RUN
By Jules
CHAPTER TWO - TRUTH AND LIES
Some answers to the reviewers out there.
Snooboostoo – You will certainly have to tell me where your pen name came from but thanks for the kind review – hopefully you won't be disappointed.
AshleyAHinton – Thank you for your review. Lots more twists to this story to come than I originally planned, but that should increase the tension of the story a little.
Sara – In answer to your question – it will be answered in the next chapter or two – but sort of not the answer that everyone is probably hoping for – you will have to patient as the story unfolds what happens to the relationship between Bridger and Lucas and the rest of the crew. I always love your reviews and that you do it often for me – please say you will continue.
Simon – Yes, I believe that the mighty Captain of the flagship was really a lot more down to earth and would do something like their own shopping. When we first see SeaQuest open we see him being totally self-sufficient on a virtually uninhabited island, so I think the idea works. If not, well then it's just how I interpret the Bridger character for my stories. Might not necessarily suit everyone's taste.
As for being rushed – yes in a sense and that was deliberate as was the huge chunks of information missing. The first chapter is supposed to drag you in quickly, leaving you with millions of questions about why certain things are happening. Everything will be explained, but at a specific point for each in the storyline. As to why Lucas didn't just run behind the Bridger –well then I wouldn't have to write the story at all if he did that. If he doesn't run away from them, the baddies can't chase him – sort of kills the drama but I hope you will continue to read and review. I like that your honest in your statements and opinions.
Aquarius – I like your penname – my sister's star sign. Thanks for the vote of confidence and I will update as often as I can. This story just got a whole lot more complicated and longer in my head so here's hoping you will still read it.
jewels03 – WOW!! – Recognized by my style of writing – what a compliment. I am certainly blushing at such a comment but loved every word of it. I hope the story exceeds your expectations now.
Ihni – Always reviewing my stories – and I love it – Add lots of violence you say hmmmmm – maybe some – I have added a few extra parts that should satisfy your desires, but this story sees Lucas being able to take care of himself a little more than I usually write in other stories. All to be revealed.
Kas – Thanks so much for taking the time to tell me you like the story. I can't tell you how much reviews motivate me to write. Watch out for the ending of this chapter – it should have you sufficiently tied in knots.
Thanks to everyone who reviewed – I really appreciate your efforts and thrive on the comments and compliments and suggestions. Please, from the bottom of my heart, say you will all continue to read and review.
now on with the next chapter:
The only way to describe the next few minutes within the shopping centre was chaos. And plenty of it to go around.
The drama was quickly unfolding before they eyes, with people running in all directions it seemed. The woman who had just tried to get Bridger and Ford to help, started trying to run after Lucas herself.
Bridger couldn't even see Lucas at the moment. He tried to go down one or two of the corridors, shouting at the other crew members to split up and each try a different one.
They could hear police sirens approaching from outside the shopping centre complex, a quite a large number. But the crew tried to focus their efforts on finding Lucas.
Lucas had sprinted down the corridor as Diana shouted at him, but now he ducked inside an unlocked cleaners cupboard, watching the three men chasing him, run past.
He was slightly out of breath, both from the running, and the fear beginning to grow within him that things had started happening all over again. This is exactly what happened last time. He was comfortable, or so he thought, and then the chaos and madness ensued.
Lucas tried to open the door just a crack to see if his pursuers where anywhere close. He reclosed the door in haste when he heard heavy footsteps come back past the cleaner's door. He could hear the loud cursing from the men at them loosing his trail. He knew he couldn't let them catch him, or he wouldn't be leaving the shopping centre alive.
The leader of the men chasing Lucas was one Johnny Dalton. A mean man who had grown up hard and was harder now still because of the way society had moulded him.
Dalton was a heavy player in the underground world. Dealing with everything from money laundering, drugs, fake identification cards to prostitution and gambling. If it was illegal, Lucas could count on Dalton having a major hand in the pie.
