by Jerry Moore
Jenny picked me up from school at noon. I had half a mind to confront her the second I got in the car. I decided I would wait until after we got home. Jeff was suddenly a huge problem. How much did he know about me? Was he telling the truth about there being additional marshals following me? Even if he was right, how did he know that? Jeff looked like he was twenty one or twenty two. There was no way he was older than twenty five. The only good thing was that I was pretty sure that if he wanted to kill me, I would already be dead.
I waited until the middle of the afternoon to confront Jenny about whether or not there were marshals on campus. I had already figured out that my boss at the library was probably a marshal. I could live with that. It wasn’t exactly in line with the deal I had with the Justice Department, but I could live with it. If there were other marshals following me around, that would be a different story.
I walked into the living room and sat down beside Jenny on the couch. She didn’t seem to take any notice of me. She was working a crossword puzzle and was totally unaware that I intended to drop a bomb on her.
“So Jenny, I have a question.”
She kept working her puzzle and didn’t look up. “Sure, what’s up?”
“Just exactly how many marshals do you have following me around?”
Her head popped up. “There aren’t any other marshals involved in your case. You know that.”
“No, I know there are not supposed to be any other marshals or federal agents involved in my protection. We have a deal.”
“I’m sure it’s your imagination, but I can check into it if you like.”
I was not buying her act for a second. She should have hit the roof at the mere thought that someone was following me around. “That’s okay. Jeff was the one that thought I have marshals following me. I’ll just tell him that isn’t the case. He can just chase his own tail trying to prove me wrong.”
She looked alarmed. “Isn’t Jeff the guy from your History class?”
“Yeah, he said he spotted them and that they have a hard time adjusting when I go somewhere they don’t expect me to. He even said his guess was that they were marshals.”
“He needs to drop this and you need to stay away from him.”
“He’s right, isn’t he?”
“Lisa, it’s for your own good.”
“No, that’s not okay. That is not part of our deal. I will call the U.S. Attorney.”
“Go ahead, he signed off on it.”
“And what if I just refuse to cooperate anymore?”
“Look, I hate to break it to you, but people out there want you dead.”
I folded my arms and gave Jenny an evil look. “This is not part of the deal.”
Jenny put her finger right in my face. “Lisa, you need to grow up. You, young lady, will continue to do what you are doing. I will continue to do whatever I think I have to in order to keep you safe. You don’t like it? Too bad, go back to New York if you don’t like the way you are being treated. How long do you think it would take the Demarco family to put a bullet in your pretty little head without us protecting you?”
I stood up and headed for my room. “Fine, but don’t expect me to help you guys out. I sure hope your guys can keep up.” I slammed my door shut as hard as I could.
This really sucked. I had absolutely no say so over anything, apparently. I didn’t have any real friends. Brenda seemed like she was on the way to being my friend. I was infatuated with Jeff but I didn’t know if I really liked him. He and Carl both gave me the creeps but for different reasons. How did Jeff know about the marshals or was that just a lucky guess? Exactly how much did Jeff know about me?
Chapter Four
Tuesday morning I got ready for school while saying as little as possible to Jenny. I was still fuming over the whole the idea that I was being watched everywhere I went. I rode to school with Jenny in silence. When she dropped me off, I simply got out of the car and didn’t look back. I didn’t care if I was pissing her off or not. It was her job to watch after me, whether we liked each other or not.
I sat through my Political Science class but barely listened. I was still trying to figure out how Jeff knew that I was being followed by marshals. He was a strange guy. He wouldn’t bother to even talk to me in class but took the time to figure out that marshals were following me around. What was his game? I left my Political Science class and headed to Chemistry. I mean, what kind of guy does that? I hoped that Brenda would be there today. I could use a normal friendly face. I just wished that I had someone that I could talk to about how I felt. I was lonely and getting really tired of playing this good girl role. I took my normal seat but Brenda wasn’t there. I wondered what was going on with her. I made a mental note to trade cell phone numbers with her.
I sat through the Chemistry lecture and really missed Brenda. As soon as the lecture was over, I made a break for the door. That is when I saw her. Brenda had been sitting in the back row. I waved to her but she must not have seen me since she didn’t stop. I walked as fast as I could without running. I finally caught up to her in the parking lot.
“Hey Brenda, wait up.”
She turned and gave me a little smile. I noticed that she was wearing sunglasses today. “Hey I missed you in History class yesterday.”
“Yeah, well I overslept yesterday.”
“Hey, are you okay? You seem a little off. I thought that maybe you didn’t feel well since you sat in the very back and didn’t come sit by me.”
“Oh no, just running late. You know, I didn’t want to disturb the class and all that kind of stuff.”
She kept shifting her gaze, like she didn’t want to look me in the eye. Even behind her sunglasses, she didn’t want to look me in the eye. “Okay, time for the truth. Are you avoiding me or something? I can tell something’s going on with you.”
She tried to turn away. “It’s not you. I just have some stuff going on.”
“Look at me, without the sunglasses.”
