Safe Under Protection Read online

Colleen suddenly had a bad feeling and felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

  “Let’s go, Jess. Let’s go home.”

  Then the two men who appeared to be together each pulled a gun and shot the three other men. After the shots were fired, they looked around and spotted Colleen and Jess. Jess turned and looked in the direction of the gunfire and now both he and Colleen saw the two shooters clearly under the street light.

  The shooters saw Jess and Colleen, looked at each other and immediately headed their way.

  “Get in the car!” Jess opened the door and got in, dragging her with him as there was no time for him to run around to the driver’s side and jump in.

  “Shut the door! Shut the door!” he yelled as he started the car, threw it in gear, and peeled away as several bullets hit the trunk and one shattered the back window.

  The dream that always began so nicely turned into a nightmare. It skipped over the mad dash through the streets of Chicago and the hours spent at the police station. This nightmare portion of the dream took her straight to the harrowing moment when the next attempt on their lives was made.

  Sitting on their sofa watching the early dawn, Colleen leaned her head on Jess’s shoulder. Both of them exhausted, still in a daze about what they had seen and their crazy drive trying to get away from the killers. Too tired to talk, they just sat there.

  There was a sudden squeal of car brakes in front of their house and Jess looked up to glance out the big picture window. The car was a black sedan, nothing any of their friends or family owned. The passenger side window rolled down and Jess grabbed Colleen and rolled them both to the floor.

  Her knee bent too far and she cried out from the sharp sudden pain. “What are you doing? You’re hurting my knee!”

  “I thought I saw a gun sticking out of their window, stay down!” Jess had positioned himself on top of Colleen to protect her.

  “You watch too many cop shows.”

  Colleen’s words barely made it out of her mouth before bullets came flying through the window. So much for thinking Jess was overreacting, she thought as she began screaming. Then they heard the sound of the car laying rubber as it sped away. Jess held her on the floor and grabbed his cell phone to call Special Agent Harlen, their FBI contact.

  * * * * *

  Some sort of noise woke Jess up and he fought it, wanting to remain asleep. It was Colleen whimpering as though she were afraid. Something scared her. While he struggled with coming out of the fog of a deep sleep, her sudden screams jolted him wide awake and he sat upright in momentary confusion.

  Realizing it was another one of her nightmares, he propped himself up on one elbow and gently reached out to her with his other hand.

  “Hey, wake up. Come on, babe, you’re just having a bad dream.”

  But the dream had her in its clutches and she couldn’t shake it off. She thrashed around in the twisted bedclothes and one arm struck out at Jess. He caught it just before her hand connected with his chin.

  “Colleen!” He spoke sharply hoping to cut through the nightmare. “Wake up!”

  Her eyes blinked and she looked at him blankly. He pulled her into a sitting position and held her tightly. “It’s okay. It’s just a bad dream.”

  Her breathing slowed and her heart rate dropped back down to normal.

  “I’ve got you, babe,” Jess said as he rocked back and forth trying to help chase the images out of her mind.

  She burrowed her face into his neck and sighed. “I’m so sick of the same nightmare. It always starts out so nice and ends with the drive-by shooting at home. Or what used to be home.”

  “I know, honey. But you’re safe here. We’re safe and everything will be all right.”

  She nodded her head and scooted up to sit against the headboard. Jess slid himself over until he was next to her and put his arm around her shoulder, pulling her close. A quick look at the clock told him it was four in the morning and the likelihood of them getting any more sleep was slim. Colleen always had a hard time falling asleep after one of these nightmares.

  But this time she surprised him. Resting her head on his shoulder, she soon dozed off. He took advantage of the possibility of getting a few more hours of sleep and leaned his head on hers.

  * * * * *

  They were rudely awoken just after seven by a banging on their apartment door. Jess pulled his shorts on and went to take a look through the peep hole. Jack Carmichael stood there and he didn’t look happy. Jess opened the door and let him in.

  “We have to move you again. Right now. Hurry up and get dressed.”

