by Claire Adams
I was scared, I readily admitted that. I was in a strange city — hell, a strange state even. I was dressed in clothes that I would never have worn in my day-to-day life and the only thing keeping me alive was a government organization that wanted to trade my testimony for the conviction of a drug smuggler.
My life was very clearly in danger and I was grateful to be at the ranch with the silly cowboy clothes on. If working as a ranch hand and living in the middle of nowhere was what I had to do to stay safe, I was going to do it.
“It’s hard, but you can’t make that mistake again. Whoever you were before doesn’t exist right now. You are Garrett Reynolds; don’t forget that.”
He was stern with me and I appreciated the reminder. It was going to take practice for me to learn this new person that I was supposed to be. In my normal life, I was charismatic and social. I loved hanging out with my friends, partying, and traveling. But all of those things were gone now. Instead of traveling and having fun, I was relegated to lowly, ranch hand duties and I was going to have to like it.
The agent had given me two choices in where I could relocate to. Either take the ranch hand position in Montana or head up to Alaska and try my hand at fishing. Because I knew myself to get violently sick on a boat, there really was no choice for me: I had to go with the ranch.
“I know, sir; I won’t let it happen again.”
“I’m Sid Miller; it’s nice to meet you, young man,” Sid said as he reached his hand out and shook mine. “I promise you’ll be safe here until they come back for you.”
I trusted Sid, which was strange for someone I had just met and considering the circumstances in which I had arrived at his ranch. But Sid Miller struck me as the kind of man who always kept his word and wouldn’t do anything to let my secret out.
He was probably in his mid to late fifties with a big, gray mustache and weathered skin. He wore cowboy boots, jeans, and a button up shirt that were probably part of his daily wardrobe from the looks of the wear and tear on the clothing. Sid also had a well-worn cowboy hat that seemed to fit him as if it were custom made. There was no doubt that he wore cowboy gear better than me.
I struggled with the boots the most. They felt like I was wearing ladies high-heeled shoes. As I took each step, I put my heel to the ground and then felt off balance as the front of my foot hit the ground in odd timing. I would have to practice walking in them so I didn’t look like a total idiot as I started my job.
My new identity was Garrett Reynolds and I was supposed to be familiar with horses and farming. The problem was, I wasn’t familiar with either of those things. It was going to be the best acting job of my life if I could actually convince people that I belonged on that ranch.
“Sid, thanks for everything.”
“Okay, that’s enough of the pleasantries. These will be your quarters; I suspect they are far below what you’re used to, but you’ll be safe. Depending on how long you stay here, and how hard you work, I’ll move you up in position just like anyone else around here.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“For now, you’re a ranch hand. You’ll work with the younger boys who are here for the summer. This bunkhouse will be where you sleep and that building across the way is where the ranch hands eat.”
The ranch felt a little like a summer camp I had went to as a teenager. The bunkhouse was filled with several sets of bunk beds and small lockers at the foot of each bed. The lockers had padlocks on them, which I assumed was to keep personal belongings safe. Although I only had on small bag of personal items with me, and none of them were all that personal.
When I left my home in Los Angeles, I wasn’t allowed to take any photos or items that could be used to identify me. So, I grabbed my journals and a few other small items that were important.
Normally, if I went on a long vacation I would have my sister or one of her friends housesit my house, but it was too dangerous considering the current situation. Instead, I just paid for the highest level of security and I’d have to hope everything was still there when I got home.
“Yes, sir,” I replied. “I truly am grateful for the safety you’re providing.”
“Do you know when the trial will be?”
I looked at him in surprise. I didn’t know that Sid had been told anything about the trial that I had to testify in or the dangerous men who were threatening my life. As I followed him up to the main house, we talked briefly about the realities of my situation.
“Maybe a month, or maybe two years, I’m not sure how long the process takes.”
“I’ve had men here as long as six months, not much longer than that. So hopefully that gives you an idea.”
“Thank you,” I said gratefully.
Back home, I had left a thriving business in the hands of my Corporate Vice President, Casey Zane. It was a tough job and would require him to work harder than he was used to. I had confidence in Casey though; he had only been with me a year, but he had proven his abilities. Luckily, we had a top-notch team of leaders to support him in my absence as well.
The worst thing that could happen would be that my private jet business would go bust while I was away. And after having my life threatened and having one of my co-workers murdered, bankruptcy didn’t seem like the end of the world.
I had fought the idea of going into witness protection, though. I really didn’t like the idea of leaving my employees exposed to the evil character who wanted me dead. But the truth was that none of them knew about Frank Gordano and his drug smuggling business like I did. The only other person who worked for me that had known him was dead. So as much as I didn’t want to go into protective custody, it was much better than being dead.
“I’m going to introduce you to my wife. She’s the one that feeds you men and she’ll help with any questions you might have.”
“Does she know?”
“She knows that we take in witnesses, but she prefers not to know which of you are in the program and which are genuinely just here to work. It’s easier for her that way.”
“Yes, I understand.”
