Redemption Rains (3 page)

“I think that I will be all right
now.”

Elizabeth pulled the blanket around
her closer, trying to make the edges meet and cover the grubby
nightgown she was wearing. The blanket stopped just short of her
knee, leaving her calves bear to the cold night. Detective Kane
walked slightly ahead of Elizabeth, allowing her a few short
minutes to assess this man. He was definitely a sight to behold,
dressed in his casual clothes consisting of a black T-shirt and
blue jeans. The material stretched taut over his thighs as he
walked briskly towards his car leaving her to play catch
up.

The ride to the station was short and
uneventful and now she found herself back in the spot she was less
than 12 hours ago, only this time she was an even a bigger mess
with her matted hair, rumpled clothes and bare feet. Now she really
fit in with this crowd of riffraff that filled the office. Sitting
in an old rickety chair, trying to keep covered, Elizabeth did not
notice the gentleman who stood in front of her.

“Ma’am, I’m Captain Dye,” the hand
held out in greeting was one of strength and welcome. “Would you
like to come into my office? You might feel a little better with
some privacy.”

Elizabeth looked at the tall, thin man
standing before her. Kindness and gentleness reflected in his eyes.
Elizabeth took his hand and offered a thank you as he led her to
his office in the back of the station. Motioning toward a
comfortable padded chair in front of his desk, the captain turned
to grab something from a shelf and then shut the door. He handed
her a well-worn blanket of soft blue material.

“It’s not much, but it has to be
better than that old police issued stuff they call a
blanket.”

Elizabeth took the warm blanket and
wrapped it around her frame. Surprisingly, it covered her well,
giving a sense of warmth and comfort.

“Thank you so much. I am feeling a
little strange walking around here with no clothes or
shoes.”

“No need to worry. We’ll have you
settled in no time with some new clean clothes and a nice
comfortable bed to lay your pretty head,” his words were meant to
assuage her feelings, but instead, it made her realize that she did
not have a home to return to.

Until this moment she had felt numb,
now she could feel the fear and sadness seeping into her bones.
Shaking her head to clear it of all the emotions, she looked at the
captain, for the first time taking in what he had just
said.

“What do you mean Captain? Everything
that I owned was in that apartment, and I hate to tell you but I
don’t feel very safe going back out there with those two men on the
loose. I don’t know if you were informed, but I did see their car
parked down the street. I know that they had something to do with
this.”

“Yes ma’am, I am almost positive that
this was their doing. And you are right to be afraid Ms. Windsor,
they are very dangerous men who mean business,” the Captain looked
away from her unflinching gaze.

“But there is no need to worry now. We
are going to take care of this and you and make sure that no one
tries to hurt you again.”

“But I don’t understand. You know who
those men are?” The final question came out in a squeak, “but
how?”

“It was not too hard after we
identified the victim,” turning back towards his desk, the captain
shuffled through a stack of folders. Locating the one he wanted, he
turned back to her.

“Here it is: Anthony Lompaglia, better
known as “the leech” Lompaglia to his cohorts. He was part of
Vincent Sirvano’s group. As best we can figure, he did a wrong. The
two henchmen you saw belong to Sirvano’s clan. My guess is he chose
to suck the wrong person dry,” the captain’s laughter rumbled in
his chest. Elizabeth looked at the photo that the captain handed
her.

“This one here is Rocko,” he pointed
to the picture of the man with the beady black eyes. “He is the
muscle out of the two. The other is Mr. Smith,” handing her another
photo she recognized him instantly, “the brains. He answers
directly to Servano and is so clean on his hits that we have never
been able to connect the two; until now.” Elizabeth looked up at
the captain in fright.

“What do you mean? Are you telling me
that I witnessed a “hit”?”

“Yes ma’am, we have been able to tie
all four men together enough to prosecute, but only if we have your
eye witness testimony. We thought that you weren’t seen that night
and that you would be our smoking gun, but now we know that they
know who you are and will come after you.”

“Come after me? I told you they saw me
that night. I knew that I would not be safe. But did you listen?
No!” Elizabeth stood and started to pace the floor. “You told me
not to worry. I lost everything, and almost got killed in the
process, but I shouldn’t worry, right?”

“No Ma’am, you should worry,” the
captain responded brusquely. Hearing the hiss of Elizabeth’s
indrawn breath in surprise and fear the captain tried for a more
soothing tone and then went.

“
What I am trying to say is
that we are going to protect you from now on out.” The captain
looked a little uneasy as he shuffled papers and files on his
desk.

“I was waiting until Detective Kane
got here, but I guess I will go ahead and start. Please sit down.”
He gestured toward the chair she had just vacated. Elizabeth sat
back down, wrapping the blanket around her as if it were
armor.

“What we are asking you to do is very
dangerous and because of this we are going to have to put you in
the witness’ protection program. We have already called in the FBI
and are working with them to set up a new identity for you. Now all
we need to know is your answer.”

She stared down at the floor,
pondering the information.

“For how long will I be in this
program?”

“Forever,” the word reverberated in
Elizabeth’s head. Panic gripped her body, stopping the flow of
blood and the intake of oxygen. Elizabeth stood again and started
to pace.

“What other options do I
have?”

The captain looked at Elizabeth as she
paced frantically back forth in his office. He thought to himself
how sorry he was for such a homely little lady being stuck in this
situation.

“There are no other
options.”

“No other options!” Elizabeth began to
pace faster. “You are wrong Captain. I do have another option. I
don’t have to testify. Then I can go back to my life as it
was.”

