“Don’t run.Put your hands up and turn around slowly.”When I turned around, I was surrounded by three men.They were dressed in all black and held flashlights in one hand with the other pointing a gun at me.
“I don’t want to die.”I told them, clenching my eyes shut, scared these wereBig Boss’sguys and they had somehow followed me.
“We don’t want you dead, Lee.”One of the men said, lowering his gun and stepping toward me.“We want to make you a deal.”
“A deal?No way, the last deal I made got me into this mess.I just want to get out and build my life back up with my girlfriend.”
“I think we can help you get there.”The man said, and I think he must be the one in charge.
“Whoareyou guys?”I asked, still holding my hands up.
“At ease, fellas.You can put your hands down, Lee.I’ll explain.”
He sat down on the ground next to me and told me to listen closely.I spent the next several minutes in a daze, my mind circling around the information they dumped on me like a cloud dropping from an airplane.
The three of them worked for a covert operation under the CIA; they had been followingBig Bossfor eight months, trying to reel him in and were waiting for him to make a mistake that would lead them to an arrest.They’d followed me around for several weeks, watching me work and watching who I interacted with.They saw my demeanor and work habits outside of the dirty jobs and took a chance on me being the one they needed to bringBig Bossand his crew down.
“All we need is a name, Lee.A name and you can go.If you give us the name we need, we can set you up in a protection program so that none ofBig Boss’sassociates can hunt you down.”
“Okay.And if I give you the name you need and you let me go, what are the consequences of my being in this protection program?”I ask.
“There are only three rules for the program.But they’re three big rules.”He named them, counting them off on his fingers:
1.I cannot contact my family or friends.For all intents and purposes, I would be dead.
2.I have to change my name and date of birth.
3.I have to serve twenty years in the Armed Services as my debt for participating in illegal activities.
After twenty years, they would have brought in all known associates, and I would be free to move on with my life under the assumed identity.It would be my choice at that time, if I wanted to re-appear in my friends’ and family’s lives.
“And if I don’t take the deal?”I ask.
“We would be forced to arrest you and charge you with being an associate of a known drug lord.Because of the size of this ring, you would sit in a maximum security prison for at least twenty five years with a slim possibility of getting out early on good behavior.”
“Fuck.”I said, head in my hands.It didn’t make sense tonottake this deal but either way, I’m screwed.“I’ll take the deal.”I told them.And I spilled out all the information they wanted to know.I gave up the old man in the hoodie and the driver of the Cadillac.I told them where I made my pick-ups and my drop-offs and where I picked up my cash, and I even told them the location of that old empty warehouse where I had metBig Boss.
Fuck.I’m not making it, Ellie.I’m sorry I fucked things up bad this time.
The three men in black brought me to their car and drove me to an office building in the city.I was told they had a team that stayed behind and set a fire in the woods where I was.They left my belongings there to burn and they even left the remains of a homeless John Doe in the fire so it would be believable, not only to the authorities but also toBig Bossand his thugs.I signed some papers, was handed some other papers and they put me in another car, headed to Louisiana.
About half-way through the quiet drive in the backseat of a dark car, I looked down at the papers in my lap: My name is now Lee McCormick, born May 6th, 1980.
Chapter Twenty-Four
ELLIE
17 years earlier
School started a week after I found out that I’m going to be having a baby.I actually tried to ignore that fact as much as possible.I needed to push through senior year and finish early because the baby was going to be here mid-February, according to my doctor.
Dad had a meeting with my school counselor, and she explained all the things I would have to complete in time to graduate early.I would still be able to walk across the stage with my class during the ceremony if I wanted to.
I was getting almost daily messages from Lee, and he’d sent me four letters.I didn’t listen to or read any of them, I just put them in the box in my closet.How was I supposed to move on if I let him hold on to me with his pretty words?I had a really difficult time accepting that he was going to be raising a child in California where it was only fair that his baby had both of its parents but then was it fair to our baby here that he or she didn’t have both parents?Dad kept trying to convince me that I needed to tell Lee about our baby or at the very least, let him talk to Mrs.Combs.I wasn’t ready just yet, I needed to get through this part of school before I let that stress me out even more.The doctor told me at my last appointment that my stress levels were too high; I needed to find more ways to calm myself – and telling Lee about our baby was not going to be calming.
* * *
Mallorie and I had gone out to lunch one Saturday afternoon and she tapped me on the arm when she noticed a guy staring at us.“Who’s that?”she asked.“He’s been watching you for the last five minutes.”I turned around to see who she was talking about and there was a blast from the past, I smiled when I recognized him.“It’s Wes, from ninth grade Spanish class!Remember the guy I used to go hang out with on his work breaks?We never kept in touch after he moved to a different school.I’m going to say hi, be right back.”
