Witness in Hiding

by Lisa Phillips

  “You just won’t be doing it with help?”

  He nodded.

  And yet he’d go out of his way—risk his life—to make sure she and Tyler were safe? “Thank you, Jude. I didn’t want to need your help, but it’s been wonderful to feel like someone has my back. I’m so glad it’s you.”

  He nodded. “There’s something I need to tell you, though.”

  Zoe sucked in a breath, but refused to give in to her instinct to pull away. She simply had to be brave. Trust this man who had proved himself so trustworthy.

  He reached over and took her hand in his. “Your sister told the police something before she asked for Tyler.”

  Zoe frowned. “What?”

  “The person who set the fire. Ember claims it was a woman outside your house.”

  Zoe gasped. “How is that possible? I mean, I saw a woman—” She realized then. “Tucker said she. Right before he shot me.”

  Jude said nothing, but his look spoke loudly enough.

  “But who could it be? The only woman I know who has been part of this was dead. The threatening emails started the next day. I’d called in sick anyway, because I was just so freaked out. It got worse and worse over the next week, until—”

  The door opened and Tyler raced inside. He stopped short at the sight of the two of them sitting together on the bed. Jude’s mom, following behind him, simply smiled. “Hello, you two.”

  “Mom?” Tyler said.

  Zoe smiled at her son. “I’m all patched up and ready to go home.”

  Jude hadn’t moved on from their conversation, though. “What about the woman? Any other ideas who she could be?”

  She looked up at him. Questions like that probably made him a great federal agent, but they made her want to squirm. “I don’t know and I don’t want to know. Thank you for catching Tucker, but I’m still leaving town. There’s no reason for us to stay. Not when both Alan Reskin and a woman are after me.”

  Zoe had too many questions and not nearly enough answers. But she didn’t need answers to be safe, right? She had her son. She could make them safe herself.

  “Zoe—”

  Tyler watched as she stared down Jude. But she couldn’t waylay her son’s fears right now. “I have no idea what all is going on, but it doesn’t matter. Because if I stay to find out, then the only option is to continue to be a target. To let Tyler be a target.”

  She paused, knowing he didn’t like it. “I won’t let that happen, Jude. We have a better chance if we run.”

  ELEVEN

  It had been underhanded, but Jude felt no remorse over utilizing her son to get Zoe into the Secret Service office. What kid wouldn’t want to take the tour from a real Secret Service agent? So, yeah, he’d sold it like that even though technically it wasn’t possible for security reasons. He still needed a statement from her, even if she was going to leave right after. This was work. Not a field trip for Tyler.

  The boy walked ahead of Jude and Zoe into the lobby. “Whoa.”

  Jude chuckled. “Pretty cool, huh.” He glanced at Zoe and it became immediately apparent that she didn’t share her son’s amazement. “Okay?”

  Her throat worked as she swallowed. “I guess. Just make this quick.”

  He wondered what she had to be nervous about here, considering this might just be top of the list of safest places to be in Salt Lake City. The idea she might feel threatened here was crazy, but she’d been in hiding so he supposed it was understandable. No doubt the longer they were here, the more she’d get the chance to shore up her confidence. And realize the Secret Service, or any federal agent really, posed no threat to her well-being.

  He had to stay neutral. She could just be nervous about telling the whole story in an official setting. Zoe hadn’t asked to be a witness to a possible murder, and he needed to be professional but also compassionate. And that was so much harder when he actually cared about the witness on a personal level.

  She said, “The cops are here?”

  Beyond Zoe, Tyler had moved to her side and now held his mom’s hand. The detectives who had planned to meet them in the diner were ahead of them, already through the comprehensive security process.

  Jude nodded. “As the investigating officers on the murder case, we asked them to conduct their questioning here so they can also obtain the information they need. Crime is rarely cut-and-dried, but it isn’t often the police or FBI and Secret Service work this closely. We are on this, though. If BioWell is involved in what we think they are, this could potentially be huge.”

