The Secrets Duet

by Brownell, Rachael

  There are footsteps above me. I hear what sounds like three or four people walking up the steps and then I hear the screen door slam closed behind them. I peek out the opening I crawled through. I don’t see anyone. I listen for a few minutes, but I don’t hear anything.

  Should I stay here or should I make a run for it? They can’t see me hiding in here. There’s no way anyone would be looking for me in here. If I run, and someone sees me, I won’t be able to get away. I’m not strong enough to make it very far.

  I hear a yell which sounds far away. The voice is getting closer and closer. I look out the opening again, but I don’t see anyone. I move farther under the stairs to make sure I’m hidden in the shadows when I hear Taylor’s voice clearly. It sounds like he’s right above me but I haven’t heard the door open yet.

  “She’s gone, damn it! Who left that room unlocked?” Taylor is yelling at the other people with him. “The FBI could be here any minute and if we can’t produce her for a trade then they are going to think we killed her.”

  A trade? Did he really think the FBI would trade one of their own for me? They aren’t that stupid. They could care less about what happens to me. he only person who cares enough about my safety is Greg and as much as he loves me I don’t think he would trade his own life for mine. Would he?

  I catch movement out of the corner of my eye. I stare out the opening for a few minutes, but I don’t see it again. It must have been an animal. The thought crosses my mind as I hear movement coming from above me. Someone is coming down the stairs. At least four people went up the stairs, but only one person is coming down the stairs.

  I pull the hood from my sweatshirt over my head and rest my head on my legs. I want to shut my eyes to block everything out, but I don’t. I keep them open and focused on the opening so I can see if anything is going on out there. That’s when I see a pair of legs standing just outside the opening.

  It has to be a girl; my guess is its Nicolette. I can’t imagine one of the guys wearing flip flops with jeans. Or painting their toenails for that matter. I hear the click of a lighter and then hear her breathe out heavily. She’s giving me no indication that she knows I’m under here. She must have stepped outside to smoke.

  The screen door opens and then I hear Taylor’s voice. He sounds soft and sweet like he used to when we were kids. “Babe. I need you to wrap it up and get back in here. We need to start looking for that little bitch before she gets too far.”

  “Fine. Give me a minute.” She sounds irritated. Maybe because he almost stuttered when he called me a bitch. I wonder if she caught that. I sure did.

  The door closes again with a thud. I watch as her legs disappear from view and I again catch movement off in the distance. This time I’m sure I saw it. I keep my eyes trained on where I saw the movement as Nicolette makes her way back into the house. She pauses directly above me before opening the door but only for a split second. I hear her take a deep breath and let it out, almost like she was preparing herself for what was about to happen.

  I don’t see any movement again for a while. Voices filter out from the kitchen, but I don’t take my eyes off the tall brush where the movement came from. I hear the door open and then close. Their footsteps are directly above me as all of them make their way down the stairs and head off in different directions. Some of the footsteps get lighter the farther away they get. I watch as Nicolette and Taylor head in the direction I saw the movement coming from. Instead of heading into the brush like I expect them to do, they turn at the corner of the house and are gone.

  No sooner are they out of my sight when a red dot appears on the sleeve of my sweatshirt. Shit! Either that’s the FBI making sure I know they are here or that’s someone who is going to shoot me. I move quickly so the light is no longer on me. I see it shining against the wood. It blinks twice and then disappears.

  The FBI is here. It has to be them. Thank God! I might actually make it through this. Someone spotted me under here, though, and that makes me a little nervous. If they saw me then I’m not as hidden as I thought. I’m out of the view of the opening now but what if someone spotted me before I moved?

  I hear a loud thud and then a scream. I hear another thud and the screaming stops. I peek out the opening, but I don’t see anything. There’s no movement and no noise. I’m shaking now. I’m not cold even though it’s probably only in the high sixties. I’m shaking uncontrollably from fear. I’ve been here for what feels like forever and right now, I’m more scared than I have ever been.

  I tuck myself back under the stairs and out of the view of the opening. I hear footsteps now and they are getting closer and closer to where I am. There’re a lot of footsteps coming towards me. Then, I hear them moving past me. A few people head up the stairs and into the house while the rest of the footsteps continue on past where I’m at. I take a deep breath and try to get the shaking under control. If that’s the FBI, why didn’t they come and get me? Why are they leaving me under here?

  The silence is scaring me. I don’t hear anything for a long time and then I hear the sound of the screen door opening and closing. I hear one person descend the steps and then I see a pair of legs outside the opening. It’s obviously a man. He’s wearing black boots and black cargo pants. I listen and wait for something to happen, but nothing does.

  “Stay there, Courtney,” he whispers and then his legs disappear.

  I close my eyes and take in the sound of his voice. It can’t be him. This can’t be really happening right now. I choke on the sob which is trying to escape. I need to stay silent. There will be time for me to cry later and I will. Probably a lot.

  The man goes back up the steps and back into the kitchen. Again, it’s silent for a while. There’s no movement around me. Then, I hear a car pulling into the driveway. I listen closely as the car turns off and two doors open and close. I hear a deep voice speaking, but I can’t make out the words. He’s too far away. When he reaches the stairs he speaks again and this time I hear him perfectly clear.

