Pieces of the Past (Witness Security Book 1) (11 page)

Stan White extended his hand.
“Pleased to meet you Marshal Jackson. Thank you for keeping my family safe.”

Doug shook the man
’s hand. “It hasn’t been easy. And I’m sorry to say we’re not done yet.”

Stan glanced nervously over his shoulder.
“Yes, well, we understand that. We knew when Peyton showed up here that something was wrong.”

“
Very wrong,” Lillian White echoed, looking at Doug. Her short silver hair was stylish, and she wore a pearl necklace with matching earrings and bracelet.

Is it even eight o
’clock yet? Who wears pearls at eight a.m.?
He caught her eye. “Yeah, well, a few things have gone wrong lately.”

“
Peyton is here?” Christine piped up. “Is she okay?”

Stan nodded toward the living room.
“They’re fine. Exhausted, but fine. We gave them something to eat before they crashed on the sofas.”

Doug followed Christine to the doorway. The room was large, accommodating two full sized sofas and several other chairs. Pey
ton was asleep on one couch, covered by a blanket. A boy he assumed was Ryan slept under a throw on the other.

“
Oh, thank God.” Christine hugged Ethan and then her mother again.

“
They must have driven straight through,” Doug commented. “No seedy motels.”

She shot him a look.

“Did you drive straight through?” Stan asked Doug. “You must be tired, too.”

Lillian added,
“Can we get you something to eat? Then you can catch a nap in the guest room. We have plenty of space. We just wanted to keep the kids in view, you know.”

“
Good thinking.” He returned Christine’s ‘look’ and replied, “We could probably eat, but there’s no time for napping. I’m going to check in with the service and let them know Peyton’s fine. I don’t think we’ll be staying long after that.”

“
No!” Ethan gripped his grandfather’s waist. “I don’t want to leave yet!”

“
Doug.” Christine clutched his arm. “We can’t just leave after all this time. And besides, I’m not sure I can do another ten hours in the car right away. I know you can’t, without some sleep.”

He held up his phone.
“Excuse me. Is there somewhere I can make my calls?”

Stan looked at him then Christine.
“We wanted to call you when they showed up. We didn’t have a number. The boy’s phone was dead and he didn’t bring a charger, so we couldn’t get anything off that.”

“
I understand,” Christine smiled at her father. She motioned to a room behind them. “Doug, there’s a small sitting room in there. Close the French doors if you want privacy.”

“
Thank you.” He went where she indicated. The ‘small’ sitting room was bigger than three rooms in the house they’d just left. Shaking his head, he closed the white framed, glass doors and sat to phone in his report. Before he dialed he hesitated, glancing around one more time.

He wasn
’t aware Christine came from such a privileged family. Witsec had placed them in a nice, modest home. But perhaps, given the choice, that type of residence wouldn’t make her happy on a long term basis. Maybe she was a French door kind of woman, when he was used to screen door kinds of gals. Maybe he didn’t know Christine at all.

* * * *

Christine polished off some bacon, eggs and toast, pacing back and forth between the dining room and the front room, so she could keep an eye on her sleeping daughter. Ethan regaled his grandparents with stories about school and Little League in between bites of food. Doug’s phone calls took a good half hour, but when he returned he sat long enough to eat some breakfast.

“
Ethan,” Christine guided her son to the front room. “Sit in here and play your game with the headphones. If your sister wakes up, come get me. We need to talk to Doug, okay?”

“
Sure Mom. I’ll watch them. They won’t get past me.” He nodded confidently.

She smiled. She didn
’t really think Peyton would be that crazy, but not having talked to the girl yet, she wasn’t sure of her state of mind. The real reason she didn’t think they’d take off was simple—they had nowhere else to go.

She entered the kitchen and poured another cup of coffee before sitting.
“So?”

Doug pushed his plate away from the edge of the table.
“The police have cancelled the APB. Everyone is aware we’ve got Peyton. Ryan’s parents are flying in. The police will pick them up at the airport and call me when they’re here. A patrol car will come for him, and they’ll drive his car to the station. From there, he and his parents are free to go.”

Stan scoffed.
“Sounds like a whole lot of needless steps to me. If they dropped the parents off here—”

Doug raised a hand.
“This isn’t up for debate. The security of your family has already been compromised. No one else needs to know where you live, who you are, any of that.”

“
So melodramatic!” Lillian exclaimed. “Everyone is safe here. We have a security system. It calls the police if someone tries to enter without the code.”

Christine inhaled. She saw Doug
’s face, and knew what was coming. She touched his forearm. “Doug, please—”

He frowned.
“No, Christi. I’m not going to sugar-coat it for these people. Mrs. White, your security system is fine for keeping out garden-variety criminals, but that’s not what we’re dealing with, here. Martin Newsome’s life is on the line. Larry Stewart is going to provide key testimony to put Newsome away forever. Newsome ran a huge organization that made millions of dollars. If you don’t think he’s still connected, even in prison, then you’re very naïve.”

She opened her mouth to speak but her husband laid a hand on her arm. Lillian closed her mouth.

Doug went on, “Newsome and his partners would pay big bucks to shut Stewart up. If he was truly involved with the Russo family, well, that makes him even more dangerous. Sal Russo is walking the streets and try as they might to find out, nobody is quite sure what he’s up to.”

“
Someone found us, Mom,” Christine explained. “They started sending us stuff. UIC brochures to Peyton, flowers to me--”

“
On your anniversary. Peyton told us. She thought it was very sweet.” Lillian said.

“
Sweet?” Doug practically choked on the word.

Christine placed her hand on his arm again.
“A strange man followed the kids and gave Cubs stuff to Ethan. That’s not sweet, Mom. It’s stalking, and it’s very dangerous. We think he may have found us through Peyton’s Facebook page.”