  “Why?” Colleen had come out of the bedroom wearing just her robe.

  “The guard downstairs saw a car with what he’s pretty sure were men from the Mellinni family.”

  Jess ran his hand through his hair and let out a heavy sigh. Looking at his wife, he made a decision. He hoped her interest in the Corbin’s Bend floor plans the previous evening meant she was willing to move there. If Colleen would be safe there, then that’s where they were going.

  “This is the last move we’re willing to make,” Jess informed the U.S. Marshal. “We’re going to fill out that application you gave us and we want out of here as soon as possible. Just one condition—we want to visit with our family one more time.”

  “I’m glad to hear you’re willing to move forward, but it’s not a good idea to visit with your family again. If the guard downstairs is right, you’re being watched and followed by the Mellinni family and they know you’re somewhere in this vicinity. One more visit with your children and grandchildren would be putting them at risk. I can’t allow it.”

  Colleen went to stand beside her husband and put her hand on his arm. “It’s okay, honey. We can’t put them in danger. We’d never forgive ourselves if something happened to them. Let’s just go and keep everyone safe.”

  Marveling again at how strong his beautiful wife had been throughout the entire ordeal, Jess put his arm around Colleen’s shoulder and gave her a gentle squeeze. Kissing her temple, he said, “You’re right. It’s time to go.”

  They were taken to a secure location where two make-up artists waited to do their magic. New disguises applied—this time making them appear to be in their seventies—Colleen was given a cane and Jack gave Jess the keys to a rental car.

  Handing them a piece of paper with a map drawn on it, he said, “Take this route and one of our cars will start following you about two blocks down. It’ll be a silver sedan so keep an eye out for it. We’ll make sure no one else is tailing you. Go into the apartment building and ring the bell for apartment five-twelve. They’ll buzz you in.”

  This was the first time they had ever driven themselves anywhere. Jack was hoping two elderly people wouldn’t draw the attention of any Mellinni Family enforcers if they were watching. Most likely they would be keeping an eye out for a couple being escorted to a vehicle.

  Jess pulled the car into the back parking lot of the apartment building and they walked in through the rear lobby. After ringing the bell for number five-twelve, he pushed the door open when it buzzed and they took the elevator to the fifth floor. A dark-haired female agent met them at the door and introduced herself as Renee Stone.

  “I’ll be your handler for the next few days. We want to make sure Marshal Carmichael is not being followed by any of the Mellinni Family. He’s taking a circuitous route here to lead anyone who may be following away from you. Your bags are already inside and I’ll be staying in the unit with you.”

  “Then I hope this is bigger than the shitty one bedroom units they’ve been putting us in,” Jess remarked as they entered the apartment.

  “This is actually a three-bedroom unit and Agent Marcoux will be joining us this evening.”

  Jess saw the worried look on Colleen’s face and turned to Agent Stone. “Is there a problem that we need two agents inside with us?

  “Don’t worry,” Agent Stone said. “It’s just that we don’t want to draw attention by having an age
nt outside the door. There’ll be somebody downstairs both at the main and rear entrances.”

  “Let’s get that paperwork filled out for Marshal Carmichael,” Jess suggested.

  They sat at the dining room table and Agent Stone tossed a sealed yellow envelope on the table. “Marshal Carmichael sent this and said it will help you with that paperwork. I’m going in the living room so you can have some privacy while you open that.”

  There was something about the way the agent tossed the envelope on the table that made Jess think something about her was off. When Colleen reached for the envelope and ripped it open, his attention was diverted and he forgot about Agent Stone.

  Colleen pulled out two passports, two Colorado driver’s licenses, credit cards, one check book, and two biographies. One was for Debra Ann Hunter and the other was for Russell James Hunter.

  Looking over at Jess, she stuck out her hand to shake his and said, “Hi Russ, my name is Debi.”

  “Debi, huh? Well, it’s nice to meet you, Debi.” He shook her hand, smiled, and asked, “How would you like to hop in bed with me?”