The impact of the immovable object,
which stepped in front of her path, caused her to teeter back and
forth on her bare feet. Detective Kane grabbed her by the forearms,
his fingers digging into her cruelly. Elizabeth looked up into
those cold blue eyes staring at her with indignation. There was
such animosity in those eyes. What did she do to this man to make
him look at her with such rancor? Nothing, the thought entered her
head. She did not do anything for the man because she was ugly. If
Elizabeth were beautiful, that would be different. She was sure
only a beautiful woman would evoke any kind of sympathy from this
man and this only made her dislike him more. Still holding her
arms, he shook her so hard Elizabeth was certain her head
rattled.

“Are you crazy, lady? You can’t just
go back to your life,” his voice was hard and relentless. “You have
a mob boss out there who wants your head on a platter and two men
who won’t think twice about doing that.” Elizabeth fought against
his hold.

“You’re hurting me,” she said with a
cry in her voice.

Detective Kane released her so
suddenly that she almost fell to the ground. Stepping back from the
detective, she rubbed her arms knowing that she would bare the
marks of that brutal onslaught.

“I’m sorry Mrs. Windsor,” Detective
Kane stepped away, raking his fingers through his hair.

“Where is your husband? He should be
here for this also.”

The question hit Elizabeth like a ton
of bricks. Of course she never noticed until now how he had called
her “Mrs.” all of the time.

“It’s Miss Windsor. If you had taken
the time, you would have noticed I don’t have a husband,” her chin
went up a notch, watching the arrogance fade from his eyes and
something she could not recognize replace it. Was that pity or even
repugnance reflected there? Too late, the shutters came down
blocking out all emotion, before she could decipher what she
saw.

“Well, that only makes this easier,
doesn’t it Miss Windsor,” he turned his back on her and the
captain.

Elizabeth stood there staring at his
back. Noticing the way the muscles rippled under his t-shirt as he
went to cross his arms over his chest. Of their own volition her
eyes traveled from his shoulders down his back to where his t-shirt
was neatly tucked into a pair of faded blue jeans. They were like a
second skin, covering his perfectly shaped butt and rock hard
thighs. She felt the heat travel up her neck to cover her face.
Elizabeth jerked her head away and slightly shook it as if to clear
the image that she knew would be burned in her mind forever. Never
had she reacted this way about any man. She was torn between
loathing and an attraction she was still too naive to
understand

Exhausted from the emotional turmoil
she had experienced these last hours, Elizabeth sank into the
chair. She realized that she had to do the right thing, but she
knew that she would never be able to give up her life she had now.
Never see her mother or sister again? Sure they infuriated her
sometimes, but they were her family, along with her stepfather
Edward Lindsey and stepbrother Samuel.

For the first time in more than 18
hours Elizabeth thought of Samuel, her best friend and confidant.
He was always there for her and more family than her mother or
half-sister. Elizabeth knew that she felt more for her handsome
older stepbrother than friendship. She secretly harbored a crush on
him since the first time she saw him open the door to their ranch
house and welcome her in. His sandy blond hair, warm brown eyes and
always-present smile were the first signs of compassion Elizabeth
had ever experienced.

“I always wanted a sister,” Samuel
smiled at her that first day.

From the beginning he was there for
her, making her feel at home. Helping her with her homework,
playing in the barn in the stacks of hay and riding horses
together; this was the best part of their friendship; riding horses
gave her young heart time to take in the blonde god that was her
stepbrother.

The infatuation grew over the years,
but she knew that Samuel did not feel the same way. He looked at
her as a sister, and Elizabeth had to accept that. Unfortunately,
no man seemed to measure up to her stepbrother, not that she had a
lot of experience with men, she mused. She had never even had a
real date before. She had consigned herself to the fact that she
would always be alone, no marriage, and no children. Sadness swept
through her, leaving her feeling weighted down by the grief she
felt.

“Miss Windsor, we need for you to make
your decision,” the captain had walked around his desk to stand in
front of her. Laying a hand on her shoulder he looked at her with a
question in his kind eyes.

“Are you still considering not
testifying?”

She saw Detective Kane’s back tense,
the muscles bunching along his shoulder blades. He turned from the
window and looked directly at her with a glint in his eyes. She
knew at that moment what she would do. Drawing herself up to her
full height, she raised her chin and gave the most disdainful look
she could muster while wearing nothing but a nightgown and a
blanket.

“I will testify Captain,” she glanced
over at the detective. Noting those heavy lids now veiled his eyes,
hiding any hint at what he was thinking. She pulled the blanket
tighter around her shoulders. The Captain gave her arm a slight,
reassuring squeeze.

“I am glad to hear that. Now, we need
to get the details straight and find out what the FBI have setup
for you. I’m sure that this thing won’t take that long.”

He turned back toward his desk,
reaching for the phone. Detective Kane walked toward her slowly.
Still unable to decipher the look in his hooded eyes, Elizabeth
drew the blanket tighter around her to shield her from what, she
was not sure. Hating this feeling of intimidation the detective was
so bent on impending on her, she turned toward the captain
again.

“Before I go any further in this
excursion Captain, I need to contact my family. If what you are
telling me is true, it will be a very long time before I get to see
them again,” her voice quivered a little as she spoke. She rushed
into her next sentence. “I have a few things at my parent’s ranch
that I need to get, clothes and personal items. I just don’t think
that a night gown and a blanket suit the situation,” Elizabeth
raised her eyebrow and looked directly at detective Kane. “I would
be happier if I were dressed appropriately for this meeting that
will determine the rest of my life.”

“No,” Detective Kane barked the order
surprising both her and the captain.

“I’m sorry Miss Windsor,” the captain
said on a sigh. “I think that it would not be wise to draw your
family into this now. It will only put their lives in
danger.”