Love or Justice

by Rachel Mannino

  Dante gave a slow nod and scribbled something on the newspaper in his hands.

  “Okay. We don’t want you contacting any of your friends, Laurie. No e-mail. We have a switchboard you can use to call people. You can’t tell them where you are. Except for the trial, you won’t be back to Hawaii again. It’s harsh, but your friend’s accounts can be hacked, calls can be traced, and people can be followed. Kaimi has a lot of friends on the islands.”

  Laurie set down her coffee cup. Her mouth dropped open.

  “I can’t come back to Hawaii? Ever?” She didn’t think she would have to leave the state.

  “No.” Dante shook his head. “Once you enter the Witness Security Program, you can never come back here unless you are under protection. Doing so would expel you from the program—it would also put your life at risk. Even if your testimony puts Kaimi behind bars for life, his crime ring is extensive here. You’re not safe in Hawaii anymore.”

  Laurie stared at the kitchen table as the information sank in. She would have to leave her home. Tears welled in her eyes. She blinked them back.

  “Laurie?”

  She met his gaze. His voice softened.

  “Do you understand everything I just told you?”

  Laurie swallowed on the rising tide of sadness in her throat.

  “Yes.” She cleared her throat. “What about my school? I already paid for my semester. If they offer the classes online, can I take them?”

  Dante shook his head.

  “I’ll inform your school. We’ll request a refund on your behalf.”

  Laurie nodded, heartbreak flooded her whole body. She fidgeted, staring into her half-empty coffee cup. Dante wrote down another note.

  “When I place you, I’ll make sure it’s near a law school. Then I can transfer your school records.”

  Laurie nodded, but her thoughts were miles away.

  “We can do almost anything we want while we’re here. You can read, watch TV, surf the internet. We have a lot of movies and books. We can also pick up anything when we go for food runs. If you want to learn to cook or anything, we can do that.”

  Laurie heard the forced cheerfulness in his voice. He was trying to make her feel better, but she was still lost in her coffee cup.

  “Or I can teach you to play poker. Do you know how to play? I’ll tell you what Cheyn does when he’s bluffing.”

  “I don’t really like poker very much.”

  She pushed away her half-eaten breakfast. She wasn’t hungry anymore.

  “So what do you want to do?”

  Laurie looked out the window. The breeze was blowing across the emerald grass, tossing the palm trees in the distance. The volcano rose up on the horizon, staring down at her. How many days would she be able to see that volcano?

  “Can we go hiking?”

  Dante hesitated, his lips creasing in a thin line.

  “I mean, if a couple of you go with me. I’ve always wanted to hike the volcano.” Laurie looked out the window again, suddenly anxious to do the one thing that her family always talked about and never did.

  “It’s a pretty difficult hike from here, Laurie.”

  Her gaze flicked back to his. She leaned forward in her chair.

  “I hike all the time. I mean, I hiked more when I was a kid. We hiked all over the island. We always wanted to hike the volcano, but…”

  The tears blurred her vision. This was her last chance. She blinked the tears away.

  “Well, the guys and I go to the volcano sometimes, when we’re between assignments, so they know the area. It’s a really great hike, but…” He locked eyes with her and froze.

  Laurie looked at him hopefully. She clasped her hands together in supplication.

  “Please? If I leave Hawaii, then it’s my last chance to hike it.”

  “I’ll think about it. I can’t make any promises, but I’ll think about it.”

  “Thank you.” Laurie smiled gratefully.

  Dante jammed his hand through his hair, shaking his head.

  “Let me show you the safe rooms.” Dante pushed away from the table.

  Laurie downed the last of her coffee, as he took her plate to the sink. She followed him into the living room.

  David stood by the window, gazing out into the distance. Laurie couldn’t blame him. There was nothing but a swath of palm trees waving in the sun. The blue sky overhead was luminous. It looked like a gorgeous day. David looked up as they approached. He nodded to her with a respectful smile.