The two other men Lucas hadn't seen up until now, but knew they most likely were only cronies on the payroll. Hired for a length of time, and only interested in lining their own pockets as much as possible before they were passed their usefulness. Long term employment was not an option when you worked for Johnny Dalton.
Jake, the man to Dalton's left, was getting frustrated that he was being asked to spend him time finding some damn kid. He vented that anger by picking up one of the trash receptacles and throwing it viciously against the wall.
It had landed only two to three metres away from the cleaners door where Lucas was hiding. The metallic crash sound echoing through the small room and hurting his ears.
Lucas swallowed hard as he tried to figure on how to escape without being seen. He definitely couldn't go out the front way. But there was no rear exit or side door that he noticed. There was a vast array of brooms and mops and a few buckets, but little else.
"Rip this place apart to find him," Dalton shouted. "I don't care how you find him. I want him, and I want him alive."
"We will find him boss, you see," Leroy, the second man tried to reassure his employer. He and Jake hadn't been informed on the past encounters between the kid and Dalton, but they thought he was getting too worked up over nothing.
They had better sense than to try and reason with him though and started searching all of the stores and any doorway that they could see.
Jake started walking towards a door that was marked "Cleaners", expecting to find it locked.
Lucas panicked, trying to think of what to do. The door had no internal lock that the teenager could use to keep his hiding place concealed. If he didn't hurry, they were going to find him.
He looked at the mops and other equipment, knowing he had little time to think of a way out. He picked up a bucket and grabbed a handful of bottles of detergents and started pouring them together.
Jake put his hand on the door knob, and was surprised to find it unlocked.
"I am just going to look in here," he shouted back to his companions, looking over his shoulder. It wasn't until he felt the wetness and found himself staring back at the kid they were looking for that he realised what had happened.
Then all at once the stinging sensation hit his eyes from the mixture of detergent and chemicals that Lucas had tossed over him.
"AAAAAHHHHHHHH," the man screamed, stumbling backwards and rubbing his eyes insistently with his hands, trying to stop the pain. His face was now covered in soap suds and reddened from the rubbing action.
Leroy ran over immediately, trying to see what had happened. He could hear Jake screaming and rubbing at his eyes, but he didn't know why. As he approached, he was jabbed harshly in the stomach with the blunt end of a mop.
Lucas rammed the handle into the man's stomach as hard as he could, hoping to give himself as much time as possible to escape. The floor was now slick with detergent and soap suds and the teenager found himself having difficult keeping his own balance in such conditions.
Fear got a better hold on him though as he saw a rampaging Dalton heading towards him, totally ignoring the painful screams of the other two men. Dalton reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a pistol, fitted with silencer.
Lucas ran for all he was worth, back down the way he had come, hoping to find another branch of hallway to run into to avoid the gunman's pursuit.
Dalton angrily removed the silencer and aimed at the teenager, who was now some distance in front of him. A message in his head was reminding him that he couldn't shoot the kid dead in front of all these witnesses.
He aimed the gun all the same. All he had to do was nick him so they could take him from there without protesting. Then he could inflict a more painful death at a more private location.
The first gun shot was well wide of the teenager, as it slammed into a large concrete pillar in of the shopping complex, showering the floor with splinters and debris.
Upon hearing the gunfire, the police inside the building ordered all other people to lay face down on the floor to avoid any unnecessary casualties.
"That's my son out there," Bridger tried to argue with the officer in charge. He was having none of the orders to lay face down when Lucas's life was in danger. He would take the bullet himself if it came to a choice like that.
"I don't care who he is, Sir, get down on the floor, NOW!" the officer shouted back, his own apprehension of the incident making him on edge along with everyone else.
"He's only a seventeen year old kid. Those men are trying to kill him," Ben now yelled, trying to back up the Captain to make the police officer see sense.
"There are people on the way that are trained to handle these situations," the officer said, trying to keep Diana laying nearby from rising from the floor.
