Eye Witness

Folks this story has been floating around my head for sometime. The story is rather but long but I hope you will take the time to read it. Thanks again for the time you take to read my stories.

Jamie was in hiding. She had been the only eye witness to a high profile murder a few weeks ago. The police had put Jamie in protective custody until the trial but the killer had found out where they had hidden her and sent someone to make sure she didn't appear in court.

It had been just blind luck that Jamie happened to glance out the attic window and see three men sneaking up the hill behind the house where she was supposed to be safe. She had been looking around at the old things that were stored in the attic when she had come across a small hidden cubby hole behind a big chest. She would have never found it had it not been partially open when she moved the chest over by the window so she could get a better look at the things stored in there.

She peered inside and saw an old rag doll, a stuffed bear that had seen better days, and there was a little doll house as well as some paper and crayons. She could see something shiny in the back and crawled inside to see what it was. She was able to crawl on her hands and knees and even had enough room so that she could sit with her legs folded and her shoulders slumped over to keep from cracking her head on the ceiling of the little room.

It was a small silver locket with an old picture of a man and woman inside. This must have been the parents of the little girl this necklace probably belonged to she thought. She managed to turn around and still clutching the locket crawled back out into the attic room.

She walked over to the attic window so she could get a better look at the locket when she glanced outside and saw the men climbing up the hill. She ran over to the pull up ladder and hollered down at the three men who's care she was in telling them about the three men. One of the men came to the ladder and told her to pull it up and stay put then she saw him hurry towards the back of the house where the kitchen was.

She was scared to death. How had they found her? Nobody was supposed to know where she was except for the men downstairs, three men in the justice department, and the captain of the men downstairs. What if they managed to get inside the house?

She looked around her quickly. Her footprints were all over the place where she had walked in the thick dust that was on the floor. She grabbed one of the old blankets she had found up there earlier that day and hurriedly swished it back and forth across the floor wiping out all of her footprints. That was a stupid thing to do she realized as the dust was floating around in the air. Anyone coming up there to look would know that someone had been there, and was probably still there.

She glanced over at the wall where the little hidden room was and quickly crawled back inside, closing the door behind her. She jumped hitting her head on the ceiling of the little room when she heard gunshots. They seemed to go on forever before the noise stopped.

She hadn't realized how badly she had been shaking until the house became quiet again. She could hear the drop down ladder being lowered then heard footsteps walking around in the attic.

She's not up here she heard someone yell. Then there was another voice saying that she had to be hiding up there somewhere. She heard things being tossed around then held her breath when she heard a voice close to her hiding spot.

"I'm telling you the bitch isn't here. They must have moved her or this was just a diversion."

"Fuck! The boss is going to be pissed!"

"Maybe she got out when we were busy with the cops downstairs. She's probably hiding out in the woods somewhere."

"Come on let's fan out and see if we can find out if she was here or not. You two check the woods and we will look around the grounds to see if we can find a trace of her, but I have the feeling this was all a setup for our benefit and she was never here to begin with."

"What about all those women's clothes and shit in the bedroom, she must have been here?"

"That shit could have been staged so that we would think she was here. Fuck it, just go take a look in the woods and we'll check outside."

Jamie could hear them climbing back down the ladder but she didn't move. She wasn't sure that one of them hadn't stayed behind just in case she was hiding where they couldn't find her.

She wasn't sure how many hours had passed but she still stayed locked in the little room. No one would know anything was wrong till morning anyway when the men were supposed to make a check in call to their captain. Then she knew someone would come and check to see what was the matter then she could safely leave the little room. She was tired and drained. She grabbed the little teddy bear and rag doll making herself a little pillow. She was able to lay down and stretch out her legs. She didn't even remember closing her eyes until she woke up needing to use the bathroom.

She had no idea how long she had been sleeping but her bladder needed to be emptied soon or she was going to have an accident. Carefully she opened the hidden door just a crack, listening to see if she could hear any sounds coming from downstairs. It must be morning she thought because she could see that the room was lit with the morning sunlight coming through the only window.

Carefully she crawled out of her hiding space and quietly took a few steps over to the window so she could look outside. She looked as far as she could in all directions but saw nobody outside. The ladder was still in the down position and she peered slowly over the edge to see if she could see anyone moving around down there.

She saw the blood first then she saw Bill's body laying in the corner where he had been shot and killed. She had to grab her mouth and fought to keep the puke from spewing forth. She climbed down the stairs trying to make as little noise as possible just in case someone was still around.

She was careful not to step in any of the blood that was all over the place. She made her way over to where Bill was and checked to see if he had a pulse. No pulse, Bill was dead. She felt the bile rising in her throat again then bolted out the front door where she emptied the contents of her stomach in the bushes by the porch.

When she had calmed down enough she made her way back inside the house to check on the other two men. She found them both laying in pools of blood in the kitchen. She checked to see if they had a pulse and was saddened that both men were dead. She knew that Tom had a family with two small children. These men had lost their lives trying to protect hers.