She took the sunglasses off. “Happy, now?” Her left eye was swollen and still had some bruising around it.
“Oh my god! What happened?”
“Nothing, I just ran into a wall. No big deal.”
“Girlfriend, I know what it looks like when someone punches you in the eye. You didn’t run into a wall.”
“Don’t make a big deal over it. I knew better than to make my husband mad. I know he has a temper. It wasn’t his fault, it was mine.”
“Brenda, you know that isn’t true.”
She turned to walk away. “I’m not discussing this with you, Lisa. You don’t have any idea about what happened. I have to go.”
“Brenda, wait.”
It was no use; she just kept going and got into a black SUV. She backed up and pulled out of the parking lot. She was wrong; I did understand what was going on. I had been slapped around enough times in New York to know exactly how it goes. My ex-boyfriend used to hit me and tell me that I had it coming. Sometimes I actually believed him. Of course, he would always apologize later and promise not to do it again. He always did it again.
I walked over to the student union. It was already after eleven o’clock and I had told Jeff that I would meet him for lunch. Once Jeff got there, I suggested that we walk to a little sandwich shop just off campus. The two of us made small talk while we walked. We ordered a couple of sandwiches and walked back to campus and found one of the few shady trees in Lubbock.
Jeff unwrapped his sandwich while he looked around. “I see your watchdogs are still following you around.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Is that still your story?”
“Okay, let’s say hypothetically that I did know what you were talking about. I would probably say that I couldn’t make them go away. I mean if I knew what you were talking about, then I probably would have already tried to get rid of them.”
“So you still think I’m crazy?”
“Nope, you’re not crazy. You’re a li
ttle weird but you’re not crazy.”
“Does that mean that we can’t be friends?”
I took a deep breath. I really needed a friend. “I’d like to be friends.”
“So would I.”
“What about your little girlfriend?”
“You mean Allison? She’s not my girlfriend. In fact, I barely even know her. She would like to get to know me, I think. Hey, I have heard the same stories you have. I know that you seemed to be under the impression on Saturday that Allison was hooking up with me. That isn’t true. I have no interest in her. I mean, she is like a serious air head.”
I felt a lot better after talking to Jeff. I needed at least one friend. We traded our ideas about the History paper we were supposed to write. I was relieved that all Jeff wanted at the moment was a friend. He walked me back to the student union and didn’t try to hold my hand or kiss me goodbye.
I daydreamed my way through the afternoon while I was working at the library. Mostly I thought about Jeff and whether we were just going to be friends or something more. I also tried to figure out where I stood with Brenda. I thought she was in a dangerous situation but she didn’t seem to want my help.
On the ride home, I thought about the talk Jenny and I had about the other marshals that were following me around. I still didn’t see them but Jeff claimed they were there and Jenny confirmed it. In the back of my mind, I couldn’t help but wonder how Jeff was able to spot them. It must be some sort of special training he had while he was in the army.
In any event, I was going to have to make up with Jenny and get over my anger over the government not honoring my agreement with them. I wasn’t giving up more than a little of my privacy. It just gave me a chill to think that someone was watching me, no matter where I went. I was pretty sure that Jenny was just following orders. Besides staying mad about it wasn’t going to change things.
Once we got home, I went to the living room and sat down. Aunt Jenny must have caught my whole ‘we need to talk’ vibe. I was sitting on one end of the couch and she came and sat on the other end. We just looked at each other for a moment.
She looked me straight in the eye. “I think we both know that we need to talk about some things.”
“I know. Look, I get that you are trying to protect me.”
“Lisa, this won’t be forever. I know it’s a pain and it’s intruding into your privacy. I wouldn’t like it either. However, I have my orders.”
“That’s what I figured. I’m not upset with you Jenny. I was yesterday. Today, I realize that you are just doing your job.”
“Speaking of doing my job, I really need to meet your boyfriend.”
I tried to play innocent. “I don’t have a boyfriend.”
“You know who I am talking about. I need to meet Jeff.”
“I really don’t think he’s buying the aunt thing. I haven’t told him anything but he has it pretty well figured out.”
“Lisa, you misunderstand. We need to find out how dangerous Jeff is to you.”
“He is just a guy from my History class.”
“We think he’s a spook.”
I was totally confused about where this conversation was going. “What exactly is a spook?”
“Let me rephrase it. We think that Jeff is a covert agent. We just aren’t sure which agency or country he belongs to. We also can’t figure out what he wants at Texas Tech.”
“Why would you think any of that stuff about Jeff?”
“Let’s look at the facts. He immediately spotted out surveillance on you. He also has a very non-descript background. According to our background check, he was a decent student in school. His parents moved around a lot, so no one remembers that much about him as a kid. He joined the army and spent the last two years in Special Forces. That is all we really know. His military records are sealed, just like I would expect if he is CIA, NSA, or whatever.”
“Jenny, your own check showed that Jeff was in Special Forces. He probably had some special training that taught him how to figure out when someone is being followed.”
