Guarding Red Riding Hood

by Rita Hestand

  "Oh baby, I'll take the time."

  She sighed and smiled and he raised up to parted her legs, his stared at her moved his fingers against her then bent his head and kissed her core soft spot. She moved exotically in his arms, enticing him even more, he licked, tastes, devoured and kissed her until she was moaning with such satisfaction.

  "You are so good…" She smiled sexily at him. And that when he plunged himself deep inside her and she held onto him with her fingernails diggin in his hair and her body reaching to meet his. For long lingering moments he rode her and she moaned the satisfaction only love brings. Their orgasm was so complete he buried his head against her breast and tasted her there.

  Sweet torture.

  Seconds later, he moved off of her and put his clothes on. "Come on baby, get dressed we have to go now."

  "I know." She said sadly. "Just…don't forget me…" She wailed.

  "Honey, there's no chance of that…" He smiled and kissed her lightly once more as she was putting he clothes back on.

  When they opened the door they went to Tony's room and woke him.

  "We're leaving now Tony." Dan told him quietly.

  Tony was groggy but he forced himself awake. "Okay."

  Suddenly he paused and brought both of them to him, hugging them closely. "I'll find the two of you, I promise."

  They packed up and started out the door.

  Chapter Sixteen

  The moment they stepped out the door, there were gunshots. Dan made them run for the car. He scanned the area thoroughly, waiting for the sniper to try again. He shielded them as best he could and pulled the trigger a couple of times to ward off an attempt to hit them.

  Dan waited now, until he was sure which direction the shots came from.

  As they ran for the car, he threw her the keys, "Get in, and start the car." He told her.

  She flashed him a quick glance of concern.

  "Go on, honey."

  She did as he asked.

  A bullet whizzed by his arm, leaving a flesh wound. Dan fired off in the direction, still not able to see who he was firing at.

  Bullets hit the car, but Gabby and Tony were inside now and relatively safe.

  He moved toward the firing and continued to open fire on the perpetrator.

  He fired again and heard a yelp. He'd made a hit. He hoped there was only one shooter but he couldn't be for certain.

  He moved toward the car now. Sure he'd wounded someone, he got in the car, and sped off away from the line of fire.

  "Do you know who it was?" Gabby asked.

  "Nope…but I nicked someone." He told them.

  He drove at record speed and was sure he'd lost whoever it was that followed them from the place. A car had followed at first, but somewhere veered away from them. Perhaps the guys was hurt more than he thought.

  It was morning before they arrived at the precinct. Tony was asleep in the backseat, and Gabby was curled up close to him now. His arm was getting stiff where he'd been nicked.

  He woke her up, but when he did, she kissed him hard on the lips. "I don't want to leave you."

  "I know, honey…but we have to face this. Until you are safe, I won't rest easy. The same for Tony. Maybe someday this will work out."

  "I don't see how." She told him. "Just don't forget me."

  He shot her a thorough look, "Not a chance of that." He stared into her eyes. "You gotta have faith. Faith in me, and in God."

  "I do…" she murmured.

  "Then it will work out. Trust me."

  He woke Tony up and they walked inside. Harry was beside himself with worry for them. "You all alright?" He asked with a huge frown.

  "Yeah, my car's pretty busted up with bullets, but we're okay." Dan told him. "Gabby Winslow, Harry Graves."

  "Gabby, glad you are alright. Your father's been very concerned for your safety. I tried to reassure him that Dan was quite capable."

  "Thanks," She smiled as he handed her a cup of coffee.

  "And this is Tony, Tony Beaton." Dan explained.

  "Well I'll be damned. I'm very glad to meet you Tony." Harry nodded to the boy.

  Tony looked shyly up at Harry.

  "I left someone groaning back at the house." Dan explained. He may be in a car. Someone followed us out, but they didn't continue long."

  "I'll call and get someone out there."

  "You folks make yourself to home. Dan follow me, I'll bring you up to date."

