Witness

•CHAPTER 24•

"You knew this whole time, didn't you?" I asked as I climbed into Ricky's truck.

He smiled, knowing where this was going. "Knew what?"

I nearly slapped him, not finding any of his funny. "You know who testified for me, don't you?"

He hesitated to speak.

"Why did you make me go to my dads when you know who it is?" I asked angrily.

"Because I never really and a relationship with my dad." Ricky said seriously. "And I didn't want you to follow my footsteps. I wanted you to start caring about your father because he cares about you."

I didn't exactly know what to say. What Ricky said was sweet, yet I still felt mad and sad at the same time about him.

"Just tell me who it is." I finally demanded. Ricky started the engine and began driving away from my father's house. Great, he won't tell me. Instead he will show me. I hate surprises.

"There were two people." Ricky said, focusing on the road. I stared at him in wonder. "One of them I can't really take you to see."

"Why?" I asked. He just shrugged his shoulders.

We continued driving in silence for about an hour when Ricky stopped at a large mansion-looking cabin in the middle of the woods. It was completely made of wood and had two garages, three floors, and about a million windows.

"Who's place is this?" I asked.

"Just go and knock on the door. They've been expecting you, I called in earlier notifying them."

Okay, this is getting weird. "Ricky, you're sounding like inside that door is a secret clan and I'm about to get kidnapped again."

"Yeah, let's not speak about kidnapping." Ricky looked at me and nodded his head towards the house. I rolled my eyes and sighed, not wanting o see what would come to the door.

I opened the door, not bothering to close it, and walked to the mansion-cabin with my hands shoved in my pockets. Once I was standing on the doorstep, I hesitated to knock. Right when I began to raise my hand, the door swung open and I was immediately embraced in a hug.

"For a second I thought you weren't gonna make it." The girl said. She released the hug and realization struck me.

"Ashley." It came as almost a question. "You-you live here?" I asked, gesturing to the giant structure behind us.

She smiled and nodded. "It's for girls who went through what I did. When Ricky called, I could hardly wait till you came."

I smiled. "So you're the one who testified."

She nodded. "Couldn't let you go to jail, even though you are a criminal."

"Yeah yeah." I waved it off. "Please tell me who the other person was."

"You will not believe it." She began. "Turns out George had more live in his heart than we thought."

I nearly choked on my own spit. "You're kidding me. Why would he testify?"

She shrugged. "Not sure."

"So..." I paused. "Now what?"

"Well," she looked down and rubbed her foot along the gravel. "Maybe once, you know, I decide I wanna leave this place, which probably won't be for a while, I'll have to visit you and learn all your tricks at the casino."

I smirked. "Good luck. You may have to watch me steal money back from he person I stole it from."

She laughed. "People should spy more respect for you. It ain't easy card reading."

"Yeah I know." I threw my hands up in the air. "Come on, world! Where's the justice! I'm not that bad of a criminal, am I?"

Ashley stepped closer. "I know who can answer that."

I smiled knowing where this was going. "Who?"

Suddenly, she let loose and pressed her lips against mine. I wrapped my arms around her, enjoying the first real kiss I've had in a while.

Author's Note

¸,ø¤º°'°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º° The End! °º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°'°º¤ø,¸