A Snow Covered Nightmare: Refuge Series Book Two

by Debbie Zello

  “What’s up?”

  “I spoke to Briah about federal protection. I explained to her how it worked and what we could do for her. She refused it.”

  “She say why?”

  “Yeah, she did. She said she loves you and won’t leave.”

  “She said she loves me? Or is that you saying she does?”

  “No, man. She said those words herself. ‘I love Aiden, and I won’t leave without him.’ were her exact words.” Aiden sat back in his chair. If the whole thing weren’t such a mess, he probably would have smiled. He’d wanted to hear those words from her, for a long time now. Hearing Brice say them was still something.

  “I love her, too. That’s the first time I have said that aloud. It surprises me to say it to you instead of her. Something I will rectify as soon as she is back in her room,” he said thoughtfully.

  “That’s the damn problem, Aiden. She is staying because of you.”

  “Why is that a problem?”

  “They’re going to kill her…get it?”

  “I can protect her. I’ll have her move in with me. We can ride to work together. I can do this!” he said losing his patience with the conversation.

  “You, by yourself, go up against the mob? You and twenty guys couldn’t do it, but you believe you alone can? Think about this, Aiden. They got to her today in spite of Blain’s and your safeguards. They have time on their side.

  “In a year or two, when you think enough time has gone by, and you can relax a little, maybe she is shopping with a friend for a wedding dress or at the salon getting a massage. Some guy walks in and pop, she’s gone. Just like that.”

  “I’ll go with her then. I have skills that some little rinky-dink department might value. I can work anywhere,” he said thinking on the fly.

  “Yeah, and they are so dumb that they’ll see her disappear with you. They’ll Google her and find nothing. Google you and see you’re working in East Bum-fuck and they put two-and-two together and find you, then her. You’ll lead them right to her, Aiden.”

  “I’ll change my name too. You can do all kinds of things when you want to, Brice. When you love someone enough to.”

  “That kind of disappearance cost hundreds of thousands to do. A new birth certificate, school records, medical, college records, work, landlord, credit, and tax returns. We set up social media that has posts that go back years so that everything looks like you have been around forever. We invent friends for Christ’s sake, that’s hundreds of hours of faking things. Do you get it? You can’t just wake up tomorrow and say aloud, ‘I don’t want to be Aiden Baldwin anymore. I think I’ll be Brad Pitt.’ It doesn’t work that way.”

  “All right, so invent us together.”

  “I’ll tell you what I told her. The taxpayers want something for their money. If they can get the head of the Denver mob put away with Briah’s testimony, they’ll be glad to help her disappear. Her boyfriend isn’t part of the deal. They’ll fork over the hundred thousand or so to save her life but yours…not so important. If they did this and you two break up, then what? They’re out the money and you’re on your way back here.”

  “That won’t happen, and I won’t do that.”

  “Said the last guy sitting where you are. I don’t make this shit up Aiden. This crap is real.”

  “I love her, Brice. I mean through my heart and into my soul love her. I would die to save her. Take a bullet, if it meant she would live,” Aiden said closing his eyes.

  “If that is so, then you have to go in there and tell her you don’t want her. You have to let her go. Make it ugly so she wants to leave. Make her hate you,” he said getting up. He walked to the door looking back at Aiden. His head was in his hands and his shoulders were shaking. Sympathetically, Brice shook his head and walked out.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “Where is Aiden?” Blain asked Brice.

  “Taking a minute to think. I gave him some choices and he’s mulling them over,” Brice said, sitting in the chair next to him. “Any news on Briah?”

  “No, but she should be back soon.” Blain had just finished saying that when Briah came around the corner. The two men got up as she was wheeled past them. She gave them a tentative smile. “What did they say, Briah?”

  “I’m okay, nothing that time and rest won’t fix. There isn’t any internal bleeding or any brain injury, thank God! Nothing out of the ordinary. They’re going to keep me over night.”

