Witness in Hiding

by Lisa Phillips

The boy didn’t look injured, which was good. It was just Jude’s father who was hurt. Dad wouldn’t have had it any other way. That was the value system he’d instilled in Jude—to risk even his own life if it meant shielding the people under his protection. It was mostly the reason why Jude had become a federal agent. Protecting people was what he wanted to do every day. Fighting against criminals who hurt innocent people, and helping to make the world safer. His work was important. Not more or less than dad and his ministry, just different.

  It was the path Jude had chosen for himself. And he believed that in order to achieve it, he’d have to put off some of the other things he’d wanted. If Zoe and Tyler had been put in his path by God, perhaps he had been wrong about that.

  Maybe God wanted to give him everything he wanted. But why now? This was hardly the right time.

  “Tell me what the person looked like.”

  His mom’s brows crinkled, but she didn’t stop stroking her husband’s hand, which she was holding in hers. “Short, I think. Like my height. He was shorter than your father. Dark blue coat and dark pants. Slender, but the clothes were baggy. A hood covered his head.”

  “Not a ski mask?”

  She shook her head.

  Jude didn’t think it could’ve been Tucker Wilson. The description didn’t match, and there wasn’t enough time for him to have been at the diner, and then get to the church to terrorize them and hurt his father. But that just brought more questions, since it meant Tucker Wilson was definitely working with someone else. Just as he’d considered after the fire.

  “I never saw his face. I didn’t get a real good look at him.”

  “That’s okay, Mom.” Jude heard the siren of the first police car. He waited with his dad while the officers secured the scene, content to let them take over. Finally the EMTs arrived and loaded his dad onto their vehicle.

  “Do you need to get checked out, Tyler?”

  When the boy didn’t say anything, Jude looked at Zoe. She said, “I think he’s okay. Just freaked out.”

  Jude nodded. He walked across the grass with his mom, helped her into the ambulance so she could go with his father and made sure she had her purse to take with her, as well.

  “Thank you, Jude.”

  He nodded, the lump in his throat too big to answer her. The ambulance drove away and he turned back to find Zoe and Tyler had followed him across the grass. They were right behind him so that when he turned they were close enough to pull into his arms.

  “Is he dead?”

  Jude leaned back and looked down at Tyler’s face. “No. He isn’t dead. I’m so sorry you thought that. He’s hurt right now, but he’s going to be fine.” He sighed. “The man who was here hit him in the head. Did you see him?”

  Zoe stiffened, but he ignored her reaction and focused on Tyler. She was probably just worried for her son and the fact that he’d had to hide from an attacker.

  Tyler said, “I didn’t know he hit Mr. Andrew. But I saw him afterward. And the other one.”

  Two people? “Do you know who they were?”

  “They had masks on.”

  Zoe exhaled. Jude couldn’t help wondering if she was relieved or disappointed Tyler didn’t know who the man was. Or glad Tyler couldn’t be called as a witness.

  Tyler said, “And he told me to give Mom a message.”

  * * *

  Zoe lifted her chin and addressed the officer. “Yes, I left the Laundromat before you got there. It isn’t that I didn’t want to give you my statement. I feared for my life.” Among other things. Because, really, the killer had left before she did. She hadn’t expected him to be waiting for her. But she had been afraid.

  The officer didn’t look happy, but he also didn’t attempt to infringe on what she knew were her rights as a witness to not be involved. She didn’t have to tell them anything. And while part of that was self-preservation, most of it was the fact that she still didn’t believe they could help her.

  Zoe glanced at him then, crouched down in front of her son. It could have been a sweet moment between them if it weren’t for the fact that she knew he was probably asking Tyler about the message and the man who had given it to him—and the other person. Zoe wanted to go over and listen to what they were discussing, but the officer wanted her accounting of events and Jude had encouraged her to give her statement.

  “Are we done?” If they were, she would head straightaway toward Tyler and Jude.

  The officer studied her face, then sighed. “Stay safe.”

  Zoe frowned at that, but he walked away. As though he hadn’t meant anything by those words. She shook off the thought and headed for Jude and her son. The Secret Service agent was listening to Tyler, who broke off what he’d been saying when she walked over and looked up at her.

  Zoe smiled and pulled him to her side in a hug. Tyler pressed his face against her middle. “Pretty soon you’re going to be head-butting my shoulder when you do that.” She ruffled his hair and he leaned back with a smile on his face.

  “Then I’ll be messing up your hair.”

  Zoe smiled. “You can try.” Jude straightened and she glanced at him. “Everything okay?”

  “Tyler was just about to tell me what the man said.”

  She frowned. Hadn’t they been talking about him that whole time?

  “We wanted to wait for you.”

  “Oh.” She held her son’s hand. “What happened, Ty?”

  “I was in the tree house.”

  He paused, so Zoe said, “That’s good. I want you to do what you need to do to make sure that you’re safe, okay? Adults can help protect you, if you know them and you trust them. Like Ember and Jude, and his parents.”

  “Is Mr. Andrew okay?”

  “We can go to the hospital and find out,” Jude said. “But first, will you tell me what happened in the tree house?”

