Witness in Hiding

by Lisa Phillips

  SIXTEEN

  Even though she wasn’t close enough to hear what was said, Zoe saw the look come over Jude’s face, one of complete betrayal. And it was directed at her.

  The police officer cleared his throat.

  “I’m sorry.” She glanced back at him, where he waited expectantly for her answer. “What was the question?”

  “I asked if you’re prepared to testify to everything you’ve told me. If we’re going to bring Terrence Willis to justice, then we’re going to need your help to do so.”

  Like she wanted the case to hinge on her. Surely they’d be able to gather evidence enough that her testimony wouldn’t be so vital. Who knew where she would be, or what she’d be doing by the time the trial came around? She didn’t want to have to put her entire life on hold until Terrence was sentenced.

  “You don’t look thrilled.”

  She granted him a smile, since he was being nice about it. “I’m not, but if it’s important then I’ll do it. I do want him brought to justice.”

  Tyler at least needed to see his mom doing what was right, not just what she wanted to do.

  “Good.” The officer nodded, as though he respected her answer. “It’s your call, but it will certainly help. I could compel you to testify, though that isn’t the preferred way to get a result in this.”

  She appreciated his candor, not wanting to be forced to cooperate. Just the memory of being marched into the living room with her son made her want to stand up and tell everyone what that killer had done. Terrence had terrorized her to the point where she didn’t know if she’d sleep nightmare-free for the rest of her life. Jude had been knocked out, and she’d had to face the man alone. Forced to stand between Terrence and her son and play the role of protector that Jude was so good at.

  It was amazing to know now that she could do it. Sure, she’d quaked in her seat. And walking had taken a conscious effort to lock her legs and keep standing, but she’d done it. From the panic room to the living room she’d held her head high and done what Jude would have—she’d protected her son under her own strength.

  Or maybe it had been God giving her strength.

  Agents walked Terrence out of the house then, his limp pronounced from where Jude had shot his leg, and the detective watched. Zoe didn’t want to look, but it was part of facing down her fears. She held her head high—again—and watched them take Terrence to an SUV. He looked cowed, but she knew better. He’d shown no indication of remorse for anything he’d done, or any of the ways he’d harmed her and others. The man was her tormentor, and for weeks now he had made her life nothing better than a nightmare.

  “It’s over now.” The realization hit her. Terrence had been brought in, and this time there was no way the team would let him get away. At least she hoped not.

  Tyler hugged her side a little tighter.

  “That it is,” the officer said.

  Jude was looking at the agents escorting Terrence as well, but he still had that scowl on his face. The one he’d directed at her.

  The officer said, “It’s over for him. The quicker he faces that fact, the better it will be for everyone.” Was that pride in his department she could hear, or just wishful thinking? “The Secret Service will want to follow up, as well. I’m sure they’ll be over to talk to you soon.”

  She nodded, though the thought of additional people wanting to talk to her made her feel even more exhausted as the adrenaline from the captive situation faded. Her head had begun to spin. Now she was jittery, and at the same time weirdly drained.

  “I’ll be sure to ask them how Terrence got the address to their supersecret safe house while we’re talking.” They had to have an explanation. Had Agent Steve Fronter somehow known before he tried to abduct her and gotten the word out?

  With the exception of Jude, the Secret Service had been nothing to her but more problems she’d had to face. How could she trust them now, when they had put her in danger twice already?

  “Now, ma’am—”

  “Don’t call me that.” She wasn’t old, and this wasn’t the Victorian age. “My name is Zoe, and you know what? People keep telling me I’ll be fine, that I’m ‘safe now.’ But I’m starting to think it’s not true.”

  “You said yourself, it’s over now.”

  “It isn’t over.”

  Alan Reskin wanted her dead, and there was nothing to stop him sending anyone else who would take the money to find her. To kill her, and probably Tyler, as well.

  She squared her shoulders. “I want the police officers at the hospital to stay with my sister and Jude’s father. You can’t call them off now even though Terrence is in custody—it still isn’t safe for them. They’ll come after them.”

  “They aren’t going to be—”

  Jude cut off the police officer. “You need to take a breath, Zoe.” His strides were long and purposeful as he closed the distance between them. He eyed Tyler pointedly and she realized she was freaking him out.

  Her son was shaking in her arms.

  “Ty...”

  “Mom, what’s wrong with you?”

  She didn’t even know.

  “Your mom is having a panic attack.”

  One second she’d been fine, and now she could hardly breathe. Zoe pressed a hand to her chest, trying to draw in air. “What’s...? I’m...”

  He touched her shoulders, his face close. “Breathe. Concentrate on drawing air in. Push it out slowly between your lips.”

  She stared at his lips, full and red. She recalled the feel of them, pressed to hers.

  Zoe realized the direction of her thoughts and coughed, then sucked in a breath.

  “Good.” He thought she was following his directions when instead she’d been staring at his lips. “When you’re okay, we’ll go. Get somewhere safe.”

  “Nowhere—” she breathed “—is safe.” That sucking feeling came back, squeezing the air from her lungs. Her thoughts shut off and she couldn’t even think through the sensation.