  “That’s a relief. I’ll postpone your cross-examination for the end of the week. If you’re not better, than we’ll move it to next week. You just rest and get better. I’ll go and make the calls,” Blain said walking to the door.

  “Where is Aiden, Blain?”

  “He’s here. I’ll find him for you,” he said smiling. Brice looked at her.

  “We are all very sorry for what happened. It won’t happen again. I’m so glad there isn’t any permanent damage. You’re one hell of a woman, Briah Spencer. I’m glad I know you,” he said with a chuckle. “I’ll send Aiden in.”

  As Brice got into the hall, Aiden came out of the room. He looked awful. He had the look of a man sentenced to death for a crime he was innocent of. He walked right past Brice without speaking, then into Briah’s room.

  “Hi! Where have you been?” Briah asked.

  “Fixing things. How are you feeling? Blain said there is nothing terribly wrong, and you’ll be fine. Is that right?” he said still hovering near the door.

  “Yeah, I’ll be fine. I’m just so tired.”

  “Okay, I’ll let you get some sleep then,” he turned to open the door.

  “What’s going on Aiden? You’re so distant. Did I do something wrong?”

  He turned back to face her. “No, you didn’t do anything wrong. I’m just preoccupied with a case. It happens,” he said absentmindedly. He thought for a minute and then brightened saying, “Hey, Brice told Blain and me about the possibility of you going into federal protection. It’s a good idea. You need to do it. It’s obvious that we can’t handle your safety here.”

  “You want me to go?”

  “Yeah, why not? It’s a great opportunity. They set you up in a furnished house, a new job, clothes, a car, and a bank account. You’d have to be nuts to stay here.”

  “You want me to go?”

  “Look, if it’s this,” he said gesturing between them, “Lets just call it what it was. Great sex! We kept each other company for a while. We warmed the sheets and got sweaty together. It was some of the best sex I’ve ever had. I thank you for it. But don’t stay just to have more. There will be plenty of men wherever you’re going just like there are plenty of women here,” he said plunging the knife in his heart.

  The look on her face nearly ended his life. The sadness and pain evident. She kept swallowing as if she was trying not to throw up at that very moment. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said.

  “Don’t trouble yourself. I’ll be fine,” she said so quietly he almost didn’t hear her. Aiden walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. He leaned against the door, with his head back against it, and his eyes closed. He was trying to breathe past the growing lump in his throat that threatened to choke him.

  His fingers circled the door behind him feeling it as he wished he was feeling her. When his eyes opened, he saw Brice standing at the end of the hall. He walked purposefully towards him. He stopped near him and said, “It’s done, she’ll go now. Never speak to me again. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, and I’m sorry.”

  “Save it!” Aiden said as he stormed past him. Blain watched the conversation, saying nothing as Aiden passed him. Blain walked up to Brice.

  “What was that all about?”

  “He just broke up with her. Told her to go into protection. He saved her life, probably.”

  “He loves her, and she loves him,” Blain said thoughtfully.

  “Loved, as in the past. Dead and buried.”

  “You are wrong; my friend, for true love never
dies. Even death doesn’t stop it. My dad has been dead for three years and my mom is still lost without him. That kind of love never dies.”

  Briah had recoiled quickly, as if she had been slapped hard across her face, slapped with an open hand so it covered more flesh. She listened to the pleading sound of her voice when she asked if he wanted her to go. Beseeching him to say ‘no, please stay with me forever, sweetheart.’ He didn’t say that.

  The words of his rejection cut her as quick and deeply as any knife could. The wound so painful and bloody, that no stitches could close it. The excruciating loss left behind took on a life of its own. It was a living and breathing thing that threatened to overtake her and crush her. All she could do was bow her head, and stare at the floor, as the tears nearly drowned her.

  The next day, Briah was moved to a hotel near the courthouse. Her apartment was packed up, loaded onto a moving van, and sent on its way. Her summer clothes were brought to the hotel, and left there, in new suitcases.

