Page 9 of Witness Protection

“Hey Archer, you need to see this.” One of the video techs calls me over.

“We caught this on the tapes.

On the screen, a grainy black and white video show two servicemen chatting next to a car.

A figure sneaks up behind them and climbs into the backseat. I would recognize that curly hair anywhere it is Elise.

The serviceman gets in and drives to the checkpoint and off the base. She is gone.

My heart wants to drop to my knees. Chase is not looking at me, trying to not say what they are all thinking. We have been played. It isn’t a coincidence that she left the same day that Craig escaped.

“Something is off, she gave us all that information on the flash drive. She has to know if she goes to him, he will kill her.”

“Maybe the information was fake? A plant?”

I shake my head, “It has all been verified there is something that we are missing. We need to find her before Craig does something to hurt her.”

The thought of finding her body in a ditch causes an icy shiver to run down my spine.

“Archer we cloned her phone when she entered the program. Look at these texts that came through. I think you are right, she was lured out.”

The tech turns the laptop around and displays a series of text messages. They appear to be from Elise’s mom, telling them that she is in trouble.

And then there is the picture of a broken and battered woman.

“Craig took her mother to lure her out. We need to find her before he carries out his plan.

There is a flurry of activity in the room, but no one says what they are thinking. She has been gone for hours, there is a good chance that she has already been killed. The only saving grace she has is Craig is going to want to know the information she gave up. If she holds out, or he decides to try to get out of her other than by force, there might be a slim chance that she is still alive.

I can only hope. I am in love with her and can’t imagine my life without her. If she dies before I am able to tell her I love her it will destroy me. She is my everything, and I will not spend the rest of my life visiting her grave.

I spring into action helping the techs comb the GPS signal given off by her phone. It ends abruptly I am sure she was searched when he got her, but I am going to hold out hope.

“He has her somewhere private and quiet start combing through lists of buildings Fortini or his company own. She is close he wouldn’t have taken her far.

The techs get busy combing through Fortini’s holdings, I just hope we find her before it’s too late.

Chapter Nine- Elise

I wake up and my head is pounding, it feels fuzzy and my mouth tastes awful.

“Wake up, sleeping beauty.” A familiar voice says, and I feel a chill run up my spine as the events of the last evening come back to me in horrible clarity.

I blink open my eyes and pray that this is a dream. Craig stands in front of me, a kind smile on his face. It doesn’t match the dangerous blankness in his eyes, and I cringe.

“Craig what am I doing here?” I ask, curling up in the bed and looking at the floor. Reverting back into being the meek woman he expects might be the only thing that keeps me alive.

“I am disappointed in you Elise. The first chance you get you to stab me in the back? After everything that I have done for you?”

Looking up at him, I give him my best innocent look. I am shaking inside, waiting for him to pull a gun and end my life.

“I didn’t tell them anything. They wouldn’t let me out. When I got the text from my mother, it was the perfect time to escape. I knew you were out. I can’t survive on my own you know that I had to wait for you.”

I hold my breath, I have no idea how much they told him. Does he know about the flash drive? Did they tell him that I had turned on him? I close my eyes and hope that they were smart enough not to brag about what they had on him.

“They told me they had been unable to break your silence.” I look up at him and try to not let the surprise show on my face. It sounds as if the agents working the case were keeping the evidence they had, and our talks close to the vest. It might be the only thing that saves my life.

“Now Elise, what all did you tell them? If you are honest with me, I will get your dear sweet mother some medical attention. As you can see from the picture, I sent you she isn’t doing so well. The morphine will be wearing off soon and she is going to be in an awful lot of pain.” He made a sad face, but his eyes didn’t change. That same blank shark looks remained.

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