"Believe it or not I am trying to help him and you."
"If you try and get involved, you might get him killed quicker," the officer hissed, not knowing if that was really an accurate portrayal, but hoping it would allow for everyone to remain calm in a difficult situation.
There were many other officers stationed throughout the café area, waiting for his signal or command to move, but for now he held them all in place with a warning glance and hand gesture. Although he felt the need to protect the blond teenager, there were many other women and children amongst the crowd at this point in time.
Bridger and Krieg did seem to heed a little of what the officer said, not wanting to jeopardise any chance of helping Lucas. Before they could think anymore on that point, Lucas could be seen to run passed them on his way to the elevators and lifts.
"LUCAS," Bridger shouted, trying to get the boy's attention.
"Can't talk, gotta run," came the rushed reply as Lucas scooted past, breathing heavily, but his fear and self-preservation instinct driving him onwards.
Dalton and Leroy now came after the teenager, both brandishing pistols and aiming, ready to fire.
"Put the guns down," the officer beside Bridger ordered as he tried to confront the criminals. He knew that special backup units were on their way, but he knew he couldn't risk any of the other people being caught in cross-fire or used as potential hostages.
Leroy was the first to fire, pulling the trigger on his gun, the bullet hitting the officer in the upper left shoulder and causing him to fall down, giving an agonising gasp of pain.
Doing what little they could, Kristen and the girl called Diana, crawled over to the injured police officer and did what little they could without medical aid to give him comfort and reassurance. The wound was bleeding, but no profusely, the officer was no in imminent danger. The same couldn't be said for Lucas.
After running passed Bridger and Ben, Lucas was forced to dive on his hands and knees towards a glass barricade as bullets were fired above him. They were meant to scare him and slow him down enough for Leroy and Dalton to catch up to him without causing him a fatal injury.
The bullets so far had mercifully gone wide or astray, Dalton cursing Leroy as much as himself for their poor accuracy, even though their intended victim was moving.
Lucas was not so lucky with the next bullet however, as it ploughed into the glass barricade about a meter away, showering him with shards of broken glass. He closed his eyes against the shattering explosion and turned his face away, thankfully avoiding any serious injury.
The teenager had a number of small cuts and abrasions on his upper arms, in addition to some deeper ones on his hands as he used them to regain some momentum and escape into a run again.
Lucas ran into the safety of the lift, Leroy and Dalton still in pursuit. They were unable to stop the lift door from sealing or prevent it beginning to climb higher to the next floor.
Dalton walked back along the glass barricade, able to see into the transparent glass cage of the lift as it made its way up. Lucas was trying to conceal himself as much as possible against what little solid, covered wall existed.
Much to Lucas's relief and Bridger's, the bullet from Dalton's gun merely punched into the thick glass front of the elevator. It was made from a much thicker glass than the barricade and had not shattered on impact.
Lucas knew he couldn't rely on the safety of the lift for long though, and as soon as it reached the floor above, ran out of the door and towards the set of escalators that would take him back down to the level he had just come from.
"Hold it right there!" came a loud commanding voice from a nearby entrance to the complex.
Dalton and Leroy paused for a brief moment, knowing that their chance to capture Lucas had passed them by. Their main concern for now was to escape themselves without the complication and threat of being arrested. They turned and faced the officer in defiance, firing their pistols towards the officer, making him take precautionary measures to avoid being shot.
It now that Dalton, Leroy and a still very red faced Jake, ran away from the scene to an alternate exit and into a waiting car, away from of the complex.
Bridger and the rest of the crew were just beginning to get to their feet, along with the other people in the shopping centre. Many of the people were visibly upset, police trying to reassure them that the attack was random and that they were now safe.
Lucas had gingerly got to his feet and was slowly walking back up the escalator towards his family and friends. He was nursing his bleeding hand and still breathing heavily after so much running.