She made her way into the bathroom where she emptied her bladder and washed her face with cool water. She sat down on the edge of the tub and cried. After she had a good cry she glanced at her watch to see what time it was. Ten o'clock, why hadn't anyone come to check on the men to see why they hadn't made their morning call? What was going on? Her heart began to race again, something was terribly wrong with this whole situation.

Jamie took a deep breath to clear her head, she needed to think and she had to be level headed to figure this out. The men who had killed the cops guarding her had known where to find her. That meant someone had told them where she was. Only seven people knew where Jamie was hidden and three of them were dead. That left the three men in the justice department and the police captain who's men lay dead outside the bathroom.

One of the remaining four had to be working for the man she was supposed to testify against. That was the only logical answer as to how the killers had been able to find her. Jamie no longer felt that she would be safe if she remained in police custody.

She had been an only child, both of her parents had died years ago. She had been married for a short time, but the marriage had ended over thirteen years ago. She had no family so there was no one they could go after to try to buy her silence. The only choice they had was to silence Jamie.

She realized the only person she could trust now was herself, but what was she going to do? She wasn't rich so she couldn't just up and leave the country secretly. She had very little cash on her and she knew they could trace her if she used her credit card. She also knew that if she called anyone she would have to use one of the cell phones you could buy in most department stores so the call couldn't be traced. Thank god she watched a lot of those crime scene shows on TV, she knew what not to do to keep from being traced.

It was almost eleven o'clock and still no one had showed up to check on the men. She knew time was running out and hurried to the bedroom to change into some clean clothes. She folded the dirty clothes she had just taken off and put them into the dresser so it would look like they hadn't been worn. She grabbed an extra pair of jeans and a clean t-shirt then headed back up to the attic to wait.

She stood back from the window so she couldn't be seen from the outside but still able to see the long drive that led up to the house. About a half hour later she saw a car coming up the drive. Two men got out of the car and headed towards the house. Jamie crawled back into the cubby hole and quietly waited.

She could hear their voices downstairs, then she heard someone coming up into the attic. She sat very still making sure that she wouldn't make any noise that might give away her hiding place.

"I'm telling you she was here, she hadn't been moved, at least to my knowledge she hadn't. She probably got away while your men were busy killing everybody downstairs."

She had heard that voice before but she couldn't put a face to it.

"We better leave and make the call, it will look suspicious if no one checks on this place. Get your men to come back tonight after dark and have them search the woods again. No, better forget that, they might leave guards here tonight. We will just have to think of another way to find her."

She heard them climbing back down the ladder. A few minutes later she heard the car engine start up. She crawled out of the little hiding space and went to the window to see that both men were in the car backing down the driveway.

She didn't have much time, she knew someone was going to be sent to check on the men shortly and she needed to be away before they came. She was going to have to change her appearance of that she was positive. She knew the only way she could get away from here quickly was to use the car that the men had used to drive her up here. She had to go through Bill's pants pockets to find the keys to the car and felt sickened once again that this man had lost his life because of her.

She grabbed her purse and the extra set of clothes then ran to the garage to get the car out. She hoped it would be some time before someone noticed that there was no car there before they put out an all points bulletin on it. She spied a ball cap hanging on a hook in the garage and grabbed it. She piled her long brown hair up under the cap then backed out of the garage, she had to get back out to go close the garage door and hurried as fast as she could.

She made sure she obeyed the speed limit not wanting to get pulled over and possibly found out. She drove to the next town in the opposite direction of the police station where she had been given over to the three men who had died trying to protect her.

Her mind was working overtime trying to figure out her next move. She had to get rid of the car first. She saw the signs for a hospital and headed in that direction. She parked the car in one of the parking ramps then walked back down to the main road where she took off on foot to find the nearest store where she could purchase some shears, hair dye, sunglasses and a phone.

She had only walked about a half mile down the business area when she saw the huge K-Mart sign up ahead. She figured if she had stopped into one of the smaller stores along the way someone would be more likely to remember her. She hoped her chances of not being remembered in a busier store would give her the time she needed to decide what her next move would be.

She made her purchases then left to find a cheap motel. It was going to be a big waste of what little money she had left but she didn't have any other choice. She only had a little over a hundred dollars on her after she had bought the things at K-Mart.

She looked at herself in the mirror, her long brown hair was now just long enough to come almost to the top of her shoulders, her brown hair was now blond. She had activated the cell phone she had purchased with a twenty dollar phone card then picked up the phone book on the bedside table and began looking through the yellow pages for a private detective.

She found one in the yellow pages who's listing said he was bonded and state licensed. She dialed the number and was surprised when she heard a deep voice on the other end of the line. She told him what she needed and gave him no other information telling him she would explain when they met.

He told her he would be in his office for another hour and would wait for her. She checked the address that was listed in the phone book and knew she would never be able to walk that far in that short of time. His offices were located on the far side of town.

"Look I don't have a car and I don't dare call a cab, could you please meet me outside of the tenth street park?"

