The cell phone rang at 4:30 in the morning, and thirty-eight year old Jessica Donovan groaned from her side of the queen sized bed. The man next to her answered the phone.
“Angotti.”
He listened for a moment. “Be there in a bit.”
He leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. She kept her eyes firmly shut, screwing them tightly.
“Sorry, babe. I have to take this one.”
She smiled. “I know. Be safe.”
She heard him get up and turn on the shower before dozing back off to sleep. She woke up briefly when he let himself out her front door, locking it behind him.
The next time Jess woke up, it was because sun was peeking shining into her windows, bright and cheery. She rolled over and stretched, spreading her six foot and a smidge body over the entire queen sized bed. She stretched slowly, enjoying the feeling and then opened her eyes to look at the clock. 7:30.
With a screech, she jumped out of bed, tossing back the heavy, khaki bedspread. She ran to the door and poked her head into the hall, shouting at her twelve-year-old son, David and nine year old daughter, Chrissy.
“We’re late! Get your clothes on and make yourself some breakfast!”
She ran past Chrissy in the hall, heading for the one upstairs bathroom.
“Use the one downstairs,” she shouted. She locked herself in and took a fast shower, washing her long, brown curly hair and scrubbing up quickly. She threw on her robe and ran back into her room, straight to her closet, where she selected black slacks, a stretchy pale pink t-shirt and a gray cardigan to put over the top of it all. She pulled on knee high hose and slid her feet into a pair of very lady like dress shoes with a little heel, pushing her height up to almost 6’2.
At her vanity, she brushed her hair and put in gel, crunching it through her curls. The makeup came next, just a bit of powder, eyeliner and mascara. She was swiping with the wand when her son brought in a bowl with a scoop of yogurt, some berries and granola. It was her standard breakfast and she thanked him for being thoughtful.
A half hour after she woke up, the family was walking out the front door, heading for school, Jess still with wet hair.
As Jess backed out of the driveway in her dark blue, 2005 Ford Explorer, she started thinking about how much their lives have changed in the past year. Just a year ago, Jess was married and the family lived in a 3000 square foot home at the end of a cul-de-sac in the most affluent suburb of Kansas City. She was a third-grade teacher at a local elementary school and she was busy. Happy and busy.
Things changed very quickly. One evening, Jess and the kids were carjacked on their way home from a grocery store. Turns out, her husband had been laundering money for Kansas City’s biggest crime boss and he was helping himself to some of the profits. Jess found herself in the middle of a huge mess. After her husband was killed, Jess made some tough decisions and managed to keep herself and the kids safe. She had never killed a man before the night she pulled the trigger to save her own life. She had been urged to go to counseling to deal with the emotions everyone expected her to have. Jess never did. The man was going to kill her and had been trying to kill her kids. She had no regrets for the decisions she had been forced to make.
She found out quickly that she either made people curious, or uncomfortable. People she had known for years all of a sudden started treating her differently. Neighbors avoided her. She had never been very social and the curiosity she had become was very troubling to her. She sold the house at the end of the cul-de-sac and purchased a much smaller one, a little bit closer to the city and a lot closer to the man she was dating. She quit her job, wanting a brand-new start where no one recognized her or her past. She got a job at a prestigious private school in Kansas City, teaching computer classes to grades Kindergarten through twelfth grade. She loved her job. She loved that she had a new class every half hour and that students were excited to be in her classroom.
As a matter of fact, she loved their new life. She was seeing someone five years her elder, Detective Wyatt Angotti. They had met when he was assigned to her carjacking case and her husband was still alive. Their relationship had become romantic after Steven’s death. He was perfect for Jess. He gave her space when she needed it and was happy to be with her when she wanted the company. He was wonderful to her kids, more of a father than Steven ever was, and the kids adored him.