  “Are you from the islands, David?” She could tell he wasn’t, but it was polite to ask.

  “No ma’am. Middle of nowhere Alabama.”

  “How long have you been here?” Laurie edged her hip onto the arm of the couch.

  “Few weeks.” Dante stepped in front of her and grabbed her attention. “I’m training him up.”

  “Aloha.” Laurie turned and gave David a smile.

  “Aloha.” David smiled back as his cheeks flushed.

  “David, I’m going to show Laurie the safe rooms. I’d like you to do a perimeter check.” Dante flicked his eyes toward the front door.

  “Yes, sir.” He nodded to Laurie again and went back through the kitchen to the front door.

  Laurie surveyed the living room. A large TV filled up one wall, and a fireplace took up the wall adjoining the kitchen. There was a light blue couch and some chairs. This was the most welcoming room in the house. The most “lived in,” from what Laurie had seen so far. There were green curtains flanking the three windows, which were thick enough to shut out light or prying eyes. Shelves upon shelves of books and movies surrounded the TV like a fortress. A few games sat in a box underneath the windows. The books drew Laurie’s attention, but Dante put a hand on her shoulder before she could move toward them.

  “You can look at those in a little while. Follow me.”

  Laurie trailed behind Dante to the wall opposite the TV. A couple of non-descript paintings hung there. They were decorations befitting a hotel. The wall was made of brown wood paneling. It was a light-colored wood, which brightened the room a bit. Dante slid the closest painting toward the corner, and the wood panel made a popping noise. Dante slid the panel open.

  There was a small room behind it, big enough for two or three people at most. There were emergency supplies in there; water and some canned foods. There was a first aid kit, gauze, and more medical supplies as well. A couple of crates were turned over to sit on, but the rest of the room was bare.

  “This is a safe room. If an intruder gets inside the building, I will ask you to stay in one of these, until we can secure the house again. These panels are all bulletproof. It will keep you safe.”

  “Okay.”

  “It’s very important Laurie, that if I ask you to stay here, you do so until I, or one of my team members, comes to get you. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, Dante. I understand.” Laurie crossed her arms over her chest. She made one adrenaline filled misstep, and now she would never hear the end of it.

  “I want you to promise you will stay in the safe room if I have to put you there.”

  “Dante, I understand.”

  “I need you to promise me.”

  Dante looked at her intently.

  Laurie stared back. She hated the idea of hiding out in a closet while someone else tried to protect her. Why shouldn’t she be able to help? She knew the answer he would give, and she couldn’t refute it. She sighed.

  “I promise. If you put me in the safe room, I will stay there until one of you comes for me.”

  “Good. I’ll show you the one upstairs.”

  Dante slid the panel back into place until a latch clicked. He had her practice opening it a few times in case she needed to get into it by herself. They walked up the living room stairs, across the long landing, and into the hallway to the bedrooms. Dante stopped at two double doors, which he opened. It was a linen closet, piled with sheets and towels.

  Dante lifted heavy latches on both sides o
f the closet. Then he slid the entire closet over. It was on hidden wheels. Inside, the safe room looked very much the same as the last one. Laurie shifted on her feet, looking away from the cave-like room. She played with the rings on her right hand.

  “It’s very unlikely we’ll need you to stay in here, but we just want to be prepared for an emergency.”

  Laurie nodded. A door opened to the left of the linen closet, making her jump. A man emerged, looking still half-asleep. Laurie saw him last night, but couldn’t remember his name. He was very dark skinned, with black hair trimmed close to his head. He was almost as tall as Dante. His nose was a bit crooked. His eyes were almond shaped, almost black. He had on a polo shirt with the U.S. Marshals Service logo and khakis. When he caught sight of Laurie in his path, he leaned up against the doorframe with a lazy smile.

  “Morning.” He leered at her.

  Dante crossed his arms as he took half a step in Max’s direction.

  “Laurie, this is Max. Max, Laurie.”

