Ultraviolet

Chapter Fifteen: Witness Protection

I woke up in the morning to an empty house and a note on the fridge, telling me not to leave and that everyone will be back before the club opens at 7:30pm. I quickly made some cereal and took a seat at the dining table, beside a red box with a white bow tied messily across it. I ignored it, instead taking more interest in the show on the TV.

A loud cheerful tune played loudly from the box, scaring the shit out of me when it started. After a minute of daft confusion on behalf of me, I realised a phone was ringing from inside the box. I quickly slid of the bow and opened the box revealing a mobile phone with a number displayed on its screen as it continued to ring.

I tapped the green answer button and held the phone up to my ear. Only after answering realising that I had no idea who I was speaking to or who the call was intended for. Surely Hadeon, Jessica, and Jack had left with their phones', and if they hadn't, why would their phone be in a gift box.

"Hello?" I spoke into the phone with a small voice.

"Violet." It was Hadeon.

"Hi," I smiled cheerfully, my moment of anxiety passing swiftly. "Whats up?"

"Do you like it?"

"What?"

"The phone." Hadeon explained. "Its yours, I realised you didn't have one of your own so..."

I looked down at the black phone. It had a couple scratches on the screen and tiny dents in the metal of the side, but other than that it was sleek and looked practically new.

"You didn't have to do that." I insisted. I did have a phone, but it was currently in a sewer drain in Nebraska in an effort to remain hidden from the people I was running from.

"It's just an old phone of mine, I just thought you should have one. Just in case."

"Thank you, Hadeon." I grinned, before we said goodbye and hung up.

I left my cereal at the table and hurried into my bedroom. I ripped open all my bags, desperately searching for a very important piece of paper. I found it in the toe of a pair of snow boots, a receipt from a winter apparel shop with a number written across it in hurried blue handwriting.

After managing to set my new number as private, I typed in the Nebraskan number and waited patiently.

"Hello?" A familiar, friendly voice answered.

"Deputy O'Connor?" I asked, trying my best to mask my voice.

I don't think it worked. On the other side of the line I heard the deputy mumble something and a door opening and then closing.

"Violet?" He asked.

"Hi, I have a phone now." I uttered.

"Thank god, you're okay!" He laughed helplessly. "I have been so worried. I wanted to call your sister but I knew it wasn't safe and I just... Is everything alright? Are you okay?"

"Yes. I'm perfectly perfect." I promised. "I'm living with my sister right now and she gave me a job and I'm doing great and I LOVE it here in Boston."

"I'm happy for you." He said. "And that thing we talked about, with your sister and her husband. Thats fine, you're staying out of it."

I knew before hand that Jess and Jack's financials didn't add up. A normal bar doesn't bring in as much money as they seemed to have. Deputy O'Connor couldn't find anything to suggest why, and told me it was likely they were involved in something shady. But shady business was a godsend after what I'd been through.

"Yes, I'm staying out of it."

"Good."

"I really want to thank you." A smile etched into my cheeks but I couldn't feel my eyes tearing up.

"Just doing my job."

He had repeated that phrase over and over the entire time I had spent with him. A lot of the law enforcement in Sunshine, Nebraska were more concerned with protecting the reputation of their friends than protecting victims, it was nice to know that someone out there was good. Someone cared.