Witness (standard:mystery, 2674 words)
Author: Sarah Spenser	Added: Dec 22 2007	Views/Reads: 3858/2539	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
Gwenna Grayson moves to a new town and starts life anew. She marries and has two children. Her husband Steve has no idea that Gwen was in the Witness Protection program. Her life begins to unravel when her chidren are kidnapped, and Gwen is forced to reve

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little restaurant on the edge of their quiet Virginia town. After 
dining on wine and lobster tails, Graham took her out on the terrace, 
gentled caressed her hand and softly said: "Alice, I love you. I can't 
live without you, I've loved you from the first day I met you. You've 
captivated me, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Alice, 
would you marry me?" she was speechless, her breath caught in her 
throat, and when she opened her mouth, nothing came out. "Alice?" he 
stared at her for a long time. His ice blue eyes lingered on her face 
only made more beautiful by the moonlight. She still stared at him, and 
then glanced at the exquisite diamond ring he had slipped on her 
finger. It was set in an array of diamonds, surrounded by three other 
diamonds. In the center, was the huge diamond that sparkled like a gem, 
a rare find, like unexpected love. "Oh, Graham, yes! I'll marry you! Oh 
yes!" she kissed him long and hard then. Her lips lingering on his, his 
kiss tasted so sweet, it was like a symphony, the sweetest melody she 
had ever felt. The kiss was exhilarating, and they realized they 
couldn't stop... They went back to Alice's house and made love. But 
their comfortable lives would soon be shattered by one tragic and 
calculated move. Driven by revenge and anger, Alice's past finally 
caught up with her. 

The man Alice was running from found her, and in retaliation killed
Graham. As he started up his car, a bomb exploded, Graham was killed 
instantly. Alice now Gwen ran out to the car as flames shot high in to 
the air. She screamed his name pounding on what remained of the car, 
but she knew he was gone. She dialed 911 but it was too late. As the 
police were collecting evidence they found a note that read: Next time, 
you won't be so lucky. This is just a warning, but next time I won't 
miss, Lucinda. 

Scared and fearing for her loved ones, Gwen known as Alice packed her
bags and left the witness protection program. She moved to Springwell, 
North Carolina and began her new life anew as Gwenna Grayson. She still 
hadn't called her loved ones, afraid that the same fate would befall 
them as it did Graham. 

She had a little apartment in the mountains near a nice creek. Gwen got
a job as a receptionist and attended school part-time to earn a degree 
in counseling. While in school, she met Margo Martin and could finally 
be herself. Even though her name was different, Gwen was herself and 
for the first time in nearly ten years, she felt safe. He would never 
find her here, never. A month later she met Steve, and after 2 years of 
courting, they were married. Gwen was now 42 and it was nearly a decade 
later. He still hadn't found her, she was extremely grateful for that. 
She didn't want the monster near Steve or her precious children. As 
Gwen slowly sipped her coffee, she thought of Emily and Ethan. 

Emily was her first born, and was named after her paternal grandmother.
Her middle name was Alice after her beloved maternal grandmother. Emily 
was six, and Ethan Alexander was five. Emily loved her little brother 
and acted as his protector.   They had a close bond and it warmed 
Gwen's heart. She knew they would always be close; it's the way it used 
to be between Gwen and her sister Lulu. She missed Lulu; she hadn't 
spoken to her parents or Lulu in nearly 20 years. She had written them 
a letter telling them that she had moved to Springwell. But she hadn't 
heard back, were they angry with her? Even though she had been out of 
the Witness Protection program for nearly a decade, she was still 
afraid to call them.  She had left the program voluntarily, and against 
Officer Shawn Hastings' advice. Despite the warmth of the coffee, Gwen 
shivered. She hoped the man she had spent nearly half her life running 
from wouldn't find her. As she rose from her chair, Gwen whispered a 
silent prayer: "Please, God don't let him hurt Steve and my children." 
Gwen set down her coffee cup and went to wake the kids. "Rise and 
shine, sleepy heads!" Gwen said cheerfully. Emily opened her eyes and 
looked at Gwen. "Mommy, its morning? Ethan, time to get up!" she jumped 
out of bed and pulled the covers off Ethan. "Hey, no fair, Emmy!" Ethan 
shrieked. He got out of bed and chased her around the room. They ran 
around until they crumpled to the floor in fits of laughter. Gwen was 
laughing by then too, keeping a keen eye on the time. "Okay you two, 
time for breakfast. What do you want? Oatmeal, cream of wheat, or 
frosted miniwheats?" "Oatmeal!" Emily shouted. "Cream of wheat!" Ethan 
yelled. Gwen went in to the kitchen to prepare it. As she was boiling 
the water, the phone rang. Gwen moved to the portable phone and picked 
up. "Hello?" "Lucinda, how good to hear your voice." it was him, she 
froze. The room began to spin, and Gwen had to sit on a kitchen chair 
to keep from falling to the floor. "How ... who is this?" she stammered 
hot tears threatened to spill from her eyes as she tried desperately to 
keep her composure. "You know who this Is.'s me, the man you've been 
running from. I lolled you in to a false sense of security for nearly 2 
decades." "Don't hurt my children!" "Oh, Lucy you're children are fair 
game, you took away my life you need to pay for that. I will tell you 
that I'm on the war path now, and this time, I won't miss. You think 
that I meant to kill Graham?" "You did you know you did you  ..." she 
almost called him a bastard but refrained when she saw Ethan's blond 
hair appear around the corner. "I'll tell you this, I won't miss! Be 
ready for your entire world to fall apart, Lucy!" he hung up then, Gwen 
started to cry. Ethan came over and gave her a hug. "Mommy, how come 
you're crying?" "Oh, honey, it's nothing. I'm okay; would you do me a 
favor, Ethan?" "Tell Emmy to get ready for breakfast." "Okay, Emmy, get 
ready Mommy's making breakfast." Emily shouted she'd be right there; 
she strolled in with a doll in hand. Ethan played with his race cars as 
Gwen put the oatmeal and cream of wheat in to bolls. She turned on 
morning cartoons and went to get dressed. She always drove the kids to 
school before she went to the counseling center. As she took off her 
robe and put on a blue skirt, Gwen began to sob. He had found her; 
everyone she loved was in danger. 

