Reaching the freeway entrance ramp I thought I had been mistaken and overreacting until I saw the van come into view. Three car lengths back and rushing in a poor show of trying to follow me without being noticed. I swallowed hard as I began to grow nervous. Removing the gun out of my waistband, I set it in the cup holder in the middle console and reached for my phone, dialing Kit.
I had no idea why my gut was telling me to go to her and not to Davey who was closer. Yes she was my bodyguard and yes it was stupid of me to allow her to go home for the weekend without having someone closer in cases like this. I could already hear the lecture I was bound to receive from Davey the moment he found out I had done both.
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I blew out a slow breath as the phone kept ringing, gripping the steering wheel tighter, I pushed on the accelerator to try to get a little more distance on the van. Kit wasn't answering, making my stomach drop like a lead balloon. I glanced at the clock in the car, it was twelve thirty, chances were she was still asleep or she had fallen back on old habits. The phone soon dropped me to her voicemail.
I kept glancing at the rear view mirror as I left a message, "Kit, Please if you get this message, call me back. I’m on the way to you, there is a van following me that has sat in front of the house all morning." I tried to keep the nerves out of my voice, but was failing, "I’m on the freeway now and I should be at your house in the next hour." I hung up, dropping the phone next to my gun.
I wished she had picked up, just so I could hear her voice to steady me and tell me everything would be okay like that day in Pepperdine. I held onto the steering wheel tighter as I forced the Cadillac through the lunch hour rush.
At a lull in the drive, stuck at a standstill, I used the rear camera system to take clear images of the two men in the van, sending their images Davey for facial recognition. Ten minutes later he sent the results to my email. The men following me were both wanted by the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security for domestic threats, they were also tied to the attack at Pepperdine, receiving bank transfers from the same strange bank the younger man Kit took down, did.
They were after me, there was no doubt about it now, especially when Davey called, leaving me a voicemail that he was getting worried since he had tried to call Kit and she didn't answer. I ignored his calls and tried Kit again, texting her as well, my fear growing by the second.
I couldn't stop thinking about the woman. The whole ride back to my house, I kept thinking about the way her eyes shifted when I tried to apologize for trying to take advantage of her. When she cut me off, it was as if she didn't want me to apologize for it, that it was the last thing she wanted to hear.
I sat in my clean house the rest of the night, watching my recorded shows from the last week. Eating popcorn, chips, miniature doughnuts and whatever junk food I could find to curb my need to find out how soft the Senators lips really were. Next week I would have to break down and force her to talk, find a common ground before my feelings for her ate further into my resolve and my heart. If I couldn't get her to talk I would have to think about quitting or do my best to get Rebecca to talk Claire into firing me.
I couldn't repeat my past mistakes, not ever again and especially not with Claire.
I fell asleep in the middle of my reality show marathon when the blondes on the television began to take the shape and image of one frustrating blonde Senator.
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The next morning I sat in my backyard, reading a book from my neglected collection, a collection that I had been ambitious at one point in reading all the way through. That collection fell to a lonely life on dusty shelves when I became ambitious about the bottle. I sat in an Adirondack chair on the poor excuse for a patio, wearing old paint splattered jeans and baggy button down to cover up the tight white tank top I had on.
I held the open book in my lap, staring at the small shed on the edge of my backyard. I was bored out of my mind and had nothing to do. I had watched all of my recordings and had eaten all of the junk food with no motivation to go to the grocery store just yet to replenish my emotional eating stock.
I was not used to days off where I didn't have anything to do but drink, but drinking was not an option in my life anymore. I had left my phone inside so I would not be tempted to call up old friends, old drinking friends, or be tempted to call the Senator and make up some excuse to come back to the house. I didn't like that she was home alone without protection. I would have liked it better if her ex had magically reappeared from her strange trip to Geneva and staked her claim on the blonde.
As long as Claire was safe, that was all that mattered. I kept repeating that phrase to myself trying to counteract that it also didn't help that I missed the woman.
I sat in the chair for a few hours, my fingers holding the same place in the book I had read over and over. Finally I gave up, conjuring up the energy to go grocery shopping and stop to find some movies to rent to take up my night off.
I walked into my bedroom, grabbing my purse and my phone when the blinking light told me I had a handful missed calls. Swiping the screen I chewed on my lip when I saw that Claire had called a few times in the last hour. That wasn't what made me swallow hard and fire up my adrenaline, it was the emails and texts from Davey. He thought I was still with her. Protecting her.
Claire was clearly danger in and I was nowhere near her.
The frantic tone in Claire's voice as I listened to her voicemail made me angry, angry that I hadn't stuck with her like I needed too. Instead I let my heart do the talking, take the easy exit of a weekend off she offered me. After I read the emails and realized that the two idiots following her had intentions of taking her for ransom or worse, I acted.
I called Claire back, pacing around the room as the phone rang.
Near Kit's exit, she finally returned my call. I rushed to grab the phone and almost dropped it as my fingers tried to swipe to answer. I had to take a breath to calm down before speaking.
"Kit." I had to bite my lip to prevent my voice from shaking like my hands.