  “You are safe. There’s nothing to worry about.” He hugged her and Tyler, his arms loose.

  “The...” She couldn’t even say it.

  “Everything will be fine, Zoe. There’s nothing for you to be so scared about.”

  She shook her head. Why did he think everything was fine?

  “Mom?” Her son sounded panicked. She wanted to reach for him, to comfort him, but couldn’t seem to move. Her legs folded and she dropped. Before she hit the ground, Jude swung her up into his arms and then she was moving. He felt good surrounding her, even with the twang of pain in her shoulder.

  He was strong, and so much more capable than she was. One encounter with Terrence, one attempt at bravery, and now she was completely freaking out.

  He set her on a stretcher in the ambulance. The EMT put a mask on her face, and cool air flooded her mouth and nose. Much better.

  “Is she okay?” She felt her son’s small hand clutch hers, warm but trembling.

  “Yeah, Tyler.” Jude’s voice sounded far away. “She’ll be okay.” He also sounded sad when she wanted to see him smile. She wanted to fix what was awry for him, and force him to ditch that distance he’d placed between them in the kitchen. He’d been so closed off, and she wanted to know what real closeness between them would be like.

  If it was even possible, Zoe wanted to know what forever would feel like.

  * * *

  Jude stared at her, lying on a stretcher in the ambulance. The juxtaposition of the scared gaze which had compelled him to protect her, and the fact that she hadn’t seen a murder as she claimed, collided in his mind. Only the fact that while no one was dead the danger to Zoe’s life had been very real stopped him from abandoning her completely. That, and the fact that Tyler was holding his hand, tethering him to this small family.
r />   The EMT waved them in. “Let’s go.”

  Tyler didn’t move with him, so Jude leaned in close. “Come on, buddy. Let’s get your mom out of here.”

  The boy nodded, though he didn’t look comforted. Even so, the idea of escaping this latest trauma must have overcome the fear keeping him static because he climbed into the ambulance and took a seat.

  Jude sat beside him and rubbed the boy’s back while they watched the EMT check Zoe’s blood pressure and heart rate.

  “Is she on any medication?”

  Jude opened his mouth, then realized he didn’t know the answer. “Pain meds for her shoulder, I have no idea about regular prescriptions. Tyler?”

  “What?”

  Did the boy even know what medication was? “Um...does your Mom go to the doctor?”

  “No.” He shook his head. “She’s never sick.”

  “Maybe she had a cold one time, and never told you?”

  “We have a chart because I got allergies. Now we count how many days with no sneezing, because that squirty stuff works.”

  Jude had no idea what that meant, but if they were counting healthy days it had to mean something. “And your mom? Does she sneeze?”

  Tyler shook his head. “We went out for pizza to celebrate, because it’s been fifteen months.”

  This was probably the weirdest conversation Jude had ever been a part of, but it was also cute. He figured parents cared about this stuff. If the worst Tyler was concerned about was allergies, and he and his mom were both clean, that was good.

  He glanced at the EMT. “Does that help?”

  “No, but it was pretty hilarious.” The man was grinning, though it might’ve been more of a smirk. Jude couldn’t tell. As far as he could see, nothing about this was even the slightest bit amusing. “I was going to tell you that you have a beautiful family, but I guess you’re not related.”

  “We’ve only known each other for a couple of days.”

  The EMT gaped. “I thought you guys were together.” He motioned between Jude and Zoe, who was watching the whole exchange with those wide green eyes but saying nothing. “And that he was your son.”

  Tyler looked at Jude, who said, “He isn’t my son. But he is my friend.”

  The kid nodded, then said to the EMT, “Jude let me play in his tree house. He played in it when he was a kid, and it’s awesome. There are eight steps up, and a balcony. The roof has a hole on one side where the squirrels get in, but Mr. Andrew is going to help me patch it.”

  Jude said, “He is?”

  Tyler nodded at his question.

  “I’ll help, too. Maybe we can paint it, as well.”

  “Sweet. It’s gonna be epic.”

  Jude grinned, and figured the kid got most of his vocabulary not from kids at school but from the internet. It was the favorite complaint of agents he worked with about their children. Using slang words they’d learned from YouTube so their parents had no idea what they were talking about. Since Tyler was only seven, this was likely the early stages of that very same problem.

  Would Jude be around to see the next evolution of Tyler’s development? He’d assumed he would be at one point. He’d certainly hoped for it. But if Milsner’s suspicion was true and Zoe had been lying, how would Jude ever maintain his reputation? He would be the agent duped by the witness, who then let her stick around.

  He figured she’d misunderstood what she saw that night. The woman could have been hurt, but not died. Or it might not have been Reskin’s wife.

  He’d thought Zoe would turn out to be the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, but apparently that wasn’t what God had for him. What is it then, Lord? Because I’m confused. Why put her in my life if she’s just going to turn out to be a fraud? He’d tried to help her, because it was the right thing to do. But now he knew she hadn’t seen what she’d claimed to, what was he supposed to think?