  “Hi.” Laurie extended her hand.

  Max shook it, running his thumb over the soft flesh between her thumb and forefinger.

  “Boss giving you the tour?” He stroked her palm, making the hair on Laurie’s neck stand on end.

  “Yeah.” Laurie tried to pull her hand away. “Mostly just the safe rooms.”

  “Very nice, very nice.” Max ran his tongue over his teeth.

  “Max, give her back her hand.” Dante took another step toward him.

  Max dropped it, much to Laurie’s relief. It was starting to get awkward.

  “Sorry.” Max shrugged. “Still waking up.”

  “That’s okay.” She gave him a polite smile, but she felt her face flush.

  “Max, I want you to go down and do a gear check.” Dante put his hand on Laurie’s shoulder and pulled her away.

  “We just checked the gear last night.” He scowled at Dante.

  “Check it again.” Dante nodded in the direction of the stairs.

  Max’s face contorted in annoyance, but he chose not to say anything. He moved past Dante, and down the stairs.

  “Let’s talk in your room for a minute.” Dante pushed open the door to her room.

  He sat down in the lone chair.

  Laurie sat on her bed, looking at him expectantly. Laurie had been with him less than twenty-four hours, but she recognized the expression he made when a lecture was eminent.

  “Listen, Laurie,” Dante began. He cleared his throat. “We don’t usually have single women in the protection program. Mostly men, some families. A lot of families. Husbands and wives. Moreover, we usually don’t start protection service until the police have arrested the criminal. However, you walked into a very high-profile situation. Given the DA’s direct interest in you, you will probably be under our direct protection for longer than most witnesses before the agency relocates you. But, you’re here alone, and my men, well, David’s married, but…”

  Dante coughed. The deep tan of his facial features turned scarlet. Laurie gave him a tiny, indulgent smile. Dante looked down at the floor.

  “What I’m trying to say is, if there are any problems, I want you feel like you can come to me.”

  “Okay.”

  “I really mean it. I want you to come to me if anyone makes you feel uncomfortable.”

  “I worked in a resort since I was eighteen, Dante. That’s ten years’ worth of sexual harassment training. I’ll come to you.”

  He let out a sigh.

  “Good. Thank you for understanding what I was trying to say, even though I mangled it.”

  They both laughed. Dante ran his fingers through his hair, his gaze darting away from her.

  “We have to do some paperwork downstairs. We have a Memorandum of Understanding we have to fill out. I can’t go through all of it until you’ve talked to the DA, but we’ll get through most of it. There are release forms for you to sign. You’ll receive financial assistance for being in the program. It’s not very much, but it’s something. We can’t put it into your bank account, in case they’re monitoring that. We’ll open up a new account for you.”

  “I can’t believe I don’t have to work. It feels so strange not having to go anywhere.”

  Laurie and Dante left the room to head downstairs.

  “Don’t get too used it. Once you’re relocated, we’ll help you find a job so you can support yourself. But if you wanna clean rooms in the meantime, there are a lot of rooms here.”

  Laurie laughed.

  “No, that’s okay. I think I’ll survive the idleness.”

  “I hope so; otherwise, I’m out of a job.”

  They both laughed again as they went downstairs. Laurie enjoyed his company far more than she anticipated. She didn’t really want to be here. She didn’t want to be facing her last few days in Hawaii. Yet, Dante had the power to make her forget about that for a few minutes at a time.

  Dante set down a stack of paperwork in front of Laurie and they worked through most of it. Laurie signed so many forms, her fingertips ached. At midday, Dante rewarded her with a long break while he made her lunch. He urged her to rummage through the cookbooks for meals she wanted to try. They finished late in the afternoon, adjourning to the living room.

  Dante did his own paperwork on a laptop, while Laurie watched TV. David kept his post by the window. Laurie could see him out of the corner of her eye.

