CHAPTER 12

Paul left rather reluctantly when Monica announced that she really needed to start getting ready to go to work. She had been able tell that he wanted to say something else about David and the bar, but had held himself back. Instead, she had a feeling that he would end up being a regular at O’Reilly’s before long. He had only left after she assured him that Andrew would be coming to walk her to the bar.

Monica glanced at the clock again and worried her bottom lip between her teeth. It was only four-thirty and she didn’t know if she should go down to visit Kristin before Andrew arrived. She hadn’t heard any fighting or even raised voices coming from the second floor apartment but she couldn’t get the image of David’s enraged face out of her mind. If he had stumbled home in that state she didn’t even want to think of what might have happened. Her mind made up, she wrote a quick note for Andrew and then headed downstairs.

“Who is it?” came Kristin’s soft voice.

“It’s me, Monica.” She stood back as she heard the locks turning.

“Please come in,” Kristin said, her voice had an urgent tone to it and her eyes were deeply shadowed.

“Kristin, what’s wrong?”

“It’s David! He didn’t come home last night and I don’t know what to do or where to look.” The young woman had obviously been trying to hold herself together, but Monica’s concern gave her an opportunity to let her fears out. Her voice cracked and her hands nervously worked at the edge of her shirt. “Did you see him last night?”

Monica wasn’t eager to share what she knew and her expression said as much.

“You did see him, didn’t you? What happened?”

The angel led her over to the sofa and then sat beside her. “I did see him last night,” she admitted. “There was a little incident at the bar.”

“What happened? Was he hurt? What hospital?”

“No, no,” Monica gently patted her hand. “He wasn’t hurt. It was just a little fight,” she couldn’t outright lie, but she tried to gloss over the confrontation. “I expect he just went somewhere to avoid telling you about it.”

Kristin met Monica’s eyes and the angel could see the pain written there. “I know you probably aren’t telling me everything,” she said. “He’s been getting worse for a while now. I just didn’t want to admit it to myself.”

“I’m sure that if he just gets some help…”

“That’s what Tess said too. She’s a social worker down at unemployment and the other day I just ended up telling her everything. I felt better afterwards, but it didn’t change anything with David. I tried to talk to him, but he just stormed out. I wish you could have met us both last year. We were so in love. He was the perfect husband and we had the perfect life.”

She shook her head, blonde hair sweeping across her face and obscuring the tears that had begun to pool in her eyes.

“Kristin, Tess was right, and I’m sure if you go back to her she’ll give you ideas of where to go for help. You aren’t alone in this.”

The woman laid a hand over her rounded stomach and glanced down at the place where a new life was forming. “I know I’m not… it’s just that sometimes that scares me more than anything else.”

“Oh, no… don’t feel that way. This baby will be a gift from God. No matter what else happens, you have to know that.”

“I never used to doubt that,” Kristin sniffled and raised her eyes to meet Monica’s once more.

“Then don’t start now. He’s there for you whenever you need Him.” Monica was almost surprised by how easily the words flowed from her mouth. Speaking of God’s love felt so natural… just the way it always had.

“You’re right… It’s just hard. I just started admitting to myself that there’s a problem, and now it feels like I’m telling everyone. Telling God feels almost like whining.”

Monica laughed and grasped Kristin’s hand. “I don’t think God ever thinks that the people who talk to him are whining.”

Kristin let a smile touch her lips. “I guess not.”

A knock at the door interrupted them and they both looked up, Kristin’s eyes showing just a hint of fear at who might be behind it. It could be the police, come to tell her that David had been arrested, or worse, in an accident.

“Yes?” she said, the single word a question.

“My name’s Andrew. I’m the building manager, and Monica’s friend.”

Kristin quickly opened the door as Monica rose from her seat.

“You got my note.”

“And just in time. Sorry I’m a little bit late. Mrs. Winthrop down on the first floor had a leaky sink and it was about to flood her whole kitchen.” He smiled at Monica and then turned to Kristin. “It’s very nice to meet you, Kristin. Monica mentioned that she visited here yesterday.”

