Witness in Hiding

by Lisa Phillips

  “That much lying makes me want to be sick. The deception...” She shook her head. “You’d have to be a really cold person to connive all that just to get away with murder.”

  Jude grabbed his phone and got up. “I should call this in. The agents visiting Reskin’s house can find out if his wife is missing, or if she’s conveniently out of town.”

  Assuming they were going to take Zoe’s word for it with no evidence. If only there was a body this would all be so different. They were going to take Zoe’s statement seriously—even an allegation of murder was too serious to brush off. But she was also making it so they would effectively accuse a man of murder with nothing to back up their assertion. If they weren’t able to find proof then Alan could make all of their lives extremely difficult over this if he wanted to.

  Zoe stared at him, wide-eyed. Jude said, “Try to eat something. You’ll sleep better.”

  Not that he thought any of them would sleep at all tonight. Except Tyler, given how quiet it was in the living room.

  A second later, Tyler sat up, crying out. Tears rolled down his face as he looked around the room. Zoe raced over and gathered up her son in her arms. “Mom,” he cried, “the man was here. He was in the safe house.”

  “No one is here, honey. It’s just you, me and Jude. Everything is okay.”

  Jude had explained what the concept of a safe house was, but apparently the kid’s fears had bypassed even those assurances.

  Zoe looked at him. Those wide eyes, so full of fear and helplessness. Jude said, “I’ll check with the agents outside, make sure no one is skulking around. Okay?”

  She nodded, and Tyler looked up from where his face had been buried in her hair.

  “I’ll be right back.”

  He headed into the hall and made the call to the car out front. It rang and rang.

  No one picked up.

  FIFTEEN

  “They aren’t answering.”

  She didn’t like the look on Jude’s face at all. Zoe shifted her son and set him on his feet, but kept him close to her side. He didn’t need to know how scared she was. If she held him in a death grip he would figure out she wasn’t nearly as self-assured as she felt.

  “Should we go out there and check on them?” she asked. “Or call the police?” Jude’s silence said more than any words ever could have. “Or should we hide?”

  He held up a hand. “One second.”

  Zoe forced her feet to stay planted when what she wanted was to race for the door. Her instinct to flee had kicked in.

  Jude dialed on his phone again, then held it to his ear. “Yeah, it’s Brauer.” He lowered the phone and touched a button.

  The voice came through loud and clear. “...glad you called,” a man said. “Is everything okay?”

  “We aren’t sure. Zoe and Tyler are with me, and the agents out front aren’t responding. We need backup but I have no idea what they’ll be walking into.”

  The man yelled something she couldn’t make out, then said, “Help is on the way.”

  “Thank you.” Jude sounded genuinely grateful. “I really appreciate it.”

  “You’re one of us, Brauer, and we take care of our own.”

  Zoe wondered why the man said that, considering what Steve Fronter had done. Were they all a little more wary now? Maybe this man, whoever he was, felt guilty he hadn’t stopped Fronter from selling out to blackmailers. Not that he cared about her, or the fact that she’d been hurt. It was probably their pride as a federal agency that had been dinged.

  “In the meantime,” the man said, “you all sit tight. Maybe make use of the panic room if you think it’s necessary.”

  “Panic room?” The question escaped before she realized it. Beside her, Tyler echoed the question.

  Jude just nodded, then said, “We will,” to the man on the phone. He waved them over to him and began making his way through the house.

  Halfway along the hall, carpeted stairs led down below the ground floor. The basement was probably as nice as the main level, but they didn’t go down there. Jude took them to a rear bedroom with a four-poster bed covered in what looked like seriously expensive blush-peach covers. Even the pillowcases had pearl embellishments.

  “Seriously?” Zoe would probably never sleep in a bed like that in her entire life.

  Jude glanced over. “We seized the house from a drug distributor. His wife had way too much time and money. She dolled the place up.” He grinned. “The master bathroom is a sight to behold.”

  The man on the phone said, “We got back the file for Terrence Willis.”

  “Any intel helps.”

  Zoe frowned at Jude’s comment. “Unless he’s already here.” She muttered the words under her breath, but he shot her a look like he’d heard and didn’t appreciate her comment.

  Tyler still clung to her, so she rubbed her hand between his shoulder blades. He seemed like he was doing better than she was, but he considered Jude to be his hero. Why wouldn’t he be secure here with the man himself?

  Jude said, “What do you have?”

  “Willis got into some trouble as a teen, landed himself in juvenile detention.”

  “So it’s a sealed record?”

  “Daniels called the county sheriff in the town where he lived and got the basics. Fireworks in city limits, setting fires in trash cans. Blew up the chem lab at his school and finally set fire to a warehouse. He killed a janitor who was working there in the middle of the night.”

  Zoe felt her eyes widen. The man after her liked to set fires? She hadn’t thought he’d set the fire at her house that had hurt Ember, but this made it sound like it was the kind of thing he did. Ember had claimed it was a woman, and now they found out Ruskin’s wife’s second cousin was a firebug? Had they been working together, then and now?

  How was that even possible when she’d seen the woman...

  Dead?

  Zoe didn’t even know anymore.