  “I guess I’m just special, then,” she said with a wry smile. “But isn’t it your case?”

  He shrugged. “It’s a task force. Your thing is part of it, but only a small part. We have to figure out if your side of the puzzle is the edge, the bottom or the middle.”

  “So I’m mixed up in a five-thousand-piece puzzle?”

  “Could be just fifty pieces. Or you could be part of a different puzzle altogether.” He smiled. “That’s what we have to figure out.”

  “And everyone is here to do that? The police, FBI agents and Secret Service?” She didn’t look entirely pleased about this. “It seems overly complicated.”

  “It’s bureaucracy. It’s rarely simple, but it also means more hands on deck to unpack this mystery.”

  “Okay.” She sighed. “But no more metaphors. Puzzles and ship decks? I can hardly keep up.” The corners of her mouth curled.

  Jude had the sudden urge to hug her. Maybe even press his lips to hers—if Tyler wasn’t looking. He didn’t know where on earth the sensation came from, but he couldn’t dwell on it now. There was no time to unpack his feelings for her.

  There were too many unanswered questions. He was working, and it was crossing a line to get involved with a potential witness everyone—except him—also considered a possible accessory. Things would be different when he figured out what the missing link was.

  “You’re safe here. You don’t have to worry.”

  She nodded. “It just feels weird to suddenly not have to look over my shoulder.”

  He rubbed between her shoulder blades, just to reinforce the reassurance. Zoe leaned into his side and gave him a smile. When she pulled away, she said, “Thank you. I don’t know why, but that made me feel better.”

  “Me, too.” He didn’t know why, either. Her comfort level didn’t affect him, aside from the fact that he was doing his job if she relaxed. Maybe she’d become so important to him in so short of a time that he needed her to feel safe around him. Jude had never felt like this before; it was hard to process it when it was all so new.

  He got them all signed in, and walked them to the conference room Agent Daniels had assigned them. Agent Fronter was there, sipping from a full mug of coffee. The line of his body was taut as he stared out the window. Jude wondered what he was bracing for.

  “Hey.”

  His colleague turned. “Jude.” He strode over and stuck his hand out. They shook, and he moved his hand toward Zoe.

  “This is Zoe, and her son, Tyler, who you’ve met already.”

  “Steve Fronter. Nice to meet you two officially.” He shook both of their hands, then turned to Jude. “Can I talk to you briefly?”

  Jude nodded and asked Zoe, “You’ll be okay in here for a minute?”

  Only when she answered “Yes” did he step back out into the hall with Steve.

  As soon as Jude stepped out of Zoe’s earshot, his colleague said, “She’s a looker.”

  “Really?” Jude folded his arms.

  Steve lifted both hands. “Fine. I haven’t noticed. No one noticed, in fact.”

  “Did you call me out here for that, or for something actually important?”

  “Fine.” Steve shrugged one shoulder. “I’m just saying, you should go for it. Y
ou’ve been single for a while—”

  Jude cut him off. “She’s only here to give her statement, and then she’s leaving.”

  “So convince her to stay,” Steve said. “Let the team take care of her. We can get her in protective custody and make sure she and the kid are okay.”

  “His name is Tyler.”

  “I just think you should go for it. We’ve all seen what happens when one of us lets a woman get away.”

  Milsner had been a bear ever since his wife left.

  “I’ll figure it out,” Jude said. “And I don’t need your help.” He was trying to keep a distance from Zoe, especially if she was just going to leave.

  His colleague, who evidently thought he was Jude’s romance advisor, sighed. “Fine.”

  Jude said, “I’m going to see where they’re at with the questioning. Keep an eye on Zoe and Tyler.”

  Fronter nodded. “Sure.”