  David was very quiet, a bit shy. He blossomed when he talked about his wife. They had met in high school. Now she was pregnant with their first child. They moved from Alabama so David could pursue his dream to be a U.S. Marshal, and they moved again when the agency promoted him to Witness Security Inspector. His wife hated him being away on protective details now. She worried about him constantly.

  Laurie could understand why, after her own brush with criminals last night.

  Max, on the other hand, was David’s opposite. He roved in and out of the living room. Every time he got near Laurie, Dante sent him on an errand, a perimeter check, a grocery run, anything to get him out of the living room. Max finally gave up, sitting at the back of the living room in one of the armchairs, reading a sports magazine.

  Laurie was curious about where he was from, but she knew if she talked to him, Dante would frown at her now and lecture her later. Max was a little too eager to get to know her. She’d rather leave it alone.

  Laurie enjoyed Cheyn’s company the most.

  When he woke up, he wandered down stairs. He kept Laurie entertained with stories about working with Dante. Dante gave up on the computer at that point. Cheyn was too distracting.

  Then Dante told his own stories. Cooking disasters between assignments. Water balloon fights with some protected kids that ended up in hospital runs. One elderly bookkeeper that was a witness even insisted on bringing all five of her cats into custody with her. Dante swore he was still cleaning cat hair off his clothes.

  They talked until they all got hungry, then Laurie made them all spaghetti for dinner. Looking around at the four men with her, Laurie felt more comfortable eating with all of them than eating breakfast by herself that morning. After they watched a movie together in the living room, Laurie went to bed feeling more content than she had in a long time—almost since before her parents died.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Laurie was lost. She was in the middle of the forest, with the ominous feeling that someone was following her. How could she figure out which way to go? Which way was safe? She continued down the path she was on, hoping maybe she would recognize something. However, trees just gave way to more trees and underbrush.

  She could hear footsteps now. Someone was following her, but she couldn’t see them. She could hear them behind her. She started to run. She needed to get away, to get back to the safe house. Where were the men? Where had they gone?

  She was running now. She slid down an embankment. She knew the footsteps were right behind her. She cried out as she fell. The underbrush tore at her skin and clothes. Bleeding, s
he picked herself up and continued to run. She was limping now. Each step was painful.

  In the distance, she could hear Dante calling for her. She yelled back. She needed to find him. She had to get to him. She would have never been in this trouble if she had stayed by his side.

  “Dante! Dante!” She looked around her, but the trees were too thick. She couldn’t see anything but the shadow following her.

  She prayed Dante would find her. That he could stop the person chasing her. She ran in the direction of his voice, climbing a steep hill. She could see the person behind her now. It was Kaimi.

  “Dante, please! Help me!” She cried as loud as she could.

  “Wake up, Laurie. Wake, up!” Dante’s voice boomed in her ear.

  Laurie awoke immediately. She launched into a sitting position, nearly hitting Dante straight on as he grasped her by both shoulders. Laurie gasped for air as tears stung her eyes.

  “Oh God.” She was embarrassed, still half-terrified.

  “It’s okay. It’s okay.” Dante rubbed her shoulders. “You had a nightmare.”

  Laurie trembled, as if her body could no longer contain the fear. The dream had been so real, and it scared her. The weight of her situation crashed down on her.

  “It’s okay. I’m right here…” Dante smoothed the hair away from her face.

  “I’m so sorry. I was being chased and—”

  “Shhhh. It was just a nightmare. You’re okay. I’m here.”

  Dante cradled her against his chest, rubbing her back. He ran his fingers over her hair.

  Laurie wrestled with her emotions, choking back the sobs that stuck in her throat. When she calmed, he pulled back and held her hands.

  “You scared me. You called out to me in your nightmare. I thought someone was in here with you.”

  “I’m sorry. Someone was chasing me through the woods. I couldn’t find you. I ran toward your voice, but Kaimi was behind me.” She sniffled and looked away.

  He nodded, brushing his warm palm against her cheek.

  “Try to go to back to sleep.”

  “I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.”