  Briah paced around looking and feeling like the zombies on The Walking Dead. She had no thought except for the need to eat. Even that wasn’t as strong as it was for the zombies.

  She was covered in scratches, black and blue marks, and her burned hand was bandaged. None of the physical wounds hurt anywhere near as badly as the emotional wounds. She took a Percocet, to get to sleep. That seemed to quiet the pounding in her head and neck, but did nothing for the ache in her heart.

  On Thursday afternoon, she went back to court and finished the cross-examination by the defense team. Blain noticed right away that all of her fire was gone. She was a shell of her former self, that nodded and said yes and no and nothing else.

  The jury was informed that she had been involved in a car accident, but nothing about the failed murder attempt. An attempt that the defendant was in fact responsible for.

  Briah’s black eyes were an outward reflection of her inward feelings. Her burns, a likeness to her raw emotions. Her cuts, a manifestation of the wound through her heart. She was the walking confirmation, that you could be dead on the inside, and yet still live.

  Briah stayed in her hotel prison, watching bad game shows, and old reruns. She could see people laughing and seemingly having a great time, yet she saw nothing to smile about.

  As the days passed and the time dragged on, she slept. August third, she got a call from Blain that closing arguments would begin in the morning. He saw no reason to keep her there, and she was free to leave Denver and Colorado, whenever she wanted.

  She took the card out of her wallet and called. “Blain just called and said I could leave.”

  “Okay. I’ll call you back when I have the flight information. You could leave as early as tomorrow, so make sure you’re packed,” Brice said.

  “I never unpacked. That seemed counterproductive.”

  “Always thinking, Briah. I wish you luck and a good trip.”

  “Where am I going?”

  “I don’t know. I’ll put you on a plane. From there someone else will take you to your new life. It’s better if everyone has limited information about your whereabouts. No one has the full picture.

  “That way it’s safer for us too. The bad guys know we have no idea where you’ll end up, so it won’t do them any good to try and get the information out of us.”

  “I see. I hope it’s not a desert island somewhere. I’m a mountain and snow kind of girl.”

  “I told them that, so they know. Maybe you’ll end up in the Alps or the Himalayas.”

  “I hope not.”

  “I’ll see you soon,” Brice said sensing her somber mood.

  Somewhere close to two hours later, Brice called Briah back to tell her the flight arrangements. He would pick her up in the morning, and take her to the airport. Briah spent the rest of the day and night wondering if Aiden would call or by some miracle be at the airport. That he would say he was wrong and sorry. That it was all a mistake.

  She showered in the morning, and then sat on the end of the bed with her shiny new suitcases by her feet. Most people would be excited to be going on an adventure. But Briah had done this before. She had left everything behind and started all over again. She knew it was no adventure. It was lonely and frightening.

  Brice knocked on her door and she answered quickly. “Hi,” she said just as a generic greeting for she felt no joy behind it.

  “Are you ready to go? Do you have everything?” he asked gently. Her eyes looked around, as her heart said ‘no’ she was missing Aiden. The odd part was that Brice was thinking the very same thing.

  “I’m ready.” Brice took her bags and together they walked out. He drove her to the airport, with her looking out the window the entire ride. He imagined that she was saying goodbye as he drove.

  “Have you lived here your whole life?” he asked to break the silence.

  “No, just about four years.”

  “Where did you live before?”

  “Washington State. That’s where I grew up and went to college.”

  “And then you left it for the bright lights and draw of the city,” he said in an attempt at humor.

  “Nothing as glamorous as that, Brice. I left because I had an ex-drug addicted-boyfriend that didn’t like the fact that I didn’t want him to use. So he stalked me, kidnapped my cat and killed her.”

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t know that.”

  “Aiden didn’t tell you?”

  “No.” he grimaced. He couldn’t tell her that Aiden no longer spoke to him. Hadn’t in weeks. Or he would have to explain why he hadn’t.

