Hawke nursed his cup of coffee as he listened to Kelly tell her story. He couldn't believe he was hearing this. Kelly had once worked a secretary for an accountant. One day she found a ledger that he had been hiding with large figures on it. The name on the ledger was Marshall Mason. Mason was the lawyer for Rufus Sidwell. Rufus was just three killings away from being Marlon Brando in The Godfather. Unbeknownst to her, Kelly had been working with Rufus Sidwell's accountant.
After realizing what was going on, Kelly took the ledger to the FBI and entered the Witness Protection Program. To protect herself, her death was faked.
Hawke stood up sloshing the coffee over the side of the cup and onto the floor. Tet lapped it up like it was water. "You planned the car accident! Did you not trust me enough to tell me what was going on? I would have protected you! I would have gone with you!"
Kelly swiped at her eyes and joined Hawke by the fireplace. She laid against his shoulder. "I loved you too much to have anything happen to you or Dominic. I wanted you to be safe and I accomplished that."
Hawke turned around breaking Kelly's hold on his shoulders. He pushed her back so he could look into her face. "Then why did you come back?"
He left her in the living room and went upstairs to bed. Tet followed him slowly.
The next morning he didn't feel any better. Even the mouth watering smells coming from the first floor didn't put him in a better mood. He hit Tet went he got out of bed and Tet whined.
"Sorry, pal," He leaned down to give his dog a pat before slipping on the clothes he had on last night and going downstairs. Kelly was sitting by the fire with Pride and Prejudice in her hands and a cup of coffee beside her. She took a sip as he walked downstairs.
"I can't believe you still have that book," He commented as he poured himself some coffee.
She slipped the bookmark in place and closed the book. "It was a gift from you. Why wouldn't I still have it?" She joined him at the table where he sat down to the heaping plate of food she had laid out for him. "In fact, it's the only thing they let me keep. I insisted on it, actually."
"It's a book, Kel."
"It was from you, Hawke. Besides memories, it's the only thing I had that kept me close to you."
"I had the coroner's report to keep me close to you." He remarked with disdain, pushed the half-empty plate away from him, and went upstairs.
Kelly still heard the shower going when she heard the familiar sound of a helicopter landing on the pier. By the time she got to the door, Dominic's hand was in the position to open the doorknob.
"Good morning, Dominic." She closed the door behind him. "Hawke's in the shower."
"Michael called the hangar and wants to see all of us in his office in an hour." He went to the coffee pot. "How was your night?"
"I slept on the couch and Hawke slept in the bed. What happened to that compassionate man I used to know, Dom; the kind of guy that would have given up his bed for a woman in need."
"He has compassion for the people that have compassion."
Kelly rubbed her arm like she had been physically instead of verbally punched by her friend. "I missed you too, Dominic." She paused. "More than you know."
Kelly went back to her book and Dominic sat down on the couch beside her. "You're still reading Pride and Prejudice? How many times does that make?"
"This will make twenty-one."
"You need a new copy," Dominic suggested.
Kelly closed the book and ran her hand over the blue cover embellished with a gold title. "No, I'm going to keep this copy even if I lose pages." Kelly laid the book aside and turned more toward Dominic. "I had no choice, Dominic. If I wanted to protect you and Hawke, I had to fake my death. It was the only way I could ensure that the people I loved were safe."
"You should have trusted that the people you loved would keep you safe," Hawke said as he came downstairs freshly showered and changed. "What's up, Dom?"
"Caitlin is meeting us at the FIRM with your jeep to meet with Michael. We've got forty minutes."
"Then let's go."
Caitlin was sitting in a chair in front of Michael's desk when they walked in. They looked like they were deep in conversation, but stopped when they walked in. There was nothing more unnerving, Hawke thought, then when a conversation stops abruptly the minute another person enters the room. It throws too much suspicion out that the conversation was about the said person.
After everyone was in the office and the door was closed, Michael took a seat behind his desk. A seat of authority.
"DA Matt Morgan has some more questions for Kelly and I suggested this would be the safest place for questioning."
"I don't want to answer any more questions," Kelly protested.
"Then you shouldn't have come forward five years ago," Michael said. "DA Morgan is downstairs in a conference room waiting for you. He assured me the process would only take a few hours. Caitlin is going to escort you downstairs and stay with you until the questioning is over."
Kelly shot a glance at Hawke and then to Caitlin. "Why her?" Kelly asked.
"Because I said so," Michael hit a button on his desk and one of his girls came in. Caitlin took Kelly by the elbow, picked up her bag, and led her toward the door. Cait stopped at Hawke long enough to say, "I'll take care of her" and then they left.
When the girls were gone and the door was shut, Hawke said, "What's going on, Michael?"
"Marshall Mason died of a heart attack last night while in a maximum security federal prison. The autopsy report showed signs of a white coating in his esophagus. With Mason dead, Kelly is the primary witness."
"When's the trial?"
"Next week. In the eyes of the rest of the world, Kelly Foster is dead and buried. Sidwell thinks that his last witness is dead and the case will be thrown out. He's not expecting a dead woman to come waltzing through the courtroom doors."
"I don't like this," Hawke said.
"Neither do I," Dominic reiterated. "Sidwell killed Mason thinking the case would be dropped. By now he knows the case is still going to trial, so he must think the prosecution has someone lined up to testify against him. What if Sidwell knows Kelly's alive? We have to start thinking like that in order to keep her alive."
"If it will help you protect a federal witness, then think like that." Michael told them.
"Then we have to start thinking of places that are more secure than my cabin and I know of one place that is completely secure; even to the FIRM."
Hawke looked at Dominic and smiled. Dominic returned the smile.
Michael leaned back in his chair and rubbed at his forehead. "I hate it when you guys smile like that."
