Witness Protection

by Morgan, Paris

  The lawyer started to step forward as I did to confront Officer Long when Officer Grayson took over saving us the trouble.

  “Stow it, Long. An apology won’t fix the problem and you know it. We just came from a crime scene and have a pretty good idea of how things went down.” She shook her head and gave Megan a wink. “We have to process this just like the attacker wasn’t on the force.”

  “Geeze, I’m going to have to recommend that you go back through the sensitivity training after our shift is over because of this.” She moved just enough to block Megan’s view of her partner. “We take these kinds of things very seriously, ma’am. You were assaulted and while you might not want to press charges, we’re required by law to do it for you in cases like this.”

  “Mike is a deputy. He knows the legal ramifications of his actions. Apparently, he never counted on you to try to get help which is in our favor.” Officer Grayson continued to explain the process.

  “Our boss will file a report, and the DA will hopefully charge Mike asking for no bail. With his connections thought, he may be able to get out. If not tonight, it’s a good possibility that he’ll be out by tomorrow. If you can hire a lawyer who can get you in front of a judge quickly with a protective order, it will help the case immensely.”

  The man in the suit stepped into view.

  “I’m Mark Greenley and will be representing Ms. Butts. I’ll file the paperwork and get her granted temporary custody for Sally so Mike won’t be able to make waves or hold their daughter hostage.” He held out a hand to Megan.

  “You’re hired.” She forced a smile.

  “I’ll check in with you in the morning to see how you’re doing.” Officer Grayson assured. “Just get some rest. There will be officers passing by the hospital all night as a safety precaution. The nurses know not to let your husband in and will call security if he tries to hang around.”

  She waved for Officer Long that she was ready to leave.

  Mark waited until they’d left the room before turning his mega-watt smile toward Megan.

  I could feel the sparks between them but didn’t want to say anything. This was going to be very interesting.

  “I’ll file a motion with the court due to the extreme circumstances, but I don’t foresee any problems. Allie is it?” He waited for my nod before he continued.

  “We can get her placed on the approved list so he can’t accuse her of kidnapping Sally and she won’t have to be placed into the child services.” He placed the briefcase on the end of the bed.

  “There are a few other decisions that I’ll need you to make while you’re conscious. Do you want Allie to make medical decisions for you? Also, who would take care of Sally in the event of your death?”

  “Now, wait just a minute.” I protested, “She’s not dead and there is no reason to think that she won’t have a complete recovery.”

  “All very well and good, but if Megan doesn’t have some sort of emergency will or power of attorney then Sally would automatically go back to your husband and you’d just be dead.” He shrugged, “It’s never something anyone wants to discuss, but some of the hard subjects have to be covered if I’m to do my job.”

  The weight of the questions being discussed could be felt in the already tense room.

  Megan began to nod, “Yes, I’m okay with making Allie my power of attorney and guardian of Sally if something happens to me.”

  Before I could protest, she held up a hand. “I don’t have any family left. There is literally no one that could take care of her or protect her from Mike.”

  “What do I need to sign so that I’m done with everything?” She grimaced as the pain meds began to wear off, “Also what is this going to cost me? I don’t know if I even have access to the money in our bank account anymore.”

  “There are three papers; a protective order, custody order, and then medical power of attorney. I will only need to have your signature at the bottom. They’ll type them up and tomorrow, I’ll have the notary come in to witness you signing the official documents.” Mark took out the papers and slid them onto a clipboard so Megan didn’t have to strain her hurt arm.

  “I called the judge before I came over and he’s agreed to a private meeting with the DA and I in,” He glanced at his watch, “about twenty minutes.

  “My secretary will have the papers faxed over before the end of the business day. Once all of this is taken care of then if you want to discuss divorce, we can proceed with that as well.”

  He put the papers up as she finished signing them.

  “There won’t be any charge for now. Once we’ve settled the fact of your safety then we can tackle the financial aspects. If you can afford to pay, then we’ll work out something that won’t leave you unable to pay the bills.” He patted her hand, “Don’t worry about anything else today. I won’t let money stand in the way of protecting you or your daughter.”

  With a nod, he handed me a few brochures. “These will explain what a protective order will do and how to keep you both alive. Hope your day gets better.”

  I turned the brochures over and looked at the titles as he left closing the door after him.

  “A protection order will keep the person from coming within 500 ft of where you or Sally are. The police should be called if the person makes any threats or is closer than the stated limits. They will come and remove the individual and place them under arrest for violating the order.” I let out a snort.

  “Sure that’s not going to help us where Mike’s concerned. Especially since his boss is the sheriff, they won’t be racing to enforce the rules.” I sighed, “If we’re lucky and the lawyer can get the DA to press charges, then he might be placed on leave and have to give up his gun.”

  “That won’t stop him,” Megan grimaced. “He has others at home and probably a few that I don’t know about as well.”

  “From what I heard this lawyer is really good, but even with that the threat of violence against others isn’t going to put him in the high-risk category since he’s never tried to harm anyone else before.” I tried to give her some assurance.