Gwen was distracted all day, her clients noticed it, and her boss was on
her. But she couldn't help it, her life was in turmoil, she didn't have 
time to focus on being compassionate and kind to others. She was the 
one who needed compassion and kindness. Steve's kindness, when he found 
out about her past, like Graham, he wouldn't want to be with her 
anymore. Their marriage of ten years would be over.  She arrived early 
to pick up Emily and Ethan from school. Emily was in first grade, and 
Ethan was in kindergarten. She didn't want anything to happen to them, 
they were the most precious people in her life. If she could just get 
them home, everything would be all right. So far, they were driving 
home without incident. Emmy and Ethan were telling Gwen about their 
days. They were stopped at a red light, a block away from home, when 
they were hit from behind. Emily and Ethan screamed as Gwen tried to 
reassure them that everything was okay. "Mommy! Mommy!" Ethan shouted. 

"It's okay, kids. Everything's going to be fine." Gwen raced to them;
they were crying and huddled together in the backseat. They were still 
strapped in. Just as Gwen was looking them over he approached. "Give me 
the car!" he said jamming a gun in to Gwen's side. "Okay, you can have 
the car." "I know." he said coldly, a mask and glasses concealed his 
identity, but she knew it was him. "Just don't hurt my children. Kids, 
come on, just come with Mommy okay?" Gwen tried to keep her composure, 
as her back was turned getting a frightened Emily and Ethan from the 
car, he hit her over the head with the gun barrel. She collapsed to the 
floor unconscious, Emily and Ethan screamed, as Gwen fell to the floor. 
"Mommy? Mommy, wake up!" Emily cried. "Don't talk, little girl, you and 
your brother get in the car!" "Ethan, run!" Emily took her brother's 
hand and they tried to outrun the man. They eluded him for ten minutes 
running through woods, and deserted streets. But it was in vain, he 
grabbed Emily from behind causing her to fall. He tied her hands and 
legs and bound her mouth. Ethan stood wide-eyed screaming for his Mommy 
and sister. The man bound and tied him and put them both in to the 
backseat. He belted them in and began to drive to his secret location. 
Gwen and her car were left by the side of the road. 

Steve was just about to go home when his best friend Clinton called him.
Clinton was one of North Carolina's top neurologists. "Steve we've got 
another one coming in. MVA, sign of head trauma, pulse and resps are 
steady, BP is normal." "Are they conscious?" Steve asked scanning 
Clinton's face for any. "No, she's been unconscious since the medics 
responded." Clinton's eyes widened as he saw her. He had to tell Steve 
before he found out for himself. Clinton's brown eyes conveyed concern 
before he spoke. "Steve, don't go over there." "Clint, I have to help 
the patient." "Steve, its Gwen." "Gwen!" Steve ran over and saw his 
wife lying motionless on the stretcher. "Gwen, can you hear me? Honey, 
it's me, Steve. Can you open your eyes?" but she didn't respond. "We 
found her like this, Steve." Marlaina Breckenridge one of the 
paramedics said. "She was driving a red neason." "Did you find any 
children?" he knew this was when she picked up the kids. He was 
supposed to have been home hours ago, but the ER had been backed up and 
he agreed to stay and help. "No children just Gwen. I'm sorry, Steve." 
"Thanks, Marlaina.Clint, get her down to CT, do a chest x-ray, and an 
MRI!" Steve ordered. Usually a calm man, he was frantic, not his 
Gwenny, this couldn't happen to her. He smiled to himself as he thought 
of her. Gwenny, only he was allowed to call her that, it was his pet 
name for her. Just as she was about to be wheeled away, Steve bent down 
and kissed her. "Gwenny, I love you. Hang on, sweetness, hang on." he 
watched as she was wheeled away to x-ray. Steve felt the whole room 
spin, and he sat down. He dialed the police and then Margo. He hoped 
and prayed the kids were with her. If not, they were missing, his heart 
raced as he thought of his family. Gwen and the kids were in peril, and 
all his medical training was useless now. He was a basket case of 
emotions, very unusual for him. As the phone rang, he prayed Margo was 
there. As Steve listened to the staccato ring in his ear he whispered: 
"Please God save Gwenny and my children. Where are my children?" Tears 
began streaming down his face and he couldn't stop them. He sobbed as 
he heard Margo's voice. "Hello?" 


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