  “The sheriff indicated an escalation. Terrence figured out what he was doing, and the fires got more sophisticated. The warehouse was rigged up. All the doors and windows secured so the guy died trying to get out. And it was a slow burn. It took hours to engulf.”

  Did that mean Terrence had time to set the fire at her house, kill Moose and then return to the house?

  Jude turned to her, his own eyes as wide as hers probably were. “Thanks for the information. Can you let the fire department know we might need them? I don’t know what’s going on, but we’re headed into the panic room now.”

  “Make contact when you can.”

  “Will do.” Jude hung up the call. He must have seen the question in her gaze, because he said, “There’s no signal in there. Just a landline that isn’t connected to the rest of the house.”

  “He could cut it, couldn’t he, if he wanted to?”

  “It would be nearly impossible to figure out which wire it is, even if he’s a telephone engineer—and there doesn’t seem to be any evidence he has those skills. But I’m not discounting anything.”

  “Oh.” She was just going to have to take his word for it, then. “So Terrence Willis likes fire?” Why she needed to ask this, she didn’t know. Was it just nervous conversation? She didn’t want to be that helpless, afraid woman, but life was life and she had to face reality. She couldn’t save herself, but maybe that was why God had sent her help.

  Jude nodded, not happy. “He’s a regular firebug.”

  “Is he going to set this house on fire?”

  Tyler’s question came out of nowhere. Zoe whirled to face him and crouched, so she could look in his face. “Everything is going to be okay. Jude is here, and so am I.” Was he remembering when he and Ember had hidden in the bathtub? She didn’t want him to relive that event, but if he did it was understandable.

>   Jude ran his fingers along the chair rail that cut the wall in half horizontally. He stilled on one part, and then pushed in. A door popped out. It reached the ceiling and had been completely disguised in the wall. Inside there was a couch and she could see multiple screens.

  “Surveillance cameras.” He glanced at Tyler. “And a fridge. Which makes it the perfect place to hide out.”

  He motioned them inside, and they moved into the space, which was about six by ten. Not a large room, but plenty big enough to hide in until rescue came. The Secret Service certainly knew what they were doing when they put witnesses up in a safe house.

  “Do you really think he’s here?”

  “We aren’t going to risk it.”

  She nodded, then realized Jude hadn’t come in. “What are you—”

  He started to slide the door closed. “Don’t come out. No matter what you see, or hear, wait for help to come. The Secret Service knows how to get in, and they’re the only ones who have the authorization to let you out.”

  Like that was supposed to make her feel better? One of them had tried to kidnap her. And yeah, the others probably felt really bad about it, but was she really supposed to trust them now?

  “Jude—”

  A man came into view right behind him. He lifted a gun high and brought it down on the back of Jude’s head.

  Zoe screamed. Tyler yelled. Jude fell to the ground in a slump, eyes closed. Unconscious. Was he dead?

  She didn’t look at the man now standing in the door—the man who had found them. She couldn’t look at him or all the fear in the back of her mind would overtake her the way Tyler’s was now doing. Her son was hysterical, but all Zoe could do was stare at Jude’s unconscious form.

  There. His chest moved.

  He was breathing. God, help us.

  Terrence lifted the gun and pointed it...at Tyler. “Shut him up or I’ll do it.”

  Zoe gathered her son to her. It didn’t do much to quiet him, but she prayed it was enough that Terrence would be satisfied and not shoot him. “What do you want with us?”

  He grinned, an awful evil grin. “Now it’s time for all of us to go up in flames.”

  * * *

  Jude groaned. The pain in the back of his head was overwhelming, but he was alive so it likely wasn’t more than a hard hit to his skull. He touched his hair and then blinked at his fingers. Red. Wet. That wasn’t good. And where was Zoe?

  The last thing he remembered was getting them in the panic room, elated that they would be safe and he could go take care of whatever problem they were in by himself.

  Now they were gone.

  Jude lifted his head, then sat up. His vision was blurry, and he wanted to be sick but pushed the feeling aside and felt for his weapon. Gone. He was in the doorway of the panic room and it was empty.

  He didn’t let the fear take hold. Just as he’d done with the nausea he ignored it and concerned himself with finding his feet. He had to get to them. If Terrence had Zoe and Tyler then Jude needed to reach them fast before the worst happened. What would he do if they were hurt...or killed? He didn’t think he would be able to carry on if he lost them after all this. And even though Zoe had tried to push him away, and get another protector, he wouldn’t have left her for anything.

  Jude wanted to be the one to take care of her. Maybe even forever. What did his career matter when he could see himself being so happy with a family? Having that closeness, that intimacy, with her, and being a father to Tyler. What could be more important?

  He stumbled through the bedroom looking for his missing weapon and the two people he cared about most. Maybe Zoe wouldn’t want him permanently in her life. Maybe she wouldn’t want the reminder of a time she’d been so scared. But he needed to find out what her answer would be.

  He needed to ask at least the first question. Did she care about him the way he cared about her?

  The doorway loomed, and he put one hand on the frame. Everything spun. He probably had a serious concussion, but considering Zoe’s and Tyler’s lives could be in danger it didn’t rate high in importance.