  “They better have that little bitch locked up. I know Taylor has a soft spot for her still. If he fucked this up then he’s done.” I recognize the voice, but I have no idea why or who it is.

  His voice disappears as the screen door closes behind him. The only thing I can think about is the fact that the FBI is in the house waiting for whoever went in there. I hear a commotion coming from inside and then gunshots. I start to shake again.

  The sound of the gunshots are loud. I hear footsteps approaching again. This time I don’t bother to try and look out the opening to see who’s coming my way. I need to stay hidden, to stay safe. Once this is all over, someone will come for me. I hope.

  The footsteps continue up the stairs and into the house. I hear yelling and more gunshots then I hear the screen door open and it sounds like someone might be coming out, but all I hear is a thud. Then another thud and another. Still, I don’t move. I don’t look out the opening. I’m not sure if I could move if I really wanted to.

  Finally, I hear someone descend the stairs. I see the same pair of pair of pants and boots outside the opening and then a hand is reaching in. I don’t reach for it right away. Who’s to say it’s really who I think it is?

  “You can come out now, Court. It’s safe. Just keep your eyes closed.” His voice. It’s so reassuring. I know I shouldn’t, but I instantly trust him completely.

  I reach for his hand and he carefully helps me crawl out of the little opening. I keep my eyes closed as he pulls me in for a hug and holds me tight. The second he squeezes me I let out a scream that could probably be heard miles away.

  He pulls back and quickly turns me around, lifting up my sweatshirt in the process. I cross my arms over my chest, not wanting him to see my breasts if possible. He inspects the wound for a minute before gently pulling my sweatshirt back down and turning me in his arms. I finally open my eyes to confirm what I already know is true. This moment is supposed to be awkward and there should be a lot of questions, but there is
n’t one question that I want to ask him right now.

  “Daddy,” I say before throwing my arms around his neck and hugging him as tight as I can manage. “I can’t believe you’re here.”

  “Baby girl. I missed you so much.” I can hear the sorrow in his voice.

  We don’t say anything else. He holds me gently while people move around us. I hear Greg’s voice in the background somewhere, but I don’t want to break contact with my dad long enough to look for him. Once things start to settle down I feel someone approaching us. Dad’s posture stiffens and I look to see who’s standing in front of us.

  Greg. I can’t help but be happy to see him. If it wasn’t for him, I’m sure no one would have ever found me. I unwrap myself from my dad and walk over to give him a hug. He returns my hug with less enthusiasm than I expect and when I look up to ask him why, I see he’s having a stare down with my dad.

  “Look, all I want right now is to go home. I’m been through hell and back again and you two saved me. I owe you both a lot.” I’m trying my best to sound thankful, but I know it comes out sounding stern. The look they both give me is shocking.

  “Okay then baby girl. Let’s go home.”

  Cam

  It’s been over three hours and no one has called to fill us in on what’s going on. If Greg doesn’t give us an update like he promised in the next ten minutes I’m going to call his cell phone until he picks up. I’m not supposed to, but I can’t stand to watch Lilly pace back and forth any longer.

  She hasn’t stopped moving since everyone left. First, she made breakfast. None of us were able to eat, though. Then, she started a load of laundry but came across something of Court’s and started to cry. It took both Cameron and I almost an hour to calm her down. Now, she’s pacing the living room. Back and forth. Back and forth.

  The television is on, but no one is watching it. I think it’s more for the noise than anything. Cameron is holding his phone in his hand. He’s been staring at it for the last hour, willing it to ring. We’re all going crazy.

  I stand and go into the kitchen for a glass of water. I’m putting ice cubes in my glass when I hear the front door open and Lilly screams. The glass falls from my hand and shatters on the floor at my feet. I slowly move from where I’m standing and down the hall. I don’t know if that was an excited scream or not. I’m hoping it wasn’t the opposite.

  I round the corner to the living room and see my beautiful girl standing next to her parents, hugging her brother. I’m instantly jealous that he’s holding her and I’m not. It’s not the kind of jealousy you get when you see another person hugging your girlfriend because you think they are trying to steal her. I’m jealous because I wanted to be the one to hug her and console her. I need to feel her wrapped in my arms. I need to know she’s safe.

  She looks up as I enter the room and our eyes meet. Ever so slowly, she whispers something in Cameron’s ear and takes a step back. She kisses her mom on the cheek and moves around her family and towards where I’m standing. Everyone in the room is watching her, watching us.

  I’m walking towards her now. I’m not sure when my feet started to move, but she’s getting closer to me. Then, she’s in my arms and I’m holding on to her for dear life. I lift her up and she wraps her legs around my waist. I take a deep breath and let it out slowly before lifting my head and placing her back on the ground.

  When our eyes meet again I can see the hunger in hers. I gently lower my head to her mouth and kiss her deeply. She kisses me back, just as passionately. I hear someone clear their throat, but I don’t stop my assault. I move to kiss her neck and whisper in her ear. “I love you so much, Courtney.”

  Her body tenses up and I pull back to see what’s wrong. All I see is confusion. “You called me Courtney.”

