Material Witness by Lisa Mondello, L. A. Mondello

Fagnelio was caught
and brought before the grand jury, Cassie would be called back to testify. She
had to face him, just like she had all those years ago when she'd faced her
cousin's murderer in a humid Miami courtroom that stormy day.
    Cassie's heavy sigh wrapped around
her as she stared out the window, watching the last remains of the sunlight dip
below the tree line. Rhododendrons lined the roadway, bare of any flowers that
might have made this journey brighter.
    Why in God's name did she live in a
world of concrete and pavement when she could look out her window and see the
peaceful countryside of Virginia? In the city, she didn't have beautiful
sunsets over the mountains or rolling green hills that stretched on forever.
There was just her small apartment in the safe part of the town. There was
Angel Fagnelio, and hundreds just like him, crawling the streets, waiting to
hurt innocent people who were just going about their daily lives.
    Cassie’s whole definition of safe had
changed drastically in the last twenty-four hours. She had believed she was
safe in the city. She thought she'd gotten over the black feeling of fear that
consumed her eight years ago. But it was still there, imbedded deep inside like
an angry cancer just waiting to grow.
    Rolling her head back to the headrest
in the back seat, she turned toward Jake and watched his profile. He’d been
sleeping for the first leg of the journey out of Rhode Island and through
Connecticut. Now he sat tall and stiff in the seat, his long body barely
fitting into the space. His strong jaw was squared as if he were rolling
something back and forth in his mind, or trying to force it out. His dark blue
eyes were intense with thought.
    Cassie wanted to believe Jake was
just concentrating on what was ahead. But as time wore on, she got the distinct
impression he was forcing himself not to look at her.
    Was he angry with her for insisting
he come? It wasn’t that she'd blame him. In one fell swoop, she'd turned not only
her life around, but Jake’s as well.
    She had the whole Federal Bureau of
Investigation ready and willing to put out the red carpet for her if it meant
she'd cooperate as their material witness. Once she was in the room giving her
demands to them, she knew they would have granted her anything to get Angel
Fagnelio convicted for his crimes.
    Charlotte Tate was another story, and
even Cassie had to admit she was surprised when the special agent came into the
conference room and agreed to Cassie's request.
    While they were at her apartment,
Jake had promised it was going to be all right. And she believed him. Maybe now
that they were alone together, he'd changed his mind?
    “You look tired. I’m surprised you’re
not still sleeping,” she finally said, wishing she could close the gap between
them and ease the tension plaguing him. She wanted to place her hand in his,
touch his cheek, now shadowed with dark stubble. Anything to bring the
connection back she felt earlier when they were alone at the police station.
    Jake answered quietly. “I’ll sleep
more when we get where we’re going.”
    Cassie glanced at the driver to make
sure he wasn’t paying attention, then back to Jake. “You're angry with me.”
    “What makes you think that?”
    “You've been cool all afternoon.”
    He hesitated a fraction of a second.
“Have I?”
    She nodded. “You haven't said much,
but when you do, you look…well, angry.”
    His sigh echoed defeat. “I guess I
am. Seeing Charley brought back a lot of memories I'd just as soon forget.”
    He turned to look at her then, and
she saw his smoky eyes were filled with warmth. He wasn't completely plagued
with the tightness she'd seen all day. Some of it had subsided.
    “I'm sorry if you mistook my…coolness
for being angry with you. I'm not. Kevin always says I was born with an intense
stare. He got used to it.”
    “Then I guess I'll have to get used
to it, too.”
    Jake went back to watching the road
with his intense