Witness Protection Relocation Program (Conclusion)

Please read part 1 if you have not already done so. http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1254608/witness_protection_relocation_program.html?cat=44

Finally he realized how silly he was being. It was just his watch. He lifted his arm to check the time. As he did, his body exploded into an instant panic. His arm was bare. The soft, gentle ticking he had once heard increased its volume inside his head sounding like the banging of drums in a marching band. He had left his watch in his bedroom. The package was alive and breathing as far as he was concerned.

He rolled to his feet and hopped back into the house as if the box had just bitten off his big toe. Mr. Johnson slammed the door and ran back to his bedroom, leaving a trail of bloody toe imprints on the wooden floorboards.

When he reached the bedroom, his wife and son stood from the bed with worried eyes. He slammed the door behind him. Then he barked out orders like a drill sergeant. "Duck in the closet, and close that door!" They obeyed the man, not used to hearing such a commanding tone.

Mr. Johnson opened up the dresser drawer beside the bed and rummaged underneath a mound of socks, his secret hiding place. His fingers searched blindly until suddenly his hand stopped moving. He pulled a small, rectangular business card from the drawer. Mr. Jenkins had told him to call him right away in case something abnormal was to ever happen.

Lunging for the telephone, he snatched up the receiver and pressed the long distance number located on the white card. While he waited for someone to answer the other line, Mr. Johnson could hear his wife in the closet trying to console their son who was bawling uncontrollably.

Jarrod stared into the darkness deep in the closet while wiping his runny nose with the back of his hand. He and his mother were not cramped. It was quite spacious inside. The closet was made for people to enter and hang up various articles of clothing.

Mrs. Johnson constantly tried hushing her son similar to the way she had done when he was a baby. "Shhhhhh," she would say softly while patting his back.