Protecting Lyndley (3 page)

Ky

The drive from the crime scene to the witness’ house was tedious and my truck was stifling, causing me to need a drink more than I ever had. So I found the closest bar and saddled up for a quick drink. I was traveling alone, which made it that much easier to get away with shit, but I knew Tom would be calling in the next hour to make sure I made it to the witness’ house, so I had to hurry.

“What can I get ya?”

“Whiskey and ginger, please.”

“You got it, honey.”

I glanced up at the waitress for a brief second, but found myself having no interest in her. She sat my drink down in front of me and gave me ‘the’ look, but I just simply passed my twenty-dollar bill to her and downed the mouth-watering drink.

The cool liquid slid down my throat, barely leaving a burn in its wake. My mind and body instantly relaxed, and now I was ready to do my job. I finished the last sip and slid my glass towards the bartender.

“Wait, your change.” She shouted as I began walking out.

“Keep it.” I shouted back as I waved on my way out the doors. I quickly made my wa
y out to my truck and headed to the car rental place up the street. I was instantly dreading having to drive all the way to New York with this girl, and I hadn’t even met her yet.

I made it to her house in less than thirty minutes, and just in time for Tom to call and ream my ass for being a few minutes late.
I glanced around outside, taking in the expensive neighborhood around me. She definitely wasn’t hurtin’ for money that’s for sure. I took in a deep cleansing breath and headed up the steps to the door.

I pulled
my hand back ready to knock, when a large muscular man answered the door. If this guy was here to look after her, what the hell was I doing here?

“Hi, I’m Deputy US Marshal Wakely. I’m here for Ms. Caverly.” I was a big guy, but this guy dwarfed me in height and size. It was quite intimidating.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Detective Dawson. Come on in.” He waved me past him and into a small living room off of the front of the house. “Lyndley, I mean Ms. Caverly will be down in just a minute. Can I get you something to drink?”

I could go for anything alcoholic, I thought to myself. “No
, thank you.” We both sat in silence for what felt like an eternity before Ms. Caverly finally graced us with her presence. Glad to know she thought I had all fucking day.

She came in so quietly,
I almost didn’t realize she was in the room until I looked up and saw her. She was absolutely gorgeous. Her waist length honey blonde hair cascaded down her back, and her emerald green eyes shimmered with unshed tears. She was captivating and all consuming, leaving me a bit breathless.

Between the alco
hol swimming around in my brain and the tightness in my jeans, I was having a hell of a time pulling myself together. Her little detective friend cleared his throat, and that’s when I finally spoke.

“
Hi, I’m Deputy US Marshal Wakely. I’ve been assigned to your case.” I held out my hand for her to shake, but she cowered away from me. Her hair fell forward a bit, concealing her right eye as she looked at the ground. I had to fight the urge to push the hair back from her face, to get a better look at her.

“Hi, I’m Lyndley.” She looked up briefly from
under her long lashes. “Can I get you something?”

“No, I’m fine. Thank you though.” I motioned for her to take a seat across f
rom me, and surprisingly enough she did. It didn’t take long for her to warm up to me. She eventually sat back and looked directly at me. I can’t say I was surprised though. I had a knack for making women want to open up to me.

“So what exactly happens now?” Her voice was soft and gentle, doing things to parts of me that had been neglected as of late.

I glanced over at Detective Dawson. “I’m sorry Detective, but this is where I ask you to leave.”

“Does he have to?” It was strange the way she was taking up for him, but I brushed it off to a comfort thing.

“I’m sorry, but from this point on you and I are the only ones who will know where we go and what happens.”

I could see
sadness sweep across her crestfallen face. “I guess this is good-bye then?” She whispered in his direction.

“I suppose it is.” He st
ood and pulled her into a loving embrace. There was definitely something more to them than just a detective and witness kind of relationship.

I stayed put on the couch as Lyndley walked Detective Dawson to the door. I tried not to listen in on their
good-byes, but when I heard her small cries echoing through the hall, I couldn’t help it. I silently stood and waited for her to return, when she did, I handed her a Kleenex from the coffee table and reached for her to take a seat next to me.

“I’m very sorry for all of the loss you are experiencing, but nobody can know where we go from here. Do you understand?”

“I’m not an idiot. I know how the witness protection thing works, it just sucks.”

I sat back in awe of the girl sitting in front of me. No longer sat a meek, delicate girl, but a strong willed, fiery wom
an. It was a turn on, and I found myself being even more attracted to her. “No one was calling you an idiot.”

“It was implied. I guess I should get to packing, huh?”

She stood and I stood right along with her. “Look, Ms. Caverly we have about an hour to get your affairs in order. I can’t tell you exactly what will happen next, but just so you know, you will
never
be able to come back to this house.”

“I understand.” She started in the direction of the stairs, but slowly turned when she reached the bottom. “And it’s Lyndley.” Before I could respond, she disappeared up the stairs and I was left alone.

Lyndley

I quickly ran up the remaining steps and straight into my room, gently shutting the door behind me.
My eyes fluttered shut as my head fell back against the hard wood. My heart was racing and my palms were sweating. I had never felt this reaction before just by simply being in the presence of a guy. Maybe it was the whole Marshal thing or maybe it was just because he was that good looking.

He was tall. If I had to guess, I
would put him at about six two and solid muscle from what I could tell. His muscles were perfectly accentuated by his black long sleeved shirt, and his jeans hung low on his hips causing dormant parts of me to feel alive again. He had the swagger of a cowboy, and his voice was raw and gravely, which caught my attention the moment he spoke.