Galen was intrigued by the caller, he could hear the fear in her voice and knew that whatever it was that had her so frightened was real. He asked her how he would recognize her and told her that he would be there in twenty minutes. He told her what he was wearing so that she would know it was him when he came to the park.

Jamie hurried up and cleaned up the room, wiping her fingerprints off of everything she had touched. She grabbed the small garbage bag she had taken out of the small can in the bathroom then headed out the door.

Ten minutes later she was sitting on one of the park benches waiting for the detective to arrive. She had tossed the garbage bag into one of the trash containers in the park that had her hair that she had cut in it and the contents of the dye box. She left nothing to tie her to ever being in the motel room.

She recognized him from his description as he walked towards her. He was tall, around six foot three or four she guessed. He must be around forty or so with coal black hair. When he stood in front of her she could see that his eyes were a warm shade of jade. He was dam good looking she couldn't help but notice.

"Hello, I'm Galen Smithers," he introduced himself offering her his hand.

"Jamie Carlson," she said shaking his hand.

Jamie Carlson, the woman who's face was plastered all over the evening news. She had changed her looks he noticed. The woman's picture on TV was of a middle aged woman, with long brown hair. She was in real trouble according to the evening news.

"Miss Carlson if you would tell me what it is your looking for we can go on from there."

"I need protection Mr. Smithers. I was the only witness to a murder a few weeks ago and was put under police protection until the trial. Early yesterday afternoon three men came to the house where I was being kept and killed the three officers who were there to protect me."

"How come they didn't find you, if you were there to witness those murders?" "That morning I had found a small hidden cubby hole in the upstairs attic while looking at all the old things that were stored up there. I happened to glance out the attic window and saw three men with guns sneaking up the hill behind the house. I called down to the officers telling them what I had seen. They told me to pull up the ladder and stay put. I looked at the opening to the cubby hole and decided to hide in there."

"That was smart thinking Miss Carlson, and probably the only reason you're still alive."

"I would have never found the hiding place had it not been opened to begin with, it was designed to not be noticed when the opening was closed. When the first shot rang out I was scared to death. I have no idea how much time had passed until the shooting stopped."

"You said there were three men?"

"I only saw three but there was at least one other. When they found their way into the attic I could hear their conversations clearly."

Jamie told him what the killers had said and how she knew that one of the four men alive who knew where she was had to be working for the man she was going to testify against.

"Come on Miss Carlson I'm going to take you back to my office where I can make a few calls until we decide what to do," he said holding his hand out to help her up.

"Please call me Jamie," she said taking his hand.

Galen helped her into his car then headed back to his offices. Everyone had gone home for the night, so Jamie wouldn't be seen by anyone when they entered the building. He took the tapes out from the surveillance cameras and erased the tapes. He got a cup of coffee for Jamie then set about making a few calls to contacts of his.

"Jim find out all you can without asking any questions. I don't want anyone to be able to trace her back to me ok? Call the office when you find anything out, I'll be here for another couple of hours at least."

Jamie had been watching the TV while he was on the phone and turned white as a ghost when she heard the bulletin about her. They had her listed as a missing person asking anyone with information to her whereabouts to call a hot line number that was flashing on the bottom of the screen. Nothing was said about the officers missing car so maybe they hadn't found it yet. She knew it was only a matter of time when they would.

A half hour later the phone rang and it was the man Jim who Galen had first called when they had gotten to his office.

"Listen buddy I'm not sure what is going down but it's something big. One more thing, I think all the phones here have been tapped so if you know anything about this woman I suggest you high tail it out of there before you get some unwanted company."

Galen grabbed his coat and his gun then ushered Jamie out of the office as quickly as he could.

"What's wrong, where are we going?"

"I've got to get you some place safe Jamie I'll explain it all when I'm sure we're safe."

They drove out of town to a small house just outside the city limits. He pulled the car into the drive and pushed the button on his visor to open the garage door. He jumped out of the car telling her to stay there. He backed an older pickup out then put his car in the garage. He told Jamie to get into the truck then he headed out of town.

They had been driving for about an hour when he finally spoke to her.

"Jamie did you witness the murder of Judge Templeton?"

"Yes. How did you know?"

" I didn't but it was the only logical answer to why someone would be trying to kill you. His murder was the only high profile murder that would have the justice department involved with hiding away a witness."

"Look, we have a long way to go yet so why don't you try to get some sleep. We can talk when we get to where I'm taking you."

Jamie was tired, she felt relaxed in the company of this stranger but more importantly she felt truly safe for the first time in weeks. She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

"Wake up Jamie we're here."

She opened her eyes to see Galen leaning over her. She jumped coming alert instantly.

"Come on, let's get inside and I'll make us something to eat, then we can talk."

The car had been parked in a big three stall garage. He led her to a door then held it open for her to enter before him. She was in a good sized room that had two benches on both sides of the door and a large coat rack. She guessed this must be some sort of mud room where you could take off your wet shoes or boots before going into the main house.