Witness Protection Read online

  There were so many things that could go wrong and I wasn’t certain that I should be involved, but if I wasn’t then who was going to help them?

  Making a spur-of-the-moment decision, I stopped at the local storage place and got a unit to put all of their stuff in that way if for some reason Mike found us, he wouldn’t be able to get to her stuff as easily.

  Using cash and a fictional name worked since the lady didn’t know me to rent the unit, I quickly unloaded everything, but their suitcases.

  Small town life certainly has its advantages. I thought to myself as I closed the door. In New York, they would have carded me and asked for five references.

  Thankfully, I’d been so busy today that I hadn’t had time to think about my past or worry about how lonely my future looked. Staying busy was the only thing that kept me from wallowing in self-pity.

  After two years in witness protection, I’d gotten used to the idea that I would never be going back to my hometown. I missed the hustle and bustle of the city. Even when I’d been alone, it hadn’t felt that way because I knew the others around me had similar lives.

  A smile crept over my face as I realized that I’d have Sally around for a few days to keep all of my emotions at bay. She was more than enough to keep me from having a pity party for myself.

  It was time to go pick her up from school and I found that I was looking forward to it.

  The school’s parking lot was fairly full, but I managed to snag an empty visitor’s slot near the front. Cars had started lining up to collect the children who were more than ready to be out of the classroom and running free.

  I made my way inside to the front office and found a woman, giving out orders, who I assumed would be Judy.

  “May I help you?” She lifted her head as I approached.

  “Um, yes. I’m Allie Foster. I’m here to pick up Sally Butts. Her mother called to let you know that it was okay?” I answered nervously hoping that Mike hadn’t already tried to pick her up.

  “Ah, well, let me get a copy of your driver’s license on file. You can just have a seat while I get it all taken care of for you.” She waved to the empty chairs as she took my license. “These are the papers that I need Megan to sign so that we can get you added to the pick-up list in the future.”

  She gave me a reassuring smile as she handed me back my license, “Don’t worry dear. Children may come in small packages, but they bounce back to normal quickly with lots of energy to spare.”

  “Thanks.” I gulped nervously. “Do you have a Nova Lady that brings you books?”

  She was so nice, I thought it couldn’t hurt to give it a try. I never wanted to step on someone else’s territory though, if they were already receiving brochures from another Nova Lady.

  “Actually, we don’t. You could leave some here and I’ll take them to the break room later for you.” Judy leaned in and whispered conspiratorially, “We’re always looking for ways to make some of these older ladies more beautiful if you know what I’m saying.”

  I laughed feeling the tension release, “Will five books be enough, or do you think you’ll need more? We don’t want any catfights to start over these life-changing brochures.” I gave her a wink.

  “Five will be plenty and if we need more, I can let you know next week.”

  Hurrying outside, I opened the trunk to grab the brochures, when I noticed my samples sitting there. Without another thought, I placed a full-sized lotion under my arm to give to Judy for being so nice to me.

  “You’re just in time. Her class is just getting out now.” She pointed to the line of children in the hallway. “Susan, Allie is going to be picking up Sally today.”

  Sally started to run over to me, but stopped herself and slowed to a walk before jumping into my arms.

  “Why isn’t Mommy here?” Her green eyes look up at me with such trust in them.

  “Something came up and your mom wanted to make sure that you didn’t ride the bus home. I’m going to take you to see her right now if that’s okay with your teachers?” I glanced at Susan for permission.

  “Judy signed her out so you’re good to go.” She turned to Sally, “I’ll see you tomorrow, kiddo.”

  She slid down and gripped my hand tightly making me realize what a huge responsibility I’d accepted. At least Sally liked me and didn’t feel like I was a stranger to her.

  Then she asked the question I’d been dreading as we walked to the car. “What happened to my mama?”

  While I’d have loved to sugarcoat the truth and make up some excuse, Sally was going to see how badly hurt her mom was.

  “Honey, your mom was in an accident this morning and she’s at the hospital. When I left her to come to pick you up, they were taking x-rays to see if she had any broken bones.” I opened the door to let Sally climb in while she adjusted to the idea of her mom being hurt.

  “She’s going to have some bruises. They even gave her a cast for her arm that got broken, but she’s a good sport. She was worried that you might be scared when you saw her, but I told her not to worry. You’re a big girl and a mummified mommy wouldn’t scare you, right?” I wanted to make light of the situation, but it was very serious.

  With wide eyes, Sally buckled the seat belt. “Will she be covered in toilet paper? All over her body? She’ll still know me, right?”

  “Yeah, she’ll know you. When she gets better, maybe you can roll her on the floor to the bathroom whenever you need toilet paper. That’s cool, right?” I gave her a wink to let her know that I was teasing.

  “Silly, I’d just use what’s in the bathroom.” Her smile melted my heart.

  “I think she’s going to stay in the hospital tonight and maybe tomorrow. They want to make sure that she’s getting better so we’ll just have a slumber party at my house until she can join us. What do you think of pizza and a movie for dinner?”

  She was quiet for a moment while thinking. “Okay.”

  “Miss Allie, did my daddy hurt my mommy?”

