This is week five in the Sunday Scribblings  prompt hosted by Peckapalooza: The Confusing Middle.

I’ve decided to hook these challenges together to make a chapter story. Might as well make something out of it if I can. Besides it helps with inspiration, having a starting place.

The earlier chapters can be found here to bring you up to speed on the whole story.

Carly is in witness protection but her cover has been blown and her life is threatened.

Here is this week’s installment and challenge.

Chapter 5

Light

Maybe there was light at the end of the tunnel. Carly felt encouraged with that thought. It’d been exhausting. Days and weeks filled with constant travelling to stay ahead of discovery by those threatening to do her harm. John, head of her security team, mentioned a meeting at breakfast this morning. He didn’t give any hints, just that it would happen after supper.

That announcement, all by itself, was enough to make her day of travel feel less like torture. It could be bad news but Carly chose to take the high road and expect good news. Why look for trouble until it stares you in the face, was her motto.

It turned out she was right to expect good. John said they were making progress on neutralizing the threat on her life and it was time to start planning her future in hiding. They had a few weeks yet before settling in could happen but it would take at least that long anyway, to plan and execute a new life for her.

John’s opinion was that she should have input this time. Maybe her cover story would be less contrived and there would be a smaller chance of something going wrong. Part of his reasoning also came with the mystery surrounding her discovery. There was no proof yet but it was still possible the information leak was internal in the US Marshall’s office. The future chance for such a thing needed to be eliminated.

John has connections with outside trusted sources needed to build a fool proof and secure identity. The input he needs from Carly is in regard to her life style choice. He’d had time to think about this during the days and hours on the road and was convinced he’d come up with a good plan.

As he shared what he was thinking, Carly’s mind was off and running. She loved what he was visualizing and could totally see it working. She wouldn’t even have to be that great an actress to sell this story to the locals.

His idea was to set up a small home-based business. One that required low overhead and no employees. A service that would be useful no matter where she lived.

Avoiding the curious questions brought on by daily contact with a boss and co-workers, would be an added benefit to such an arrangement. Her clients would have questions too but with limited interactions they wouldn’t feel like they were part of her life and deserved answers.

Carly didn’t have to think too long. She knew instinctively what to pick. Bookkeeping. Small business owners were known for their expertise at whatever service they were providing. They were also known for a certain lack of skill when it came to the financial side of things. Carly could help with that.

Her excitement was boundless. The boredom of the last few weeks only added to her passion. She figured she could start the minute she had internet access and a laptop. There had to be online courses easily available. She’d do whatever it took to be ready to hit the ground running. Her previous business experience wouldn’t hurt and she was good at public relations. It shouldn’t be too hard to get started.

With this plan there was even opportunity for advancement. If she liked it well enough, she could go for her Chartered Accountant degree. That would improve her ability to attract clients and keep her business afloat.

There would be an added bonus with this plan. A safety shield from discovery. Everyone knows accountants and bookkeepers are boring, working with numbers all day. What exciting secrets could they possibly have in their life?

Her heart was suddenly light for the first time in weeks. Maybe there were better days ahead. She could hardly wait to get started.

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