The Safe House

An original Gunsmoke story by

Tammie Yates

I apologize the for the confusion. I am learning how to navigate this website. Have never published here before. So please be patient. ; ) Safe House is a story that I wrote several years ago. It was published on another board and I happened to run across it again a couple of weeks ago. I hope you enjoy!

"Joe, this wire marked urgent, just came in from Louisiana State Prison." The young man thrust the folded paper into the older man's hand.

"Thanks." Joe Tallman quickly opened the urgent wire and scanned its contents. The color drained from his face. His mouth dropped open. He had expected this news for the last twelve years, but couldn't believe it was actually happening.

"You OK Joe." The concerned deliverer inquired.

The veteran FBI agent just stood staring at the wire, not seeming to have heard the younger man's question.

"Joe what is it?" He was becoming alarmed.

"Thad, do you know where Jack Bennett lives?"

Thad nodded in response.

"I need you to go and get him now." Emphasizing the word 'now'.

"But, Joe it's nearly two am. Can't it wait until morning?" The younger agent asked not wanting to risk angering the semi-retired agent by getting him out of bed.

Joe Tallman looked hard into the young agent's eyes. "You just tell him that 'the Flower man' is back."

***********3 months later***********

"Mister Dillon, these two men want to see you." Chester stepped inside the office

followed by two men dressed in black suits. Jack Bennett walked quickly across the room and extended his hand. "Marshal Dillon?" Matt stood, nodded and took the man's hand. "Marshal I'm Jack Bennett and this is my partner Joe Tallman." Joe stayed back but nodded his head in salutation and smiled. "Marshal, we work for the Federal Bureau of Investigations out of Washington, DC." Bennett continued by way of explanation.

Matt indicated the chair in front of his desk to Bennett and Chester quickly pulled another from the table in the middle of the room and placed beside it. "What brings you to Dodge Mr. Bennett?" Matt asked as the two men sat down in front of his desk and he sat back down in his own chair.

"Marshal, this is a highly confidential matter." Jack cautioned. He didn't say it but Matt knew immediately he was referring to Chester.

"Chester works for me, Mr. Bennett. Anything you have to say to me can be said in front of Chester." Matt's voice held an irritated edge.

Not wanting to get off on the wrong foot and realizing he might have already, Jack Bennett backed up. "Please Marshal, call me Jack." He paused for a moment and looked down at the bag he was holding. "My apologies. I didn't realize ... You see Marshal Dillon we have a very serious situation here and people's lives are at stake. I have to be cautious at every turn. Do you understand? I meant no offense." Jack offered.

Matt nodded. He noticed the look of grave concern on the agent's face. He was torn at what to do. He trusted Chester Goode with his life but he also knew Chester sometimes had a problem with keeping matters confidential. The lawman looked again to the agent sitting across from him. The look in his eyes told him that he'd prefer it to be just the three of them. "Chester, why don't you go over to Delmonico's and get us some fresh coffee." Matt asked, hoping not to offend his longtime friend. Chester usually made the coffee for the office, but Matt needed an excuse to get him out.

Chester's eyes told Matt that he understood. Chester was not an official deputy and therefore he realized that he was not privy to all information that crossed the marshal's desk. "Yes sir, Mister Dillon." The dutiful assistant turned and limped out the battered wooden door.

Jack Bennett waited until the door closed before he started to speak again. "Marshal, I appreciate that. You have a good name in Washington, and it's not that I don't trust your judgment. It's just that the fewer people that know about this the better."

Matt nodded. "So what's this all about?"

"Marshal, we are putting up a temporary 'safe house' in Dodge."

"A 'safe house'?" Matt had heard the term before but wasn't exactly sure what it was.

"Yes sir, a 'safe house'. It will be located about five miles out of town. I believe the place was referred to as the 'old Johnson farm'."

"Yeah, I heard Mr. Botkin say that he had sold it about two or three months ago. He didn't seem to know who the actual buyer was. Said it was a cash transaction." Matt also remembered meeting the new owner one afternoon in Mr. Jonas' store. He said he was getting the house ready to bring his new wife down from Denver.

It was Joe who spoke this time. "The Federal Government bought it, Marshal. And you're right it was all handled in cash that way it can't be traced back to the real owners."

"We had to work quickly. We have had people there working these past months getting it ready." Jack added. He then opened his black case and pulled out some papers. "Now Marshal. The women will be brought here to Dodge. We are setting up a decoy house in St. Louis. Each woman will have a red herring, a decoy that will get on a train or stage headed for St. Louis, while the real one will be transported by other transportation here to Dodge. There will be guards at the house. Now what we need..."

"Whoa here. Slow down. First of all please explain to me what exactly a 'safe house' is and then what women are you talking about." A very confused marshal asked.