  I wasn’t sure how to answer that without making her dad the bad guy.

  “Sweetie, your mommy, and daddy got into a fight this morning. When your mommy hit her head, I took her to the hospital so they could make her better. I don’t know if your daddy was hurt or not because he went to work. Your mommy is going to make sure that you that she gets better and can take care of you herself. Until then we are going to have a lot of fun.”

  I’d thought it would be the last question since she fell silent, but my relief was short-lived.

  “Daddy hits Mommy sometimes when I’m asleep at night in bed. He hurts her because she’s always asking him to stop.” She met my tear-filled eyes in the rearview mirror. “Don’t cry. Mama does that when she thinks I’m not looking.”

  “Will they arrest my daddy? Will he go to jail? He’s a policeman and locks up the bad guys. Who’s going to lock him up?” She asked innocently. “They’ll feed him, right?”

  My heart just broke as her questions continued. Megan hadn’t thought Sally had known about the way Mike treated her. While she might not have seen what was going on, she’d certainly felt the after-effects.

  “Sally, we can’t be certain that your daddy will be arrested. The judge and other police officers will have to find out what happened before they can determine what kind of punishment he should have. If he goes to jail, the other officers will lock him up and they will make sure that he has food to eat.”

  “Miss Allie, I don’t want him to go to jail with all the bad guys. I love him, but he needs to be nice to mommy and not hit her anymore.” Her face brightened, “He could tell her he’s sorry because it’s not nice to hit people. He should have a time out to think about what he did wrong. That’s what my teachers tell the boys when they hit someone. A time out for bad behavior.”

  I hid my smile, but I completely agreed with Sally and her teachers. Mike was going to need a long time out so that he learned a lesson.

  Arriving at the hospital seemed to slow the tide of ques
tions, but I was still nervous about the next few hours.

  “We’re going to concentrate on getting your mommy well and leave your daddy up to the police officers, okay? Do you know the best way you can help your mommy get better? You can make her a card and give her gentle hugs. It will make her get well faster.”

  It has seemed like a great idea to have Sally stay with me, but I wasn’t sure that I’d survive two days or more of questions from this first grader.

  Chapter 4

  Allie

  Megan had been put into a room by herself so they could monitor her visitors easier.

  Approaching the nurse’s station, I had to ask for directions since I always managed to get turned around in hospital hallways.

  Since I was on the approved list, they pointed me in the correct direction. The door had barely opened when Sally took off across the room for her mother, only to slide to a stop when she saw the IVs and monitors hooked up to Megan.

  “Will I break her if I give her a hug?” She turned back to make sure if it was okay.Megan chuckled and tried to suppress the groan which turned into more of a grimace.

  “Of course, honey. You can hug her. Just be very gentle and kiss her.”

  Her face broke into a smile as she skipped the last few feet to the edge of the bed before standing on the wheel to reach her mother.

  Maybe they would make it through this difficult time as long as they had each other. I couldn’t help but feel hopeful for a tiny second.

  “Mommy, are you okay?” Sally began to gently pat Megan’s hand. Considering that she had over twenty stitches on her forehead, and her left arm was wrapped up in a sling, it was amazing that she was conscious.

  Trying not to shake her head, Megan answered Sally’s question cautiously. “I’ll be okay, sweetie. The doctors have been working on me and they think I can go home in a few days. Do you think you can stay with Miss Allie until I get a little better?”

  “Sure, Mommy. We talked about it on the way over here. When you’re able to leave, then you get to come hang out at Miss Allie’s house until you’re all better.”

  Reassured that her mother was going to be fine, Sally switched gears on me. “Can I go work on the picture for Mommy to help her get better faster?”

  “Yeah, let’s get you all set up over here.”

  The nurse had been kind enough to give us a bag with things for kids to do when we’d been at the nurse’s station.

  I took the remote and turned the tv on looking for the cartoon channel. I could only hope that it would distract her enough to keep her from hearing the adult conversations around her.

  Pulling the curtain around the empty area where the other bed normally went, I sat on the edge of Megan’s bed.

  “So did the doctor agree that you have a concussion?” I lowered my voice so Sally wouldn’t overhear us.

  “He said it was a good thing you brought me in when you did. I’d lost a lot of blood and my shoulder had been dislocated. They’re going to keep me here to assess any problems from my head wound. With all the medication they’ve given me I’m not feeling any pain right now.” She smiled as she glanced toward the curtain. “I’m just glad that I got to see Sally and let her know that I’m okay.”

  “I had an awkward conversation with the officers. I think one of them might be more helpful than the others. They’re going to want to talk to you as will the lawyer.” I shuddered at the thought of speaking to Officer Long again.

  “A lawyer? Why do I need one of those?” Megan appeared confused and I wasn’t sure if it was the concussion or the pain meds causing it.

  “Megan, there’s nothing to legally stop Mike from showing up at my house or the school to take Sally. Also, if you’re going to press charges, you’re going to need a protective order and a lawyer who’s on your side. Especially if you want to get it done before Mike knows what you’re doing.”

  “Oh, um okay.” Megan frowned, “I guess I didn’t think this through very well. I’m glad that you’re here to look out for me.”

