Star Witness

by Lisa Phillips

  One of the men spoke. “Lani Anders, you need to come with us.”

  Lani Anders? The image of a teenage star dressed to look like an adult flashed in his mind, but Aaron didn’t have time to process the name and what that meant about Mackenzie and the girl she’d been so many years ago.

  How was he supposed to get them out of this? He only had a handgun and Mackenzie gripping the back of his shirt, trusting him not to let her down. Fear was a foreign feeling and one he wasn’t sure he liked at all.

  Aaron stared them down, four men from the park. Guns for hire—that was never good. Although the fact they only worked for the money they made might be his doorway in.

  He focused on the point man. “Whatever you’re being paid, I’ll give you double to walk out the door right now.”

  The mercenary’s eyes flicked to Aaron. “Think not, dude.”

  Another of the hired guns pulled on Mackenzie’s arm. “Walk or we kill you both.”

  TEN

  Mackenzie whimpered, not taking her eyes from him—as though pleading with him to do something. Was he supposed to burst into motion and save them, against four guys with automatic weapons? No one was that good in real life, just in movies.

  The fear in her eyes churned his stomach. They were mercenaries; they wouldn’t get paid if she wasn’t delivered—intact.

  She was pulled away. A tear rolled down her face. He wanted to reach for her, and not just because he was there to protect her and failure would be awkward to explain to his brother. He’d spent breakfast looking at her across the table, seeing her smile. And now he really didn’t want to lose her.

  “Aaron...” His name was a low, keening cry. But he couldn’t do anything.

  Didn’t she know any move he made would lead to him being killed and maybe even her, too? He didn’t mind taking risks with his own life, but he wasn’t about to lose her. That would be a lousy end to his vacation.

  “Move, woman. Now.”

  Aaron gritted his teeth at the steroid-induced soldier talk. What was with this Neanderthal? Mackenzie didn’t release her grip on Aaron’s arm. He moved an inch. A gun muzzle swung to him and stopped a hairsbreadth from the end of his nose. “I’ve warned you already. You wanna get dead?”

  Aaron shook his head a fraction. “You’ve got no problem from me.”

  His hands curled into fists. They weren’t going to kill her. They were going to take her to Carosa, and Aaron was going to run them down and get Mackenzie back—if she would just let go of his arm.

  The mercenary turned to her. “You get to walking or I make a hole in your man’s head.”

  She released Aaron’s arm immediately. It was the right thing. He couldn’t lose her. And maybe in the process of getting her back he could get a lead on Carosa, or find out if there really was a leak in the Marshals Service.

  The minute they were out the door he’d be after them, jumping in his car and gunning the engine in pursuit. One last flash of hurt in Mackenzie’s eyes and she was out the door, surrounded by three mercenaries like a Secret Service detail. Aaron stood fast, waiting for his chance to go after her.

  The gun butt came out of nowhere. Pain drummed through his temple and everything went black.

  * * *

  Mackenzie clenched her jaw to keep her teeth from chattering. The plastic tie she was bound with was thin and cut into her wrists. Her arms were pulled back, making her shoulders feel as if they were on fire. Tears filled her eyes, but she held them at bay, not wanting four macho men to see her break down.

  He’d just stood there and let her go.

  Now she knew what kind of man Aaron was—the kind who didn’t come through for you when it really counted. He’d let the soldiers take her to Carosa to die. What a fool she’d been to trust him, to believe that he would keep her safe when he only cared about protecting his brother’s reputation. Had this been his plan all along? Wait for the first opportunity and then hand her over and walk away?

  Mackenzie shuddered as icy tendrils of fear crept through her.

  The van raced west along Interstate 10. What if he was just a car or two behind them? Maybe he really did care about her safety. That was possible, right? Maybe he’d wanted her to get caught so he could find Carosa. But then what? She squeezed her eyes shut. There was no one else in the world she wanted to rescue her. Just Aaron.

  They turned left and she saw a sign for a small municipal airport.

  Mackenzie looked back, but no one took the turn to the gate behind them. Aaron’s car was nowhere in sight. He’d let her go, and if there was any hope for her, she was going to have to make it herself.

  The van was waved through security and drove between two hangars onto the tarmac where a small plane was waiting. Tears ran down her cheeks. Here, little more than one hundred and fifty miles from the Mexican border, Mackenzie faced the fact she would never have the chance to say goodbye to any of the center kids or Eva.

