Chapter 3 – When It's Over

"I should kick your ass until hell won't have it anymore Kenzie!"

Deep blue eyes stared at the beige wall in the bedroom as she cringed. Dain had called her first thing this morning and gave her an ass chewing of a life time. She was still in bed when the phone rang. The familiar phone number flashed across the screen display as she sat up and chewed her bottom lip. Her knees drew into her chest as she hit the answer button and the first thing she heard was Dain growling into her ear.

Oh yea he was pissed.

Her silence was deafening.

"Okay I yelled and scolded so do you have anything to say for yourself?" Dain finally ran out of steam.

"Sometimes...I forget why I'm calling myself Lauren Walker. Other days I forget the name all together so when someone at the university calls my name I blank out and ignore them. I hate that I was basically coerced into signing myself into the witness security program. I miss Roman, I miss my friends...I miss my sister." MacKenzie sighed heavily. "I was invited out of the house for the first time in 2 1/2 years and I've got cabin fever so bad that hate the thought of coming back to an apartment that has been my home since I moved in. I hate this place, I hate my job, my hair, my eyes; I have not been truly happy in so long I almost forgot what it felt like to smile the minute I saw Roman at the live show. It was literally a one in a million shot at actually seeing him eye to eye."

"Kenzie, I know the Marshal who set this all up basically guilt tripped you into signing the papers, but you know why you're doing all of this. If we are going to achieve anything by putting you in Wit Sec then you are really going to have to watch what you're doing." Dain stressed. "I know it's been hard believe me I see the pain and grief on Alice's face anytime your name is mentioned, but imagine my surprise when Roman paid us a visit and told us he thought he was seeing a ghost."

"I knew the risk I was taking by even going to anything WWE related. I just couldn't stop myself - literally. I questioned my actions at least a thousand times that night while I was getting ready to leave. Every strand of dyed blonde hair that I had to straightened just seemed to piss me off even more than the strands before." MacKenzie stated as she shook her head. "I just want this whole mess to be over. I want Jeff to get caught or die or fall off the face of the earth and I want my life back. It could still take months or years before Jeff is ever found and I know I already lost Roman; I'll never be able to get him back. He will never understand why I signed the papers. Hell I barely understand it. I'm miserable here and I know I have no one to blame but myself."

MacKenzie hung up before Dain could say anymore as she tossed her phone back onto the nightstand and laid back down. She pulled the covers up over her head just trying to escape the madness.

"Miss Brewman don't you understand that if you don't sign the papers you are going to put a lot of people in danger." Deputy Marshal Holland stated more than asked. He'd been doing witness protection for years with the U.S. Marshal's.

"I understand that, but I don't want to leave my family and friends behind. Going into witness protection means I'm completely cut off from everyone; I have to go where ever you guys send me and start over as some nobody. What am I supposed to do being a paralegal is all I've ever been I don't have any training or education for anything else." MacKenzie argued. She didn't want to sign the papers she wanted to be put in a room and she wanted to see Roman.

Holland could already tell he was going to have to tighten his boot straps with this one; especially if he had any hope of keeping an eye on her for Jeff. He'd gone to college with Jeff Walker and they had been lifelong friends once Jeff had called him and filled him in on what was going he had no problems keeping tabs on his girl.

Once they moved her from the Emergency Room to Pre-Op they would only allow one agent in at a time so keeping Dain behind worked in his favor. Holland had made sure he was assigned to the case as far as the paperwork went, with Dain out of the way he could work his own magic.

He watched as the nurse came in and gave Miss Brewman her pain meds before they had to take her into surgery to close the two stab wounds. They had packed off the wounds with plenty of gauze so they had stopped puking blood all over, but she had lost a significant amount so she was already becoming anemic and the doctor's refused to put anymore blood in until surgery because it was all going to come right back out.

"Look Miss Brewman, your ex-fiancé already stabbed you and Mr. Reigns was attacked as well before Jeff Walker passed out." Holland lied smoothly.

