by Aria Ford
“What I’m getting paid for Jacob, I want triple that for this guy. You and I both know that you would have never contacted me unless you were in a bind. You obviously think he’s not going to make it to trial.” He was shuffling papers and not bothering to make eye contact. I’d become something of a human lie detector, but that was only because I could tap into all of my senses at the same time. That one bead of sweat over his eye told me that he was not very happy. He was nervous that something was going to happen. “I can take care of myself. Don’t think for a second that you’re going to assign me one of your rookie officers. I’m not even going to take one of your safe houses, in case it has been compromised.”
I was thinking about someplace that I could stow him away, and there was only one place that came to mind. Nobody knew that I still had the summer house on the lake in Cape Cod. I went there to decompress, but I hadn’t been back since I had the accident. I don’t know why I was even calling it an accident, when it was really an attack that left me comatose for three days. When I awoke, they said that I was a miracle and that I shouldn’t be even breathing. I had to stay in the hospital for three weeks, but they said that my recovery was unprecedented.
“He’s downstairs in holding. I’m not going to ask where you’re going to take him. I just hope to god that I’m doing the right thing.” He had streaks of gray hair and every day that he was in this office was making him age before my eyes. “Don’t take this man lightly. If he senses that you’re going to give him an inch, then he will take a mile. He doesn’t want to testify. Going into witness protection is not foolproof by any means. You can expect that he’s going to look for any way to escape. He’s done it several times already, but he always gets caught doing something stupid.” I had read the file, and he seemed to have an Achilles’ heel for betting on sports.
“I’ll bring my bronco around back. All I need you to do is leave the door open and the cameras off. I’ll slip in, get him, and then ferry him away before he does something that is going to attract the attention of Joseph and the men that our working for him.” It was weird to be in this position and my intellect alone had me on the fast track. I was destined to sit in an office and make important decisions. A think tank had already approached me, but after the attack, I felt like I needed a change of scenery.
The bloodlust running through my veins had made me feel like I was going to lash out at anybody and anything. I needed an outlet, and it was fortuitous that I saw a bounty hunter chasing down a suspect. I became obsessed, until finally I got my license and was able to put it to good use. Nobody really took me seriously, but those days had come and gone. Any time that I was in the vicinity of picking up one of my regulars, they would see me and they would bolt out of sheer fear alone.
“I know that you don’t like guns, but maybe for this one time you should consider packing. If Joseph and his men find out where he’s being held, then there won’t be anything that I can do to help you. You’ll have to fend them off yourself, and I doubt even you will be able to survive the onslaught that he brings down on your head. His freedom is at stake, and you can imagine that he’s been crossing his T’s and dotting his I’s to make sure that he doesn’t see the inside of a jail cell. He has high powered lawyers, but they are mostly just a distraction.” I’d heard some of what Joseph had done behind the scenes. It was all conjecture, but with any story there was a semblance of truth.
“Don’t kid yourself. I know what I’m getting myself into, and you can trust that this man will be at the courthouse tomorrow morning at exactly 9:00 AM. If I have to carry him in there over my shoulder, then that is what I will do. I’ve taken down some very high profile targets that have skipped bail. I know that you’re confused at how easily I do that without a gun. That’s the one thing that I will not carry, and the sanctity of life is more important to me than my own. I will not carry somebody’s death on my shoulders or into my nightmares for that matter.” I had to draw the line somewhere. I didn’t need a gun before, and I wasn’t going to start now.
The wolf inside had always protected me, and I didn’t think that was going to change anytime soon. It was always there, and I could call upon it whenever I damn well wanted to. I’d learned through meditation that I could control how far I would transform. It took a lot of trial by error, and I awoke several times to find my body covered in blood. I had no idea what I had done, but I knew that it couldn’t have been good.
“The department is very grateful for your assistance and everything that you do to try to make this city safer. The citizens may not know your contribution, but we in the department understand what kind of position you put yourself in every day.” I believed that he was placating me. I was getting a little tired of hearing his voice. His uniform was making me angry, and I wanted to reach out and tear it from his body, until he was feeling as vulnerable as some of the criminals that found themselves under the hot lights.
“I don’t think there’s anything left to say. You don’t respect me and we both know that you would rather somebody from your own force take on this assignment. You would never give it to an outsider, especially one that has shown you up on several occasions. I’m not sure, but I think that you wouldn’t lose much sleep if I disappear tomorrow.” I walked out of there, slamming the door and making the glass rattle behind me. It was enough to draw the attention of those that were in the bullpen.
Chapter three:
The gray nondescript door made of metal was open in the back of the department. I climbed the stairs two at a time with my cowboy boots making a god awful racket. I opened the door at the top. I peered down the hallway to see that the coast was clear. The camera affixed to the wall was not showing the prerequisite red light.
I moved quietly and quickly to a holding cell to see that a man was huddled up with a green blanket over his shoulders. He had his head bowed. The poor guy was shivering. That was not my main concern. I had the key that Captain Rollins gave me, and I opened the door. At the sound of the squeaking metal, the man looked up from where he was sitting with a smile on his face.