“That might be true if he had spotted a bunch of amateurs or the local cops doing it. The team we have in place is first rate. Everyone from me to my bosses in Washington agree. Jeff Campbell, or whatever his real name is, has to be a professional.”
“So you think that he is here to kill me?”
“No, if that was his plan, you would already be dead. We don’t know what he is doing here but we can’t afford for him to be snooping around. He could accidentally tip someone off as to your whereabouts just by asking the wrong question to the wrong person.”
I didn’t sleep well that night. I tossed and turned. I felt like I was about to get caught in the middle between Jenny and Jeff. I understood why Jenny felt like she needed to talk to Jeff. Inviting him over seemed like a simple enough plan for getting them together. But did I tell Jeff about Jenny’s suspicions? If I didn’t tell him, he might feel betrayed. If I did tell him, Jenny would definitely feel betrayed.
Chapter Five
I still had mixed feelings about what to tell Jeff about Jenny wanting to meet him. I made it to class early and saw that Brenda was already there. We were alone in the classroom; no one else had shown up yet. I figured this would be a good time to clear the air between us.
I walked over to her desk. “Hey girl, listen I just wanted to say that I was sorry if it seemed like I was trying to get all in your business yesterday.”
Brenda gave me a smile. Her eye looked much better today. She was almost able to cover up the bruising with make-up. “I probably was a little too touchy about you asking about it. I know you were just concerned about me.”
“Listen, call me if you need me or just need someone to talk about it with. The truth is that my ex used to beat the crap out of me. I guess your situation isn’t as bad as all that but I have totally been there. Just call me if you ever need to talk.”
“It’s not like that Lisa. But, thanks for your concern.”
We traded numbers as a few more students started to file into the classroom. I sat down at my desk just as Jeff walked in. He winked at me as he took his seat. I started to talk to him but the professor walked in at that very moment and class started. We spent the whole class period making eyes at each other like a couple of love struck sixth graders.
Jeff and I walked out of class together. I wasn’t that crazy about asking Jeff to come over and meet Jenny. But what choice did I have? Still, I was having trouble building up my nerve.
Jeff walked down the hall with me. “So, can I walk you to your next class?”
“I would really like that.”
“You know, I would really like to get to know you better.”
“Funny, you should say that. My Aunt Jenny was just saying how she wished you could come by and visit. That way we could get to know each other a little better.”
“I take it your Aunt Jenny isn’t just interested in my intentions or protecting your virtue. I’m not surprised.”
“Then you’ll do it?”
“I tell you what, I will but only after you go to dinner with me.”
I pretended to think about it. “I guess I can live with that.”
“Tonight around seven o’clock okay with you?”
“Seven o’clock works for me.”
“I will pick you up then.”
The more affluent people in Lubbock live on the South side of town. The farther South you go in Lubbock, the richer the people seem to get. The farther North you go in Lubbock, the poorer the people seem to get. That being the case, I was not surprised that Jeff took me to Los Brisas, an upscale steakhouse in South Lubbock. I was glad that I had decided to go with a dress for tonight instead of jeans and a t-shirt. Jeff had picked me up wearing a dress shirt and slacks. We fit in with the crowd at the over-priced steakhouse.
A waitress named Terry showed us to our table which turned out to be an entire room. The restaurant had a meeting room that was used for parties. She seate
d us at a table in this room that we apparently had to ourselves. Terry took our drink orders and then left us alone to look over the menu.
I looked across the table at Jeff. “Why are we the only ones in this room?”
He glanced around for a moment. “Because I reserved this room for tonight.”
“Why would you reserve an entire room? This better not be about trying to impress me.”
“Well, I wouldn’t be crushed if you were impressed. But really I just wanted some privacy. You know, you are a very difficult lady to get alone.”
“Why is it so important to get me alone?”
“You fascinate me.”
I could feel myself blushing. “Trust me; there is nothing fascinating about me.”
Jeff raised his eyebrows. “Really? Let’s see, you say you are from Florida but I doubt that is true. You say your name is Lisa. I think it is Kathy or some version of Kathy. Besides all of that, you have marshals following you around. That tells me that someone may want you dead.”
I sat there in stunned silence. I did manage to babble my way through ordering a steak and a small salad when Terry came to take our order. After a few minutes I was able to regain my composure.
Jeff reached his hand across the table and put it over my hand. “You wanted to know why I thought you were fascinating. I left one thing out. You are a beautiful woman and apparently you are also a brave one.”
“Why do you think that I’m not from Florida?”
“Oh, you really don’t have the tan that I would expect to see from someone that just moved here from Florida.”
“I think I am in a lot of trouble. You are perceptive as well as being cute.”
“Is that why you seem more outraged by the idea that I might think you’re easy than the idea that someone may be trying to kill you?”
I never got the chance to answer that question. That chain of thought was broken by our salads arriving. We spent the rest of our dinner talking about school and our History paper that we had to do. I wanted to tell Jeff that he was right about me. I felt like I had found someone that I could be honest with. My cell phone started ringing and that was the moment my world started going crazy.