  “Officer Grayson seemed to believe me. Do you think she’ll be able to convince them that I’m not making things up the way Officer Long thinks?” Megan’s countenance held a small glimmer of hope.

  I didn’t want to burst her bubble, but the brochure also mentioned that the attacker would have to be informed of the protection order. But it didn’t mean that he would have to take it seriously.

  “Mike doesn’t know about you or where you live so you and Sally should be safe for tonight. He’ll figure it out, but it should mean he’ll need to work to get the information.” Megan turned as the door began to open allowing Sally to enter.

  “Sally, I’m so glad that I get to say good night. Climb up here carefully and I’ll give you a hug and a kiss.”

  “Sure, mama. Does it hurt a lot?” Sally scrambled on the bed and lightly put her arms around Megan.

  “Mmmm, yes. That’s just what I needed to get better.”

  I felt a small stab of jealousy at the thought that I didn’t have anyone to care if I was hurt.

  Ms. Cook, the woman who’d been watching Sally for us started to walk out, “Ms. Butts, we’ll do everything we can to help you get settled in a new location. When you get out, we can provide housing while you get on your feet.”

  “Thank you so much for looking after her while we talked to the police,” I shook her hand before accepting the business card from her. “We really appreciate this. It’s a relief to know she has other options.”

  “Just glad I could help make things a little easier. I’ll be joining the others with the judge shortly and let him know that you’re a safe place for Sally.” She smiled as they watched them embrace.

  “Not a problem, this is what we do at the Umbrella Shelter. You ladies have a great day.”

  After she was gone, I turned to Sally.

  “Hey, munchkin. You’re mom’s tired and ready to get some sleep
, so we need to say good night.”

  The nurse had come into the room and was waiting to hand Megan some pills to help with her pain.

  Sally gave her mom another kiss on the cheek before hopping down to grab her stuff.

  “I’ll be back in the morning. Sally and I are going to have a wonderful evening with pizza and princess movies.” I smiled as Sally put her hand in mine. “There are a lot of princess movies that I’ve never seen before so you’re going to have to explain them to me.”

  “Come on then, Ms. Allie. Let’s go.” She pulled on my hand trying to drag me to the door. “Bye, mom.”

  “Get some rest, honey. We need you to join us for the next movie night.” I blew a kiss toward Megan but wasn’t even sure if she’d heard me because her eyes were closed. She’d been so exhausted that the meds hadn’t even had a chance to work before she was snoring.

  All the way to the car, Sally was listing exactly what she needed on her pizza.

  “So there needs to be ham, with lots of cheese and pineapples. We can’t have any of those fishy things or mushrooms. You don’t like those on your pizza do you, Ms. Allie?” She glanced up at me suspiciously.

  “Nope, can’t have those smelling up our pizzas.” I grinned at her enthusiasm. “Are pineapples really good on pizza?”

  “Duh,” Her eyes rolled as if that was a dumb question. “Oh, can we start the movie while we wait for the pizza guy to bring our food?”

  I simply nodded which seemed to satisfy her. While this whole situation might have upset other children, she was just chatting away as if nothing fazed her.

  Her positive attitude was amazing. I wouldn’t have been able to be so happy about eating pizza and a movie if my mom had been in the hospital. Then again, my entire life might have been different if I’d have had a mom.

  The only time that Sally’s mouth closed during the entire evening was when it was full of pizza. I couldn’t believe how much one child could talk. After the first movie was over, I panicked and started another one because I honestly had no idea what to do until bedtime.

  My ears were ringing from the constant barrage. I had been so distracted by the ending that I hadn’t even noticed when her eyes closed. Thankfully, she crashed hard during the second feature about a dragon being kissed and didn’t notice when it was over.

  I quietly turned the t.v. off and placed a blanket over her small figure.

  Having never wanted children before this was going to be quite an experience in child-rearing. I could get used to having someone around to be with me in the evenings. The only problem was that she was going to have to slow down on the talking or maybe I’d just get used to it, who knows.

  With all of the doors and windows locked tightly, I climbed into bed exhausted. While I hadn’t had to be at my other job and could take a night off, I still felt that I’d been hit by a truck.

  The toll of helping Megan escape from her home situation and making sure that Sally was safe weren’t things that I normally did. The best I could hope for was a peaceful sleep with no nightmares.

  A groan escaped my lips as the alarm rang at seven a.m. which was much earlier than I usually got up. With late nights at the bar and a flexible schedule due to my new makeup sales job, it wasn’t often that I had to watch the sunrise.

  Feeling sympathetic to all the parents that had to do this daily, I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and went to wake Sally up after I started the coffee pot.

  Sally knew her routine and was dressed before I’d had time to even look at the options for breakfast.

  “What are we eating, Ms. Allie?”

  “Uh, I’m not sure yet. I don’t have any groceries to make something so what do you think if we pick up some donuts on the way to school?”

  Her excited gasp was all the answer I needed.