  Smoke filled the hallway. Jude coughed through it, but didn’t let it slow him down. He checked all the rooms and then made his way to the patio door. It slid open two inches, and then got stuck. When Jude felt through the gap, he found the thin plastic of zip ties. Trapped.

  Where was the team?

  He spun around and made his way through the dining room. The house was a maze of corners, rooms with two exits that connected them to the next space. It was great to hide in. Or run from someone and find available cover. But that meant it took him longer to find them.

  When he did, they were huddled together on the couch. The smoke was thicker now, and Terrence paced the area between the coffee table and the hearth. Jude didn’t look at Zoe and Tyler or he’d be too affected by their fear to hold his own in check. He would not let this man hurt them, but Terrence didn’t seem to be trying to kill them with that gun of his—or Jude’s. He held one in each hand. No, Terrence seemed to be waiting for something.

  Slow burn.

  Jude sneaked back to the kitchen and found a knife. He cut the ties on the patio door, and then eased it open as quietly as he could.

  He did the same to the door that led to the garage but couldn’t get to the front door without Terrence seeing. When he made his way back toward the dining room, he saw FBI SWAT creeping through.

  The first man pulled his spare sidearm and held it out to Jude.

  He whispered, “Thanks.” After he’d checked the weapon, Jude used hand signals to explain where Terrence and his captives were.

  The man nodded. He motioned to his guys, and they led the way since they had vests on. Jude didn’t hang back too much, though.

  “Hands up!”

  “Freeze!”

  Zoe screamed and Jude raced into the living room in time to see one SWAT guy knock the only remaining weapon from Terrence’s grasp. Jude placed himself between the man and Zoe, holding Tyler behind him. When SWAT had Terrence on the ground he said, “Is a fire team working on the blaze?”

  The FBI agent who’d led the team nodded. He keyed his radio. “Clear.”

  A siren sounded for two seconds, and then went silent. Jude figured that meant, “Copy that.”

  The windows were hit by a torrent of water spray, and he turned to Zoe. “Let’s get out of here, okay?” She nodded and he led them both out the front door ahead of Terrence, while Tyler clung to both of their hands. He didn’t even want them to have to look at the man again. “Are either of you hurt?”

  She shook her head.

  “Good.” He headed to the waiting ambulance anyway. His head hurt in a way that it blurred his vision and made him want to swoon. Not a good look for a hero.

  He nodded to the EMT and then sat on the edge of the ambulance where the back doors were open.

  When he climbed inside the ambulance, Zoe gasped. Even Tyler looked a little green.

  “Head wounds always look worse than they really are.” Was he attempting to reassure them, or himself?

  Before she could respond, a police officer said, “Ma’am, can I ask you some questions about what happened?”

  She didn’t look amenable to the request, but after Jude nodded she moved a couple of steps aside with Tyler. She’d have to tell them what happened eventually. Now was as good a time as any.

  Jude shuddered at the thought of what might have happened if the team hadn’t gotten there. If he hadn’t woken up.

  “Sorry,” the EMT said as he dabbed the back of Jude’s head with something.

  Jude shrugged. It hurt, but it wasn’t this man’s fault and there was no use complaining. He saw Milsner, and waved the man over.

  “Glad to see you’re okay, Brauer.” He glanced at the EMT. “
He is okay, right?”

  “I’m fine.” Jude wouldn’t accept anything less, not considering he was going to stay with Zoe. They still had to find Alan Reskin and everyone else who was involved before this was over.

  The EMT said, “A doctor should probably be the one to draw that conclusion, my man. This is a nasty bump.”

  “Is it still bleeding?”

  “No,” the EMT said grudgingly. “But that doesn’t mean you don’t need checking out in a hospital. I’m not a doctor.”

  Jude stood up. He nearly swayed, but planted his feet. There was too much to do to sit there any longer.

  “Hey.”

  He held up a hand to silence the EMT’s protest, then said to the agent, “What’s the latest?”

  “We have Terrence in custody. Again.” Milsner folded his arms. “And you can guarantee we aren’t turning him over to PD after the colossal mess up last time.”

  Jude didn’t think Terrence’s escape was entirely the fault of the detectives. But with the added security Terrence would no doubt have, this second time around there was no way he’d get away again. Everyone would be all the more aware of any threat of an ambush considering what had happened. The man was wily, and he wasn’t working alone. Their only advantage was that Terrence didn’t seem to be thinking rationally. He should have run, fled the city and gone into hiding. They might never have found him. Instead, Terrence had come back for Zoe again. He’d tried to kill all of them—himself included—and would have succeeded. So, was he just suicidal, or was there something else going on?

  “Before the fire Zoe said she recognized the woman she saw killed,” Jude said. “I confirmed with her what she was saying, and I think she was sure. She knows who it was, and you aren’t going to believe it.”

  “Who’d she see killed?”

  “Alan Reskin’s wife.” Jude let the words hang in the silence.

  The agent’s eyes widened.

  “I know.”

  “But that’s impossible,” the agent said. “Reskin is missing, but I talked to Beatrice Reskin at her house a couple of hours ago. She’s very much alive.”