Lillian
’s face lost all its color.

Doug added,
“Which was strictly against the rules, and Peyton knew it. But she did it anyway, and seemed to think it was okay with your implied consent.”

Stan shook his head.
“We knew it wasn’t right. It was just so nice to hear from her. We couldn’t help ourselves. We didn’t understand the danger.”

Christine shook her head.
“Peyton did
. She sat through the Witsec orientation, and signed the consent forms. She knew better.”

“
She’s just a child!” Lillian protested.

“
She’s seventeen!” Doug retorted. “We’re not talking about a ten-year-old boy. It would have been easier to understand Ethan making a lapse in judgment because he really might not have known better. But he understands what she did was wrong. Peyton just refuses to get it, or
admit
that she gets it.”

“
Okay, okay.” Stan waved his hands. “The damage has been done. No need to persecute the girl. The question is, where do we go from here?”

Christine wanted to know the answer to that herself.

All eyes were on Doug. He inhaled and let the breath out. “Newsome’s trial starts this week. Chicago Witsec thinks you’re all safer here than us trekking back across the country to Topeka.” He looked at Christine. “Especially since you won’t be living there anymore.”

Something in his eyes touched her heart. She hadn
’t decided where she wanted to live, yet. But somehow she thought she’d have a choice, some small say in the matter. The past few days with Doug had been some of the most intense of her life. She wasn’t sure where their relationship was headed, but she wasn’t ready to write it off.

“
Topeka?” Lillian feigned a shiver. “I’m glad I didn’t know you were there all this time. Sounds perfectly barbaric.”

Christine sprang up.
“It’s hotter than blazes but otherwise, the word ‘perfect’ describes it pretty well. Topeka is a lovely, idyllic town, and I wish you wouldn’t denigrate it without ever being there. I’m going to check on the kids.” She stomped out.

All was quiet in the front room. Ethan smiled at her over the top of his game. She
returned the gesture.

Doug
’s arms slipped around her waist and he pulled her into the hall, her back pressed against his chest. He spoke softly in her ear. “Not sure I’d call Topeka ‘idyllic’, but it is pretty nice.”

She sighed, and shrank against his firm, muscular torso.
“Not sure I was talking about the town.”

“
I know.” He was so close, his lips touched her earlobe. “We have things to figure out, Christi. But right now, keeping you and the kids safe is my priority.”

“
I know,” she echoed. She reveled in the feel of his arms around her for another moment before stepping away. “So we stay here?”

“
Oh no,” he gave a hoarse chuckle. “We go to another safe house.
We all go
. Grandma and Grandpa included. They aren’t safe here any longer.”

“
But they have a security system.” She blinked innocently.

He laughed outright at that.
“Smart ass. Come on. Let’s go break the news. Grandma needs to pack. And where she’s going, she won’t need the pearls.”

Her parents insisted that they didn’t need to leave. Christine admired the way Doug stood up to them. “We normally can’t force people into protection,” he explained. “But Christi and the kids are here willingly. Your actions have compromised their safety. I’m going to have to ask you to come along peacefully, or the police can find some accommodations for you downtown. I suspect you’ll appreciate the safe house more, knowing your other option.”

“
And we’ll be together, Mom. The children will love that. I will, too,” Christine admitted.

“
Think of it as a mini ‘staycation’ with your family, like going to a hotel.” Doug said.

Lillian
’s face brightened. “Will we be at a hotel? I hope it’s someplace with a spa. I could use a manicure, and obviously you could, too.” She examined Christine’s polish-less fingernails.

“
My nails haven’t been a priority.” Christine snatched her hand away.

“
We will
not
be at a hotel.” Doug said firmly. “Heaven help me, not sure I could manage that. We’ll be at a house the service keeps. It won’t be as fancy as this, but it’ll suffice.”

Before she could respond, Peyton entered the room, still wrapped in the blanket.
“Mom?”

“
Peyton!” Christine grabbed her daughter and enveloped her in a hug. “We were so worried.”

“
I’m sorry, Mom,” Peyton sniffled. “I was so upset. I didn’t know what else to do.”

Christine wanted to shake the girl, but instead held her by the shoulders.
“It’s okay
this time.
But don’t ever pull a stunt like that again, Peyton Isabella.”

“
It’s not
really
okay,” Doug added. “A lot of money and manpower were spent looking for you. The authorities frown on that. Ryan’s parents aren’t too thrilled, either. They had to take time off work, spend money on plane tickets here, and then look forward to that ten hour drive back. You can imagine how pleased they are.”

“
I said I was sorry, okay?” She barely gave Doug the time of day.

“
Well, that makes it all right, then. Tell you what, everybody needs to gear up and get ready to go. In just a couple hours we’ll be heading out to the next safe house.”

“
Ryan and I need to run to Best Buy. He wants to pick up a phone charger. And my flip flop broke, so I need to stop somewhere to get a new pair.”

Christine couldn
’t believe her daughter was so deep in denial. She started to respond but Doug cut her off.

“
Ryan
is leaving with the police sometime in the next hour. He’ll be taken to his parents, and they’ll soon be on their way home.
We
are packing and heading out. No Best Buy, no Gap to buy new flip flops. No manicures, no pedicures, no spa massages.” He inhaled and let the breath out. “I’m sorry to get short with you, but I haven’t slept since yesterday.” He turned to Christine. “If you’ll show me where I can grab a quick shower, I’d appreciate it.” He pointed at Peyton. “You, go say your good-byes to Ryan.” To her parents he said, “You folks need to pack, now. Take enough clothes for a week, but only a couple bags each. We travel light.”