  She would be in Carosa’s hands, dead in a fit of revenge. Killed by a man who thought saving face for his family—killing the woman he thought had brought the cartel low—was more important than life.

  * * *

  Aaron came around on the carpet of the motel. His arms were bound behind him, so he arched his back and slipped his feet between his elbows, bringing his arms to the front and almost kneeing himself in the face in the process. Ouch. Then he lay back on the floor and sucked in air, trying not to black out while his shoulder screamed with pain.

  Lani Anders.

  It was almost unreal. It didn’t make any sense at all that Mackenzie was the same girl who danced and sung in packed arenas all those years ago. Aaron had been in the early days of basic training then, and after that came his first posting—to Georgia. Lani had been all over the magazines and radio, her songs heard everywhere.

  He pulled out his phone and made a call from the motel floor.

  Eric answered on the second ring. “What’s up, brother?”

  Aaron sniffed, pushing away the throb. “Well, I’m tied up for starters. They got Mackenzie. Or, I should say, former teen superstar Lani Anders.”

  Eric muttered something Aaron didn’t catch and then said, “Where are you?”

  “Lying on the floor in—”

  “Well, get up. Go after her.”

  “The guy clocked me with his weapon. Give me a second, and quit shouting.” Aaron sat up and focused on his boot laces. “Four mercenaries in a black van. It’s really starting to make me angry how they seem to be able to find us everywhere we go.”

  “What? How?”

  “Exactly. On the way to the restaurant, at the park and now at the motel. It’s been barely twelve hours since the last attack and they show up. Again. They have to be tracking us. There’s no other explanation.”

  Aaron got to his feet and swayed a little. Once he was sitting in his car he’d be okay. If he could find his knife and cut the ties on his hands. “I have to get going. Any idea how to track a van without letting anyone know we’re tracking it?”

  Eric sighed. “Why don’t you call Sabine?”

  “I can’t, man. Doug will kill me if I involve her more than I already have.”

  It was true. His former team leader wouldn’t want Sabine involved, even if she was an ex-spy. And for a teen pop star who’d used her looks to get what she wanted? The mental picture of Lani Anders juxtaposed with Mackenzie’s face, scared and being taken away... Aaron couldn’t get it to fit. No wonder she hadn’t wanted to tell him.

  Eric said, “Never mind Doug, I’ll kill you if you let Mackenzie get hurt, and Sabine will kill you if she finds out you’re in trouble and didn’t call her. Didn’t she help you get that car?”

  Aaron found his backpack and pulled out the multitool his brother had sent him for Christmas. It took some doing, but he go
t the knife out and sawed through his bonds. “I’ll give her a call.”

  * * *

  Mackenzie was shuffled out of the van by the combined motion of two big men, which was sort of helpful since her hands were tied in front of her. They just moved and she got caught up in the wave. She stumbled finding her feet, her hands slamming on the ground. Her knee hit the asphalt and pain shot to her hip, but no one came to her assistance. One of the soldiers in front turned to see what was happening and waited while she stood up.

  Apparently it didn’t matter if she was a little damaged upon delivery.

  They walked her across the tarmac toward the plane. The horizon was a haze of heat coming up from the runway. An aircraft took off behind them in a rush of engine noise and wind that whipped her hair across her face.

  Mackenzie shuffled along, dragging it out, trying to make it take as long as possible to get to the plane. Once she was on board, they would be gone and Aaron would have to search longer and harder for her.

  If he even intended to.

  She scanned the area. It was too open to run. They would either shoot her or chase her down in no time. But what other choice did she have? She’d been pretty good at track before she quit high school to go on the road full time. Maybe sneakers and none of that heavy stuff they carried on their belts—and the fact they didn’t seem interested in killing her right here—meant she might have a chance to get away.

  The front end of a gun poked at her back and she continued her steady forward shuffle pretending she didn’t feel well. Good thing she didn’t have to feign anything. The knee she’d fallen on stung and her jeans were starting to stick. Was she bleeding?

  Aaron wasn’t coming. He knew who he’d been protecting. Maybe that was why he wasn’t coming. Maybe he’d decided she wasn’t worth it.

  Quit feeling sorry for yourself. You need to get away from these guys.