Kristin rushed over to him, using one of the table napkins to try and stop the bleeding from the gash across his left palm. Lucas looked at her, but couldn't find any words at the moment to say. He knew he had so much to explain to them about what they had just experienced and seen.
But he had to try and work it all out in his own mind first for it to make sense.
A few of the officers were talking to Bridger and Ben about exactly what had occurred in the few brief seconds before the three black men had arrived. They tried to give as accurate an account as possible, but couldn't identify any of the men, not tell them what possible motive their might have been for trying to kill Lucas.
One of the officers asked Bridger if he would consent to talking to Lucas. The Captain looked back over his shoulder at the teenager, who was watching Kristin's administrations to his hand in silence. The kid still looked a little shaken.
Diana now weighed into the conversation telling the officers what her name was and that she was a journalist. They didn't really seem to take an interest in what she had to say, still keen to talk with Lucas first.
Two officers, accompanied by Bridger and Ben, walked over to Lucas and stopped, ready to ask a few questions. Kristin told Bridger that the cut was mainly superficial. It hurt some, but wouldn't even need stitches. This time, the teenager had been lucky.
"You want to tell me what's going on, Lucas?" Bridger asked, sitting down as he spoke, keeping his voice calm and gentle.
Lucas looked at Bridger, almost with an apologetic expression. Obviously he knew what was going on, but he didn't really want to share it with the officers or anybody from SeaQuest. It was much safer that way. They couldn't become involved.
"You might as well tell them, Lucas," Diana said, seeing the hesitation that she had seen 5 years ago. She knew that there was little where else to run to right now.
"No!" Lucas said adamantly, shaking his head for emphasis. He wasn't getting his family and friends involved. They didn't deserve what he had been put through all these years. He knew the scenario all too well by now and loved them to much. He wanted to protect them as much as they wanted to shield him.
Bridger was a little surprised at the harshness of Lucas's reply. He didn't want to get the kid to talk unless he was ready. Maybe Lucas was still trying to deal with being shot at.
The police officer tried a little more subtly to understand what was going on and how these people fitted into the puzzle. He would start of simply and work his way up from there.
"Want to tell me your name kid?" the officer asked politely, already hearing the first name of Lucas used.
"Not really," came the short reply from Lucas. He almost laughed at the shocked looks on the faces of Bridger and Commander Ford at his outright refusal.
The officer was about to demand Lucas give his full and correct name and details when another voice addressed the group from the entrance to the complex.
"That won't be necessary officer, I will be taking over matters from here," said a short and very large man, dressed in a suit one size too small for him. In direct contrast, the other man beside him was very tall and lean, his clothes hanging from his gaunt frame.
"Here come Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee," Lucas said to Diana. The reporter already knew the identity of the two men and nodded her head in agreement at Lucas's candid description.
"Long time no see Harris, see you have been losing some weight," Diana spat sarcastically at the shorter man. Lucas laughed along with her, ignoring the glare they were receiving from the comment.
"You shut your yap, Lane, or I will have you arrested and hauled down to the station until somebody decides to post bail for you," the man declared hotly.
"On what charge?" Lane challenged.
Harris wasn't going to be put down in front of strangers by this hussy though.
"For you Diana, I would be willing to make a sacrifice and make something up, just for you."
"Don't make promises you can't keep," the woman remarked. "I wouldn't want you going out of your way on my account."
"Cute!" Harris snarled, turning away from the annoying woman for the moment.
"Captain, may I introduce to you, Detective Harris, and his shadow Mr Arnold," Lucas said dryly, not meaning any endearing remarks.
"Your funny Lucas, you know that, I can arrange to have you put in a circus if you like. You could be quite an act," Harris said to taunt the kid.
"Is there somewhere more private we can go to discuss things?" Harris asked of one of the officers present.
"Only if they come with us," Lucas said, indicating Bridger, Kristin, Commander Ford and Ben. He wanted to make sure that he was dictating the conditions as much as possible in a situation that was out of his control.