"Claire, are you okay? What's going on?" Kit's voice was steady and determined. The first sound of her voice wrapped around my heart and instantly eased some of the fear.
I looked in the mirror, the van was now one car length behind me. I could now easily see the faces of the two men in the front, both were focused on my car and every little move I made. I wasn't paying attention to Kit until the third time she said my name.
I swallowed hard, "I am coming to your house. The van is still following me. I think they are going to do something and I don't want to give them the chance to."
Kit cut me off, "Davey forwarded the email. I didn't call him back, he assumes I am with you." I heard her sigh, "Like I should be."
"I gave you the weekend off Kit." I turned down a side street three blocks away from her house.
"But I should not ever leave you alone." Kit's tone was touched with anger, anger direct more at herself for taking the weekend I offered up without hesitation. "Where are you, and how close are they too you?"
"I am three blocks away and they are on top of me, tailgating at its worse." I tried to smile at my own little joke but it did little to cut the tension screaming through my body.
I could hear the snap of the black plastic case in the background followed by the click of a magazine being pushed into a gun. "Claire, I need you to pay attention. When you get to my house I want you to pull into the driveway. The two assholes following you are probably going to try to rush you, grab you, and attempt a kidnapping. I read over the files Davey sent, seems that their M.O is to grab and run."
I cringed as my eyes locked on the van behind me as we sat at a stop light. I pushed the phone against my head, hoping that somehow it would bring me closer to Kit.
"When you are in the driveway I will be waiting. Try to run to the house as fast as you can Claire, I will take care of them. I have a friend on his way over to help us." Kit was calm, just like she w
as before she charged a man with a backpack full of explosives.
I nodded to no one, "Okay Kit." I looked at the gun in the cup holder, "Did you call the police?"
"I did. They are going to send undercover units as soon as they can. Unfortunately there was a bank robbery four blocks over, the units are going to be delayed." Kit's voice was tinged with irritation, "Somehow I think a Senator being threatened would take precedence."
I smiled lightly at the simple words, "You will do fine Kit." I looked up and saw the sign for her street, "I'm pulling in now."
I heard Kit take a deep breath, "Remember, run as fast as you can Claire, I will keep you safe."
I sighed hard as I saw the edges of Kit's house come around the corner, I slowed the Cadillac down and went to pull into the driveway, the van still close on my bumper. The adrenaline began to race through my veins, "I know you will, Kit." I hung up the phone and traded it for my gun, sliding it in to my waistband as I shifted the car into park.
I took a deep calming breath and reached for the door handle, watching the two men in the van do the same.
It was now or never.
I no longer had the resources of the Secret Service and I couldn't call on Davey since it was clear Claire had told him I was with her. I had to make do and figure out a makeshift plan of attack. The only person I knew close by and could trust with some brute force was Tito, he was all I had after I called the police and informed them of the situation. They in turn told me that they were too busy on other matters and suggest I call the Secret Service, but they would send units out as soon as possible when they were available.
Tito quickly agreed to help me when I told him the cops were being useless, He closed down the liquor store and grabbed his giant baseball bat. I knew Tito had an extensive gang history in his youth that sent him on the wrong path until his grandmother took him under wing and set him on the right path of selling booze to the drunks in the city.
Tito grinned at me when he pulled up in front of my house, "Man it has been a while since I beat the hell out of some shitbags. At least this time I am doing it for my country." Tito laughed and winked at me as I dragged him inside to give him the details of the plan. We had to do this without inciting a gun fight, I didn't want to risk my neighbors unless all options were exhausted. Brute force, quick brute force was what had to be used in this case.
I pushed my phone into my back pocket after hanging up with Claire, gripping tighter on the gun on my hip. I had a perfect view of my driveway as she pulled the Cadillac into it. The black van pulled to the edge of the driveway and I took a few deep breaths. Glancing over to where I saw Tito sitting in his old Monte Carlo parked in front of my house. The two idiots in the van would be caught by surprise as soon as they tried to lay one finger on Claire.
I hovered around the tree as I watched Claire step out of the Cadillac, scan around looking for me before she closed the door and began walking to the front door. I gritted my teeth and tried to hiss at her, "No, run! Run Claire!"
She didn't listen. She took slow steps that I knew were out of fear, Claire was frozen and acting on the minimal output of being overwhelmed with fear and adrenaline. I stared at her, cringing, wanting to run to her, scoop her up and keep her safe. I broke from her when I heard the van doors slam shut and voices yell at her.
"Hey Senator Avondale, you need to come with us." The two men were shitbags in the true sense of the word, thugs for hire. Whether or not they believed in the agenda of the extremist group or not, the money was enough for them to go after the woman on my front yard who I would give anything to keep from them.
Claire didn't stop or look back at them, she kept moving towards the door. The yelling grew louder and they rushed towards her when they saw Claire's right hand reach back to the gun tucked in her waistband.
I didn't waste any more time, I signaled Tito and ran out from my hiding spot just as one of the men rushed Claire, throwing her to the ground to try to restrain her. She began yelling and squirming, struggling to reach for her gun.
