Temporary Protector

Cabin in the Woods

When Ryan Copeland was six years old, his grade one teacher asked him in class one day, what he wanted to be when he grew up. Ryan proudly puffed out his chest and said, “I want to be the chief of police.”

The teacher had smiled and proclaimed that it was a very good goal. What she did not say was that most six year olds didn't still want to be what they answered by the time they turned eighteen.

Ryan was not like most six year olds.

In fact, the moment he received his high school diploma he was heading to the academy. He was so focused on his goal that he had forsaken a relationship and barely hung out with his friends. At get togethers they teased him calling him “the ghost” since he moved in and out of rooms so quietly most people didn't realize he was there.

His teacher had been right, he didn't make it to chief, but he did make it to special ops. Primarily guns & gangs and anyone would tell you he was good at his job.

He was good, but not good enough to save his partner's wife and her two children. Not good enough to save his partner. And that thought haunted him for months. So much that he took a leave of absence and disappeared into a secluded cabin. He never officially resigned. Some thought he would return, others thought he had gone deep undercover. In truth, Ryan was haunted by the screams of Rachel as she watched her children die and then haunted by the empty stare in her eyes when he had found her in the bathtub two months later, her life drained and staining the metal and subway tiles around her.

His life remained quiet and the only trouble he had to deal with were the ones he had given himself. That was until Jessa Malone stepped into his life.

---

The unmarked car quietly rolled down the gravel road. Detective Jack Foster didn't want to pull in and have everyone know, he didn't want to blow it for Ryan but he was the only one that could help. He glances beside him. The woman was curled up in his jacket, sleeping heavily. The bruise under her eye was starting to colour now and Jack’s lip curled in disgust. He had known Jessa’s fiance well. He had been a good cop, but he had gotten mixed up in things he shouldn't have. The worst part was that he had inadvertently pulled Jessa into it. The result was Tommy Mitchell was dead, and Jessa was in danger.

He suspected that there were more dirty cops and Jessa could identify them. He needed her off the grid, not in the system. For her protection but also so that he could catch the people responsible. Ryan was the only cop that was just as much off the grid.

There is a single light shining from the porch and Ryan is already standing on the porch. A white ‘wifebeater’ and khakis. In his hand is a mug and he sips it slowly. Ryan was not a small man. He stood 6’5. His body was a canvas of tattoos and his arms were enough to intimidate many. He was trained in at least three martial arts and had broken the arms of a few criminals that attempted to fight him off.

Jack had always felt like a hobbit next to him, even though he was just under six feet himself. And even now, at forty-five, Ryan could pass for a man much younger. Jack looked every year of his age, particularly in his middle region. He blamed himself for picking a wife that was a marvel in the kitchen.

Jack pulls to a stop and shuts off the engine. Jessa doesn't stir. She had been up for the last fourty-eight hours straight and finally the doctor had given her a sedative. Jack knew she wouldn't wake, but he also knew he probably couldn't carry her dead weight very far.

Exiting the car he walks toward the porch, sticking his hands in his pockets. He looks up sheepishly at the bigger man.

“You could have called Jack.” Ryan says, remaining calm and taking another sip of his coffee.

“I couldn't risk it Ry, besides you would have said no.”

Ryan nods, the stoic expression on his face remaining unbreakable.

“She's in real danger and you're the only one I can trust.”

Ryan watches him silently for a moment. A million thoughts and questions coming to mind to ask him. Who was she? What did she see? What was going on in the department that he couldn't even pick up a phone? But he doesn't ask any. Instead he sets down his mug and comes down the stairs. Even with the reduction in height from the porch, he still towered over Jack. Jack trusted him like a brother though. They had graduated together. Ryan had been his best man, Godfather to his three children. In fact, Ryan had barely opened up to anyone including a mandatory therapist after Rachel's suicide, but the one person he had told more too was Jack.

“Where is she?”

Jack lead him to the passenger door of his car. Peering in, Ryan can barely make out the woman's features. Soft looking Auburn hair framed most of her face but he could make out the red eyelashes against her cheeks. Her breathing is even, indicating that she was in a deep sleep. She looks small, fragile.

“Her fiance was a cop.”

Ryan doesn't look away. “Was?”

“He was killed. He was mixed up with the Fettucini brothers, the raided their home two days ago. Tied up Tommy and assaulted Jessa in front of him before finally turning the gun on him.”

Ryan’s fists clench at his sides.

“How did she survive?”

“Thomas texted his partner right before they grabbed them both. We got there before they could kill her.”

Ryan holds back from punching the hood of Jack’s car. “So she saw their faces.”

Jack nods. “That's not all. Tommy told her that he knew of a cop that was dirty on the inside. She refuses to talk though. Until I can find out more or she's willing to testify, I need her safe.”

“And after that?”

“Witness protection. She can start a new life and be safe, but I can't do that yet. Not if this guy is higher up. It would be easy for him to find her.”

“So that's where I come in?”

Jack nods, putting a hand on his best friend's shoulder. “I know I can trust you and maybe she’ll open up to you?”

Ryan simply nods. He doesn't want to. In his mind, he wasn't fit to protect anyone but he knew the girl was as good as dead if she went anywhere else.

“What's her story?”

Jack walks to the back door, opens it and grabs a file. He hands it to Ryan.

“Jessa Malone. Thirty-three. She's a doctor at Sacred Heart Memorial. Tommy and her have been together for three years, he proposed about a month ago. Their wedding was supposed to be in August. She's got no family. Orphaned at Sixteen she was a ward of the province until she turned eighteen. Went to Medical school on scholarships and working three jobs.”

Jack smirks. “Remind you of anyone?”

Ryan had been in and out of foster homes since he was too young to remember. It wasn't until he was ten that he was taken in by a more permanent home belonging to Selene Rodriguez. She straightened him out but Ryan never lost sight of his dream and Selene had helped him get there. When she lost a leg to diabetes he had hired a full time worker to take care of her. But Jessa obviously had a dream too and just like him, she had not given up on it despite the overwhelming odds against her.

“I’ll take her inside.”

Jack knew it was Ryan’s way of accepting it all. Opening the car door, it's easy for the large man to scoop her up and enter the house. Jack follows behind with her bag as Ryan enters his cottage and walks straight to his room. The king sized bed matches the log decor of the building. Jack knew that Ryan had built this cabin himself over many years.

“Don't you have a second bedroom?”

Ryan gently lays Jessa down on his bed, removes Jack’s blazer and pulls up the quilt. He hands the jacket back to Jack before the men move out of room.

“It's occupied.”

Jack furrows his brow.

“By whom?”

Ryan doesn't answer him, instead he walks toward his kitchen and pours his friend a mug of coffee. Jack takes it. Ryan had a thing for details and he had remembered that Jack took it black and strong.

“What's in your other bedroom Ryan?”

“Some boxes. She won't be here long right?”

“A month, maybe two. I have a few leads. I will try to get word to you when I know something.”

Jack takes a few more sips before setting the half full mug down.

“I gotta get going. It's a good three hours back to the city and I haven't seen Marissa or the girls in two days. Thanks buddy, this...”

Ryan cuts him off. “Just be careful. These guys, they don't care who they hurt to get what they want. Keep your family safe Jack.”

Jack nods and without another word, Jack leaves the house and within minutes he’s pulling back out of the long hidden driveway. Ryan watches until the darkness swallows him up. He turns back toward his bedroom and opens the door, the sliver of light hitting the doctor's face. He decided right there to give her the ‘doctor’ treatment. Don't get attached.