“Nice to meet you too,” she replied.

Andrew’s quick eyes surveyed the room, spotting all of the little things that needed doing. “You know,” he said. “I think I’ll have some time tomorrow if you’d like me to swing by and maybe fix that ceiling and give the place a touch of paint.”

Kristin looked doubtful about accepting such an offer, but Monica quickly piped up, “Yes, that would be wonderful! I’m an excellent painter,” she continued as she turned to Kristin, nodding her head.

“Well, okay… that would be very nice of you.”

“No problem at all. I’ll give you a call before I come over.” He turned to Monica. “Are you all set for tonight?” he asked, searching her face for the fear he had come to expect.

“Yes, I’m ready,” she replied, “and I think I may have a little explaining to do, so we’d better get going.” She impulsively turned and gave Kristin a quick hug. “Things will get better,” she whispered. “I know they will.”

“I think you may be right about that,” the woman replied, feeling a lightness enter her heart. “If you see David…”

“I’ll send him home, don’t you worry.”

“You seem a little better today,” Andrew commented as the two of them walked away from the apartment building.

He hadn’t meant to put it quite so bluntly, but it was true. The darkness under her eyes was still there, but her eyes sparkled a little more, and she walked with more confidence than he had seen in days.

Monica pursed her lips together thoughtfully. “I guess I am feeling… not better, but different. I’m not who I was Andrew and I don’t think I ever will be, but this new me isn’t quite as bad today.”

He smiled, though her words did little to make him feel better. He longed for the old Monica and while he knew that she would never forget her ordeal, he still prayed that she would at least be able to put it behind her. But for now, her words still lingered on the negative side, but he decided to be thankful for the hint of life that was presently in her dark eyes, “So what do you plan on telling Beth tonight?”

“The truth,” She answered simply, knowing that there was no other option. If another fight broke out or if David decided to act up, she had little control over her actions and it was best that Beth understood where she had just come from, “I just hope she understands.”

“I’m sure she will,” Andrew encouraged, knowing that if the Father wanted Monica to continue working at the bar then there was little doubt that Beth would find the understanding she needed. However, he wasn’t at all sure he wanted Monica reliving those moments when McArthur was after her right before going to work, especially with an assignment that was far from pleasant.

They finished the walk to the bar in silence and the older angel could almost feel the heaviness creep into the little angel’s heart the closer they got.

Eyeing the door for a moment, Monica then turned to Andrew, a hopeful look in her tired eyes, “Will you-.”

“I’ll be here, no later than 2:00,” He finished for her, smiling at the relief that crossed her face, all the while knowing that he would probably make an appearance long before then.

“Thank you,” She said softly before he tugged her into his arms for a hug. As he released her, she reached up and kissed his cheek, saying a silent prayer of thanks for the blessing of his unwavering friendship, before she turned and headed through the door.

O’Reilly’s was not yet crowded and Monica immediately spotted Beth lighting the little votives that sat on each table, “Beth?”

Beth turned to look at Monica in surprise, further shocked to see her wearing her uniform, “I thought I had seen the last of you last night,” She remarked carefully. Though Monica’s disappearing act had annoyed her last night as they were so busy, she liked her and wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt.

“I’m sorry about that,” She replied, her eyes flashing sincerity, “Beth, I’d like to explain a few things to you, if you have a minute.”

Gesturing to the table where she had been lighting the last candle, Beth sat down and waited for Monica to join her. She had a feeling that Monica had been through something terrible from the very first night they had worked together and she was hoping that now, she could make her understand why she had bolted out of here last night.

Realizing Beth was waiting for her to speak, the angel struggled with how to begin, as she really wasn’t all that anxious to relive the moments she needed to speak of. She also knew that she had little choice, “I just came out of the Witness Protection Program, Beth,” She began softly, her eyes trained on the top of the table, “I saw a man murdered and the killer saw me, so I was taken into the program until he could be caught…” Her voice trailed off for a moment as the memories that had barely begun to fade caught up to her once more.