“Ryan Latham, you are now under my purview. From this moment, until you are safely escorted to the courthouse tomorrow you will never leave my side. Don’t try anything, or I will have to hurt you. Nobody told me that I couldn’t put my hands on you. The only prerequisite was that you were able to walk in on your own two feet to testify. Wheather you do that with a couple of teeth missing and a few bruises is up to you.” I wanted him to know that I was not going to take any of his nonsense. There was something about the way that he was looking at me. When he crossed over the threshold to the jail cell, I felt this instant heat that made me want to reach out and touch him.
“I don’t take you for a police officer. I can only assume that they have decided to recruit outside of the department. It’s probably a good thing. I know for certain that there are at least three police officers that would gladly find me in a dark alley and put a gun into my mouth.” The handcuffs were around his wrist, but to avoid suspicion, I had to relieve him of those shackles. I placed a key into the lock and I turned it, but it was the way that he was smiling that was making me nervous.
“I mean it and if you try anything then you won’t wake up until morning. That’s not a threat…. It’s a promise and one that I intend to keep. I don’t need you running off and having me track you down like some kind of dog in the street.” He was wearing what looked like an off-the-rack suit, but it was his power red tie that made it a focal point. It was the perfect contrast to the white shirt. It didn’t hurt that I could see that underneath the Clark Kent persona was a superman quality physique.
“I hope you know what you’re doing. Joseph will not allow me to testify. I have all of his dirty dealings inside my head and the numbers to prove that he has been living a lie all this time. I’ve only agreed to testify to keep this man from hurting anybody else.” I could tell that this was personal, and that he had seen something that he couldn’t forget. “That man
is a monster. I need to make amends for some of my own sins.” He was fingering a cross around his neck, and it was similar to the one that I wore every day to remind me that god was standing on my shoulder.
“It’s nice to see that you believe in something. I don’t know how you got mixed up with all of this, but now you’re gonna have to learn to live with what you have to do.” I followed from behind, keeping a watchful eye on him to see if he was going to bolt down the sidewalk. Amazingly, he went directly to the open door of my bronco and slipped into the passenger seat. I stood there at the window as he put on the seat belt and lay back with a sigh of resignation.
I went around to the other side, climbing in and driving away, while keeping my eye on the rearview mirror to see if I was going to be able to spot anybody tailing. My eyes focused with razor like precision on anything that would stand out in the crowd. Nothing was there, and I was happy to see that I wasn’t going to have to possibly run down innocent victims in the street.
“The one thing that we have in common is our religious belief. Do you suppose that we have a few moments for me to stop at my local church and talk to my priest? I really don’t think that it’s asking for too much.” He was hitting me where it hurt, and I could not deny him his right to religious counsel. “I promise that I won’t be more than a few minutes. I just need to get some things off my chest and to find penance for some of the things that I allowed to happen underneath my own nose.” He gave me the address, and I was still a little hesitant to deviate from my course of action.
“I hope for your sake that you’re not using my catholic upbringing against me. I may be a good catholic girl, but I will punch you in the face if you think for one second that you can get one over on me. I might have to confess it later, but it would be a small price to pay to make you see that there is no way out of your destiny.” I drove, but I was still constantly looking at him and feeling like he was drawing me to him like a siren of the sea.
I hadn’t notice, but his hand was now resting on my knee. He was drumming his fingers on my pant leg. “You could probably use a few moments to get some things off of your chest.” The way that he said that had a connotation of something sexual. His voice was laced with this seductive tone that made me feel like I was sitting there naked and at his mercy.
I found the strength to reach down and release his grip from my knee. I pulled his arm over to his own leg, but at the same time I grazed something that had been sleeping and was now awakening for the first time. That brief touch had made him gasp. He did not try to hide his obvious arousal. I would never consciously jump any man’s bones, and my purity was still very much a part of me.
The church was very old and had this air of being able to stand up to the test of time. There was some graffiti on the side, but for the most part it looked like it was untouched. I walked behind him as he climbed the stairs and pulled open the two double doors at the top. I surveyed the area, making sure that there were no uninvited guests that would have to be taken care of.
He turned abruptly and put his hand on my chest to prevent me from following him in. The contact made me become flushed and my eyes narrowed. “This is as far as you go. I’m going to need a few moments, and I don’t think that you can begrudge me that. This is a private conversation and one that I don’t want anybody to overhear.” His blond hair went down to his shoulders, but it was slicked back with some kind of product that made it virtually windproof. He had the dimples of the boy next door, and his eyes were practically undressing me the entire time that I was standing beside him. I was not immune to his charms, but there was no way that either one of us would forsake what we believed in.
Having relations with anyone was off the table until I got that ring on my finger and that four letter word to make me want to throw caution to the wind. “I will allow you five minutes, but if after that you don’t come out, then I’m coming in to get you.” I was laying down the law, and I didn’t want him to think that I was a pushover. “Don’t try anything. If you are good, then I promise that I won’t be bad.” I emphasized that last word to make him show a little confusion. I wanted to slap that smug smile off his face
He went inside and I stood there until I got bored and sat down. I made my claws appear and disappear at will. It was an exercise to control those tendencies. I made it impossible for the wolf to raise its ugly head without my direct permission. I’d forgotten that tonight was the full moon. I would need to remain completely quiet. If I could do that and keep my heart beat down to the bare minimum, then the wolf might not have a chance to grab me by the throat.