  I get it now. “Yes. Your name is Courtney. Courtney Martin. You are in the Witness Protection Program because someone was trying to kill your family. You’ve been running from them for the past few years and now you are safe.” She doesn’t say anything so I continue. “My name is Cameron Montgomery. I fell in love with a girl who was in the Witness Protection Program and in order to help save her from some really bad people, I’m now in the Witness Protection Program.”

  I hear the swift intake of her breath just before my lips find hers. She lets me kiss her for a few seconds before she reciprocates. When she peels her lips from mine she pulls my body tightly against hers.

  “You did that for me? What about your family?” he’s whispering so quietly I can barely make out what she’s saying.

  “You are my family now. I want to spend the rest of my life with you and if being in Witness Protection was the only way to make that happen then… well, to be able to spend the rest of my life with you, it will be worth it.”

  “I love you so much Cameron.”

  “I love you too.”

  We move farther in the room, our hands intertwined. Her father approaches us and kisses her on the cheek but says nothing before leaving the room. Cameron and Lilly follow behind him without saying a word. I flinch when I hear the front door open.

  Greg walks in with a first aid kit in his hand. I look him over from head to toe and immediately know he’s not injured. I look to Courtney and she smiles at me. I take her in. She’s pale. She has a cut on her forehead which looks like it’s starting to heal already so that can’t be what’s wrong.

  “Are you hurt, Court?” I ask. The concern in my voice comes across loud and clear.

  “I got a little banged up, but I’ll be fine. Greg’s gonna stitch me up.”

  Stitch her up? “Shouldn’t that be done at a hospital?” I don’t realize I’m speaking out loud until I hear the echo of my voice.

  “She can’t go to a hospital or else they will start asking questions. We can’t have that. I’ve done this plenty of times before. It will hurt, but she will be good as new in a few days.” He motions for Courtney to take a seat on the couch and she pulls me along with her.

  She sits facing me, with her back to Greg. He lifts up her sweatshirt and asks me to hold it up around the back of her neck. I do as I’m asked, holding her hand with my other hand. She squeezes my hand tightly as he begins to clean her wound. I can’t see what it looks like, but he seems to be cleaning a pretty big area.

  It takes him about twenty minutes but Courtney does great. My hand, however, is throbbing. She squeezed it so tight at one point I thought she might have broken my pinky finger. It was when he was first starting to stitch her up. I don’t think the area was numb enough yet because I was pretty sure she felt it.

  Now, we’re cuddling on the couch. We finished dinner and we’re watching a movie as a family. Tomorrow will be the beginning of everything new. Tomorrow, none of us will exist. For me, it’s a new beginning. No one will associate me with my family name. For Courtney… I guess it will be new for her as well this time. This time, it’s her entire family, not just her and her mom.

  17.

  Katherine

  Two years later…

  I miss New York. I never realized how much I would love watching the seasons change. We never got that in California. We pretty much got sun and rain and a few colder months in between. The leaves never changed color. The snow never fell. Watching as the weather went from hot to warm to freezing cold was amazing. It was like living in a whole new place every few months.

  Don’t get me wrong. I wouldn’t change anything about my new situation. Not only is Georgia a beautiful place to live but my whole family is here this time. Moving felt more like moving and less like running. Not to mention, everyone who we were running from was dead, or at least I think so.

  Greg never talked to me about what happened while I was at the farm. He never told me what they did and I never volunteered anything about what happened to me while they had me locked up. He stitched up my wound the first night I was home and then he disappeared. I haven’t seen or heard from him since.

  It makes me sad to think I might never see him again. I a
sked dad about him a few weeks after we got here and he brushed me off. There had to be some bad blood between the two of them now if Greg wasn’t coming around anymore. It makes me wonder if it has anything to do with me or if it has more to do with how close mom and Greg had become. My best guess would be it has more to do with mom.

  I’m assuming they had a “thing” going on that I wasn’t entirely aware of. I don’t see anything wrong with that. My mom had no idea my dad was still alive. I’m guessing that since Greg knew that he might have been keeping us apart. That made me angry at first when I thought about it but in the end it doesn’t really matter. All that matters is that we are together again now. We have our family back. We’re not in danger anymore.

  The fact that the threat was eliminated also meant Cam didn’t have to enter the program. He got to keep his identity and his life. When we moved he didn’t have to move with us. It was tough. We both needed to finish college and the fact I left him behind, again, hurt worse than the first time. I can still see the pain and sorrow on his face as we drove off that morning…

  I hear my name being called and immediately straighten my back and try to look like I have been listening. I know better than to get distracted by my thoughts in this class. The teacher can spot someone who’s zoned out a mile away. Sitting in the back of the classroom does not seem to help.

  “Yes,” I reply, trying to sound as confident as possible.

  “So, you would make that decision then. Why is that?” The teacher is grinning and I can tell she knows I wasn’t paying attention. I scan the room and all eyes are on me.

  I smile before replying. I want to let her know that I know that she knows. “I must have missed part of the question. Can you please repeat it?”

  “Of course. If you were trapped on a deserted island and could only bring one person with you who you would end up eating for food later on… would you bring your significant other?”