My eyes slowly opened as I remember
ed that he was still downstairs waiting for me. I half ran to my closet, pulling my suitcases down from the top shelf. My fingers frantically grasped the edge of the handle on one of them, when both came tumbling down on top of me. I let out a loud screech as I went falling to the floor.

My head smacked the floor
and my hands flew up to protect my face. A small laugh escaped between my lips as I lay flat on my back, staring at the pile of leather pinning me to the ground. Before I had a chance to push the suitcases off of me, a large hand was reaching for one of mine. When his skin touched mine a surge of electricity shot through my body. Before I could say a word, his throaty laugh was vibrating off the walls in the small space that we were currently occupying.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I’m not the most coordinated person.” I laughed. He pulled me from the pile, my body pressing flush against his. I glanced up into his wondering eyes and instantly felt flush. The sea of blue pulled me into some sort of trance, and I suddenly felt weak in the knees. He cleared his throat, bringing me out of my daze and pulling me back into reality. “I’m sorry.”

I pulled out of his grasp and began retrieving my suitcase from the ground below me. I thought he had left my room, but as I stood to start
gathering my belongings, there he was perched on the edge of my bed, staring.

“No reason to be sorry. Do you need any help?”

He made no attempt to move, and I could only assume that he was only offering to be polite. “No, that’s okay. Thanks though.” He gave a nod in my direction.

I felt w
eird under his scrutinizing gaze. He made no attempt to speak after that and neither did I. It was all very unsettling. At this point, I had no choice but to make small talk. “So, do you know where we’re going?” I glanced back at him as I stuffed my intimates into a bag.

“I do.”

That’s it? Seriously, either this guy was really bad at communication, or he didn’t want to talk to me. Either way, this should make for an exciting time. “You don’t talk much, do you?”

He shook his head as he let out a loud lau
gh, but he still refused to engage in conversation with me. I rolled my eyes in a mocking manner as I went about my business. Regardless of how this man made me feel, there was no way I was going to let him control how this went.

“We need to get going soon.” He was now standing in my bedroom doorway, looking down towards the front door.

“I’m almost done. I just have a few more things to-“ Suddenly the house was filling up with smoke, and a loud ringing blared through my ears. I quickly covered my ears as I searched for him in my room.

The smoke was getting thicker
and I was finding it hard to breathe. I dropped to the floor and began making my way over to the open bedroom door. I pushed my hand out in front of me and felt the thick rubber sole of a shoe. I instinctively pulled my hand back to my chest and started backing up towards the bathroom, but then I felt someone grab my ankle and tug me towards them.

I let out a scream, but was instantly silenced when a hand covered my mouth. I was about to bite down, but stopped when I heard his voice low in my ear.

“It’s me. I need you to stay quiet. Is there another way out of here besides the front door?” I nodded my head into his hand that was still covering my mouth. “Okay, lead the way, but stay down on the ground.”

I nodded again, and then his hand disappeared. I m
ade my way back to the bathroom hoping he was following. I snagged my purse off of my bed as I passed by it and as soon as both of us were safely in the confines of my bathroom, I kicked the door shut. The smoke hadn’t infiltrated the bathroom yet, and I was thankful to be able to take in a deep breath.

The shiny metal of the M
arshal’s gun is what caught my eye this time. I hadn’t even known that he had a gun on him, but I guess when you’re a US Marshal, you generally keep a gun on you. When my eyes met his, he was looking back at the small window behind him, and I knew exactly what he was asking. I nodded my head and started making my way over to it.

“Wait. Let me make sure there aren’t other people surrounding the house.
” I blinked a few times, letting his words sink in. I watched as he pushed open the window and stick his head out. “Okay, we’re clear. Do you want me to go first?”

My eyes went wide at the thought of having to drop down from a second story window. “I’m not sure.”

“I’ll go first and catch you, but I need you to be fast about it. If whoever it is gets through that door, we’re fucked.”

I vigorously nodded my head in his direction before I glanced back at the closed door. I quickly stood and ran to lock it, and then made my way back to the window that he had already gone out of. “No time for second guessing.” I muttered to myself as I pulled myself through the small window.

“Drop down, Lyndley. I’ll catch you, I swear.”

He was standing directly below me. I took in a deep breath and let myself free fall into his waiting arms. My eyes were squeezed tightly shut when he caught me. I was afraid to open them, but I knew if I didn’t move quickly, someone would find us. My eyes shot open as the sound of gunfire echoed throughout my backyard.

The Marshal grabbed my hand, and began running. We made our way out my back gate and around the corner to the other block. I didn’t know where we were headed, but if we were going on foot, we weren’t going to make it very far before they caught up with us. Just as we turned another corner, a black sports car came into view.

He
quickly hit the unlock button on the keychain, throwing me inside and then climbing in the other side. Before I could ask too many questions, he was screeching the tires and taking off at full speed. After I had caught my breath and we were a good twenty minutes away, then I decided to speak.

“Thank you.” I sighed.

“Just doing my job.”

I did
n’t expect him to be so blunt, but I guess in his line of work, not getting attached to the witness is key. “So now that we’ve ran away from the bad guys, what should I call you?”

He quickly glanced over at me with a smirk. “Everyone just calls me Wakely.”

“Do you have a first name,
Wakely
?”

“I do.”
And that’s how he left it.