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“We want to enroll you in the witness protection program.” the Chief informed Miranda. A heavy silence weighted the room. The air was thick with tension.
“What do you mean, I don’t......Witness protection?” Miranda asked slowly. “I don’t understand why that’s nessacary.”
“Miranda....” the Cheif placed his hand on her shoulder. “We have every reason to believe you may come to harm. You could be the next in a long line of Mafia victims.” he leaned over the table and captured her eyes with his own, firmly holding her gaze. “I assure you, this is an imperitive measure. Once the FBI agent assigned to your case arrives, you will be given a new identity and relocated.”
“Wait! Wait just a minute! This is crazy!” Miranda exclaimed, abruptly pushing her chair back and standing. She turned and paced the rear of the conferance room. “You can’t do this to me! You have to have consent, right? I won’t let you! I want to stay here, be plain old Miranda Roberts, and there’s nothing you can say that will change my mind!” she paused, breathing heavily.
“If that’s the choice you make, you will die for it.” a new voice warned. Miranda spun around, comming face to face with a tall, broad shouldered man. The serious expression he wore told Miranda that he was not in jest.
“Who are you?” she whispered.
“Michael Harris. The FBI agent assigned to your case.” he informed her, his eyes never wavering from hers. “I meant what I said. You will die if you make that choice. I was hoping you wouldn’t be stupid and foolhardy.” he stated in a cold tone. Miranda felt her cheeks heat, and anger well up inside of her.
“I am NOT stupid and foolhardy. I just want my life.” Miranda broke off suddenly, as she realized what she had said. In a softer tone, “I just want my life.”
Harris nodded. “Good. Have a seat.” he ordered calmly, carefully avoiding the use of her name. Miranda did as she was told, and had no sooner taken her place, then Harris stood beside her, plucking a folder off of the table. “I took the liberty of bringing the files I have on this crime ring with me. The results of two years worth of investigation are in these folders.” he informed them. “Here. I want you to take a good look at these.” he commanded Miranda.
In quick succession he began to lay out a series of black and white photographs, all the while quoting names to go with each picture. “Sarah Stevens, August 12, 1997. Tanya Minifi, September 22, 1997. Callan Ross, December 30, 1997. Tabby Ringwald, March 16, 1998. Cora Mitchell, June 23, 1998. Mike Brennan, October 29, 1998. Coby Smith, November 4, 1998......” Harris never took his eyes off of Miranda’s face. With still half of the stack of pictures in his hands, he stopped. “Several months from now, even a year, I could be interviewing another crime witness, like yourself. I may have to say, ‘Miranda Roberts, 1999’. Do you really want that to happen?”
“All of these people were crime witnesses?” she asked. Harris nodded in the affirmitive. Miranda contemplated for a moment. “What do I have to do?” The entire room took a breath of relief. Harris smiled.
“You made the right desision.” he assured her. “We’ll take good care of you.”
*****
Miranda leaned her head back against the closed door. A sigh escaped her, and she raised a trembling hand to brush back her hair. “How could all of this be happening?” she thought, a small part of her subconcious holding out for the dispersal of this nightmare. Miranda’s shakey legs carried her over to the bathroom counter, where she turned on the cold water faucet and splashed the icey liquid on her face. The droplets of water slid down her cheeks like tears.
Miranda raised her head to look at her refletion in the mirror. A stranger starred back at her. Deep red hair, formerly bright and lustrous, now hung limp and lifeless. It’s curly texture had been wieghted as well, and Miranda’s green eyes had lost their sparkle over the past three days. Her skin was pale and taunt; a remenant of it’s peaches and cream coloring, no where to be seen. Unexpectedly, a tiny tear ran down the bridge of her nose, and dropped off of it’s tip. Miranda turned form the mirror, and made her way back to the conferance room.
*****
“Explain this to me. I want to know everything; please don’t keep me in the dark. I can’t stand that any more.” Miranda pled softly. Harris nodded in understanding, then turned to the other four occupants of the room.
“Please excuse us for a moment.” he said. It was not a question, it was an order. Silently, they rose and filed out the door. When the portal had once again closed, Harris returned his attention to MIranda. His eyes bored into hers, as if testing her strength. Miranda’s eye contact never wavered. Finally, he began to speak. “The government offers the witness protection program to a variety of people for a variety of reasons. Some women enroll to escape battering husbands with psychotic tendancies. Corporate men join the program because they discover that their employer is laundering money, and others enroll because they have witnessed a crime committed by people who will stop at nothing.
Regardless of the reason, the government currently protects approximately twentyfive hundred citizens. You are about to become one of those. We will begin by eraseing every last shred of your former identity. This includes employee records, official files and documents, greeting cards, liscences, everything right down to the last time Miranda Roberts recieved a parking ticket. Most of this will be accomplished in the next eight hours. You see that video recorder up there?” he asked, gesturing to a small camcorder in the upper corner of the room. Miranda nodded. “That camcorder has been taping your meetings in this room for the past three days. I will be destroying the tapes along with the rest of your police statements. As far as society is concerned, you never set foot inside this police department. You will no longer officially exist.”
The young woman in front of him licked her lips nervously, and wrung her hands beneath the table. “I understand.” Miranda finally stated quietly, and waited for Harris to continue.
“I will assign you a new identity. You’ll receive a new look to go along with your new life. Our most effective way of hiding you, is to alter your appearance, and place you in a new setting, one that someone would never think of looking for you in. After six months, or until the crime leaders have placed a lock on your location, you will be moved again, and given a different persona. This process will be repeated until we are absolutely sure that you have escaped danger, or until the culprits are caught. Do you understand?”
“Yes.” she accepted.
“Good. Let’s get started on your alterations.” Harris sighed in relief. He pulled his cell phone from his pocket.
“Wait!” Miranda cried. Harris halted, his finger poised over a button.
“What?” he questioned, slightly annoyed. She couldn’t be having second thoughts now, could she?
“I want to say goodbye. I HAVE to say goodbye. I love him.” she whispered.
“It’s too dangerous.” Harris dismissed with a shake of his head. “We will inform him that you are in danger and must be relocated when we clear out your things.”
“NO! I will see him if it’s the last thing I do.” Miranda shouted. “Please.”
Harris wavered for a moment. “Fine.” he said briskly. “But only for a few mintues, and not at someone’s house.” he thought for a moment. The beach. “Tell him to meet us at the ‘B’ dock on the westside port in half an hour.”
“Thank you Harris!” Miranda cried, and compulsivly flung her arms around his neck. “May I use your phone?”
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