  She batted her eyelashes at him, then looked down shyly and said, “Gee, we just met, Russ. Don’t you think you’re moving awfully fast?”

  “Not really.” Russ swore she looked just as cute as when he first asked her to the movies when she was only fifteen. “It’s just that I fell in love with you the moment I laid eyes on you, so why waste time? I know I want to spend the rest of my life with you, and as much of it as possible in bed.”

  “I’ll tell you what, let’s take care of this paperwork first, then I’d be happy to roll around the bed with you.”

  They laughed and Russ leaned towards Debi to kiss her. “Deal. It’s been hours since I’ve had a good roll with someone as pretty as you.”

  She giggled and pushed him away. “Let’s read our bios first so we’ll be able to fill out all the personal stuff on the application.”

  They each read their own bio and then switched so they would know about each other. Most of the information was the truth or close to it. Instead of being from Chicago, they were high school sweethearts from the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. Debi was a kindergarten teacher instead of a junior high teacher. Jess had been a teacher as well as a school principal, but Russ was going to be a trained mechanic looking to open his own mobile auto repair service company.

  That would work, Russ thought. While not formerly trained, he’d taken auto shop in high school for three years. Even though it was a long time ago, he had rebuilt several cars in his garage over the years. He knew his way around automobiles and what made them tick. Their friends always came to him for advice on car repairs.

  Their bios included the info of having four children, two of which lived abroad with their own families and rarely were they able to see them.

  “That’s good,” Debi said. “Then I don’t have to worry too much about letting something slip about the grandchildren.”

  They filled out the application quickly using the information in their bios. Agent Stone came into the dining room, and seeing they were putting their application back in the envelope, she said, “I’ll take the application and see that it gets to Marshal Carmichael. If you’ve switched out your IDs in your wallets, I’ll need the old ones to properly dispose of them.”

  That feeling that something was off with Agent Stone came back to Russ and he sealed the envelope before handing it to her. They dug out their old identification to give to Stone and Debi said, “Just like that, Colleen and Jess are gone.”

  Russ caught the plaintive note in her voice and put his arm around her. “Yeah, but Russ and Debi are here and they’ll be safe now.”

  * * * * *

  Later that night, when Debi couldn’t fall asleep, she looked at the brochures and read about Corbin’s Bend. What she read confused her. The main street was named Spanking Loop? What kind of name was that for a street? She saw terms like Domestic Discipline and abbreviations she couldn’t figure out. What was a HoH? Or a TiH? Reading on, she learned the people who lived there believed in spanking. They spanked misbehaving wives. And it wasn’t just wives, sometimes the woman was the head of the household and she spanked her husband.

  Did Russ read this? If he had, why hadn’t he mentioned it to her?

  Debi logged onto the laptop and did a search for Domestic Discipline. She found numerous websites and blogs dealing with the subject and she read several posts on different blogs. It was a whole new world she had never known existed.

  While she read descriptions of punishments for various crimes that violated the rules of DD, she found herself becoming aroused. Reading blog post after blog post, she learned the basics of this type of relationship and wondered again if Russ had read the Corbin’s Bend brochures completely through.

  Unable to stop clicking on links, she almost fell asleep while waiting for one blog to open on the screen. Looking at the clock, she saw it was after two in the morning. Turning the laptop off and putting it on the nightstand, she turned onto her side and wiggled her body so she was tucked snugly against Russ. She felt the dampness of her arousal between her legs and hoped Russ would wake up in the morning with a hard-on.

  Chapter Three

  Russ and Debi drove in their new SUV about a mile or so behind Jack, who was the lead car in the drive to Corbin’s Bend. They estimated the drive would take two full days. Agent Stone was driving behind them, making sure no one followed them. Russ still couldn’t pinpoint what it was about Stone that he didn’t like.

