Authors: Chloe Grey
Meaghan was ready to fight and do damage if she had to. Spending one night in this dark, cold cellar made her angry. She was sure Chase had been looking for her. He would have no idea to look for her here. No one would. She had to give it her all if she wanted to get away. She sat at the side of the door, broken bottle in hand, waiting.
She was already awake and ready when Jeff opened the door to the part of the cellar she’d been trapped in. She had to take him by surprise. Meaghan wasn’t gentle when she attacked him, thrusting the broken end of the bottle into his stomach. It worked, and even better, as he swore and yelled in pain and buckled over, he dropped the phone he held in his hand.
She stopped to grab it and ran past him. This was it! She escaped through the other section of the basement and up the steps. She couldn’t be certain he would be down for long, so she didn’t bother searching for her purse and the bag she had packed up in the staff room. She ran through the empty restaurant and out the front door.
When Meaghan was outside, she headed for the first alley she could see, knowing it was the best route to take. She didn’t stop to look for Jeff. He would be after her. The only option she had was to get to the police before he got to her. She called 9-1-1, and was even more relieved when she saw a patrol car moving slowly at the end of the alleyway.
She screamed to get their attention and the driver stopped. The uniformed officer approached her. He radioed in her call for help, so Meaghan told the 9-1-1 operator she had help, and hung up.
“Meaghan!” Hearing Jeff’s voice made her jump, but he sounded far enough away that she was safe. As he stepped into the aisle, blood soaking through his shirt near his stomach, he noticed the approaching police officer. He quickly turned back and stumbled away through the side of the restaurant.
“Stop him!” she shouted to the officer. “That man kidnapped me last night.”
“Ma’am, are you alright?”
“Yes. I’m fine.” The adrenalin was fading, and when the officer was close, she nearly collapsed into him. “Please help me.”
The officer held her up and walked her over to sit in the back of his car. Meaghan sat, exhausted and overcome. She couldn’t work out how she’d ended up in the middle of something like this. Chase had made some terrible choices, but she’d never imagined she’d end up being kidnapped by the people who ran the chop shop.
Still agitate, she bit hard on her lip and laid her head on the seat’s backrest. The officer asked her for her full name when he sat in the driver’s seat.
“Meaghan Connors,” she answered, still breathing heavily.
The officer used his radio to call in that she was a possible match to a missing persons report. She heard the confirmation over the radio.
“Ma’am, we’ll need to wait here for the paramedics to check you out. Just try to relax. Everything will be okay.”
Meaghan phoned Chase’s number. She didn’t stop to think too much about whether he’d be able to answer. Instead, she listened for him to pick up.
“Chase?” She said when he answered.
“Meaghan? Oh my God, I’ve been so worried about you, honey. Where are you? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine now. The police are here. I’m outside the restaurant. Jeff locked me in the basement last night.”
“What?”
“He has something to do with where you work, Chase.”
“Shit. Yes I just found out too…I’m sorry, Meg. I made some terrible choices. You didn’t deserve to have to go through this.”
“Let’s not talk about that right now. Where are you, Chase?”
“At the police station. I’m telling them what I know.”
“You really did that?”
“They threatened you. The only way I could think of protecting you was by telling the police everything. They’re taking us into protective custody. They had officers looking for you.”
“I’m…I’m glad, Chase. We can’t get through this alone.”
“I love you so much, Meg.”
“I love you too.”
“Hold on,” Chase said, stepping out of the interview room again to look for the officers. “I’ll get one of them to speak to you.”
Meaghan heard movements on the other end, and then a few voices before someone took the phone from Chase.
“This is Detective Weaver. Are you Meaghan Connors?”
“Yes. I am.”
“Where are you, Meaghan?”
“In the alley behind the restaurant where I work.”
“Is an officer with you?”
“Yes. He’s waiting for the paramedics to arrive and make sure I’m okay.”
“Can you put him on? We don’t have time to go through switchboard.”
“Yes,” she answered, hearing the urgency in his voice. “Hold on.”
Meaghan leaned forward and passed the phone through the opening in the glass divider. “Excuse me, sir. This is for you.”
The officer took the phone and spoke to the detective on the other end. Meaghan could only hear one side of the conversation, but it was clear they wanted him to leave the area right away.
“Ma’am,” he said after he hung up. “Here’s your phone. I’m going to have to get you over to the 324 Division precinct.”
“Is that where my boyfriend is…I mean that Detective who spoke to you?”
