Midnight Angel [Jenlisa FF]

~'~'~ Chapter 24 ~'~'~

A mouse could have sneezed and been heard in the deafening silence that had encompassed the room after Ryan's announcement that he knew who the woman was standing next to Lisa. On one side of the room, Ryan stood, eagerly anticipating the next chapter of the extremely interesting case that had fallen into this lap. And on the other side of the room, Lisa was kicking herself for being so stupid and careless. she was supposed to be protecting Jennie. Letting her FBI agent friend find out she was alive, and not dead as reported, didn't qualify as protecting. she just had to hope that Ryan gave her a chance to explain and plead her case before deciding to haul Jennie in because she was an accused murderer.

Next to Lisa, Jennie was completely frozen. She knew the man was Lisa's friend, the one she'd contacted to help her. Lisa had told her that once her friend knew the whole story, he'd help her. But she was now petrified that she wouldn't believe her story. What if he took her away? What if he put her in jail? She didn't want to leave Lisa. She didn't want to go to jail. Shrinking back further in fear, she curled against Lisa's side.

Resigned, Lisa rubbed at her forehead. she could lie and say Jennie was someone else, but Ryan was a smart guy. There was no way he would buy that, especially considering there were pictures of Jennie in the file she'd sent to Ryan. And judging by Ryan's words moments ago, her friend had his suspicions about Jennie's dead status. It seemed she had no choice now but to fill Ryan in on everything and hope Ryan believed her and kept Jennie's existence secret for now.

Turning to Jennie, she looked into her eyes and held her hand tightly. "He would have found out sooner or later," she told her softly. Her eyes held her, then darted to Ryan and back. Lisa could tell she was worried about what would happen now. "I promise I'll do everything that I can to keep you safe." she leaned forward and kissed her forehead before facing Ryan again.

"Well?" Ryan asked, one eyebrow raised.

"Yes, this is Jennie," Lisa answered after moment, sighing heavily.

Ryan got an 'I-thought-so' look on her face as his suspicions were confirmed. He waited expectantly for Lisa to tell him more.

"Why don't we go downstairs and sit down?" suggested Lisa. They'd be more comfortable down there, and it would give her some time to decide how to handle this. Ryan nodded and left the room, his footsteps on the stairs soon reaching Lisa's ears. Now alone, Lisa looked at Jennie again. "Are you okay?"

Jennie shook her head no, still clinging to Lisa's hand. "What if he doesn't believe us? What if he thinks I killed them? I don't want to go to jail, Lisa!"

"You won't," Lisa promised, hoping it was the truth. she was pretty sure Ryan would see the real truth behind what had happened to Jennie and her family, but she couldn't say that with one-hundred percent certainty. But one thing she was positive about, she would not let Jennie go to jail. she'd do whatever possible to protect her. "The only thing we can do right now is go down there and tell him everything. Once he knows the whole story, he'll see what I did, that you didn't hurt anybody, that you were the victim in all this. And when he knows that he'll be able to help you." At least Lisa hoped so.

Jennie still looked unsure, so Lisa grasped her other hand, and held it in her, warming the cold, clammy skin. "I know you're scared, but talking to Ryan is the only way you may be able to ever put all of this behind you."

And that was the unfortunate reality of the situation, Jennie realized. If she wanted to have the truth come out, if she wanted to have a life again, she had to step out on a limb and put her future in the hands of someone else. She needed Ryan's help, his belief in her innocence, if she wanted to be free of her past. Everything hinged on his support.