  He’d asked Jack if he knew her well, and Jack shrugged and said this was the first assignment they’d worked on together. Jack wasn’t worried, FBI agents were fully vetted. He told Russ he was sure there was nothing to worry about. Still, Russ couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off about her.

  That first day they traveled over five hundred miles stopping in Lincoln, Nebraska for the night. When they checked into their room, Russ thought Debi looked tired and maybe even a little depressed. She’d spent most of the day dozing with her head leaning against the window.

  “You slept most of the time today,” he pointed out to her. “Are you feeling okay?”

  “Yeah, at least as okay as I can feel with all this happening. Plus I stayed up late looking up stuff about Corbin’s Bend. I’ll do some of the driving tomorrow so you can have a break.”

  The following day Debi offered to start out driving and Russ thought it was a good idea. If she was feeling a little down, the driving would help keep her mind from dwelling on not being able to see the kids one more time before they moved to Corbin’s Bend.

  The second day passed quickly with Russ taking over the driving after lunch. As they neared Denver, Debi looked down at her cell phone when it signaled a new text message.

  “It’s a text from Jack and he doesn’t want to stop for the night, he says we could reach Corbin’s Bend by nine o’clock so why bother with a hotel room.”

  “I’m good with that,” Russ said.

  “Don’t you think we’re pushing it? We’ve been going since eight o’clock this morning. That’ll be more than twelve hours of driving. I’m going to text back that I think we should stop.”

  Russ sighed but figured if that’s what Debi wanted to do, then it was all right with him. Though he’d prefer to just get there and be done with the driving.

  Debi’s phone dinged with a new text. She read it and then said, “Looks like he’s not really giving us a choice. He says it’s safer to keep going. We’ll stop for dinner and have a little break.”

  “That’ll work. Why don’t you have a little nap and then you can drive after dinner.”

  When they stopped for dinner, Jack told them he’d been in touch with Brent and they had made arrangements to put a small table and chairs in the kitchen of their new house and a bed in their master bedroom. “He borrowed the stuff from one of the model homes and he got someone to put sheets and a blanket on so you’ll at least have a bed to sleep in.”
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  “Sounds good,” Russ said, thinking it would be a relief to be done with the driving.

  “What about you?” Debi asked. “Where will you sleep? And what about Agent Stone?”

  “I’ll sleep at Brent’s place, and Agent Stone will get a room in Denver and then head home tomorrow.”

  “What about other furniture in our new house? Will there be somewhere nearby we can go shopping?”

  “You can drive down to Boulder or Denver tomorrow and get furniture. Brent said they’ll deliver the same or next day.”

  Trying to be encouraging for Debi, Russ said, “We can drive into Boulder and then you can get other stuff you’ll need for the house too.”

  “Make sure you use the Visa card for your purchases until your funds are all transferred into your new accounts. The Wit Program will cover your relocation expenses, but you have to put them on the Visa card.”

  Jack left the restaurant first and then Russ and Debi left about fifteen minutes later. Agent Stone had eaten at a separate table and kept an eye out while they were in the restaurant. She would follow the Hunters in her car for a short distance to make sure they weren’t being followed and then return to Denver for the night.

  Debi drove for a while, giving Russ a little break. He was going to do all the driving once it got dark and they had to drive up the mountain that led to Corbin’s Bend.

  “I didn’t want to keep going when Jack first suggested it, but now I’m glad we’ll be getting there tonight,” Debi said. “Let’s get an early start tomorrow and get to Denver for some serious shopping.”

  “Yeah, with a bed already in the house, we can go straight to sleep if we’re tired.”

  They talked for a few more minutes and then Russ dozed off. He wanted to be rested when he took over the driving. He knew Debi wouldn’t want to drive up a dark mountain road.

  * * * * *

  When they got to Boulder, they pulled over and switched drivers. They had passed Jack a while back and now he passed them again. He would let them pass him once more and then he’d fall behind them. He was positive no one was following but wanted to stay alert to any possible danger. Agent Stone had been behind them up to Boulder, but now she was on her way back to Denver.