Protection Program • Run or die

chapter 2

Erick got out of the taxi and Ana was left behind to pay once more. The younger woman rolled her eyes as she followed Erick toward the tape. Donovan was there, but she ignored them both as they slipped under the tape and addressed Jacob.

"Hey," Jacob greeted them both as he gave them a small smile.

"Jacob," Erick greeted back with a nod. He then walked past him and over to the body that was lying on the sidewalk. It wasn't a busy area, but enough so that some people were trying to see what was going on. Ana went and stood beside Jacob and watched.

"It's good to see you Ana," he smiled at the woman standing next to him.

"You too, Jac, beer later tonight?" she asked, they usually met for one every few days.

"Of course, how have things been since Erick got back? It's been four months," he asked, a little curious, as he hadn't talked much about it during their pub encounters.

Ana blushed a little, "Things are fine. It wasn't in the beginning, but they are now," she said, trying to ignore the expression that was on her friend's face.

"Ah," Jac nodded slowly, a smile on his face, "It's going pretty well I suppose."

"Shut up," she said defensively.

"Hey, I'm all for it, I've been saying from the start that you two should just stay together that the UST was killing everyone around you," he smiled as he spoke softly.

"Jac, please," Ana said shaking her head as Erick stood up and walked towards them.

Jac just smiled but didn't say anything else as he looked at Erick, "So, anything else?"

Erick nodded, "yes, the victim is like the others, but this one had time to get away. But for some reason he didn't, he stayed where he was and was stabbed. He didn't die right away. That looks like there was another one." person here with him when he died," he said as he looked at the crime scene once more.

"Could anyone have witnessed this?" Jac asked the man.

Erick nodded, "Yes."

"The victim may have let himself be stabbed and killed to protect whoever saw what was happening," Ana said as she looked at the scene, he couldn't imagine just standing there and letting himself be killed, he would have to fight.

Erick perked up for a moment as he looked around. He saw an alley not far from the scene and walked towards it. He could hear a noise coming from the alley as he lowered the tape and headed for the opening. Ana quickly followed, as did Jac.

From the shadows emerged a large black dog, which growled at those standing there. Ana shifted a little and pulled Erick back before he could step into animal territory. He looked further into the alley and saw the shape of a person, a child below. He looked at the canine and understood.

"Hey kid," she said as she knelt down and looked at the animal, her voice was calm and even, a friendly tone for him, "It's okay. I just want to go to your friend back there. sick. Come on boy, it's okay," she said as she stretched out her hand a little, keeping it facing down and angled towards the pavement. The dog growled softly, but went to Ana and sniffed at her hand.

The canine backed away from them and stepped over the child who was near the back of the alley. Ana followed her as the child began to wake up. She watched as a head of messy black hair lifted and he saw slightly broken glasses hiding green eyes. Ana gave a friendly smile, annoyed at the bruises she could see.

"Hi," said Ana softly, making the child startle a little and grab the dog by the neck and hold him tightly, "it's okay. My name is Ana, I'm a doctor and I work with the police too". he smiled at him.

"Andrew," was the child's reply.

"I can see you're hurt, would it be okay if I examined you?" Ana asked softly.

Andrew thought for a moment as he said, "I'm fine, just a little bruised."

"I can see it's more than that from the way you're sitting," Ana told him, shaking her head a little, "I know how to locate wounds Andrew, I've trained a lot to do that."

Andrew lowered his head and then nodded a little. Ana went to him and knelt down, "I'm fine," Andrew insisted once more.

"No you're not," Erick said as he walked forward a little, "What did you see last night?" he then blurted out as he looked at the child.

Andrew tensed as Ana turned to him and said, "Erick, not now."

"But I need to know Ana, we have a killer to find, he has already killed four people," he said as he looked at his friend who was examining the young teenager.

Andrew looked up as he looked at the man, "Four?"

Erick looked at the kid and nodded, "Yeah, four with the man over there."

"Norman, his name was Norman," Andrew said softly, looking down at the floor, "He protected me, he kept me safe when the man was there, he kept his attention on him," he said miserably as tears began to form.

Ana turned to Jac and said, "You can call an ambulance, I think he needs to be looked after properly, I think he just has bruised ribs and a few other bruises, but I think X-rays are needed to be sure," she then turned to Andrew.

"No, I don't," Andrew said, shaking his head frantically.

Ana smiled at him, "it's going to be okay, I'll go with you."

Andrew nodded and then looked at his dog, "What about Snuffles?"

Erick looked at the animal and could see an intelligence he had never seen in dogs before, "he will be fine, if he comes to where I live I will make sure my landlady leaves him some food when he comes."

Andrew smiled and nodded, "Did you hear that, find out where he lives," Snuffles barked and went over to Erick and sniffed at him, taking in the man's scent, "Where do you live, sir?" he then asked the man.

"Bayer Street," was the simple answer when he asked the child, "When you're seen, can you tell us everything you know about what happened?"

Andrew nodded, "yes sir."

The ambulance arrived and Erick and Ana went with him. Almost two hours later, Ana and Erick were with Andrew in his room. Erick had arranged a private room for the child, thinking it would be easier for them to talk to him without anyone listening. Ana left the room for a moment to speak to one of the doctors who was treating Andrew, she wanted to know what condition he was in.

"Hey Tony," Ana greeted the man.

"Ana," he said with a sigh, "That boy went hungry, he's also dehydrated. As you can see, he's bruised. He's got bruised ribs, sprained wrist. His right knee is hurt a lot, so it's going to hurt. for him to walk around a bit. Poor kid, to be here on his birthday too," he said with a nod.

"Damn," Ana said with a sigh as she looked at Andrew's bedroom door, "What about the family and that?"

"He won't say anything, he won't even tell us his last name. We'll call social services to talk to him later, but he'll be here for at least another day or two," he said. "We almost took his birthday away from him as soon as he realized why we were asking all the questions he stopped answering."

Ana nodded and said, "Fine. I'll go back and make sure Erick doesn't disturb him while he tells us what he knows."

"Good idea with that one," Tony joked a little before leaving.

Ana entered the room and was relieved to see that Andrew was talking to Erick, and Erick was behaving himself. An hour later, Erick and Ana had everything they needed to try to track down the man, the police would be there doing the same soon. Ana was tempted to stay with Andrew, but knew she needed to keep an eye on Erick. They said goodbye and left the teenager alone to rest. Andrew calmed down, tired of everything that had happened. He hadn't slept well in the alley waking up scared if the killer or his uncle had found him. Soon he was sleeping, feeling a little safer now that he was somewhere safe.