by Natasha West
April looked at Sophie. ‘Yes, she is, aren’t you?’
Sophie’s mouth opened and closed a few times, but she couldn’t seem to get any words out. April gave her the best smile she could muster. Sophie didn’t smile back. ‘Been nice knowing you, Soph,’ she said sadly. ‘Bu-’ Sophie said.
April turned quickly to Kenny, wanting to get away from Sophie as fast as she could before Kenny could change his mind about letting her go. ‘Come on, then.’
Kenny grabbed her by the arm in a way that looked friendly but hurt a lot. They began to march across the carpark together, as though they were a couple in a rush. April didn’t look back at Sophie. She just hoped she’d be OK.
When they arrived at the car, Kenny went to open the passenger door. But he was too hasty, and the door slammed into the car next to it, a Fiat that was parked badly. ‘For fuck’s sakes,’ Kenny muttered. He looked at April. ‘Dick didn’t leave enough space; get in the driver’s side and scoot over.’
April did as she was told, and went around the other side, Kenny following her. She got into the driver’s seat. It was an old car, and it had a cigarette lighter. As April scooched over to the passenger side, clambering over the gearbox, without really thinking about it, she pushed the button in. She was surprised by her own gall. But she had nothing to lose. She sat down in the passenger seat and hoped Kenny wouldn’t notice.
Kenny climbed in and got his keys in the ignition. ‘I can’t believe we’re finally meeting,’ he said, tossing April a horrid grin. ‘Your family have been upping the bounty every year since you disappeared. You’re worth quite a bit to Ma Gardener at this point. Thank fuck for Facebook, eh?’ he said, belting up and getting the car in gear, glancing over his shoulder as he reversed out. ‘Mate of mine had an alert out for a few keywords, and they lit the fuck up this morning, with your picture no less. Fucking brilliant, computers, aren’t they?’ he smiled to himself smugly as he edged out of the space.
He wasn’t so happy a second later when his cheek was suddenly on fire. ‘Aggghh!’ he screamed. Even better, he lost control of the wheel and backed right into an oncoming Audi with a jolt. Both airbags inflated, hitting Kenny and April. Kenny turned to his passenger, enraged; a round scorch mark on his cheek, his face dusted with airbag powder. He looked like someone from the court of King Louis XIV, April thought wildly. ‘You bitch!’ he swore, and he lunged for her. But his belt snapped him back, and April took that opportunity, beltless, to swing the car door open and jump from the vehicle. She hit the ground at a run, screaming, ‘Help! That man’s trying to kill me!’
People were looking at last. The burly man April had been spooked by earlier suddenly appeared, ready for action. ‘What man?’
She pointed at the car that Kenny was now staggering out of. He looked dazed, but his knife was in his hand. He was down, but by no means out. But the burly guy saw the knife and said, ‘Krav Maga, mother fucker!’ and ran at Kenny, stopping a foot from him and leaping into the air, executing a perfect roundhouse kick, connecting with Kenny’s head. Kenny went down like a sack of spuds. The burly guy looked down at him with satisfaction, kicking the knife away. He glanced at April. ‘Can’t be too careful.’ He got his phone out. ‘Police?’
April was stunned. It was over; she was alright. Then a voice was screaming, ‘April! April! Oh my god!’ April turned to see Sophie shrieking her way over, tearful and distraught. ‘I let you go!’ she said, grabbing onto April. ‘I let you go with him. I’m so sorry,’ she sobbed.
April grabbed ahold of Sophie. ‘No, that’s what I wanted, you don’t have to feel bad.’
Sirens wailed as they held onto each other.
Nine
‘Hang on. Back up a sec, I’m having trouble understanding this. You’re telling me, your friend, this Becky posted a photograph of someone in witness protection. Onto Facebook?’ the copper asked Sophie in the police interview room later. ‘Wow, she sounds like a genius.’
‘Well, in her defence, she didn’t know about that bit, none of us did,’ Sophie said, her hands in supplication. Funny, she’d done nothing wrong, but sitting in this room, she felt like she had to account for herself. She was this close to confessing that she’d stolen a bag of Haribo Tangfastics from Asda when she was fourteen.
‘So why did she do it?’ the woman asked.
‘Because April disappeared a few years ago and, well, me and April were involved, and it was all a bit…’ Sophie felt the flush of embarrassment. To talk about any of this, after what had just happened, felt silly. ‘Becky thought she was getting revenge because April had ghosted me. Only she hadn’t. She had to move because her family were on her trail.’
The woman looked at her. ‘If I saw this on the telly, I’d say it was stupid.’
‘I don’t know what to tell you,’ Sophie said.
The door to the interview room opened, and a guy walked in, middle-aged, endless rings under his eyes. ‘S’alright, got it from here,’ he told the officer.
The woman stood quickly. ‘Thank fuck for that. This is giving me a headache.’ She left.
The man sat down. ‘DC Gates, Barry. I’m April’s handler. Quite the mess you got her into,’ he said sternly.