“Yes. They’ll have a nurse check you out there.”
“Thank you, officer.”
He nodded, and drove off. He couldn’t get there fast enough, as far as Meaghan was concerned.
When their patrol car turned into the station parking lot, Meaghan felt the rush of adrenalin again. The officer let her out of the back seat, and walked inside with her. Her eyes darted to all corners of the building as she searched for Chase. They turned to a row of what looked like small boardrooms. A plain clothes officer motioned to them.
“Meaghan Connors?” he asked.
“Yes. Is Chase West here?”
“He is. Come on in.”
Meaghan turned into the room. She held her breath as she laid eyes on Chase. In three strides around the table, he was standing in front of her. It didn’t matter that three officers were there. Chase put his arms around her and held her close.
“Meaghan. God, I’m so happy you’re okay,” Chase said, kissing her forehead. “I love you so much.”
She had been holding herself together until then—staying strong in light of the difficult situation. Now, she didn’t have to be strong or alone anymore. Chase held her tight, and the tears came. She leaned into him, sobbing into his chest as he rubbed her back and ran a hand through her hair. She didn’t want that feeling of safety to end.
“Ma’am, this is our on-staff nurse,” one of the plain clothes officers with Chase said to her after a few minutes. “She’s going to make sure you’re okay while we finish up with Mr. West.”
Meaghan pulled away with some hesitation. “Okay.”
The nurse smiled warmly. “Come with me, Miss Connors.” She motioned for Meaghan to follow her.
“I’ll see you soon, Meg. Not to worry,” Chase said as she moved off.
“See you,” she said softly, and slowly followed the nurse out of the room. She couldn’t wait for all of it to be over.
Chase rested his head on his hands as the two detectives talked to each other. He studied them, wondering how long they’d been trying to get the information he had just provided to them. He could barely get Meaghan off his mind, either. She was safe now, but he sensed it was far from over.
A woman knocked on the door and entered, handing a file to Detective Beam. He looked through it, and passed it to Agent Franks, who reviewed it as well. Finally, they turned back to him.
“All we need you to do now, Chase, is sign this,” Detective Beam said, passing one of the sheets to him.
“What is it?”
“It’s an interim plea agreement. It’s signed by the San Diego District Attorney, and subject to approval by a San Diego judge.”
“Should I have a lawyer with me?”
“You can, but I can’t advise you on whether you need one. I’ll explain what you’re signing, and you can take as much time as you need to read it through. After you read it, let me know if you prefer to have a lawyer.”
“Okay.”
“What you have is an agreement to testify. In exchange, the DA will not press charges against you. The information you’ve given us has been helpful, but you should know that we need more to proceed.”
“What do you mean?”
“We need to make an arrest. Ideally, we’d like the person or people running the theft and drug trafficking ring. If that’s not possible, we’ll go for the employees we find working on that shipment tomorrow.”
“But I told you, I don’t know where it’s happening,” Chase said, confused.
“That’s why we need you to agree to work tomorrow night.”
“What? Won’t they know I’m an informant?”
“No. They were interviewed, just like you were. What we’ll do is release you. You’ll get in touch with David and tell him you want to work tomorrow night. He’ll give you the address. You don’t even have to show up. We’ll have our team go in to make the arrests.”
“You’re asking me to go and be a part of it again? I don’t see how they’d believe I’m not cooperating. By now, they must know Meaghan escaped and was helped by the police.”
“That’s why we’ll have a cover story. You’ll tell them Meaghan take her things from your apartment and you don’t know where she is. On our end, we’ll take her just outside of town with our men. It will look like she’s spoken to the police, not you. You’ll tell them she disappeared last night, took some of her stuff, and isn’t taking your calls anymore. That will be your reason for going back to work with them. She broke up with you, and they’re all you have now. Makes sense?”
“I’m not sure,” Chase answered. “I don’t know if I can pull it off.”
“You’ll have to. It’s the only way,” Beam reiterated. “Look. Don’t get too nervous about it. After we release you, you’ll talk to David. Go by the restaurant where Meaghan worked and ask for her. That will help support your story that you haven’t seen her. If your mother calls, or anyone else, you need to stick to the story and let them know Meaghan’s still missing. Don’t let on that she left you or left town. You don’t know anything, except she took some things from the apartment and isn’t answering your calls. Understood?”
“I think so,” he said as he read the document.