"No," Harris started to object strongly.
"Then we don't talk," Lucas said defiantly, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
Diana smiled at the kid's brashness, but kept silent to avoid aggravating an already tenuous meeting.
Bridger was about to step forward and demand to know what the hell was going on and who these people were, but the man's demeanour changed dramatically, almost as if he was ready to make an apology to Lucas.
The man raked a nervous hand through what was left of his hair and resigned himself to giving in a little to the teenager's request.
"Alright Lucas, you got a deal, but I just letting you know that I don't like it one bit," Harris in compromise.
"So long as we understand each other," Lucas responded.
One of the officer lead the relevant parties to a meeting room at the rear of the complex. Diana Lane had tagged along with Lucas and the SeaQuest crew as far as she could, hoping that she could slip in without being noticed. Harris however, recognized the woman's ploy and put a stop to her being a part of the meeting.
"No way, no how, Lane," Harris said, barging his way past her and blocking her passage into the room. "Go and find something constructive to do, like stay out of my hair."
"Bite me," the woman said as an officer led her away from the room. As soon as his back was turned, she raced back to the door, trying to hear the conversation that was just beginning inside.
Diana wasn't the only one though who was about to be shut out from the discussions. Bridger and the others soon found themselves facing the tubby man and being told the rules of engagement.
"Look, I know you people are probably wanting to be told what's going on here. Let me be frank from the outset by telling you that the explanation will not be coming from me," Harris explained.
Ben was about to voice an objection, when Bridger held him back, waiting for the man to finish speaking.
"It wasn't my idea for you to be here, but now that you are, you can sit at the end of the table and not interrupt us," he said bluntly.
"These discussions are between myself and my colleague and Lucas. If he decides to tell you what has been going on after the meeting is concluded, that is his affair. Though I would strongly warn him of the consequences for doing just that."
"I will explain later, I promise," Lucas said to Bridger, with a small smile. How was he going to tell the man who had legally adopted him as a son that his life so far had been a sham?
"As much as I hate to admit it, I need to talk to these guys. They are probably the only ones who can stop those men you saw from finding me and coming after me again."
"Can I just ask who these men are, Lucas?" Ben asked, not happy with all of the secrecy at all and not ashamed to say so out loud.
Lucas looked as his friend, knowing that he didn't have the heart to outright lie to him. Things had occurred now that couldn't be undone and were only going to get more complicated. He owed them some of the truth at least.
Harris saw the slight nod from Lucas, indicating it was alright to tell them who they were and how they were involved.
"My name is Detective Fred Harris. My partner is Christopher Arnold. We are members of an organisation linked to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Our sole purpose is to offer services and new identities to those victims of serious crime that fall eligible for the Witness Protection Plan."
"A little over 5 years ago, Lucas was referred to us as having need for such protection. The larger of the three men that you saw earlier is known as Johnny Dalton, a famous underworld figure. His two friends are Leroy Smith and Jake Seldon," Harris continued to explain.
"Why do you need to be protected, Lucas? What did you see that would make these men want to kill you?" Bridger asked with shock and concern written across his face.
"I saw him murder someone," Lucas replied in a very quiet voice, barely above a whisper. He didn't reveal the name of the murder victim and had no intentions of doing so at this stage. He turned his face away momentarily so he didn't have to face the curious stares from his friends.
This little separation of Lucas from his friends, make it the perfect opportunity for Harris and Arnold to discuss things privately with them. There was a large table and they made full use of it, allocating one end for Bridger and his companions with Lucas and the two officers at the other end.
Ben and the others were still able to hear a lot of what was being said, the only problem being that it wasn't making a lot of sense to them. Their minds were still whirling with the information that Lucas had witnessed a murder and was under some sort of protective custody to keep him safe.
Lucas took one of the chairs in the room and proceeded to rock back on two legs, as he talked to Harris and his partner. Arnold seemed content enough to follow Harris's lead and remained mostly silent.