MacKenzie's mind started speeding through her memories from that day. Unfortunately, she couldn't remember anything before waking up in the Emergency Room. "Roman! Oh my God, where's Roman?!" MacKenzie demanded. "What happened?" She asked in a frantic state as tears began to fill her eyes at the thought of Roman being caught in the middle of her drama once again. As if him getting arrested because of Jeff wasn't bad enough; now he'd been injured because of her.

"Mr. Reigns was stabbed in the chest several times and he is in stable but in critical condition; he will make a full recovery, but Miss Brewman do you really want to be responsible for anyone else being attacked for you." The Oscars would give him a little gold statue of his own for this performance. "Someone even has a bead on him going towards the west coast...you've got family there don't you? A sister I believe - Dain's wife right and their adorable twins and new baby." Holland paid attention when his fellow deputies talked about their families.

MacKenzie couldn't bear the thought of someone else getting caught up in the bullshit with Jeff. She sniffled as she took the pen from Deputy Holland and stared at the papers for a few seconds before she signed her name to it.

MacKenzie couldn't remember much after she'd be put under for surgery. She knew the doctor was going to put her in a medically induced coma and help her fake her death; the doctor explained everything once he entered the operating room.

Once she was pulled out of the medically induced coma she was released from the hospital 3 days later and Dain himself escorted her to the Albuquerque US Marshal's office where they explained the rules and got her moved into her apartment. It was only after Dain had her alone in the apartment that she broke down and asked how Roman was doing from his injuries. Dain wasn't completely sure what the hell she was talking about and when she started to sob and explain what Deputy Holland had told her he turned beet red with anger.

In no uncertain terms Dain told her Holland had lied to her to get her to sign the papers. Dain turned Holland into his superior officer but because Holland had more seniority in the US Marshals than him nothing was really done about it. They called it 'little white lies' that no one would care about as long as the witness was safe and now being protected.

Dain felt there was something off about Deputy Holland and of course it was complete bullshit but he could never find any dirt on him. He didn't trust him by any means, but decided to keep an eye on him indefinitely.

It had been 3 months since the whole WWE/Roman spotting MacKenzie debacle and finding out she was still alive and living under Witness Protection. Dain had finally called and spoken to MacKenzie at a decent speaking level rather than yelling at her. No one understood just how fucked of a deal she'd been coerced into more than Dain.

No one was happier more than MacKenzie to find out Roman hadn't really been attacked but at the same time no one was more pissed off for being lied to than MacKenzie as well. She would just have to bide her time. She would have to wait it all out and hope the US Marshals were as good at catching bad guys as they were at making witnesses disappear.

It was Friday just another day ending with another week having gone by. MacKenzie had just gotten home as she pulled her fake green eyes out and pulled her hair up into a ponytail to keep it out of her face. She looked down at her cell as it started to vibrate on the bathroom sink counter.

It was Dain calling. She sighed softly as she picked the phone up and hit the answer button. "Yea Dain, what's up?"

"MacKenzie, pack a bag, you've got a flight to catch. In an hour a Deputy from the Marshal's service will come to pick you up and escort you to me in Miami Florida. I will see you in 8 hours and I'll be able to tell you more than." Dain informed her quickly.

"But I..."

"Listen, just do as I said Kenzie. I will be able to tell you more when I see you in Miami." Dain interrupted.

MacKenzie looked at her phone as the call ended. She shook her head and wouldn't question anything Dain had requested. She put her contacts back in as she hurried up and got a bag packed. An hour later as stated a Deputy Marshal came to retrieve her.

She couldn't imagine what the hell was going on but she would pretty much do anything to get out of New Mexico at this point.

The flight was long but she at least slept some of the way. They had a layover in Texas, but she and Deputy Mitchell did not leave the plane. They spoke some of the time; she remembered he had been one of the Marshal's who helped her get settled when she first got to New Mexico. He was very nice with very little family.