  Dan winked at Gabby and Tony and followed Harry into his office. Gabby and Tony were so tired, Tony was half asleep, and Gabby kept gulping the coffee to try to wake up.

  Dan sat down and motioned his arm was hit. "I'll get someone to fix that up for you." He went outside and directly a man with a bag came into the office.

  He was the precinct doctor and he patched him up. After the doctor left, Dan filled him in on what he knew. Harry nodded.

  "Looks like you were completely successful and I'm sure the Senator is going to be very relieved."

  "So how close are we to winding this up?" Dan asked him.

  "I figure three more weeks, and we'll round them up, and there will be a trail and hopefully put them all away for a good long time. Of course Gabby and Tony will be called upon to testify."

  "I've been thinking about that, is there any way they could do their testifying in a judge's chambers away from the hatchet lawyers and bad guys. This could keep them out of the witness program after the trail."

  "I'll check on that. I'm sure they could for Tony, but I'm not sure about Gabby."

  "She doesn't know as much as you'd think. She wasn't Joe's girlfriend, Harry. She's Tony's teacher and she went to Joe's place to inquire about the beatings Joe gave Tony. When she threatened to call CPS he locked her in his apartment. That's all there was to that. She did find a drawer full of drugs though."

  "Drawer full of drugs?"

  "Yes, white stuff in Ziploc bags. A drawer full of it."

  "If that's truly all she's involved in, then perhaps she could talk to the judge in his chambers and we'd get that part of it over with. However, because she was in Joe's apartment, and they know of her involvement, she's still in danger and will have to go through the witness program."

  "How long?"

  "I couldn't say Dan. You know how it works, sometimes only a short while, other times a lifetime." Harry concluded, staring into Dan's troubled face.

  "You have a problem with that?"

  Dan stood up and paced. "Normally I wouldn't."

  Harry's eyes went through the glass as he stared out at Gabby. "She's a real looker."

  "She's more than that." Dan cleared his throat.

  "I take it, she's more than that to you?" Harry questioned.

  "You take it right!" Dan declared hotly.

  "That's interesting, but unfortunate, too. You know how this works, Dan."

  "I know." He nodded.

  "You're in love with her?" Harry asked softly this time.

  "Yeah, I guess I am…" He admitted casting her a glance.

  "How does she feel about you?" He asked curiously.

  "The same I'm afraid." Dan said drily.

  "I see…and I'm sorry."

  "Yeah, me too." Dan wiped his forehead for a moment, trying to maintain some kind of control over himself. He was losing Gabby as they spoke and it was like someone had torn half his heart out of his body.

  He'd known better. Never fall for a witness.

  But that knowledge hadn't helped. Not with Gabby, nor Tony.

  "I care about them both, Harry."

  "You sure didn't listen to yourself this time did you?" Harry cautioned.

  "No, I didn't. But you gotta admit, we've been thrown together for three months. Living with each other, what can you expect?"

  Harry nodded.

  "Have you said your goodbyes?" Harry asked.

  "I guess." Dan cleared his throat.

  "Good, because they'll be gone by this afternoon late." Harry warned.

  "Yea
h, I figured as much." Dan nodded.

  "Why don't you take them to lunch, tell them goodbye and prepare them for what lies ahead." Harry suggested, throwing his paperwork on his desk with a flourish.

  "Lay it on the line, Harry, how long." Dan nodded.

  "Three months at the least, months to years at the most. If we can get good convictions out of this, only three months."

  Harry studied Dan for a moment. "I'm sorry, Dan."

  "Yeah…"

  Dan walked out and talked to them for a few minutes, "Let's go get something for lunch."

  They followed him to a little restaurant and they ordered burgers then settled back in the seat. Dan was looking from one to the other with sadness, and yet, he'd done his job well, and now they would be protected. It wasn't his job that worried him. He was too attached.

  "Look I'm not good at goodbyes. But, you'll be going into the program this afternoon."

  "What exactly will happen to us?"

