Unfinished- add on
Rena:
“Do you understand what you are going to be doing?” Detective Price quietly asked, his deep eyes filled with concern.
I nodded. “I don’t want to be a part of this anymore. Everything I told you has been a lie.”
His eyebrows furrowed and his jaw clenched. “Rena, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I just thought if I lied, everything would go back to normal.”
“I don’t want to have you subpoenaed. If you’re scared, I can have you under witness protection. They can’t hurt you.”
I shook my head, “Anyone can hurt me. I’m not going to make myself more vulnerable than I already am. Please, just let me sign all the papers to make this go away.”
“Don’t make me arrest you for obstruction,” Detective Price pleaded, “I’ll have to bring you down to the station.”
“You can’t take me anywhere,” I stood up. “I did nothing wrong!”
He slowly got up, “Rena, we’re so close to getting them. We just need your testimony and for you to pick them out in a line up. After that, I’ll see what I can do.”
I wrapped my arms around myself. “I can’t have them see me! They’ll do exactly what they did to him! They’ll kill me! You can’t!” I felt myself scrunched in the corner, next to the windows.
His eyes widened. “Rena, no, no. They won’t be able to see you. I promise. You’ll be safe.” He leaned down next to me. “They won’t kill you.”
I looked up at him. “I’ve had promises broken many times. Yours is no different.”
Matt:
“Petty Officer Lowenthal, what do you have on your mind today?” she crossed her legs and placed her clipboard on her lap.
“How do I tell her I’m sorry?”
She cocked her head to one side. “Who?”
“She’s already been through a lot and now I’m another one of her fears,” I shook my head.
“I’m not sure what you’re talking about. Who is she?”
I bit my lip. “I’ll have to reschedule this,” I stood up and reached for the doorknob.
“Matt, wait,” she turned towards her desk and turned the recording off. “We’ve known each other since grade school. I’m telling you this because I care about you and your health. You can’t just keep your feelings to yourself. You have to let them out and come to peace with them.”
I released the doorknob and faced her. “I’m doing fine. There’s nothing to worry about.”
“Look. This may be a big city, but soon enough everyone will remember you and things will come up that you’ve tried to keep down. Don’t make those mistakes,” she glared at me.
I sighed. “Some mistakes can’t be learned from. I learned that from you, Kate.”
Her straight blonde hair fluttered as the wind picked up. She shut the window and sat down in her chair, looking up at me. “You know the last thing I said to you?”
“Pretty sure it was to go drown in the Hudson River, but that could have been Amanda,” I smirked and sat back down.
Her face looked tired and she smiled at the memory. “I hear all these horrid stories about war from everyone who walks into my office. I didn’t feel a connection to them, so I didn’t have any trouble just listening and helping them cope through, but now that I’m helping you, I feel so hurt. You have been my friend since forever and I can’t imagine what you’ve gone through and seen, but I know that I would never want to hear about you dying out there.”
“Kate.”
“You never used to call me Kate. It was always Katherine to you,” she twiddled her thumbs. “I’ve never lost a friend or family member from war and I don’t want you to be my first.”
I cleared my throat. “I’ll come back. I always do. Tell your mother I said hello. I’ve been craving her cupcakes since the fifth grade,” I winked and opened the door.
“First thing Tuesday morning, Petty Officer Lowenthal,” she leaned back in her chair.
