty. See you then.”

  Pulling up the text message option, I put in the address for the GPS so they could find it tomorrow and handed the phone back to Allie.

  “Megan, I’ve got to go murder my new friend here. I’ll talk to you later.” The glare she shot me promised that I was going to pay for going behind her back. “Yeah, we’ll see if he lives long enough for lunch tomorrow. Later.”

  “So,” She stood before turning toward me after putting the phone on the nightstand, “I have no say in how my life is going to be run from now on?”

  Her foot tapped impatiently as she crossed her arms echoed the anger she was projecting.

  “Not at all.” I hastened to assure her, “My mother called and the only way I could keep her from coming over here was to promise to bring you out to the ranch for lunch tomorrow. She was ready to come over here and make sure that you were being taken care of herself. I stood up for you and said that you just needed rest. Since I couldn’t ask you without waking you up, I said yes. If you want to cancel, I’ll call her back and tell her you’re not up to it.”

  “No,” She huffed and followed me out to the living room. “It would have been nice to be asked first, but it will be good for them to get out of that room.”

  Some of the anger had been dissolved with a rational explanation.

  I placed a steaming bowl of soup in front of her before apologizing.

  “I’m sorry if you feel like I took over. I was just trying to help. We really don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”

  “No, it’s okay. I shouldn’t have gripped at you. There’s just so much going on and I feel like I’m losing control. When that happens, I tend to snap at those around me.” She looked embarrassed as she picked up a spoon and started eating the soup to change the conversation.

  “Oh, my goodness. You can cook!” Her head dipped, “I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. I’m just going to shut up now.”

  I gathered my bowl of soup and joined her at the bar.

  “You’re not the first person to be surprised at my culinary skills. Mom didn’t have a girl, and since I was the youngest of four boys, she made me help her in the kitchen when she cooked. I can whip something up if the need arises.” My words seemed to help put her at ease, “Now, eat up. We can figure out all the other stuff later.”

  “Thanks for taking care of me and having my back.” Allie reached over and squeezed my hand.

  “My pleasure.”

  It was a small gesture, but it felt like it was a huge step for her to admit that she’d needed someone.

  There might just be a light at the end of the tunnel. I could always hope for a future that included me in her life. For now, I’d just be there for her and see how things went.

  Chapter 13

  J.D.

  The voice on the other end of my phone jarred me awake as I answered.

  “What happened?” I didn’t even try to be quiet as I listened in horror to the incident at the Triple T.

  “Give me ten minutes and I’ll be there.” I hung up and started to get dressed.

  “It’s two in the morning, who’s calling at this hour?” My wife mumbled rolling over without waiting for an answer.

  “Work.” I placed my gun in its holster and clipped on my badge. “Something’s happened and it’s an all-hands-on-deck situation. Looks like I’ll be working on my day off.”

  Her response was a snore.

  “Hmpft, guess you weren’t too worried about it,” I grumbled.

  It wasn’t like she cared. We stayed married because it was easier than if we’d have gotten a divorce. She didn’t ask too many questions and I didn’t broadcast my extracurricular activities.

  Heading for the truck instead of the squad car, it was better suited for driving on country roads and I had a feeling that I was going to be doing a lot of back road driving today.

  Without using the siren, I had for emergencies, it still took less than seven minutes for me to pull into the large gravel lot.

  The truck he’d been driving was sitting at the back. No one appeared to be inside, but I still approached with caution.

  Mike was passed out across the seat.

  Running back to my truck, I drove it as close as I could without hitting his truck.

  Spreading a blanket on the seat, I went around to the passenger side to open the door.

  Mike was a big guy, but he never regained consciousness as I moved him from one vehicle to the other. I managed to get him settled without banging his head against anything. It wasn’t my fault if he had bruises in other areas because it was a miracle that I’d been able to move his dead weight at all.

  The mill had been abandoned a few years back as work became so scarce that the owners couldn’t keep the workers on anymore. It was the perfect place to keep his truck where it would go unnoticed for a while.

  Pulling out a tarp from behind my seat, I used it to cover his truck, helping to obscure it from anyone driving by while it was parked here.

  The scanner continued to send out alerts as the hunt for him continued and I knew that the only choice we had to get him medical help was to take him to one of the larger hospitals in the town of Rockwall.

  I wasn’t sure what kind of injuries he had, but if he hadn’t come to when he was being moved, then I knew it had to be serious. I just hoped he would make it long e
nough for me to get him help.

  Each report of injuries to Julie and a possible attack on another individual left me torn between admiration and horror at his actions. He couldn’t have hurt a fellow officer. They were just blaming him because it seemed the most logical solution to their problem.

  The drive went by much quicker than I expected as I’d gotten lost in my thoughts trying to figure out what Mike was trying to accomplish.

  E.R. personnel came rushing out as I pulled up to the door with a screech of my tires.

  Hopping out, I raced around to open the door for the attendants to help him.

  “Help! I’ve got a man hurt in a car accident. He’s not conscious.” I yelled loudly trying to make a scene without revealing exactly what had happened.

  Mike almost fell out of the truck as the door opened, but they were trained and caught him before he hit the ground.

  “What happened? Sir, can you give us any details?” A nurse scanned him noticing the blood covering his clothes from a wound.

  It had been too dark out at the mill for me to see much, but I hadn’t noticed any blood when I’d moved him.

  “Make sure to support his neck,” She ordered the two orderlies helping to secure him to the stretcher.

  As they wheeled him inside, I started to follow out of habit.

  “I’m sorry, sir. No one is allowed back here. If you’ll park your vehicle, you can come into the lobby and fill out some paperwork for us. We need the drive cleared for other emergency vehicles.” She didn’t wait for me to do as instructed but went inside out of reach.

  Sighing at how complicated Mike had made my life, I went to park the truck before going inside. I wasn’t going to fill out any paperwork. It would be a good idea to cover my tracks by giving a statement so the police wouldn’t try to follow up later.

  “I was driving along and saw a truck in the ditch out on HWY 276. The door was open, and this guy was lying on the seat unconscious. There wasn’t a cell signal so I’m not sure if I did the right thing by bringing him in, but I couldn’t just leave him lying out there in the ditch.”