"Today was a little too close for comfort," Harris said, noting the disinterested look from Lucas. He knew that the kid was not happy with the situation but he also knew that the kid was more scared than he would like to openly admit.
"You could say that," Lucas said, not looking up at the man making the statement.
"You know that means we will have to take a closer look at your current situation and re-evaluate certain matters?"
"Do whatever you think you need to," Lucas said, still not wanting to be a part of the conversation. "You always do anyway, whether I have something to say or not."
"Oh, come on Lucas, don't be all pouty on me. We try and keep in contact with you as best we can under the circumstances. We keep a low profile so that you are kept safe from Dalton."
"What do you want me to do?" Lucas said, jumping up from the chair, making his feelings felt. "Forgive me I don't go all gooey with enthusiasm every time you guys decide to show back up in my life."
"We send you a Christmas Card every year," Harris said smartly. "Your safety is what counts the most."
"Don't give me that crap, Harris!" Lucas shouted, and began pacing back and forth as he spoke. "I might have believed that three or even four years ago, but
I have done a lot of growing up since then. That tends to happen when you have to keep looking over your shoulder all the time to see if there is a bullet headed in your direction with your name written on it."
"A cynic of the system, Lucas," Harris chided. "Tsk, tsk, Lucas, I would have expected better from a smart kid like you."
"This is the first time you have seen Dalton since the last time, I take it?" Harris asked, forcing the conversation to turn to more serious.
"Yeah, but until you just said who his sidekicks were, I hadn't seen them before today," Lucas answered.
"You know if he manages to catch up with you, he will kill you," Harris said, not wanting to dance around the reality of the situation. The kid was grownup enough now to face the cold hard truth.
"He almost did that today," Lucas said, thinking of how close a number of those bullets had come to hitting him.
"You realise that you will have to be moved again," Harris said, glancing back at Bridger and the others as he revealed that information.
"But you can't………..," Lucas said, stopping his pacing and pleading with the man's sense of decency. "They are all I have had as family and friends for a long time. Don't take them away from me know. Please, don't do it."
"I know what I can and can't do Lucas, please don't spell it out for me. But you know the rules. Once your security has been breached, then you have to be relocated again. You have been luckier this time around and have spent a good deal longer at this place, that's all. It hurts to know that you are going to lose the friends you think you have made," Harris informed him, feeling a little bad for the teenager.
"I know the rules, Harris. You forget, I have lived with them all these years while you go home to your fat wife every night," Lucas said bitterly.
"I want to stay in one place for a while, like I have this time. Like you said, I have gotten to know them as my friends and family. I need to call somewhere home."
"I wish there was something I could do, Lucas, I wish you could believe that," Harris said in a gentler tone of voice. The relocation part of his job for victims was never easy to stomach and even harder on those like Lucas who were forced to suffer the most.
Bridger had heard the word "moved" and a few other sentences and didn't like what they were implying one bit. The dismayed look on Lucas's face spoke a thousand words, and the Captain was going to put a stop to whatever was causing him distress now.
"I am tired of running," Lucas said, forcing back tears of frustration at the unfairness of it all. The day had started out as a simple trip for shopping and now he was being moved again, just when he was beginning to feel safe and belonging somewhere.
"I hate to intrude here," Bridger said, walking over to Lucas and interrupting the conversation. He could see the officer wanting to tell him to go back to the other end of the table, but he wasn't about to have this man upset Lucas any further.
"I am Lucas's legal guardian. I have adoption papers that give me sole custody from his former parents Lawrence and Cynthia Wolenczak. If there is anything you need to discuss about Lucas's living arrangements, I suggest you do it in my presence," he said, using all of his Captain superiority to try and intimidate the man that he meant business when it came to Lucas.
Harris smirked for a few minutes, knowing that the Captain had Lucas's best interests at heart. He needed to point out that a few things had changed this afternoon however with Dalton coming back into the picture.
