Page 1 of Witness Protection

Chapter One- Elise

I am walking down the hallway when I hear my name spoken. I stop outside of my stepfather’s office. I need to be quiet, I don’t want him to hear me outside of the door.

“I think it would be an excellent match. She is petite but curvy, with long curly brunette hair, brown eyes, and pretty features. She would make the perfect trophy wife.” He says and I watch as a slow smile crosses his face.

He is using me as barter in one of his deals and I don’t know what to do about it. This life is the only one I have ever known, the only home that I have ever had that had any kind of stability in it.

My mother has the worst taste in men, and we were always bouncing around from jerk to jerk until she landed Craig. He was everything that she ever wanted rich, powerful, and handsome. She didn’t care that he made his money in the illegal drug trade she just liked what he would buy for her and this mansion that we lived in. All of that changed on my 17thbirthday.

I woke up to Craig standing over my bed, the menace in his face frightening.

“Where is she?” He had asked me through clenched teeth.

I told him I didn’t know what he was talking about and he told me that my mother was gone. She had stolen money from him and taken the clothes and jewelry he had bought her over the years and split.

I told him again I had no idea that she had left tears rolling down my face. He looked at me hard for a moment and then walked out of my room. I cried myself back to sleep. She had never returned. It turns out that she had hooked up with another dealer just a bit higher up on the food chain than Craig. She was untouchable. He couldn’t get revenge, and that made him fume. I was worried that he would throw me out, but he didn’t. I assumed her role in his life as hostess and the running of his home. He never tried to touch me, but he made me hostess at his parties and be on his arm during dirty business deals.

In exchange, I was allowed to buy whatever I wanted and live in style and wealth. We flew all over the world on a private jet and I had seen more of the world than most people years older than me. The one catch was that I was followed everywhere and not allowed to leave the house on my own. Now at age 19 I’m still under Craig’s thumb. I had no skills, no family, and nowhere to go. He had me right where he wanted me, and he knew it.

“This will set us even correct? The girl for the forgiveness of my debts.” He nods.

“Yes, of course, if you find that she is what you are looking for. I promise she is meek, beautiful, and an excellent hostess.”

I bristle as he describes me as meek. I can feel the barely contained violence in Craig, I have seen what happens when someone causes him displeasure. I am not meek, I am smart. Just biding my time until the right time to escape presents itself. Knowing that he is trying to sell me to the highest bidder that time might be now.

He finishes the conversation and hangs up the phone. I tiptoe my way back to my room. I don’t want him to find me eavesdropping, he will put a guard on me immediately and I will have no time to escape.

I walk back down the hall and see a tall dark-suited man standing outside of my room and feel my heart sink. It has already happened, he has posted a guard at my door.

Smiling at the man, I walk into my room and shut the door pulling my journal out from under my pillow. I love to write it is the one thing that keeps me sane in this strange existence of mine. One day when I am free of this place, I am going to write books. Reading and writing have been my solace, a way to get away from my regular life and fall into a better one.

I need to think of a way to getaway. Being homeless is better than being sold to someone to cover Craig’s debts.

*****

I stand with Craig on the steps of a magnificent home on the other side of town. Next to the beach I can hear the waves crashing. My escape attempt was foiled before it even began. It was as if he could read my mind. A guard was next to my bed when I awoke this morning, and someone was with me the entire time I was getting ready. There was no way I would be able to get away from them.

I smooth my hands down the ice blue of the satin dress I am wearing. He brought in hair and makeup people, a couture dress. I am all dolled up like the Barbie doll that I’m meant to represent.

“You look beautiful Elise.” Craig murmurs to me as we walk through the house to meet the man that is going to be my husband.

Craig calmly explained this to me before we left the house. I had two options to marry this man or die.

I agreed with all the meekness I could muster. Once Craig was gone, I would find a way to escape if it took months, even years, I would make my escape. My resolve is strong as we walk into a masculine study and I get a look at the man I am being forced to marry.

He is tall and slim with jet black hair and pale blue eyes. As I look into those eyes, there is nothing there. Like a shark they are cold and dead. A shiver runs through me. This is not a man to be trifled with. I am going to have to tread very carefully.

Chapter Two- Jason

I feel the adrenaline pumping through me and jump up and down a little in place to dispel it. This is always how it is before an op or before going into combat. The combination of thrill and worry that comes with going into a situation that you are not sure that you will be able to walk out of.

“Ok team this is the last debrief before we hit the house.”

“We are lucky tonight Bates is having dinner with Craig Fortini, another high-ranking member of the Bates crime family. We are getting two big fish for the price of one.”

I grin a little, this is my favorite part of the job getting to help the FBI take out slimeballs like these two. They use innocents for their own gain. Taking down these two players is going to cripple their organization.

I tune back in as the commander continues the briefing “Word from our informants is Fortini is setting up an arranged marriage for his daughter, one Elise Stuart. She is the daughter of his former wife, Jessica Stuart. She ran off on him a few years ago and married up into another crime family. He has kept Elise and now is using her to pay off his debts to the Bates family. We aren't sure of her involvement in the illegal activities, but for our purposes she will be treated as an innocent. She might be able to testify and help put at least Fortini behind bars.

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