  Jude didn’t really want to leave them, not with the couple of days they’d had. Tyler especially had been traumatized. He didn’t know how the kid was keeping it together as well as he was. But Jude did want to know what was happening. They’d finally brought the Laundromat killer in. Surely this was the break they needed to wrap up the case and make Zoe safe for good.

  For now, she was here and they were okay. He would take her statement soon enough.

  * * *

  Tyler bounced in his seat. “And then Jude said, ‘Tyler—’” her son made his voice comically low to mimic Jude’s “‘—you stay here with Agent Fronter.’ And he raced off into the woods to rescue you.” His words let off, but he had an expectant look on his face, like he was waiting for her to say something.

  “What?”

  “Did he shoot the guy, Mom? Did he?”

  Her son’s enthusiasm for Jude was cute and frustrating at the same time. “Tyler, he did what any police officer would have done if they’d been there.” Her son didn’t need to think there was anything special about the things Jude had done for them. “He made sure you were protected, and then he came to help me. He caught the bad guy, the one who hurt Aunty Ember and Andrew. That’s what cops do.”

  “He’s a Secret Service agent, Mom.”

  “It’s a kind of cop.”

  “I know the difference.”

  “Okay.” She wasn’t going to argue with him. She didn’t have the energy to do it, even if he thought he knew everything about Jude...and the law.

  Steve set a mug of coffee in front of Zoe and a juice box in front of Tyler. “You think Jude is pretty cool, huh?”

  “He’s the best!”

  There was plenty about Jude that was special. Zoe had a hard time not swooning over him the way Tyler did, but she had the restraint born of adulthood.

  A mortgage, a divorce and having her life threatened had tempered whatever enthusiasm she’d once possessed. And so, while there was plenty about Jude to dwell on, she was trying not to. An attachment wouldn’t help her get on with her life—once they were safe—if her heart was still tied to Jude. And now she was going to have to help Tyler discover a new hero.

  She should probably point out the fact that Jude was human, just like everyone else. But she couldn’t do it. Her heart couldn’t speak those words, even if honesty was best.

  Steve leaned across the table toward Tyler, a conspiratorial look on his face. “Want to hear my Jude story?”

  Zoe felt her eyes widen. She shot the agent a look. Hopefully he would get her message to keep it appropriate. She didn’t want him telling her son a battle tale about Jude that glorified violence.

  Steve’s gaze flickered, then he said, “Law enforcement baseball tournament. That’s what it was. Your friend Jude comes up to bat and hits a home run, right out of the park.” He grinned.

  Tyler let the juice straw fall from his open mouth. “He did?” When the agent nodded, her son said, “Awesome! I can’t throw it very far. I like football way better.”

  “You should ask Jude if he’ll toss a ball around with you when y’all get some free time.” Steve smiled, like that was a great idea.

  It was a terrible idea. Jude didn’t need to play with her son. That wasn’t going to help any of them keep an emotional distance from each other.

  “Awesome!”

  Zoe sighed. She wanted to groan aloud, but didn’t think that would help. She wanted Tyler to have fun, and he certainly needed it. Was Jude really what was best for him? Sure, her son loved him now. But what about after they left?

  Parenting was all about outsmarting them. Zoe didn’t want to be the bad guy. Part of her wanted to explain the dilemma to Jude, get a second opinion. Have some backup when Tyler inevitably asked him to play catch.

  But Jude wasn’t her sounding board. He wasn’t her partner in parenting her son. That job should have gone to his father, but Nathan had decided his own happiness was more important than his son’s. He hadn’t even seen Tyler since he’d packed his things and left.

  That thought shored up her determination to stay distant from Jude. Nathan had found her lacking. Would Jude think so, too? Zoe wondered if maybe going through that with Jude wouldn’t hurt her the way it had with Nathan. There was every possibility it would destroy her.

  An amazing man like him finding her unworthy? Zoe didn’t ever want to go through that.

