Witness: A Bad-Boy Romance

Destination

One short week after I lost my family I had a new name, a new history, and a completely new look.

Another week passed before I had a new home, too.

I didn’t get to choose where I moved to. Not even from a well-curated list. I was naive enough to think I would be staying in Boston at first, or at the very least Massachusetts.

The morning I was due to leave for my new home I had a meeting with Judith - the nice lady who had spoken to me in the ambulance on that very first night.

She handed me a folder filled with everything I would need in my new life. A passport, a bank card, a birth certificate, a learner’s permit so I could keep learning to drive.

I flicked absentmindedly through the passport as Judith explained what all of the documents were. I noticed that they had even added a couple of stamps to the passport so it didn’t look conspicuously new.

When she was finished with her explanation she got me to repeat it all so she was sure I had understood.

I was given a new phone and spent ten minutes memorizing the number before Judith firmly planted an envelope on the table in front of me.

“What’s in this?” I asked, nervous to even touch the envelope.

“Your tickets. Your flight leaves in four hours, you’ll be taken to the airport in half an hour.”

I rushed to pick the envelope up now I knew what it contained, shakily tearing it open and pulling the tickets out.

I scanned the ticket for the information I needed.

Flight JBU1833…Departure BOS, Boston Logan… Destination SFO, San Francisco.

“California…”

I couldn’t believe it. I stared in open-mouthed shock at the ticket.

They could not have picked somewhere further away.

Judith was silent for a moment. I think she was giving me time for the reality to sink in.

“You won’t be alone, sweetheart. There’s no need to worry.”

I wasn’t worried about that. I hadn’t even considered it. I was still thinking about the six-hour flight I would be taking in a few short hours taking me away from my home and everything and everyone I had known for the past twelve years. I was so young when we moved to Boston that I couldn't remember what it was like to move somewhere so far away, and that move had been with my loving family.

I read through the information on the ticket again, as if somehow it might say something different this time.

Flight JBU1833. Departure BOS. Destination SFO. Flight time 6 hours 16 minutes. Gate 7D. Passenger Cooper, Brooke Jade.

“Brooke Jade? I’m supposed to be Victoria Grace. I chose Victoria Grace. Brooke Jade was supposed to be my older sister.”

I don’t know why the mistake upset me so much, but I heard myself choking up and felt a lump in my throat. I pulled out of the documents again, looking for my new name.

Judith took the ticket from my trembling hand, leaving the one behind it for me.

I hadn’t thought about the fact the trip was one way. Of course, there were two tickets.

I felt so stupid as I stared at the second ticket, printed with my new name.

I had known the kind young Marshall who had been with me day and night since I was whisked away to the safe-house as Lisa, but she smiled sweetly at me now and offered an awkward half-wave.

US Marshall Lisa Bennett was now Brooke Jade Cooper, my 26-year-old sister.

Why hadn’t I guessed it before? Her wavy brown hair and hazel eyes should have been a giveaway.

“We couldn’t tell you everything in advance,” Brooke explained in a sympathetic voice, “it isn’t safe to give everything away too soon. You’ll be starting school on Monday, and I’ll be starting as the new gym teacher. I can watch over you that way, and you have a good, simple explanation for moving so suddenly.”

I shrugged. It wasn’t like I could argue or tell them I didn’t want to move to California.

When we left the safe-house there was a car waiting outside. I wasn’t sure if it was a real taxi or another part of the elaborate lie I was living now.

I hadn’t been outside since the day my family was killed, and as I sat in the car and gazed out of the window everything seemed different.

I couldn’t trust anyone anymore.

All of the people we passed as we were ferried to the airport could be living a lie just like us. One of them could very well have been the man who killed my family in cold blood, and I wouldn’t even be able to point him out.

The Marshall had taken on the role of Brooke Cooper as adeptly as a master method actor, and I wondered if she was really Lisa Bennett to begin with or if that was just another role she had been playing.

I was still Heather then, despite the freshly dyed hair and contact lenses stripping me of any resemblance to my real family. She was Brooke, a 26-year-old gym teacher from Boston with a degree in Creative Writing from Miskatonic University. Lisa had never existed.

I didn’t talk much. It was partly because I was still in shock, but I was also terrified of slipping up and revealing my real identity. One wrong word and the jig would be up.

When we arrived at the airport Brooke unloaded two suitcases from the back of the taxi with an elegant ease that showcased her strength and agility. I had no idea what they contained; all I knew was that there was no trace of my former life within them. I wasn’t even allowed a single photograph of my family to remember them by.

My heart was racing when we got to the check-in counter. I was certain they would be suspicious of the passports.

There was no problem; they were accepted without question.

Brooke bought us both a coffee when we got through security. It was my first ever coffee, and I sat sipping on a latte feeling more grown-up than I ever had before. Mom had told me countless times that I wasn’t allowed coffee until I was 18.

I felt my guts churning when I imagined her lovingly chastising me for accepting the drink. It felt like I had betrayed her.

I pushed the half-empty paper cup away and stared down at a stain on the table so I didn’t have to explain myself.

“Now boarding Flight JBU1833 to San Francisco. First-class ticket holders, Economy Premium ticket holders, and any passengers in need of extra assistance or traveling with young children may now board.”

Brooke tapped my shoulder to get my attention.

“That’s our flight, kiddo.”

I nodded silently and gathered up the large leather handbag I had been given. Victoria liked big bags like that; Heather had never owned a handbag before. I felt awkward with the stylish bag slung over my shoulder. I only had an idea of the contents because it had been opened and thoroughly rummaged through by security.

We boarded with no issue, and as I buckled myself into the uncomfortably cramped seat I felt like we were getting away with something naughty.

There was no Victoria Grace Cooper or Brooke Jade Cooper a month ago.

But here we were, sat together on the plane, and as far as anybody else knew we were beloved siblings on our way to start our exciting new life in sunny California.