Chapter Nineteen

We waited around an hour until another officer joined us, he was also in normal clothes as he walked through the back door. I was worried he wasn't a police officer at first, but he pulled out his badge that definitely calmed my nerves slightly. Austin rang while we were waiting, my phone was on silent though so I didn't pick up. He left a message saying he hoped I was okay, I quickly sent one back telling him I was absolutely fine but my boss was taking his time. 'Does Austin know you're doing this?" The first officer asks whilst the second was sorting all the papers out, which was also taking so long too! 'No, he thinks I'm talking to my boss about getting some time off due to this" I say pointing at my face, before I look down with a sigh. 'Austin will act tough and pretend none of this scares him, but he's terrified at what Markus could do. If he found out I was meeting with you, he'd tell me how dangerous this was and if Markus found out he'd kill us" I say still looking down at the floor as I spoke, I didn't like lying to Austin just as much as I hate lying to Roman, but I know it's something for our safety I need to do. 'You're doing the right thing Payton" the officer smiled which does make me look up, that's all I want to do. 'Here, the document is ready for you to sign" he says pointing down at the pieces of paper on the table, I walk over to take a seat in front of it so I could see. 'So signing this will make sure Austin won't get in any trouble and will ensure all our safety's?" I ask beginning to read through everything, it did say all this would happen if I tell them everything I knew and help anyway that I can, well that was the quick rundown. 'Yes" the officer smiles handing me the pen, my shaky hand takes it but I do take a deep breath, with a nod of the head I lean down and sign the document. I slide the document and pen back over to the officer, he smiles also leaning down to the sign the other side of the document. That was to also agree to follow what the document says, which just by us doing this it felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. 'So, what do you want to know?" I smile placing my bag on the ground and getting comfortable, now all of that was out of the way I was ready to help stop Markus. 'We'll just ask some basic questions, so we can get a feel of what has been happening so we're all caught up" the man who's name I still don't know says, I nod my head confirming that it would be okay. 'First question, approximately how many times have you and Markus been in contact?" He asks opening up his notebook as he went, honestly, far more times than I would like! 'The first time I ever met Markus was a few weeks ago now, Austin told me his work was having a party and Markus wanted me to go. He then somehow worked out where I work and showed up here, he randomly showed up at our house, then last night when he invited us to have dinner with him" I say listing all of that times that I could recall, which wasn't a lot in numbers but it definitely left a mark. 'This party you spoke about first, the same one where that shooting happened a few weeks ago?" He asks pointing at me with my pen, I sadly nod my head looking down at the table. 'That's the one, Austin didn't know at time what was happening. But as soon as he found out, he raced me out the house and away where we saw the black range rovers race by" I say remembering that horrible night, I knew something was off right off the batt, even when Austin tried to tell me it was all fine. 'Have you got any idea why Austin started working for Markus?" The officer asks while writing what I was saying down, how can he talk and write about two different things at the same time? 'When Austin went for the job, he thought it was like any normal mechanic job, it was for the first few weeks until Markus killed someone in front of Austin and told him he better keep quiet or he'd end up like that guy" I explain telling them everything that I knew, it's lucky I asked Austin the same kind of questions. 'Austin wants nothing more than to leave, but he knows what Markus would do if he tried" I say in a sad tone, whenever I think about Austin leaving it makes me sad, he's literally trapped with no way out. 'Can you tell us what you know about the shooting that occurred outside your home?" He asks with a little smile, I think he caught onto my change in tone when talking about Austin. 'It was like any other normal night, we had just finished making dinner when the door knocks and the two guys appeared. They begged for Austin to allow them in but he told them no, when I asked him why he said no one that works for Markus ever meets after hours as they know trouble will somehow always follow" I explain thinking back to that terrifying experience, so much has happened these last few weeks! 'Austin told me afterwards that Markus got rid of those guys as they messed up on a job, he wasn't happy so he got them taken care of" I say just showing what a horrible man Markus is, he deserves to be locked away never to be released again! 'Final question, can you explain to us what led up to you getting attacked?" He asks pointing to all my injuries, this was still fresh in my mind so I knew every single last detail. 'It started when Markus invited us to have dinner at his house, we got to talking and he asked if I liked my job at the restaurant. I told him I did but I knew it wouldn't be my forever job, he took this as his opportunity to try and make me start working for him. Austin bluntly told Markus I would never work for him and we left" I explain that memory so clear in my mind, if only we knew what was to happen after he told Markus no. 'On the way home we figured out who told you guys we knew something, so Austin rang Roman and they had a huge argument. Austin needed air and left the house while I stayed home. After around half an hour, a few men burst in the house and I'm knocked unconscious. I can't remember anything else" I tell them looking down at the table, my hands beginning to shake at the memory alone. 'You went to Markus's house?" The officer asks shocked while I just nod my head, I wish I didn't go there in the end. 'We have to be incredibly careful in the way in which we go about this situation, we will protect you but it is still dangerous" he says which I couldn't agree more with, I've seen first hand what Markus is really like. 'You're going to put my number in your phone as Jacob, it anyone asks I'm just an old friend from school" he said passing me over his card to write his number in, I take it whilst pulling my phone out to put him in my contacts. 'We'll be in touch in a few days to let you know what's happening, but there are some things we need to tell you. If you feel like you're in immediate danger, text me danger and we'll find your location and head straight there to help you. If you're around Markus, text me hey, do you wanna grab a coffee. Then we'll know where you are and will easily be able to track Markus" Jacob explains while I nod my head going over all the information, it was a lot to learn but it would better for my safely to remember it all. 'Thank you for agreeing to help us Payton" he smiled where I shake my head, I wasn't fully doing this for them. 'I just want to keep the people I care about safe" I smile getting up from my chair to get ready to leave, Austin's probably worried sick as it's been over two hours since he dropped me off. But I'm doing all of this to keep him safe.