Five minutes elapsed and I finally had enough. I got up, and the door opened as I was reaching for the handle. Ryan came out looking like a new man. Confession really was good for the soul. “I told you that I would only be a few minutes. I am a man of my word, and that is the one thing that I do take seriously.” Behind him was a priest with a prerequisite white collar and black robe to complement the outfit. He was bald, except for stubble. He was carrying the good book, and he was looking at me and then at Ryan and then shaking his head in disbelief.
“That’s very interesting… that’s very interesting indeed.” His words were strange and they didn’t make much sense. I didn’t get a chance to question him further. He turned and went back into the church, laughing underneath his breath and making it sound like this was one big joke.
“This better be the only other stop that we’re going to have to make today. We still have a couple of hours to get to our final destination. I think that you’ll find that the place is very quiet and serene. There isn’t a neighbor for at least a couple of miles. The land around the house is owned by my family.” What I didn’t tell him was that my father was in no position to do anything. He was wasting away, and I could only hope that he would finally shake free of his demons.
“I’m ready to go.” He was being very cooperative and that was giving me a false sense of security. I was going to have to watch and wait to see if he was going to try anything to get out of testifying. “Father John has been with me for a very long time. There is nothing that I can’t tell him. He has been a true confidant and someone that I trust with all of my secrets. He is bound by the sanctity of the confessional.” I could use some of that same counseling, but I was in a hurry and getting there before dark was very important. Amazingly, even with the wolf’s senses, I was still not a great driver at night. I could see like it was daytime, but it still made me feel like there was an accident waiting to happen.
“Keep your hands where I can see them at all times.” I didn’t want him to touch me again, but deep down I wanted nothing more. He had found that part of myself that craved human touch. I couldn’t explain it, but his mouth was in need of a kiss that would make him breathless. I was this close to grabbing him and forcing him to take my tongue down his throat, but I stopped myself. I didn’t want to do anything that would be seen as untoward.
Fantasies were one thing, but acting on them was an entirely different matter altogether. I couldn’t, in good conscience, use him for my own pleasure and amusement. Besides, I think he would like it too much.
“You don’t have to worry about me. I’ve made my peace with what I have to do.” I still didn’t trust him, but the attraction was ripe with its own consequences. I could hunt him down and eat him alive like an animal. There would be no place that he could hide. I could pretend that his presence wasn’t bothering me, but it was going to be an effort in futility. Just sitting this close to him made me almost powerless to any kind of advance that he would initiate. “I’m tired of running. I’m ready to finally see this come to an end.” He could do whatever he wanted to do, but I was going to be there to make sure that he stayed on the path of righteousness.
“You can’t always be looking over your shoulder. You may not like the idea of going into witness protection, but it is the only game in town. According to your file, you really don’t have any family, except for a distant cousin that you barely see a
nd only talk to on holidays. Your family was killed by a fire, and I don’t wish that on my worst enemy. It couldn’t be easy being the only one to survive.” They’d found him on the back lawn with burns to his skin. They extrapolated that he was thrown clear of the blaze.
“I really don’t like to talk about something that is painful to me. I’ve made peace with what has happened. There’s no way that I can go back and change things. I’ve learned through therapy and through my own personal journey that life has a way of shocking you. You need to remain positive and not think of those negative things that are going to keep you down. I can see from your posture that you’re not a stranger to meditation or yoga.” He tried to reach for me again in a comforting gesture, but I put my finger up to chastise him like a little child.
“I’m sorry that I struck a nerve. It was never my intention to touch on old wounds. I just wanted you to know that I can sympathize. My mother may have not died in a fire, but her death was something that took my father and me by surprise. We’ve never been able to see eye to eye after that.” I was telling him something that was very personal to me. I was usually more selective with who I trust with my emotions and my secrets.
“You can’t fool me ,and you did that on purpose to try to get a rise out of me. I think that you’ll see that I’m not easily rattled.” I wasn’t sure, if I could believe that. The way that he was shivering in the cell made me think that he was going to have himself an accident. “I never get a chance to smell the roses. This landscape is amazing and would make the perfect picture postcard to send to anyone.” We were outside of the city limits and things were taking on a more residential quality.
“I’m just trying to get a better understanding about the man that I’m trying to protect.” The residential area was slowly becoming more secluded, until finally there were only trees lining the street.
“I have to tell you that I’m not much for the country kind of living. I’m more comfortable with the sound of sirens and honking of horns in the middle of the night. I don’t think that I could get used to crickets and the sound of water lapping against the shore.” I couldn’t have cared less what he wanted. I’d taken on this assignment, and the money was well worth dealing with his constant chatter. It was nice to have company, and I was usually more of a loner. The only person that really understood me at all was my best friend and therapist. I’d gone to her with Jacob still in the truck secured and not going anywhere.