“And you’ll stay at the apartment tonight. We’ll have undercover officers keep watch overnight. After we get you set up today, don’t use you personal phone to contact us, and don’t come back to the station. It’s simple. You can do this.”
“So where will you take Meaghan?”
“Just outside city limits. It’s best if you don’t know the details. She’ll be safe.”
“Okay. I’ll sign it. Just know why I’m doing this. I’m trying to protect Meg. She’s all that matters to me. I don’t care about anything else.”
“You’re making the right decision.” Detective Beam watched as Chase signed the agreement.
Accepting a job at the shop was the worst decision Chase had made. Ever. This was his chance to correct things. He couldn’t risk losing Meaghan over it. And he would never forgive himself if something happened to her.
All Chase could do was hope Detective Beam was right as he was shown out of the interview room. He was given a burner phone and instructions to call the detective once he had the address. He had to leave Meaghan here. They couldn’t be seen together. He left the police station and walked until he could find a bus stop. He glanced back at the building, unable to believe what he was about to do. No buses arrived in the few minutes he had waited, so he walked home. On his way, he phoned David, but it went to voice mail. He would keep trying.
Meaghan sat alone in one of the interview rooms at the police station. The nurse had cleared her, and given her some fluids to rehydrate. Everything else was okay. Except that now, looking at her hands, they were shaking. When she had seen Chase, it was easy enough for her to push away all the fear she felt. Alone—all the fear came back to the surface.
She didn’t know how to deal with it. She had been held against her will for an entire night. It wasn’t even believable. The whole situation felt like something she would read in the news, or see in a movie. Now she was living someone’s underworld life.
One of the officers with Chase entered her room.
“Hello Ms. Connors,” he said. “I’m Special Agent Franks.”
“Hello,” she mustered.
“You’re safe now. I’ll be working with the SDPD and my FBI team to keep you safe.”
“Thank you. Can I see Chase again?”
“Not at the moment. He’s helping us with something important, but you’ll see him soon.”
“Alright. Is there something you need from me?”
“Yes. Here’s what will happen. You’ll give your statement on what happened last night. After that, you’ll leave with two of our officers, who will take you to a hotel just outside San Diego. You’ll stay there for tonight. And tomorrow, Chase will meet with you.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Ma’am, your boyfriend agreed to get us some information. In exchange, we won’t press charged against him, and we’ll put the two of you into WitSec. That’s the short form of what we call witness protection. It’s for your safety.”
“What about our apartment, and our things? What about school?”
“You were kidnapped. And this group of criminals won’t hesitate to go further if they know Chase is helping us. You won’t be safe unless you both get into WitSec.”
“We can’t call our family, can we?”
“I’m afraid not. Not for a while.”
Meaghan sat silently, trying to let it sink in.
“Do you feel comfortable enough to give your statement?” Agent Franks asked after a few minutes.
“I think so.”
“Okay. I’ll get one of the SDPD officers to come in. By the way, I’m sure the nurse asked, but did Jeff Brewer do anything to hurt you—physically?”
“No, but I had to cut him to get away. I used a broken wine bottle. He’s probably bleeding badly.”
“Well, good for you,” he said. “You did what you had to.”
“Is he going to be arrested?”
“Based on your statement, he will probably be charged with forcible confinement and kidnapping. We won’t go after him right away. We don’t want to do anything to have his people change what they’ve planned for the chop shop over the next few days.”
“Okay. Will someone be able to get my things from the restaurant? I left my purse and ID.”
“No. It’s actually better that you left it behind. The less you take, the harder it will be for them to track you down.”
“That reminds me,” she said, reaching into her jeans pocket. “I have this for you. I don’t know if it’s going to be of any use.”
“What is it?”
“It’s Jeff Brewer’s phone. I grabbed it when I cut him with the broken bottle.”
“We’ll have a look. If we find anything we’ll let you know.” He looked around when the other officer walked in.
“Hello Ms. Connors. I’m Detective Beams. I’ll be taking your statement before Special Agent Franks and his team get you to safety.”
“Thanks.”
“Can I offer you some coffee?”
“Sure.” She answered.
Agent Franks got up and excused himself to speak with someone. Detective Beams looked over at her, and left the room as well. He returned with a blanket and a cup of coffee.
“You must be cold,” he said, placing the cup on the table, then draping the blanket over her shoulders. “Do you feel comfortable to start?”
“Yes,” she answered, taking the coffee in her hands to warm them up.
The detective turned on the video camera and began.