Once they reached Miami they exited the plane and as soon as they walked down the gang plank and into the airport Dain came into sight. She smiled softly as she was enveloped into a warm hug before she turned and thanked Deputy Mitchell for escorting her. He was already booked for a return flight back to New Mexico.

Once Deputy Mitchell was out of sight, MacKenzie turned to Dain. "What the hell is going on?" She asked as Dain took her bag and began escorting her through the airport to his rental outside.

"I got a call from Deputy Holland last night. They found a body laying on Miami Beach sometime yesterday. He had Jeff's wallet on him. I don't know if he got himself into something he couldn't pull himself out of and he paid with his life or if this is just a giant hoax to get you out of hiding." Dain explained.

"Wait what?" MacKenzie stopped in her tracks before she could even get in the rented SUV. "So why am I here?"

"We are going to the coroner's office right now because they were supposed to do an autopsy and DNA testing on him. It looks like the body had been in the water for sometime because it is bloated and disfigured, I'm really hoping you can somewhat identify him." Dain stated as he finally got her in the rental and went around getting behind the wheel.

The ride to the coroner's office was made in silence. MacKenzie was wringing her hands in her lap as she watched the scenery as they passed it in the rental. She could feel her insides shaking.

Was it possible that this could really be over?

Could it really be THIS easy to end all the witness protection and she could get back to her real life...not that she had much of one left.

But she wasn't getting her hopes up.

Fake green eyes looked around the empty hallway in the Coroner's building. It smelled sterile...it smelled REALLY sterile. Before they walked into the morgue the Coroner opened a bottle of Vic's vapor rub and instructed her to put a dab under her nose, because she definitely didn't want to know what a dead body that had been partially eaten by sea life and basted in ocean water for two weeks smelled like.

Her eyes blinked as she took in the all too real sight in front of her. Both of the hands had been eaten off and something definitely ate one of his eyes. Dain hadn't been lying the body was so bloated it looked like Jeff had eaten a 30 foot burrito. The fish fed well off his body and she could honestly say it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.

The corner confirmed through DNA testing and dental records that the dead half eaten rotting corpse on the metal autopsy table was indeed Jeff Walker.

MacKenzie stood staring at the body as tears silently slid down her cheeks. It was over. It was finally all over. She could go back to non-existent life and try to find some kind of normal again. She already knew there was no way Roman would want her to come back to him. She faked her own death and let herself be torn away from him.

She honestly had no plan for when it all ended and now here she was it was over and she didn't even know what steps to take next.

Dain drove MacKenzie back to the airport and got their flight headed to New Mexico; they boarded the plane and were sitting in silence. "What do I do now?" She murmured in question.

Dain looked over at his sister-in-law. "Now? Now you go back to that crappy apartment and pack everything you want to keep and you move anywhere in the world you want and start your life over. Work for a law firm or university or hell go back to school and get a new degree in something else." He sighed softly. "Your old law firm said they would love to get you back but that you don't have to live in Stamford; they said they would more than likely have you go back on the road with WWE again."

The possibilities were limitless; now she just had to decide.

Roman was sitting in his hotel room; the last few months had been MacKenzie filled memories of their past. He remembered telling Dain 'When it's over I want to talk to her.' Daily memories of the day she 'died' were always flashing through his mind. Nightmares plagued him for months. He never thought it would stop.

Roman's hotel phone rang as he answered it. "Yea?"

"Oh my fuckin God Bro! Are you watching the news? Tell me you are watching the fuckin news?" Dean babbled in the phone. "Hello Are you hearing me?"

Jenaya reached over and smacked Dean in the back of the head. "I'm sure if you gave him a minute he'd answer you." She reached over and grabbed the phone. "Sorry you know how over excited he gets now a days."

She took a deep breath. "The news is reporting that a body wash up on shore...Roman - they are saying it's Jeff."