  Tyler nodded. “I was hiding in there and I heard someone climb up. I thought it was Mr. Andrew.” He chewed his lip this time, his hand trembling in Zoe’s. She hated that her son was so scared. How was she going to figure this out now? Maybe Jude knew what she should do.

  Tyler said, “The man...he had a peeling nose.”

  “Like a sunburn?” Jude asked.

  Tyler nodded. Zoe figured her son had seen her boss, but didn’t look at Jude when he glanced at her. He didn’t need to see it written on her face that she could guess who the man was.

  “He smiled, but it was mean. And he said, ‘Found you.’ Then he told me to tell you that you should tell the feds everything you know. He said it was the only way he would be free.”

  Zoe’s stomach knotted. With Moose gone and no ID’s, how could they start a new life? She would have liked to just run with her son, be safe and never come back. Now she was tangled up with Jude and the Secret Service of all things. Were they the answer?

  This man wanted her to stay, to put her son in danger? Zoe didn’t know if she wanted to go into witness protection, but disappearing sounded better every day. It was what she’d planned all along.

  She hugged Tyler again, just so thankful he was all right. The man could have hurt or even killed him as a warning, or out of hatred for her. The fact that her baby was alive still was a blessing she was never going to take for granted.

  “What about the other one you saw?”

  Tyler shrugged, and Jude leaned down. He put his hand on Tyler’s shoulder. “You were very brave. I know federal agents who couldn’t face down a bad guy the way you did.”

  Zoe didn’t know if that was exactly true, but it seemed to make Tyler feel better. The only thing that would make her feel better right now would be if they grabbed their stuff and got out of there.

  Jude’s voice interrupted her thoughts. “Whatever you’re thinking, I feel like I’m not going to like it.”

/>   She glanced at him. “He wants me to stay? I’m not going to do that.”

  “You’re just going to take off?”

  “I don’t believe we’ll be safe if we stay. So, yes. Of course. Why would I not do the opposite of what he wants? It’s probably a trap.”

  She wasn’t to believe anything Alan Reskin said. A murderer couldn’t be trusted—if that was who had spoken with Tyler.

  He did look kind of disappointed. “You’ll run, instead of fighting?”

  “Your dad is in the hospital, Jude. And my sister. Who will be next? You? Tyler?” She shook her head. “There’s no way I’m going to let that happen when I have the power to prevent it.”

  “Where will you go?”

  “Does it matter?”

  He blew out a breath. “This doesn’t make you guys safe.”

  She said nothing. Jude was safer this way, and she was not about to risk yet another person’s life when she had the answer now. They didn’t even have to pack, because everything had burned and she still had her money. If she wasn’t buying ID’s from Moose, she needed to give it back. She’d still owe interest, but it was the fastest way to pay off that debt.

  “Is there something you need me for? Because I’d like to leave now.” She heard the coldness in her voice, the tone she’d used with the detective she hadn’t wanted to talk to.

  “I’m trying to figure out why this man is making contact, telling you to spill all when he sent Tucker after you. He’s undermining whatever he had set in motion.”

  “Maybe he changed his mind. Or he’s going against someone else.” What was Reskin thinking?

  “Or Tucker went rogue. Maybe he’s out of control.” Jude’s jaw was a hard line. “The second person could be the one he wants to escape from.”

  “Okay.” She didn’t really know why that was so important. Besides, it seemed like he was brainstorming or something. “So?”

  “So it means, even if you do what the old man told you and testify, good ole Tucker still might not back down.” Jude glanced at Tyler, then pinned her with a stare. “You could be in danger from him if you follow the message instructions.”

  “That’s why we’re leaving!”

  Jude glanced at the retreating cop cars. “I want to go check on my dad. Will you come?”

  “I want to check on my sister as well, but as soon as that’s done we’re gone.”

  He waited while she went inside, and they piled into his SUV in silence. What was she supposed to say? She knew Jude wanted her to stay and fight this. Maybe if she didn’t have Tyler, she would have. But it wasn’t just her life on the line. She had a son to think about.

  Maybe if Ember had been okay, Zoe could have sent Tyler away with her. A monthlong vacation until all this blew over. That would have been good, though she had no idea how they’d have paid for it. Other than the thirty-thousand she’d borrowed.

  Would the federal government keep Ember safe as well if Zoe and Tyler went into witness protection? She could testify knowing all of her family was safe.

  Jude made a noise, low in his throat, his gaze on the rearview.

  “What?” She was in the back with Tyler, but leaned forward. “What is it?”

  He didn’t say anything, just kept driving. Zoe looked out the back window, where a black-and-white cop car tailed them. “We have an escort?”

  “I guess,” he said. “Though no one told me about it.”

  Zoe didn’t worry about it, since she had plenty of other problems to occupy her thoughts. At least, she didn’t worry about it until the police car lights came on and the siren sounded for a second. “Is he pulling us over?”

  “Yes,” Jude said. “The question is, why?”

  NINE

  Jude glanced at Zoe in the backseat, her son huddled against her body. The cops hadn’t said anything to him earlier about a protection detail, and now they were pulling him over?