Sophie was contrite. ‘I know, I know. I’m gonna fucking kill Becky.’
Barry nodded. ‘Yeah, we’re gonna have to put someone outside her door for a few months now, so that’s taxpayer money down the drain on top of everything else.’
Sophie was taken aback. ‘What, why?’
‘To check no one tries to find April through Becky. I mean, I think anyone with a brain would know she’s just some idiot that didn’t know anything, but better safe than sorry.’
Sophie’s stomach turned over. ‘God, Becky. You think she’ll be alright?’
‘More than likely, that’s what the posting’s for.’
A thought hit Sophie. ‘April’s gonna have to move again, isn’t she?’
Barry nodded, looking down at some paperwork. ‘I think that goes without saying. We’ve got a place lined up, town further North. Nothing fancy, but I think you’ll be comfortable.’
Sophie nodded sadly. Poor April. Uprooted again. But at least she’d be safe, hopefully. That was all that-
‘Wait a sec,’ Sophie exploded. ‘Did you just say You’ll?’
Barry looked up from his paperwork. ‘Oh yeah. You’re in this now, I’m afraid. They’ll be gunning for you too. Did you not work that out?’
Sophie felt like she was sinking into a dark hole, falling down into Barry’s words. ‘You’re saying I have to go into… witness protection?’
Barry nodded. ‘Yes, of course.’
Sophie blinked a few times, trying to compute the information. ‘No. I can’t. What? You’re mad. You’re stark staring. I can’t go into witness protection. I mean, witness protection?’ She laughed shrilly. ‘It’s crazy. Crazy! I can’t do it. I won’t do it, actually. No. I’d rather just go home, and you can give me that thing you’re doing for Becky, put a car outside till it all looks fine. Yes. That’s what we’ll do.’
Barry was barely listening. He looked as though he’d heard this rant, or some form of it, many times. ‘Yeah, this isn’t like Becky’s situation. Not only do the family now know that you were intimately involved with April, but you were present for the attack.’
‘Kenny? Why does that mean witness protection?’
‘Because he talked about the family, named Marla specifically from what April’s been telling me. And when this goes to court, we’re going to try and get them on conspiracy.’
‘Court?’
‘Yes. Attempted murder, kidnap. Carrying a dangerous weapon. Reckless driving, while we’re at it. Anything I can make stick on that scumbag. I mean, I’d prefer him to hand over the family, but I can’t get him to open his trap so far. We’ll see, though.’
‘Well, I won’t testify!’ Sophie sputtered.
‘I’m sure when the Gardeners send someone to visit you, you can explain that, an
d they’ll go away quietly. And they’ll completely believe you when you tell them you don’t know where your girlfriend is. Maybe you can tell them it didn’t work out?’
Sophie’s mouth fell open. Barry seemed to realise he’d gone too far. ‘Look, I’m sorry. But you’re in this now, no matter what you do. So you might as well do the right thing and speak up, help us with this. We’re talking about a network of people, organised crime, one of the largest in the UK.’
‘But, if that’s the case, if they’re everywhere… I’ll never be able to come out of witness protection, will I?’
‘Well, the plan is to bang up the entire family and watch the rest of it crumble apart. If that happens, no one will give two shits about you or April.’
‘And how long have you been trying to do that?’ Sophie asked.
Barry counted on his fingers. ‘Umm, ‘bout sixteen years now, I think.’
Sophie stood up. ‘Are you fucking kidding me!?’ she yelled at Barry.
Barry was unmoved. ‘It takes a while with organised crime. It’s complicated. You move too fast on a pawn, you lose a shot at the king. Or the queen, in this case.’
Sophie slumped back down in her seat. ‘Oh, god. My life is over.’
Barry looked back down at his paperwork. ‘Consider it on pause.’
***
Sophie was placed in a quiet room where she was given a phone and told to call family, explain briefly what had happened, but no specifics. She called her parents’ home, and her dad picked up. He thought it was a joke.
‘Yeah, nice one, Sophie. So you coming on Sunday for dinner?’
‘Dad, you’re not listening. I was witness to a crime, and now I’ve got to be put into protective custody.’
‘Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m gonna do a duck instead of chicken, that alright?’
‘Put Mum on.’
Sophie talked to her mother for only ten seconds before her mother accepted the reality. She was a pessimist with a penchant for the dramatic. It all made absolute sense to her. ‘Oh, god, love. I knew this would happen.’
‘No, you didn’t,’ Sophie said flatly.
‘I did! A mother has a sense of her child’s destiny,’ her mother wailed.
Sophie’s jaw tightened. ‘You knew I’d end up in witness protection, did you?’ she asked wearily.
‘Not exactly that, but something along those lines,’ her mother claimed hysterically.
Sophie was forced to remind herself that this was possibly the last conversation she’d have with her mother for a very long time. She had to keep her cool. ‘Well, destiny fulfilled, I guess,’ she said.
Her mother sobbed, and it was suddenly less funny. ‘When will I speak to you again?’
‘I don’t know. Could be a while,’ Sophie said.