  “Certainly, that’s what friends are for.” I didn’t get to say more because a knock interrupted us and the officers entered the room.

  With them was a woman that I didn’t recognize and I pulled the curtain back so that I could be closer to Sally in case there were any problems.

  “Hi,” Officer Grayson chirped, “We’re back to take your statement, Mrs. Butts. This is Ms. Cooke. She’s a social worker, and she’s going to take Sally for a snack. If that’s okay with both of you?”

  Officer Long didn’t speak. I wasn’t sure if he’d changed his opinion of the situation after surveying the damage from the attack at Megan’s home.

  “Sally, this nice lady is going to go help you choose a snack while we talk to the officers.” I didn’t want to scare her, but she was old enough to know a few things.

  She looked at the officers and the woman with her hand held out with caution.

  “I know you need to take my daddy to jail for what he did to mommy, but be gentle with him okay?” She looked at the officers pleadingly.

  “You know where the snacks are?” She took the offered hand, “Then let’s got get them.”

  I pulled some cash from my pocket and tried to hand it to Ms. Cook.

  “Nah, I’ve got it. We’ll give you about thirty minutes. If we get done eating early, we’ll go look at the nursery for any new babies they might have.”

  Sally’s eyes filled with excitement at her words. I just hope that this was a good idea.

  Once the door had closed, Officer Long moved closer to Megan.

  “We need to get this take care of, ma’am. What exactly happened?” His tone sounded bored and uninterested in what she had to say.

  “I’ll tell you what happened, but there’s no need to get huffy.” Megan scooted up in the bed trying not to feel so helpless with him standing over her.

  “Mike, my husband, went to hang out with the guys last night. I guess he had too much to drink. It was after two in the morning and I must have dozed off. When I woke up to check on things, I realized he still hadn’t made it home yet. At some point, he must have come home and passed out in the truck because when I got up to get Sally ready for school, it was sitting in the driveway.”

  She took a deep breath to steady herself before continuing.

  “I’m not sure what woke him up. It might have been when the school bus honked for Sally. Anyway, he comes tearing into the house pissed off and blaming me for not waking him up before the neighbors saw him.”

  Megan hadn’t noticed the door open while she was talking, but the man who entered was wearing a suit and tie, so I assumed he must be the lawyer we’d called.

  He stayed in the doorway listening to her story as it unfolded.

  “So his neck must have gotten a crick in it when he passed out in the truck which made him really mad. I’d just shut the door after Sally left. It wasn’t even locked, but he busted in without even trying to turn the knob.”

  “He wasn’t even through the door before his fists came toward me. Each blow landed, and I didn’t try to defend myself because that would have made him even angrier with me. When he switched to stomach punches, I tried not to curl up but instinct took over.”

  She didn’t even bother to wipe the tears running down her cheeks as if she hadn’t noticed that she was crying.

  “Normally, I’d just take the beating so that it would be over. This morning though, there was no way to calm him down. He had this fire in his eyes and I knew then if I didn’t try to move out of his way, he was going to kill me.”

  Everyone in the room waited with bated breath to hear what she did next.

  Her voice started to shake, “I began to run, but he tackled me from behind pulling my hair to help stop me. When I tried to move away from him by crawling on my stomach to escape his reach, he snagged my arm. I hadn’t thought he could move that fast since he reeked of alcohol, but he wasn’t about to let me get to the door.”

  �
�In fact, it was as if he had gained extra strength and jerked me back toward him, dislocating my arm. The momentum pushed me into the coffee table where I hit my head the first time.”

  “Is that your assessment or the doctor’s?” Officer Long sarcastically interjected.

  “The doctor’s, which is why my arm is in this sling. They had to pop it back into place. Would you like me to continue, or are there any other accusations you’d like to make?” Megan’s anger could be felt in response to his attitude.

  “I was on my knees, trying not to pass out from the pain when he shoved me backward onto the top of the coffee table, making it collapse. He started hitting me again, mostly in the ribs and stomach. I hurt in so many places that I couldn’t protect myself at that point. Not that it would have helped.” She shrugged as if it was normal.

  “I must have passed out which wasn’t any fun for him because he was gone when I came to. I crawled to the bathroom to avoid throwing up on the carpet which would cause another beating.”

  Megan defiantly glanced at Officer Long as she made her next comment. "I didn’t want to call the police. It wouldn’t have helped because he’s one of you. I was just going to rest and get things cleaned up before Sally got home, but I must have passed out again. It was several hours before I woke up and Allie was standing there looking at me worried.”

  “Allie wanted me to come to the hospital, but I just couldn’t put Mike through that. It wasn’t until I tried to get up when I realized that I was hurt much worse than I’d thought.” She leaned back against the pillows and I could tell she was exhausted from reliving it all.

  “Now, I’m here, there’s no way I can go home again. Even though it was to get help, he’ll make me pay for reporting it. This time I can’t ignore what he’s done and Sally shouldn’t have to see this happen to one of her parents.”

  Officer Long tapped the pen against his notepad. “I just hate that we have to report this. What if he just apologizes to you? It could all be forgiven then, right?”