"Tell me, Mr Bridger, is it?" Harris started to ask.
"Captain Nathan Hale Bridger, Naval Commander of the U.E.O. vessel SeaQuest," he said formerly, interrupting the man's question briefly.
Lucas gave Bridger a wan smile for his efforts, but knew that Harris wouldn't be one to crack under such an important title and position.
"Well, Captain Bridger, I ask you, what name appears on those adoption papers. Who do you say that you adopted?" Harris asked.
Bridger almost laughed, the question seemed inane, if not trivial. Why would he ask something so straight forward? "I adopted Lucas Wolenczak to be my son," he confirmed, remembering the wording in detail.
"That's very noble of you Captain, I assure you. And none would be more happier to see such a thing happen, even myself here included. But you see, the reality of it is that Lucas Wolenczak never existed. All you have adopted is a piece of paper."
Bridger looked as though the man had physically struck him across the face. Here was this man, whom he had only just met, telling him that all the efforts he had gone over these past few years to guide, nurture and form a relationship with Lucas, didn't mean anything.
"I am not going to let you take me away again," Lucas said determinedly, looking at Ben and the others who were still coming to grips with the information about the adoption.
"And what are you going to do to stop us, Lucas. I don't like this either, but you have to worry about Dalton wanting you dead. Do you want that, huh?" Harris said irritably, tired of being made the bad guy in these situations.
"No," came Lucas's brief reply.
"What was that? I didn't hear you. If you want me to put a sign on you that says "Shoot Me", or want me to advertise your address so as Dalton can find you easy enough, just let me know. Because otherwise, I am sticking my butt on the line for you as usual."
"I just want a life, damn it!" Lucas shouted angrily and kicked out at a paper waste basket under the table. "I can disappear again. I did it once before, I can do it again. I'll go and you will never find me," he said, trying to scare them.
"And go where, Lucas?" Harris asked. "You might have disappeared for a while, but we caught up with you again. This time it will be Dalton who catches up with you first if you do something stupid like that."
"Dalton's the one who should be on trial here, and here I am being kept caged up like a prisoner," Lucas accused. "I'm the damn prisoner here and don't you forget that," he repeated.
"You can go with these people for tonight, but tomorrow morning I will be there bright and early to take you to your new place and give you a new name. Be ready!" Harris said, terminating the conversation and thrusting the door open and walking away.
Arnold followed his partner, leaving a stunned and angry Lucas and a shocked SeaQuest crew to ponder what was going to happen in a little under 24 hours.
"Lucas what did he just mean by that?" Bridger asked gently, just wanting to make sure he understood the officer.
"He means that he coming tomorrow morning to take me away from SeaQuest," Lucas explained, and then walked out of the room himself.
to be continued...
Author Notes: Okay, just quickly, the whole Witness Protection Plan idea is totally made up.
As is all refers to the FBI – I don't know if in the SeaQuest time frame they would have still existed – but for the purposes of this story – they do.
I still haven't told you what Lucas saw – but that is because it won't be Lucas telling Bridger and the others what happened. This is a little all over the place again, but I am trying to update as quickly as I can.
As I mentioned earlier, this story has had some major additions now which will eventually lead the plotline down another path than the original one intended.
Don't be picky about the officers letting Lucas go back with Bridger for one night – Dalton hasn't learned where he is living yet – but he is about to – for one night he will be okay – I think.
It is assumed at this stage that the Wolenczak's was one of the previous placements for Lucas – but will be explained a little better later in the storyline.
Please let me know that you are enjoying this story so far and hope you keep reading. There have been some significant additions to the story line, making it more complicated and longer at the same time.
Lucas's temporary living arrangements will be told in the next chapter and Harris has a unique method of trying to keep tabs on Lucas. I think is he underestimating our genius teenager.
Thanks for your continued support for my writing.
JULES