Her mother sobbed again.
‘Mum, I’m sorry,’ Sophie told her.
‘For what?’ her mother managed to choke out.
‘I don’t know. Everything,’ Sophie said. She was awash with guilt. She didn’t know what it was for exactly, but part of her knew that if she hadn’t driven up here to have it out with April, she wouldn’t have ended up in this situation. She wouldn’t be having to tell her mum that she was about to disappear for a long time. It was all so crazy, so unfair. But the fact was that she’d made a rash decision. It didn’t matter that she couldn’t have foreseen its cost. She’d pushed a domino, and it had knocked into another, which had set a row collapsing. And now here she was, about to lose herself. She couldn’t even keep her last name. Sophie Hart, once ghosted, now the ghost. She would have laughed if she didn’t feel like crying.
‘It’ll be alright, sweetheart,’ her mother vowed.
‘Will it?’ Sophie asked, hopefully.
‘Yes,’ her mother told her. ‘I feel that it will be.’
Sophie tried to smile, hoping it would transfer to her voice. ‘OK, then, Mum. It will be.’
***
Sophie was put in a van with blacked-out windows. April was already in there, waiting. She looked up at Sophie, her eyes apologetic. It was the first time they’d seen each other since they’d been put in separate squad cars at the supermarket. She’d been so relieved to see her getting out of Kenny’s car, alive and well after she’d frozen up. And then disgusted with herself, ashamed of her cowardice. She still felt those feelings when she saw April in the back of the van, that disgrace.
But as she climbed in, she had another feeling. She tried to ignore it, but it was too late. It was there. The thought was that yes, Sophie had pushed a domino and set her world on fire. But before she pushed her domino, another one had been pushed onto her. April. If April hadn’t asked her out, she wouldn’t be in this position. It was a mean and irrational thought, Sophie knew that. But another part of her couldn’t help but see a grain of truth in it, couldn’t help but feel the start of resentment.
‘Oh, Sophie,’ April said wretchedly. ‘I don’t know what to say. They just told me you're going into the programme.’
Sophie sat down heavily in the seat next to her. ‘I don’t know what to say either.’ She shook her head. ‘I woke up this morning, and it was like any other day. I had Coco Pops, had a shower, watered the plants. And now my life’s over. I can’t understand how that can be.’
‘I remember that feeling. They’ll give you a therapist to help with it.’
‘Therapy?’
‘Yeah. If you want.’
‘Did you have it?’ Sophie asked.
‘No,’ April admitted.
‘Then why would I want it?’ Sophie asked irritably, as the van rumbled to life. She looked at the blacked-out windows and wished she could have some of the remaining light of the fading day. But there was no light for Sophie. ‘I just want everything to go back to normal.’
‘I know you do,’ April said.
As the van began to move, Sophie closed her eyes, overwhelmed with exhaustion. She’d been running on adrenaline for most of the day, and it had just left the building. She could have passed out; she was so suddenly tired.
‘I…’ April started, and then coughed.
Sophie opened her eyes, and April was looking at her with wide eyes. ‘Were you going to say something?’
April licked her lips nervously. ‘I just… I just want to say that this is all going to feel very strange. But you’ve got me to steer you through it.’
Sophie was still in a stew of mixed emotions on the topic of April. But it wasn’t the moment to get into it. ‘Yeah. Thanks.’
‘I can’t promise everything will be OK, that you’ll just get used to it, and that’ll be that,’ April told her. ‘But it’s not as bad as you might think.’
Sophie looked at April, and it was easy to remember why she’d fallen in love with her once upon a time. Those big dark blue eyes with their sad secrets, that beautiful mouth with all the right words. But that felt like decades ago. And now, they were being moved to a location and given new lives and new identities, and Sophie had no idea how she was going to navigate that. She’d wondered where April was all this time, and now she’d never not know. April would be there right beside her. How would they handle that? Would it be alright?
Sophie didn’t see how it could be.
Ten
It was a long van ride, about seven hours total. They travelled through the night, both taking turns to nod off at various points. April thought about holding Sophie. But she didn’t dare try. Sophie seemed to want some space.
Then the doors opened, and the light of dawn came in. ‘Morning girls,’ the uniformed copper said with coarse cheeriness. ‘We’re here.’
‘Where?’ April asked.
‘It’s a town called Forlorn.’
‘Is that meant to be a joke?’ Sophie asked, undoing her seatbelt beside April.
‘Is what meant to be a joke?’ the cop asked, perplexed.
Sophie sighed. ‘Never mind.’
‘Look, Barry’s just pulling up, he’ll take you through the details. I’m just
transpo.’
April undid her own belt and followed Sophie, already clambering out of the van. She hopped out behind her, and they were in a carpark. Barry was waiting next to an unmarked car. ‘Come on girls. I’ll take you the rest of the way. Van’s a bit conspicuous.’
They got in the back of Barry’s car, and he started up the engine and pulled out of the carpark. April saw a sign that said NOW ENTERING FORLORN.