The large farmhouse looked much bigger as we approached it. There was a sweeping, wraparound deck and a white porch swing. It looked as if it was right out of a storybook, and when Sid’s wife walked up to the front door and let us in, I thought we were certainly in some sort of make-believe land.
I had a girlfriend once that made me watch made-for-television movies with her. As I stood on the porch of Sid’s perfect home, in the middle of his perfect, Montana ranch, I felt like I was right, smackdab in the middle of a made-for-television movie.
“This beautiful woman is Meredith Miller, but you lot usually just call her Mrs. Miller.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, ma’am,” I said with extended hand.
Meredith pushed my hand aside and gave me a warm hug. She was beautiful, warm, and clearly cared about the men who came to work at their ranch. I knew instantly I was going to enjoy my time at Miller Ranch.
Hard work had never scared me. I hadn’t become a success by being afraid of hard work. My aviation company was one of the top, private jet companies in the world. I had more than one thousand planes in the air and twice that many employees. Sure, testifying in this case had put me in a precarious position, but I couldn’t have forced my employees to do it. What kind of CEO would I have been if I hadn’t been willing to keep them safe and testify myself? Plus, any of the employees who had had contact with Frank Gordano weren’t even aware of what he was transporting on our planes. I was really the only person who know the whole story.
Meredith was tall, thin, and had beautiful, caramel-colored skin. It was obvious that she didn’t just sit in the house all day while Sid managed the ranch. As she pulled away from our embrace, she looked into my eyes and for a moment I felt like she could see right through me. I didn’t think she needed me to tell her that I was there under protection; something told me that she knew it right away by looking at me.
“What’s your n
ame, young man?” she asked.
“Garrett,” I replied with a smile. Partially because I was proud of myself for remembering the right name to say and partially in response to the beautiful grin on Meredith’s face.
Just being near her and talking to her had calmed my nerves a bit already. She had a gentle way about her and I could see why Sid had married her. Someday I hoped to find a woman that I could love like they seemed to love each other.
I watched as Sid put his arm around Meredith and pulled her toward him to give her a quick kiss. She laughed and smiled like a schoolgirl. Life would be so great if I ever found a woman I could make smile like that with just my touch.
Women and I had never really mixed all that well. Sure, I liked women and I spent lots of time with them. I had them in my bed, at my parties, out for dates. But I never seemed to be able to find a woman that felt like a true match for me. When I envisioned my life with a partner and wife, I wanted someone who was truly my equal. That didn’t mean I was looking for someone who owned a billion-dollar business or anything like that; I just needed a woman who felt like she could hold her own around me.
But all of that was on hold for the time being. I wasn’t going to be dating anyone and I certainly wouldn’t be finding a lifelong partner on a ranch full of men. I had to hope that my time on the ranch wouldn’t last longer than a few weeks. I could use it as a vacation, time to relax and reflect on my life a bit. If it dragged out longer than a few weeks, I was likely to go stir crazy alone on the ranch with all the free time I was going to have.
“Have you ever been around horses?”
“No, ma’am,” I said and then quickly remembered that my new identity really had been around horses before.
I shot Sid a look and shrugged my shoulders at my mistake. It was going to take a lot more practice than I thought to remember this new man that I was supposed to be. I had a hard-enough time remembering the man I already was.
“That’s a pity; I think you’d do well there. My daughter, Sarah, will likely be home for a few months very soon. If you’d like, I’ll have her teach you about them and you could be in charge of their care with her.”
“Anything you’d like. I’m here to work, ma’am. I can do anything.”
“Have Walter start him in the horse house tomorrow,” Meredith said to her husband before leading us into the house. “Have a seat; let’s get some lemonade into you and chat for a minute.”
The idea of chatting had turned my blood cold. In my old life, I would have loved to sit down and talk with a nice couple like the Millers. But I could barely remember the name of my cover story, and certainly couldn’t remember any of the facts about this pretend person I was supposed to be.
I was going to need to distract her and quickly. One of my favorite conversation techniques was distraction. When a woman I had been dating for a few weeks started asking about more long term decisions I always distracted her with gifts and trips. It worked surprisingly well, at least for a little while, but eventually they came back to nagging about a commitment.
With a good woman, I had no problem being loyal. I wasn’t a cheater. I liked one woman and would date her exclusively. My issue always came when they started talking about moving in together, getting married, and having babies. I wasn’t ready for all of that. Not with them at least. I knew that someday I would be ready and hoped that I would magically know that it was the right woman. But up until that point in my life, I certainly had not been ready.
“Is this your daughter?” I asked as I looked at the picture on the wall.
“Yes, that’s Sarah.”
“Well I can see where she gets her good looks.”
“Careful, boy,” Sid jokingly replied.
“Why is she coming back home? She looks pretty successful in this photo.”
I watched as Mr. and Mrs. Miller looked at each other and it was clear neither of them wanted to discuss the situation. But at least we weren’t talking about me, for that, I was very grateful.