  “Don’t count on this happening every morning, missy. I’ll go shopping later today, so we can have a healthy breakfast tomorrow morning.” I waved a finger under her nose and smiled.

  “Now, go get your teeth brushed, then grab your backpack.” I nudged her toward the bathroom.

  The t-shirt and shorts I’d worn to bed would work for dropping her off at school and I could come home and shower before I went up to the hospital to see Megan.

  I took a quick look around the apartment parking lot as I locked the door. It was a habit developed over the years after being put into witness protection.

  Nothing stood out, so we made our way to the car where I made sure Sally was buckled in properly.

  The donut shop was busy, but Sally knew exactly what she wanted to eat so it didn’t take nearly as long as I’d thought it would.

  We pulled up to the drop-off line with ten minutes to spare.

  “I’ll be in there to pick you up when school lets out. Okay?”

  “Sure, Ms. Allie. Mama can’t because she’s in the hospital and the police will arrest daddy if he comes up here. I won’t go with anyone else.” She declared before jumping out as one of the teachers opened the door. “Bye.”

  A pang of regret hit me as I watched her run to line up with the other children.

  She shouldn’t have to worry about things like her dad being arrested. The world needed to be a better place for children to grow up without all the worries of adulthood being placed on them too early.

  The lawyer would have the paperwork faxed to the school before I had to pick her up, but since Megan had given permission the previous day everything should be okay either way.

  It felt nice to have someone that depended on me for their care. I might have to start thinking about starting a family once Megan was able to take care of Sally again.

  After a shower and another cup of coffee, because the first one had gotten cold in my hurry to get her to school on time, I felt like a normal human being once again.

  If I was going to do the shopping, as well as my Nova deliveries before school got out, I needed to get a move on with my day.

  Megan looked much worse than she had the day before as her bruises had started to turn into a colorful array of blues and purples all over her arms and face.

  She was sitting up in bed and sipping a liquid breakfast while she waited for the doctor to clear her to eat solid food again after her concussion.

  “Hey, how did the night go? Did Sally make it to school on time?” Megan’s smile at seeing me felt like progress.

  “We were fine.” I grimaced, “I do have to confess that I had to feed her donuts for breakfast because I didn’t have anything to cook this morning.”

  The chair I pulled next to the bed made a horrible sound as I tried to move it.

  “She was probably over the moon. Beware though that she’ll try to get you to do it every morning.” Megan sat the juice cup back on the tray in front of her.

  “So I think the lawyer will be here around ten this morning so I can sign all the paperwork.” She sounded hesitant, “Am I doing something crazy? Should I file for divorce from Mike for doing this?”

  “It should help you gain custody of Sally, and make sure that he won’t be able to harm either one of you in the future. What do you think?” I could give her tons of advice and examples of why it was the right thing to do, but it had to be her decision.

  “I’m not sure I’m ready to file for divorce. I mean, if I hadn’t made him so mad in the first place, none of this would have happened. It’s not his fault. Maybe I should just let him apologize? Then we can move on and forget that this ever happened.”

  I could tell that she’d spent her night trying to figure out how it would all work. She hadn’t been in the workforce since she’d married Mike and wasn’t going to let them go without a fight.

  “Look, this has to be your decision. I can’t force you to leave him or divorce him. You have to want a better life for you and Sally. If you think that your future is with him, then call him right now and tell him that.” I moved to the edge of my seat and leaned toward her.

  “Things may get worse before they get be
tter. If you decide that you don’t want to go back to him then you have to prepare yourself for what’s going to happen.”

  Her frown meant that she was considering my words.

  “I’ll support you as best as I can. You need to be certain which path you want to take so you can make a plan and stick to it.” I couldn’t sugarcoat the consequences of her choices. Either path was going to be hard to follow.

  “You think about it. I’m going to run get groceries and do a few deliveries before ten when the lawyer gets here.” I stood up and patted her arm. “I’m rooting for you either way.”

  The air outside the hospital felt so freeing. I hadn’t realized that it had become so stressful as Megan discussed her decision. Just because I knew what the best option was, didn’t mean that she did. Looking at a situation from the outside, it was much easier to see all the paths.

  I needed to make a deposit at the bank because I didn’t like having cash hanging around in my car. Since I’d been interrupted yesterday, it was first on the list, but I’d also be doing the deliveries for those ladies as well.

  With a box of orders and demos in my arms, I entered the bank ready to do some business that would take my mind off of all the crazy of the past twenty-four hours.

  Always thinking about my sales goals, I had it figured out where I could give each buyer a discount on the newest fragrance and still make a profit. Then if they liked it, that would turn into future sales during the holidays for gifts and refill orders.

  Customer loyalty was the key to any type of multi-level marketing or sales business. When they got a deal or saved money then it made them feel better about shopping with me in the future.

  While this wasn’t the kind of job that would work for everyone, I thrived on it. The challenge of getting sales, meeting new people, building a business that was all mine. It had only been a few months, but I was learning about their families and the community that I lived in.

  Surfing the web for stories that my customers could relate to and make them laugh was my main goal.