  “So this is the second time I’m running away and starting everything over. Now that I think about it, Connor forced me to go the first time because I was afraid he might hurt me. David, this time, for the very same reason. Aiden, because he …never mind. I might start to bat for the other team. My record with men sucks.”

  “Not all men, including Aiden, are bad, Briah.”

  “I was just making conversation, Brice, not a closing argument. Speaking of closings, does Blain know I’m leaving today?”

  “He does. He said to tell you thank you for all you have done and he wishes you good fortune. He’s sorry he couldn’t be here to see you off but I’m supposed to give you a hug for him.”

  “That’s nice.”

  “Ernie March and Chief Wesson also wanted me to say goodbye for them. They said they will miss you very much.”

  “Me too. Tell them for me, please.” She could feel the tears pooling just behind her bottom lashes, threatening to spill over them. She fought them back with all she had in her, biting her lip to focus on something other than crying.

  Briah imagined she was somewhat like a wingless bird that remembers the feeling of flight, just as she remembered being in love. The bird knows the freedom of flight, just as she knew the joy of love. The bird recalls the thrill of the height he attained, just as she appreciated the pleasure of being with him. All of it is taken away so quickly, all you have left are the memories.

  Being at the airport with a Federal agent is an odd experience. While Briah had to be searched, unshod, and walk through machines, Brice simply took out his credentials and walked around everything, smiling back at her.

  After the TSA had their way with her, Brice walked with her to a coffee shop, and they each got a coffee and a bagel. As she walked, she looked at every face near her. Brice took that to mean she was nervous she would be discovered. “Everyone on the flight has had their background checked. You don’t have to worry about getting on the plane with an assassin.”

  “Okay, thanks,” she said. That wasn’t her worry. She figured they would have done that. She was looking for Aiden, hoping for him. They found seats near her gate and they sat down. Thankfully, she only had a few minutes before they would begin boarding.

  “I need your cell.”

  “Okay,” she said handing it to him.

  “You’ll have a new one and a computer, everything you’ll need when you get there. Your co
mputer here and this phone will be deactivated. We can’t have them tracing anything.”

  “Makes sense.”

  “When you land, wherever you land, someone will identify themselves to you with these words ‘Hello Miss, I’m here to take you dancing’… got it?”

  “Dancing?”

  “Dancing. We keep it simple, not necessarily brilliant.”

  “Okay, dancing it is.”

  “They will have an envelope with them to give you. They will escort you to wherever they need to. It could be a connecting flight, a train, a car, I don’t know what. Just go with them. Don’t open the envelope until you are either told to, or you’re alone. Don’t show anyone what is inside of it.”

  “Okay.”

  “That’s all I know,” he said finishing as her flight was called. All she knew was she was about to get on a flight to Washington DC, from there it was anyone’s guess. She stood and threw away her empty coffee cup.

  “Good bye, and thank you for everything,” she said.

  “You’re welcome and have a good trip. I wish you luck,” he said giving her an awkward hug. She walked away, stopping to hand her boarding pass to the ticket agent. Then she walked down the skyway and onto the plane, without looking back, for there was no point in looking back.

  She found her seat near the front of the plane by a window. Not that she needed a view but there it was anyway. She watched the activity going on at the gate next to hers as they were loading luggage onto the plane. She looked back at the wing of the plane she was on, feeling that even this mocked her. This inanimate object could fly. Its wings were functional.

  An older woman traveling apparently alone as well, sat down next to her, giving Briah a pleasant smile. Briah did her best to return it. Those petulant tears began to swim around her lower lids again. As Briah wiped one away the woman patted her hand and said, “Afraid to fly, sweetheart?”

  Briah thought for a moment and said, “Maybe that’s just it. I’m afraid to fly again.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  That old woman spoke the entire flight. It didn’t really bother Briah. Actually, hearing her chatter on about her grandchildren was a distraction from crying about her life. They landed and said their good-byes. It felt strange when the woman asked her where she was going. Briah answered that she was going to find out in a minute. The woman didn’t miss a beat in replying, “well, have a good time.”