  Zoe tried not to react when he walked through the door, though she could feel her face attempting to light up. Ugh. So needy. Tyler raced over and hugged his hero around the waist, getting any attention off her, which was great. Zoe looked up, her face hot despite her attempts to stop any reaction. We’re leaving soon. We’ll probably never even see him again.

  Steve’s gaze was on hers, knowing and entirely too pleased about it for her liking. So what if she was attracted to Jude? It didn’t mean she was going to throw herself at him. Despite the fact that she wouldn’t mind one of those sweet hugs he’d just given Tyler, it was way too risky.

  Steve quit his study of her and turned to Jude. “Got an update?”

  “A hit on his fingerprints.”

  Zoe turned to him then, trying to keep her feelings to herself. “You have his prints?”

  Tyler bounced back over to her and sat with his juice again.

  “The agents took them when they brought him in. They’re making him sweat for now, but we found out who he is.” Jude paused, which made her wonder for a second who the man was. “His name is Terrence Willis.”

  “Tucker Wilson.” She knew from what Moose had told her that it was harder to slip up on maintaining a new identity if the assumed name was close to the real name. “Who is he, really?”

  Jude hesitated again. “We’ll figure this out, Zoe. You don’t have to worry.”

  “Just tell me.”

  “It was a really loose link, and buried so deep we almost didn’t catch it. There’s a sealed juvenile file and the agents are following up. But it’s his family we’re interested in.” Jude pressed his lips together, then said, “The CEO, Alan Reskin? Terrence is his wife’s second cousin.”

  TWELVE

  Zoe pushed her chair away from the table and paced to the end of the conference room and back. Jude seemed to switch to worry for her instead of worry over what she might say or do. He said, “I’m convinced now, more than I have been so far at least, that your troubles and my investigation are connected. We just don’t know exactly how.”

  Steve stood, as well. “What does Cousin Terrence have to do with money going in and out of the company?”

  Jude said, “I think Alan Reskin is trying to cover up what he did, using the black sheep of the family to do his dirty work. I think he sent the cousin to silence Zoe and terrorize her into never telling anyone what she saw.”

  “But he hasn’t been trying to kill me,” she said. “When we were in the woo
ds he said things had changed. And that was after a different man gave Tyler his own message. I think whatever reasoning there was caused Terrence to take things in a new direction. He intended to kill me today, instead of kidnapping me, but you showed up.” She sucked in a breath. “Alan wanted things done quietly, with no fallout. What if he’s the one who told Tyler to tell me to testify?”

  “That would mean something had changed. Perhaps with the woman who seems to be involved.” Jude frowned and glanced once at Tyler.

  It helped he was so concerned about her son. It made Zoe feel all the more secure. Jude didn’t have to worry about Tyler as much as he clearly did.

  “But you got him.” Steve clapped once. “Now we just have to find Alan, and figure out what he did.”

  “Find him?” Jude asked.

  Steve shrugged. “I mean pick him up. Once we have the evidence on what exactly went down then we can call the district attorney.”

  Zoe glanced between them. “What about the cousin—isn’t he being interviewed by those detectives? He’ll confess to killing Moose, right?”

  Jude said, “That would be good enough for the police to bring a conviction, but we need evidence, as well. We can’t convict someone on a confession alone, and it’s the same for the FBI. It’s one of the rules we have to abide by.”

  “Oh.” She rubbed Tyler’s hair just for comfort, though he seemed perfectly happy. More like excited, really, over what was going on. “So you’re going to find out who that woman was?” She didn’t want to use the word dead but it was there nonetheless.

  Jude said, “That’s where I’m headed as soon as I get your statement. To the parking lot where you saw her, so I can see the scene for myself.”

  She was glad he said it like that as it meant there was a chance he actually believed her. Until he had evidence to prove otherwise, at least. “Do you think you’ll find anything?”

  “Probably not, but I want to see it.”

  She nodded. All the energy she’d had dissipated, and she sat.

  “You’ll be okay here for a little bit longer?”