It has been four months since Skylar has found her friend, McKenzie. She has tried her best to support McKenzie's PTSD, but their friendship hasn't been the same. McKenzie is distant, she's not invited to sleepovers, and McKenzie can't sleep inside her own house. Nevertheless, Skylar is looking forward to the summer; no school, no pressure, free at last. That is, until Skylar answers another knock on her door. It's the FBI again, it turns out, Skylar didn't find the leader of the SHAP. McKenzie and Skylar have to go into witness protection, for how long? They don't know.
Skylar felt her heart skip a beat.
"What?"
"In witness protection, you can't have any communication with your family until the mission is over."
"Wait," Skylar said, "so I can't call my mom, my dad, my brothers or sister anymore?"
"Yes," McKenzie said softly, "It opens up another chance for them to catch us."
"So that means..."
"You can't contact anybody Skylar." The director said. " No family, friends, not until we catch him."
McKenzie turned off her phone and stared at it for another three minutes before finally handing it to the Director. Skylar turned off her phone, and painfully handed it to Mr. White.
"I don't understand... what's happening?" Skylar said.
"We're taking you to witness protection."
"Yeah," Skylar snapped. "I got that, but WHAT is happening?"
"We're going to HQ."Mr. White answered. "There you will get new identities, a new look, you will learn your cover story."
"Cover story?" Skylar asked
"Cover story," the director repeated. "It's one of the key things for WITSEC, it's what helps you learn who you are while you're in witsec."
"For example," Mr. White said. "My cover could be a.... janitor. So my job or cover would be a janitor, until the FBI catches who they need to catch. After the bad guy is caught, I have the opportunity to go back to my normal life, or continue with my current cover."
"But since you're kids, your cover could be a little more simple. Your cover could be foster care."
"Foster care?" McKenzie asked.
"Yes," the Director repeated. "Foster care, your cover could be two sisters, in the foster care system, and Chris is your caretaker."
Skylar leaned back already dreading this conversation.
"How long is this trip?"
"About... seven hours."
Skylar sighed deeply.
"I should have brought one of my books with me." She said.
"Umm... I have a question." McKenzie said.
"Yes McKenzie?"
"My... treatment." McKenzie replied. "am I going to have to get a new therapist? Or new medicine?"
"That... is a good question." She said. "I'll get back to you on that."
Then both of the girls sat in silence as they drove through town.