  An unreliable witness was better than a lying one. Though not by much. Jude didn’t want that for Zoe. She didn’t need the stress of having her word—or her memory—questioned. She shouldn’t have to doubt herself, and neither did he even want the slightest thought that he might not be able to trust her even entering his mind.

  The one he felt really bad for was Tyler. The boy didn’t deserve to be caught in the middle of this whole mess.

  It would hurt them all when it was over; there was no denying that. And Jude didn’t think he could do anything about it, either. He’d known he had to keep his distance, but he hadn’t.

  And now they were all going to suffer the consequences.

  Jude would have to sever the ties. He was going to be ridiculed for a hunch that wound up with them catching a bad guy who had nothing to do with their case. Not a waste of time, but not part of their jobs, either.

  Jude’s phone rang. Zoe opened her eyes then, and glanced over at him. Jude looked away.

  “Agent Brauer.”

  “Put her on the phone.” The man’s voice was gravelly, and one Jude didn’t recognize.

  “Who is this?” He wasn’t just going to hand the phone over.

  “I only talk to her.”

  Zoe sat up, tugging off the oxygen mask. “What is it?”

  Jude mouthed, He wants to talk to you.

  She reached for the phone. Jude didn’t want to give it to her, but the man had made it clear he wouldn’t answer Jude’s questions.

  He put the phone on speaker.

  “Hello?” Her voice quaked.

  “Guess I didn’t work hard enough, since your sister is still alive.”

  Was that man’s voice Alan Reskin? Jude didn’t know.

  “Though that just means I get to try again.”

  Her face paled. Zoe gasped. “No, I—”

  “You meet with me. No cops, no feds. No funny business. Or that sister of yours? Your son or those church people? One of them will die.”

  SEVENTEEN

  Zoe chewed on her lip as Jude drove out of the city on the freeway. It was just after two in the morning. She didn’t even recognize the address the man on the phone had given her, or his voice. But Jude evidently knew where they were supposed to go. After he issued that threat to Ember, to Tyler and to Jude’s parents, she hadn’t been able to focus on much else. Then it had taken time to get to the hospital, get checked out and leave Tyler with Leanne. Again. Zoe wanted her son to be with her, considering he was in danger wherever he was. But cops and Secret Service agents were at the hospital to make sure nothing happened to any of them.

  The threat still scared her. Alan Reskin had proved his reach. Terrence had found her multiple times when it should have been impossible.

  Zoe ran her hands down her face, then glanced over at Jude in the driver’s seat.

  He’d barely spoken to her since the call. Was he scared for his family? Did he wish he’d never met her? Zoe stared out the window trying to figure out how she was supposed to get through this without his support.

  But she wanted to know what he expected from her in this meeting Reskin had demanded. “What do you—”

  Jude held up a hand. “One second.” Then he tapped the screen on the dash. The low murmur of the radio shut off and a phone began to ring.

  He was making a call? Now? She’d only wanted to talk to him, but apparently that was too much to ask.

  “Agent Daniels.”

  “It’s Brauer, sir.”

  “Ah, good,” the man replied. He sounded older and more refined, but there was a pleasant warmth to his voice. Like a wealthy uncle who disliked scuff marks on his wood floor and always kept a fully stocked candy dish in his office. “I followed up with the agents about their conversation with Beatrice Reskin. So I’ve been apprised as to the fact that Alan’s wife is very much alive and wanting to know why there�
��s a woman claiming she is dead.”

  Zoe gasped. “She’s alive?” But...she’d seen her lying on the ground. Alan had hauled her up and into his car. There had been blood on her head.

  The agent said, “Miss Marks.” The man didn’t sound the least bit pleased to hear from her. “Agents are accompanying you and Jude to the meeting place and will endeavor to keep the two of you safe. We aren’t in the business of placing our agents in unnecessary danger. Nor will we put innocents at risk.”

  “She looked dead,” Zoe choked out. “I saw her—”

  “As soon as we locate Alan Reskin we’ll be able to ask him ourselves why he sent his wife’s cousin to terrorize you.”

  Zoe swallowed.

  “Until then, she’s claiming she has no idea what you’re talking about, and he is missing.”

  She wanted to pray they caught him at this meeting. Hopefully before he killed her or harmed anyone else. Zoe didn’t want Jude to get hurt—more—because of her.

  She shook her head while her thoughts spiraled like a tornado. They thought she was lying. That had to be the reason why Jude had been so weird with her in the ambulance. That Secret Service agent at the scene must have told him Alan Reskin’s wife was alive. He thought she had betrayed him, that she’d used him for protection.

  Zoe was nearly sick at the idea he could think so low of her. He really thought she was so despicable?

  And yet he was still here. He’d still promised her Tyler would be safe, which meant he was even more of a good man than she’d previously given him credit for. He was probably a better person than she was, since he had that Christian grace and love. How did she compete with a person so amazing? She could hardly live up to it.

  The idea was depressing, but the rest of her life was a mess, so why not her love life, as well? Not that she loved Jude. It was just the idea of them being in a relationship was looking more and more impossible as she got to know him.

  “Zoe?” The agent’s voice boomed through the car’s speakers and she realized she hadn’t even been listening.