  "They will find a place for you to work, something totally different from what you do. They might put you both together as mother and son thing, or they could separate you both. I don't know. They won't tell anyone what they are doing. You'll have a contact if you need it. You probably won't hear from anyone until trial time. If the trial goes as expected you might get to return to a normal life, if not, you'll go back into the protection plan."

  "Then you aren't going to adopt me?" Tony asked.

  "Not right now. I can't. We can't exactly be seen together. You'll be in another town or city, far away from here. Until the trial is over, and we know if there is more danger, we can't be certain of what is going to happen. I'm sorry for that." Dan explained.

  "It's okay, I didn't get my hopes up too much about that anyway." Tony hung his head.

  "Things could work out, but it will take some time."

  "How long?" Gabby asked.

  "Nothing is going down for another three weeks."

  "And then?"

  "If all goes well, an arrest, trial and hopefully back to normal for both of you."

  "Normal? There is no normal for me." Tony insisted.

  "If they release you from the program, I can file for adoption then. Not until." Dan promised.

  Tony nodded. But neither Gabby nor Tony were too pleased.

  "You two have kind of become my family," Dan said his voice failing him.

  "Yeah, it was fun while it lasted." Tony remarked.

  "Don't lose hope yet, Tony." Dan told him.

  He looked at him seriously, "Tony, do you believe in God?"

  "Yeah, I guess so." Tony shrugged.

  "Well, now is the time to know so. He's real, and if you ask him, he'll take care of things for you. But Tony, you gotta believe."

  "Okay…I'll try."

  "Good."

  When they walked outside again, Dan pulled them into an alley and he looked at Tony and smiled, "Keep a watch, will ya."

  Tony looked from him to her and then smiled, "sure."

  Dan took her cheeks in his palms, and his thumb worked a silent magic as she leaned into the caress. "Don't give up hope. Don't ever give up hope."

  "I won't." She said throatily.

  "Dammit, I didn't want to fall for you…." He murmured.

  Her breath hitched and he kissed her like she'd never been kissed before. She threw her arms around his neck and encouraged more.

  "I'll find the two of you somehow…" He promised between kisses.

  "Don't make promises you can't keep." She whispered.

  He pulled his head up, "Lady, I keep my promises. Now, have a little faith, will ya? Because that's what it takes sometimes."

  She stared into his eyes, and slowly nodded with a smile.

  Then he turned to Tony and pulled him against him. "I meant what I said Tony. Don't you ever forget it."

  "But," Tony looked up in tears, "You know it ain't gonna work out."

  "No, you see, I have a lot of faith in the man upstairs."

  Tony looked up and saw now stairs, then it dawned on him and he nodded. "Okay…"

  Arm in arm the three of them walked back to the police precinct.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Harry had some papers drawn up for Gabby and Tony to look over and fill out. Then he looked at Dan.

  "I talked to the judge. He agreed to closed Judge's chambers for them both."

  "Great, that's good news," Dan nodded. "Thanks Harry I appreciate that."

  "No problem. Now, there is a slight problem in the fact that Gabby is a Senator's daughter and he has a lot of pull. He doesn't want her thrown in a witness protection program, he said he'd hire his own security for her. But I told him that at least until the trial they had to follow our instructions. Naturally, it didn't set well with him and he is throwing his weight around to get his way. This program has worked a lot of different people there's no reason to believe it won't work for her. But, we got another problem."

  Dan stood up from sitting on the corner of Harry's desk, "What now?"

  "She said she won't allow Tony to go into the program alone. If he goes, she goes. So I'm at a standstill. I'd like to know what you think."

  Dan turned to stare out the window at Gabby. He had to admire her for that. He smiled. "Go along with her Harry, she knows what she's doing."

  "But Dan, you don't understand, the kid might have to stay in the program." Harry was telling him.

  Dan turned to Harry who looked disgruntled, "Do it Harry."

  "But what do I tell her father?"

  "Tell him she made up her own mind. He'll figure that out quick enough." Dan smiled.

  "And do you know what you are doing?" Harry asked.