Their daughter was pretty, but didn’t look happy at all in the photo of her standing in an extremely large office. The background looked like New York City; I had been there many times throughout my own career. But I had enjoyed the climb to becoming a successful CEO; their daughter did not look happy to be on her climb to the top at all. Her face was grimaced and she leaned stiffly against a large desk. Sarah had brown hair that was swept up in a bun and a stiff body position, I could tell even from the photos she was stressed out.
“Politics,” Sid replied. “Everything is always about politics.” We all laughed.
I knew he was joking, but he really wasn’t all that far from the truth. Politics did seem to run the world. It had taken me several years of business to figure that out, but when I finally got my brain around it, I did much better in my business.
Whatever the reasoning for their daughter coming home, it had to be a pretty big deal. All of the people I knew who had large offices in New York had large salaries that went with them. If their daughter was coming home, I had to guess that she was either fired, pregnant, or sick. People just didn’t leave their large salaries to move back home with their parents.
“I’m pretty exhausted; would you all mind if I made my way back to my bunk and got some sleep before work tomorrow?”
“Oh, sure, dear; I’m sure you’re tired. We are happy to have you here and I’ll see you in the morning. Breakfast is served at half after four.”
My face had to have gone as pale as a ghost at those words because both Sid and Mrs. Miller cracked a smile at my reaction. This little trip to a Montana ranch was clearly going to be much more difficult than I had expected. But then again, how was I really to know what to expect?
It had only been 72 hours since I’d agreed to testify against Frank Gordano. I was new to the whole witness protection world and had mistakenly thought I would get to hide out in a luxury cabin at the ends of the earth until the trial came. Actually, I guessed that I wouldn’t be totally comfortable wherever they sent me, but I just hadn’t thought that lack of comfort was going to include a lack of sleep.
Agent Walker, who had been my escort to the house had been surprisingly vague about what it was that I was going to be doing while on the ranch. He had given me my cowboy clothes and laughed at my inability to put them on right. He had put me at ease about how long I’d be at the ranch and even made me think that a good day’s work would be good for me because otherwise I’d be bored.
I didn’t mind work. I honestly did think that working during the day would keep my mind off of everything that was going on. And if I had to start my day at that ungodly hour of the morning, at least I would be done early and would get the afternoons to myself. I hoped to get some books to read and maybe even work on writing my own book. I had wanted to do that for years. Perhaps this was going to be the perfect opportunity to really start writing my dream book.
“Is there an alarm in the bunkhouse?” I asked.
If they wanted me to get up that early, I was certainly going to need some strong alarm clock to pry open my eyelids. I was normally a fairly early riser, but to me, that was getting up at six and heading to the gym. I liked to get a good run in and use the weights before heading to the office. This was going to be a bit of an adjustment for my internal clock to deal with.
“You won’t need one. I’ll see you in the morning,” Mrs. Miller said as she smiled and hugged me one last time and walked me out.
Sid also had a huge smile on his face and I couldn’t help but wonder why it was so funny that I was afraid of getting up that early. Had they worked on a ranch so long that they actually thought that was a normal hour for human beings to be awake?
They clearly didn’t understand just how much I valued my sleep. I was pretty damn sure there was no way I could climb out of my bed in the morning without a swift kick in the ass. But I had to trust her; we were an hour away from the nearest town and I didn’t have the means to get anywhere. Part of the simplicity
of being placed at the ranch was that it was so far away from everyone that it made me much harder to find. I needed to avoid going into towns or being seen by anyone else outside of the ranch.
“Thank you again,” I said as I turned back toward the Millers.
Their generosity and home made me feel safe for the first time in the last week. I was happy to be out of Los Angeles and even happier as I climbed up into the empty bunk bed that had my things on it. Sleep had eluded me since I had first been pulled in for questioning regarding the murder of one of my employees and their involvement with Frank Gordano. My stomach had turned into a knot at the thought of my friend and employee losing his life and fear had overcome me.
Thomas Randal had been a pilot for me since my first year in business. He had grown with me and had been the one to introduce Frank Gordano and me, getting us into business together. Thomas and I knew that Frank was bad news; we had talked about it at length on several occasions. Neither of us thought he would go so far as to murder one of us though; that was the shocking part to me. We had been good business partners for several years and I couldn’t think of a reason that Frank would have ordered Thomas’ murder.
Sure, I knew Frank Gordano was a dangerous man; I knew he was capable of murder. But we were good business associates. Everything he requested, we did for him. Our planes flew him internationally several times a month and we returned home with the cargo of drugs and guns that he had purchased. We took our payment and never spoke a word of our interactions to anyone. There were only two people in the company that knew what Gordano was transporting: Thomas and I.
The other people who had any interaction with Frank had also been well paid. We had been careful not to bring anyone fully into the business end of things, so there was no reason for any of my other employees to be in danger. It still baffled me as to what on earth had happened on the plane that day that ended up getting my friend Thomas murdered. Thomas was a smart man, and much more street-smart than I was.