“That must have been terrible,” The other woman replied quietly, knowing that there was more to the story, “Did they catch him?”

Nodding her head, she released the last bit of detail she was willing to voice, “Yes, they did, but not before he found me. He was holding me at gunpoint when he was killed.” She shuddered involuntarily, the images still so fresh in her mind that they stung.

Compassion filled Beth’s eyes as she reached across the table to cover Monica’s hand with her own, “I’m so sorry. I can’t even begin to imagine how horrible that must have been.”

“When the fight broke out last night, it just…it scared me badly enough that all I could think about was getting as far away from the violence as I could. That wasn’t fair to you and I’m sorry.”

“Your reaction was well warrented,” Beth told her firmly, “I’m just sorry the fight had to break out in the first place,” She watched as the angel raised her eyes and she could plainly see the haunted look in them, “You still have a job if you want it, Monica. You’re a good waitress and the customers love you.”

Monica blushed slightly at the praise she didn’t feel she deserved after abandoning her station last night, but she nodded her head, “I would like to stay, Beth.”

Smiling now, Beth rose from her chair, “Well, then get to work,” She replied with a teasing wink, “Saturday night isn’t as busy as last night was thankfully, so we shouldn’t see any bar brawls, and of course there is the added bonus of being closed tomorrow. You look like you could use it to catch up on some sleep.”

“I’ll be looking forward to that,” She returned the smile, feeling more than grateful over not having to deal with David tomorrow. She only wished she wasn’t longing for her hiatus from her assignment to begin tonight.

Paul sighed heavily as he laid down yet another file on the bed and he ran his hand across his eyes in exhaustion. Since leaving Monica’s apartment, he had been going through them, one detail at a time, and now the ten files he had completed were peppered with Post It notes of various colors in a haphazard color coding system.

Leaning back against his pillows, he tried to take in all he had learned and the knowledge was not encouraging so far. Each of the ten cases had one definite thing in common; each of the witnesses had been bumped up to the highest security measures possible, which had either meant that the killers had discovered the safe houses once, or that there was evidence that they were nearby.

High security measures meant that the people in the agency with knowledge of the witnesses whereabouts were extremely limited. Only the highest-ranking FBI officials were made aware of the details of the cases and for Paul that narrowed it down to three people if his suspicions were correct and none of the three were comforting…one in particular.

His eyes fell onto the three stacks of files on his bed, one that he had already gone through, one that he had yet to go through and the third one consisting of only one file. Lauren’s. Based on what he had seen so far, he wasn’t sure he could bear finding out that she had been set up if that was indeed the case as he wasn’t at all certain he would be able to control his emotions.

Closing his eyes, he allowed his mind to rest as the lack of sleep was beginning to catch up to him and it wasn’t long before he was caught up in a dream about those last few moments when he had thought the story of his own life was going to have a happy ending.

“It’s almost over, Paul,” Lauren grinned over at him from where they sat together in the back seat of the car as another agent drove steadily towards the courthouse.

He chuckled, not wanting to diffuse her excitement, but wanting her to face reality as well, “Honey, there may very well be more than one court appearance. This could take a bit of time.”

“But we have time and when it is over, all that will be left of this whole nightmare is you and me,” Her eyes sparkled as she reached over and took his face in her hands, before touching her lips to his, “I love you, Paul Gatlin, and I’m going to spend the rest of my life telling you that.”

Reaching up, he ran a hand through her dark hair, the love he felt for her unable to compare to anything else he had ever experienced in his life, “I love you too, baby, and you’re right; we have all the time in the world…”
The sound of shots firing in his mind caused Paul to jerk awake, his heart feeling as if it would surely burst out of his chest. His hazel eyes flashed with anger at the thought that his time with Lauren had possibly been cut short due to betrayal from people he had trusted and he knew that sleep would have to be pushed away yet again.

Reaching for the single file that sat alone, he opened it up and began to read, trying to seal himself off from the pain in order to find out the truth.