"Oh, Marshal please forgive my oversight. With all that's going on I forgot that you don't know what has happened. We've tried to keep this top secret." Jack apologized. "Marshal, about twelve years back a man in Louisiana was sentenced to prison. Maybe you remember hearing about him? His name was Victor Lawrence. He owned a, shall we say, 'house of pleasure' called 'The Passion Flower'." He checked the marshal's face to see if he showed any recognition. None. The agent continued, "Well, the 'Flower-man' as he was known, was released from the Louisiana State Prison late last week."

"The 'Flower-man'?!" Matt couldn't contain the smile that lifted the corners of his mouth.

An angry scowl worked its way across Jack Bennett's face. When he spoke his tone was cold and deadly. "Marshal Dillon, this is a very serious, let me emphasize serious, situation. This man is a cold-blooded killer. He has no regard for human life. He'd just as soon slit a man's throat as to look at him. He is pure evil." Jack could feel his anger building. He paused briefly to get his emotions back in control.

The scolded marshal hung his head.

Realizing Jack was getting very emotional, Joe decided he needed to continue and let his partner cool down. "Marshal, Lawrence was called the 'Flower-man' because all of the girls that worked for him were called by flower names. Tigerlily, Rose, Violet, etc."

Jack, after regaining control picked up where Joe left off. "Victor Lawrence is a monster. He's not human. The things he did to those girls, Marshal. The brutality..." his voice trailed off remembering the five young women who had been at the mercy of the madman. "It's a miracle any of them survived."

"I'm sorry. I had no idea..." the reprimanded lawman tried to atone.

Jack turned from the desk and walked over to the barred windows. His mind was filled with visions of the torment that had been inflicted on the young girls. His gut churning with hate at what the bastard had gotten away with. The agent's hands were balled in tight, white-knuckled fists as he thought about what would happen to the women if Lawrence found them.

Finally, his emotions under control Jack turned back to face the lawman. "The five women that are being brought here are the five that testified against Lawrence. He swore that he'd get even. That when he got out he'd come for them. We received word three months ago that Lawrence was being released, but I've been planning this for twelve years. I owe it to them, Marshal. I let them down once. I can't let them down again."

"To answer your original question Marshal," Joe inserted. "A 'safe house' is a place that is used to hide someone. Its location is kept top secret. In this case, until Victor Lawrence makes his move, and we know he will, the women will stay there. We feel that it will be easier to protect them all together rather than separately." Joe gave the marshal a few more details about the 'safe house' and how everything was being handled.

Matt sat quietly, absorbing the information he had just been given. Matt's first concern, of course was for the safety of his own town, Dodge City. If this man was as dangerous as they said, Matt wasn't so sure he wanted that kind of trouble around. So after a few minutes he asked. "But why Dodge? Why not another town?"

Again it was Joe who answered. "Marshal, Victor Lawrence is a smart man. He knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that the government will protect these women. He knows the first thing will be to get them to a safe place, out of their own town and take them somewhere else."

"So Dodge is the 'somewhere else'?" Matt questioned.

"Well sort of. You see Marshal we have no doubt that Lawrence, through his accomplice, who was released two years ago, knows where each one of the women live. So the last place he'll look is one of those towns. One lives in San Francisco, another in Tucson and so on. We have laid a subtle trail to St. Louis. As Jack said earlier there will be a decoy for each woman. The decoy will get on a train headed for St. Louis, from their respected town, while the real one will take an alternate form of transportation here to Dodge. Hopefully, Lawrence will take the bait and head for our trap in St. Louis."

Once again Matt went silent. His mind trying to comprehend the information just passed on to him. Then the realization of what was said hit him. "So you're saying that one of those women lives here in Dodge?"

"That's right Marshal."

Matt began to mentally run down the women that lived in Dodge. One by one he eliminated the choices. When he got down to only one, his heart started pounding. Fear seized his giant body. There was only one woman in Dodge who would have been in Louisiana twelve years ago. He already knew the answer but voiced his question anyway. "Who?" Matt unconsciously held his breath as he waited for her name to be revealed.

"Kitty Russell."

No sooner had her name come out of the agent's mouth, than Chester burst through the door carrying a tray laden with a coffee pot and four cups. Chester's timing gave Matt the time he needed to regain his composure from the shocking news just delivered.

"Here's the coffee, Mister Dillon." The dutiful assistant called as he limped over to the table in the middle of the room. "I had them make a fresh pot. That's what took so long." Chester apologized while running his hands nervously up and down his worn suspenders. The truth be known, Chester deliberately took his time to hopefully give the men enough time to discuss their business.

Jack turned to face Chester speaking as if nothing were amiss. "Why thank you my good man." The agent walked over to the small worktable, poured a cup of coffee and handed it to a very surprised Chester. "Nothing like a good, hot fresh pot of coffee." Jack continued to pour coffee for the men as he spoke again to Chester. "Chester, do you know a Kitty Russell that lives here in Dodge?"