  "Hell, I hope so." Dan shook his head.

  "You may never see her again, Dan." Harry cautioned.

  "I guess I got more faith than you do, Harry." Dan smiled serenely.

  "Alright. Then it's done." Harry nodded. "But you owe me. The Senator is not going to be pleased."

  "Harry, I got one more favor to ask." Dan said as he stared out at them.

  "Oh, what's that?"

  "Wait twenty-four hours before you put them in the system. I'll protect them. I promise…with my life, Harry."

  "Dan…you know I can't do that. The department head would be all over me. I can't…" Harry began his argument, but Dan was already moving toward the door.

  "Just twenty-four hours, I promise."

  "Dan, you'll just make it harder on yourself." Harry warned him.

  "I promise, just twenty-four hours." He stared at Harry's resigned face and Harry nodded dully.

  "Don't ever ask for another favor. There's a couple of things I need to do."

  "Alright, but that's all you get."

  "I know…" Dan said with a satisfied smile.

  Dan went out of his office and took Gabby and Tony with him down the back way and they took a cab to her father's house.

  "This is where my father lives," Gabby gasped.

  "Yeah, I know." Dan replied.

  "This might be the last time you get to see him for a while." Dan explained.

  "You did this for me?"

  "I sort of got you into this, so yeah." Dan replied.

  "I don't know what to say." Gabby stared at him.

  "We can't stay long, but I wanted to give you a little time with him…"

  "Does your boss know you are doing this?"

  "No…and we won't tell him, will we?"

  "No," Gabby replied quickly.

  When the answered the intercom, they were instructed to drive up into the drive way.

  The cabbie followed the directions.

  The Senator came out to greet them, "Gabby," he cried and ran to her, hugging her.

  "Dad…" Gabby cried.

  When he released her, he looked at Dan and Tony. Dan paid the cabbie and sent him on his way.

  "And who are these?" Her father wanted to know.

  "Oh, this is Dan, the undercover cop that has kept both me and Tony, safe for the past
three months." She announced proudly.

  Her father seemed to size the situation up then invited them inside.

  Dan glanced around the place then pulled the Senator to the side, "I brought her so you could visit with her for a bit before they go into the program."

  "I see, you arranged all of this?"

  "Yes sir."

  "Why?" The Senator shot him an appraising glance.

  "Because it might be a while before you see her again." Dan advised him.

  "Thank you." He said curtly.

  He pulled his daughter into another room and Tony and Dan were left to entertain themselves.

  "This is some place, isn't it?" Tony glanced around at the fancy marbled floor and the huge chandelier.

  "Yeah a little rich for my blood, but nice." Dan responded.

  "Dan, I'm gonna miss you when I go into the program." Tony said, not even looking at him, as though looking at him would be a huge mistake.

  "I know Tony. I know. So will I. But have some faith will ya?" Dan asked.

  Tony did look then, "You keep saying that like you believe it."

  "I do."

  Tony nodded slowly. "Then I'll try too."

  "Good."

  After an hour or so, Gabby came into the room again. "Father's prepared us a beautiful lunch."

  "Great. But afterwards, we've got something else to attend to." Dan told her.

  She looked a bit puzzled but nodded. "Alright."

  The dinner was huge steak, baked potatoes and salad, with side dishes like corn on the cob and fresh green beans.

  Tony ate until he couldn't hold any more.

  "My daughter is quite taken with both of you, but I suppose you already know that." The Senator said as he wiped his mouth with his napkin.

  "We've all gotten close," Dan explained.

  "She insists she wants to go along in the program to be with Tony."

  "Yes, my boss knows." Dan replied.

  "Is there any way we would know how long that would be?"

  "No sir, I don't think so." Dan said with a slight sigh.

  Gabby stared at him.

  "I’m totally against this, but, Gabby insists. So I have little choice but to have the faith that it will all work out."

  "Yes sir." Dan agreed.

  After dinner Dan and the Senator spoke privately while Gabby picked up a few things to take with her.