  Jude hit his turn signal and moved to the shoulder on the side of the street. They were miles from their destination, and his father was probably being stitched up already. Even though his mom was with him didn’t mean Jude didn’t want to be there, as well. Despite the differences between him and his father, they were still close.

  Jude peered at the driver in the cop car. Did he know this man? He was familiar with a few of the local officers, but they were at the far end of the city. The ones who patrolled downtown were different officers from a different precinct—not the same ones who would have responded to a call to his dad’s church.

  Jude pulled to a stop under the giant bough of a tree that hung over the shoulder. They were still a ways from the hospital. Traffic was light here. He ran down all his options while he listened to the rustle of Zoe’s clothing in the backseat, not liking the timing of this.

  Jude snapped the clasp on his weapon holster.

  The driver’s door of the police cruiser opened and a slender man unfolded himself from the seat. Was any cop that skinny? Certainly many were lean, but this man looked almost emaciated—like he’d foregone eating in favor of consuming drugs one too many times.

  Jude recognized him, and the man was no cop. Did his eyes shine with the gleam of a high as they had in the Laundromat, when Jude had shot him in the chest?

  Something wasn’t right.

  Jude pulled his phone from the cup holder and sent a quick SOS text to the task force on-call phone. Just to be safe.

  If there was ever a time to reach out for help it was when he had not one but two innocents in his backseat.

  Ice-cold fingertips brushed the back of his neck. Milsner might not think Jude was doing the right thing, but he still had to follow his instincts. There was no way Jude would let Zoe just leave. He understood her reasoning, but how would she ever be safe if she ran?

  The response from the duty agent was immediate.

  Copy that.

  He was too tall to have been the person his mom had seen. The idea it could, in fact, have been a woman who’d hit his father was something he contemplated—but not for long. One more person to find. After this was done. The fact that there were actually three people looking for Zoe was something he had no time to worry about right now.

  Zoe’s voice came from the backseat. “Is that...?”

  “Yes.”

  He didn’t like the high vibrato of her voice, when it was normally a steady alto. Jude twisted to look around the headrest at Tyler. He locked eyes with the boy. “I’ve got this. Okay?”

  Tyler said nothing. Did nothing.

  “I’ve got this, Tyler. Backup is on the way. You understand me?”

  There was a reason why Jude was here with them. There had to be. Only God could have orchestrated this so that it was Jude, the federal agent, who was here to face down the threat to them. The alternative didn’t even bear thinking about. It made him shudder as he pushed from his mind the image of Tyler, hurt. Or Zoe, bleeding on the side of the road.

  There was no way Jude would let that happen.

  The “officer” loped toward them. Anyone driving by would think this was a normal traffic stop.

  He could hit the gas right now. Drive away, get Zoe and Tyler to safety. This was an opportunity to end the running and face down Tucker. But not with his two passengers in danger.

  Jude gripped the door handle, praying the man would go down without a fight. He thumbed the button and the window whirred down so he could shoot through the open window if he needed to. He could slam the door into Tucker Wilson when he got close enough. Jude needed all those options open, because there was no way Tucker would come quietly even if he gave the man that option.

  “Zoe.” Jude didn’t turn around.

  “What?”

  “The moment I get out of the car do you think you can climb in the front seat?” He didn�
��t like the idea of her out of his sight, but the SUV had a GPS tracker. “Drive. Doesn’t matter where, just go.”

  The cop unsnapped his gun as he walked up to the back quarter panel.

  A red stain on this pretend cop’s shirt made him grit his teeth. A hole left by a bullet. Jude choked the lump in his throat back down.

  Where was the officer this man had shot? Shot, and then stripped of his clothes. Was the dead cop another casualty of whatever had caused the CEO of BioWell to murder a woman?

  “When this is done,” Jude said in a low tone, “as soon as we get the chance, you’re going to tell me exactly what you know about Alan Reskin’s business.”

  She cleared her throat. “Okay, Jude. Fine. Just...okay.”

  Good. He was glad she understood what was happening here. Jude couldn’t protect her if she didn’t tell him everything. And that meant everything. This would never end if she didn’t give him the tools he needed—information—to end it.

  Tucker Wilson—or whatever his name was—stood beside the driver’s door of Jude’s SUV, two feet back so he was out of Jude’s reach. “Out of the car.” His voice quavered, but not from fear. Jude figured it had more to do with the high of snapping a trap closed and facing down his prey.

  Jude had his engine still running so Zoe could get away. He reached for the handle to get out.

  “Not so fast.” The killer pulled the weapon from his holster. “Hands where I can see them.”

  Jude wanted to ask who the man with the message for Tyler had been, but couldn’t begin his line of questioning until they were in the interrogation room. Bringing it up now would only antagonize him into using his weapon. Instead, he said, “I’m getting out. Let’s talk.”

  “Not you,” he said to Jude, then waved at the backseat. “Them.” A pause. “I’ll take the woman. You can keep the kid, unless she does something I don’t like. In that case, he’s dead and I still take her.”

  In the backseat, Tyler sucked back a sob. Or was that Zoe?

  Did it matter? Jude wasn’t going to let anything happen to them. Not when it felt like his life had started since he’d met Zoe.