Chapter Two
OregonMY eyes would hardly stay open as I was led up an overgrown sidewalk to the safe place the cops wanted me to be. I still didn't get why. I just wanted to go home and go to bed. Through my worn out shoes I could feel the indentations of the pavement, poorly made and poured before I was born. It made a scratching noise I found loud.
Inside, the house was perfectly fine, but not well furnished – a lot of lightbulbs were missing, there was a lack of carpeting, that sort of thing. It didn't feel like it could be someone's home, just a structure somebody lived in. That was probably the point, it was temporary, never someone's home to begin with.
At the kitchen table, my mother sat across from what I assumed was a plain-clothes police officer, like the lady helping me get to my seat. I could hardly question that they weren't uniformed, I was too tired to care. When I was given a cup of water I happily drank it, wanting to lean into my mother and fall asleep again right then. I was more sobered, but that didn't mean I was coherent.
"Jen, Jenny honey... we've got to talk, you have to be awake." My mom explained, forcing me up. "Do you know why we're here?
"No... do you?"
She didn't reply, she just looked at the officers. When she didn't say a word I should have known it would be bad. The woman who led me in, who led me here and looked out for me, spoke first."I'm Agent Jane Lancet, a detective with the FBI. This is my partner, Agent John Yander, and our Tacoma field agent, Sam Waters."
"Oh my God, what did I do?" I let my elbows thump onto the table, my hands cradling my head — shielding my eyes from all the authority that surrounded us. Varying thoughts raced through my mind. What did I do? Was it the drugs? I thought the CIA handled drugs! Was it about me going to bars underage? What was going on? Most crucially: Was it my mother?"You didn't do anything wrong, Jennifer." She continued. "You are just in the middle of something far worse than you know." My mother started to weep. Clearly I must have done something, but what? How could I be in this situation and find myself unsure of my offense?
"Your boyfriend is a serial killer." Detective Yander spoke – seemingly out of turn, as Detective Lancet was giving him an angry look. So much for easing me into whatever this intervention was. I was immediately at a loss for words, there was no way in this world that he was serious.
"You're fucking with me." I exasperatedly sighed. "I thought I was actually in trouble, and you're fucking with me! You're fucking with me, fucking feds!"
"We aren't lying about this one. If John had let me explain-" Lancet starts.
"No, no, no! Mom, you did this!" I stood up suddenly, watching her continue to cry. "You just don't like me with him!"
It was all fitting together now — this was some sort of intervention she had set up for me! And it was all because she doesn't like how I lived, because she couldn't understand that I'm old enough to make my own choices and that Garth loves me more than anything he's ever known. I wondered how many hippies and "wild children" these agents had done this for; I wasn't half as bad as them. My only "troublemaker" trait was that I dropped out of school... and that I frequently drank or smoked pot, I guess. What I'm trying to say is that I wasn't belligerent, violent, or out of touch with reality. I was a grounded woman who did things in her own way."Don't cry like this is so hard for you, I know it isn't, ma. You don't like him because he isn't gentle. That's just too bad, because-"
"Sit." The field agent shoved me back in my seat. "Listen."
"Whether you would like to believe it or not, Garth James Ruskin is a serial killer wanted in six states for about fifteen murders. They aren't sure if they've found all of them yet, but that's the number we have certain." Jane explained. "And you didn't do anything wrong besides be his girlfriend, I need you to understand that, but we need you out of the situation — not only for your safety, but for your testimony at trial."
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𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬, original
General Fiction"it was a beautiful day, and i prayed this would be my end." ══ ≪ °❈° ≫ ══ IN WHICH a girl finds herself in deeper trouble than she thought and ends up on a criminal's hit list. (original) © rileswritings, 2024