Tito slammed his car into reverse, driving it hard with squealing tires into the front end of the van, boxing the van in between his car and the massive metal light pole that sat on the edge of my driveway. The sound of metal crushing against metal broke one of the men free of Claire and after Tito. I left him to deal with my six foot three, three hundred pound friend. My focus was solely on the man sitting on top of Claire, watching as he yanked her head up by her hair.
My tunnel vision kicked in as I ran at him. There was nothing else but him as my target and that if he let go of the left hand he was raising to hit her across the face, he would not have hands to wipe his ass with when I was done.
Claire yelped as her head was lifted up higher, the man on top of her yelling that she would pay for her sins against the lord. The sound of her in pain kicked me into overdrive.
I side tackled the man, pushing him completely off of Claire, sliding us both into the side of the Cadillac, which I found to be armored as much as my Lincoln when we hit it and there was no give in the metal. The contact of bodies against unforgiving steel, pushed grunts from the both of us.
I was the first to my feet, turning around to see Claire trying to push herself up. Her eyebrow bleeding where she had hit the ground when she was overtaken. I wanted to run to her and I had to fight my instinct to go to her and turn back to my first priority. Disabling her attacker.
The man pushed off the side of the Cadillac and charged at me. I was ready for him and threw an angle kick to his stomach, removing the last bits of air from his body, smiling as he collapsed to his knees, allowing me a perfect setup to lay a hard right hook across his face, shattering his nose. The man's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he crumpled to the ground like a rag doll. I took deep breaths looking at the blood pouring from his broken nose, idly thinking how he would never look the same.
I shook my right hand, trying to shake the tingle out when I heard Tito.
"Yo KT! What do you want me to do with this asshole?"
I turned to Tito, with a huge smile on his face, he held up the second man, bloodied and battered to a point of no recognition. Tito's baseball bat held the evidence that the man had become close friends with it over the last few minutes. I smiled before looked over at Claire, sitting on her heels and wiping at her bloody eyebrow, looking at the blood on her fingers, she drew her eyes slowly up to mine.
What I saw made the smile fade, and I ran to her, dropping to my knees and grabbing her face with my hands. "Hey you're okay, it's just a scratch. Come on, let's get you up and in the house." I tried to smile at her when all I wanted to do was wrap her up in my arms and tell her it was okay to cry, the look in her eyes was breaking my heart. I shouldn't have let the men lay one hand on her.
Claire nodded and took hold of my arms to help get her to her feet. She leaned onto me as we both began to hear the sirens of the delayed back up I had called for. It seemed that now was convenient for them. I held onto Claire, looking back at Tito, I called out, "Just sit on them until the cops arrive and do the rest."
I walked Claire into the house and into my bedroom. Sitting her on my bed, I knelt in front of her. "I will talk to the cops, I already gave them a heads up of what to expect." I found her hand with mine, winding my fingers into hers in hopes it would settle her down, "I will be back and then we will go home."
I watched Claire look down at our hands together, squeezing them tightly as she nodded she heard me. I stood up, still holding onto her hand, "One more thing, I won't be taking anymore weekends off." Claire looked up at me with glassy eyes, "I am not going to leave you ever again Claire. I promise."
Claire clenched her jaw, rasping the words out, "I need to use the bathroom, to take a look at my eyebrow." She stood up, pulling her hand free from mine and walked into the bathroom, closing the door slowly behind her.
I hesitated. I wanted to go in the bathroom and sit with her, clean her up like she did for me and hold her. My he
art began to race harder even as the adrenaline left me. It was racing because of Claire and the feelings I felt for her that I no longer wanted to hide. The Senator was becoming important to me and I wanted, needed her to know why. I had no idea what exactly what my feelings were for her were, but I knew I wouldn't fully know until I let them out.
I took a step towards the bathroom, ready to push the door open and confess the things she made me feel and the things I felt for her. That even though it had only been a week, she made me feel more than I ever had before in my life, more than anyone else had ever been able to make me feel.
My hand grazed the door handle to the bathroom when I heard the distinct hard knock of a police officer at my door. I dropped my hand and walked to the front door, opening it to reveal the blustery face of a detective. He yanked off his cheesy cop sunglasses and stared at me, "Ms. Witmer could you step outside and fill me in on what took place here?"
I nodded, "I can, but will you send my friend in here to keep an eye on the Senator until I am done?"
The detective gave me a dirty look, "I can provide you with a few of my best officers, Ms. Witmer."
I smiled tightly, looking past him at Tito, sitting on the edge of his car wiping his baseball bat off. "I would rather have Tito." I then made direct contact with the detective, "He at least showed up when I called him." I waved at Tito to come in the house. He ran to me as best a man his size could, he gently shoved the detective out of the way.
"What's up KT?" Tito was out of breath from the short jog.
I grabbed his elbow and pointed towards the bathroom, "Claire is in there. Can you keep an eye on her until I am all done with the lovely detective here?"
Tito grinned, saluting me, "Anything for you KT!" He shoved past us and took seat in my leather chair, facing the bathroom door.
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