"Miss Kitty? Why I guess I sure enough do." Before Chester said anymore he tried to look at the marshal's face. But he couldn't see it. Matt was staring out the window. His face void of emotion. Something was terribly wrong.

Jack gave Chester a warm, reassuring smile and patted him on the back. "Do you think you could go and get her for us?"

Panic now officially set in. "Mister Dillon!" Chester's voice rose an octave.

"It's all right Chester. Please go and find 'Miss Russell'. Tell her I need to see her immediately." Chester didn't miss the formal tone Matt's voice had taken, the rigidness in his stance. He also didn't miss the way he emphasized 'Miss Russell'. It was obvious Matt wanted his 'friendship' with Kitty kept quiet.

"Yes sir." His voice back down to its normal register, Chester once again disappeared out of the old, battered, wooden door.

While they waited Joe talked to Matt some more about the plans. Matt listened with a keen ear. This whole situation had suddenly taken on a whole new meaning. Jack listened as the two men talked. He was especially interested in what the lawman had to say. He noticed that most of the marshal's questions and comments dealt with the safety of the women, their protection and such. The detective in him picked up immediately on the change in the marshal's tone, his body language when he was told whom the Dodge woman was. He didn't miss the way he referred to her as 'Miss Russell', unlike his assistant who called her by her first name. There was definitely more to this than met the eye.

The door to the marshal's office swung open. "Matt, Chester said you wanted to see me?" Her voice was light and happy. The open door obscured her vision of the two men in the office with the lawman. It wasn't until she stepped in and closed it that she noticed one of the two agents. Quickly, she apologized as her eyes landed on Joe. She gave him a warm, sincere smile that expressed her embarrassment.

"That's quite all right, Miss Russell." Joe stood and extended his hand. "Actually, we are the ones who wanted to see you."

"We?" She questioned and lifted her eyes to scan the room in search of the other person. When she saw him he was standing over beside Chester's cot. His back was to her, but even from the back there was no mistaking who it was. The sweet smile that had graced her beautiful mouth, just a moment before, disappeared. All color drained from her face. She turned pale as a ghost. Her breathing grew shallow. Suddenly, she had been transported back twelve years. She wasn't in Dodge City, Kansas. She was in New Orleans, Louisiana. She was in hell. All the horrific memories came rushing back at her. Memories she had pushed far, far away. A small gasp escaped her lips as Joe reached out a hand to steady her when she looked like she might collapse.

Matt rushed to her side to help support her. The sheer terror he saw in her eyes frightened him to his core. Had this man Jack told him about been as savage as he claimed? He felt her body tremble in his arms. He wanted to hold her, to protect her.

Jack saw her when she first walked in. He couldn't believe how good she looked. A far cry from the battered young woman he remembered. She looked happy and healthy.

Gone was the fear in her beautiful blue eyes. He had turned quickly away to get his emotions under control. When he turned back around all that had changed. Now, that she had seen him, she had become once again that scared young girl. She knew what his presence in Dodge meant. It was the day she had known was coming too. Twelve years, and now it was finally here. Was she strong enough to handle it? Only time would tell.

Matt and Joe led Kitty to a chair and eased her down. Jack walked over and knelt down in front of her. Matt noticed immediately the intimate bond these two shared.

Jack's eyes locked with Kitty's. His pleading for forgiveness, hers for protection. Without taking his eyes from hers, Jack called over his shoulder, "Joe, take the marshal and buy him a drink."

"No, I'm not leaving. Not with Kitty like this." Suddenly the veil was lifted. The big lawman had bared his soul. She was his, and he was hers. The tone of the man's voice told the FBI agent that this man would move heaven and earth for this woman. And that might be just what it would take to save her if this plan went awry.

Matt's deep voice brought Kitty back to the present, to Dodge City. Jack noticed immediately that Kitty stopped trembling at the sound of his voice. 'What a power he must have over her', the agent thought to himself as Kitty slowly began compose herself. As she wiped the tears from her eyes she turned her head in Matt's direction, but didn't make eye contact. "It's OK, Matt, I'll be fine. You go on ahead. Tell Sam its drinks on the house." She forced a weak smile to try an assure him. Matt remained rooted in his spot. "Really Matt. It's OK." She urged at his resistance and reached out and laid a gentle hand on his arm. "Please." Her blue eyes locked briefly with his, begging for his understanding.

Matt laid his big, rugged hand over hers and gave it a reassuring squeeze. Then reluctantly he turned and followed a waiting Joe out the door. Once out on the boardwalk Joe looked at the worried man. "She'll be fine, Marshal. I promise you, she'll be fine." With a pat on the back, Joe gently urged the big man forward, toward the finest drinking parlor in Dodge.