  Car tires screeched as a vehicle wound a semicircle in front of them, cutting off their forward progress. Mackenzie shrieked and the men dived out of the way. She pushed away the question of whether it was smart or not and tore across the stretch of runway to the nearest building. She pumped her legs over and over, ignoring the sting in her knee and thinking only of safety and freedom. Her bound hands were no help, so she tucked her elbows close to her body and kept going.

  Gunfire erupted, followed by the ping of metal hitting metal. Had someone called her name? She crossed the threshold of a hangar and plunged into darkness. Her footsteps faltered, and she slowed down enough so she could hear her pursuers.

  They were gaining on her.

  Mackenzie picked her way deeper into the hangar, angling toward the outside wall so she could get her bearings. Should she have stopped by the door and ducked to one side? Should she just freeze in the dark in the hope they wouldn’t be able to find her? Why was she no good at this?

  Flashlight beams swept the room.

  Mackenzie ran for the door at the back.

  “There she is. Two o’clock.”

  Bullets whizzed past her. Apparently when someone ran, they were fair game to be shot.

  A thump was followed by the spurt of more bullets, but these weren’t directed at her. Another thump. Mackenzie twisted the handle and barreled through the door. It was an office with a metal desk, a file cabinet and absolutely no exit. She closed herself in, heart pounding in her chest and her lungs screaming for air.

  The blood in her hands throbbed. She needed to cut them lose, so she felt her way backward to the desk drawer and found a pair of scissors. She nearly dislocated her thumb, but she cut the tie and her hands were finally free.

  Flexing her fingers and shoulders, she ignored the pins and needles rushing through her skin and went for the window. She pushed and shoved at the frame, waiting for someone to come in. Waiting for gunfire.

  For death.

  ELEVEN

  The window wouldn’t open. Again, Mackenzie sank to the floor. Tears filled her eyes. Someone had caused a diversion, subdued her captors and then...left. What kind of person did that? But honestly, she shouldn’t expect more. She’d been alone forever. There were hundreds, if not thousands of people in witness protection.

  Sarah had been hurt simply because she did the right thing, while Mackenzie worked a job she adored and got to feel every day as though she was making a difference. Until it all fell apart. If Eric’s fiancée hadn’t been saved from harm, what made Mackenzie think she was good enough to be rescued?

  Salty tears touched her lips. She swiped away the wetness from her cheeks, tucked her chin to her knees and squeezed herself as tight as possible. She hadn’t asked for this. It was a high price to pay for being self-absorbed—too high. Daniel, her head of security, was dead. Her manager was dead, too, and she was all alone in the dark waiting for Carosa to kill her. Other people got to live their lives, but she was being punished for the way she’d been.

  Why, Lord? This is too hard. I can’t do it. Take it away, please.

  She sobbed into her hands, sucking in breaths and trying to get air. The doorknob rattled, and Aaron was there. “Mackenzie. Thank God I found you.”

  She burst into tears again.

  Aaron crossed the room and gathered her in his arms. “They’re gone. You’re okay.”

  She squeezed her eyes shut and soaked in the feel of him holding her. “I don’t think that’s true. I don’t think I’m okay.” He was really here? “You’re here. You came.”

  “Of course I came. You think I’d let Carosa get you?”

  “You let them take me from the motel.”

  “I couldn’t incapacitate four of them all by myself. I had to turn the situation in my favor if I had any hope of getting you back.”

  “By letting me walk away?”

  His hands moved to the sides of her face and his thumbs wiped the tears from her face. Even in the dark she could see the softness in his eyes. “I came, didn’t I? Can’t that be enough?”

  Mackenzie bit her lip. “You don’t hate me because I didn’t tell you...about me being Lani?”

  “Of course not. It threw me, but I get that you didn’t want to cloud my judgment of who you are.”

  Mackenzie closed her eyes and sucked in a breath. She didn’t deserve what he was doing for her. Not when she was a liar. Despite the look of concern in his eyes, a look that said he was sorry for the pain he’d caused her, it didn’t matter who she was now.

  Part of her would always be that selfish girl who had thought she ruled the world. She didn’t deserve someone who could brush aside all the wrong she’d done as though it was no big deal. It was too big to pass off as forgivable.

  Aaron’s warm hands moved down to gently squeeze her shoulders. Mackenzie opened her eyes in time to see him tilt his head to the side, and she knew what was coming...

  Until he stood and backed away, and then ran a hand through his hair.

  Had he actually been about to kiss her? Mackenzie tried to tell herself that wasn’t what she wanted. She needed time—time to get herself together and figure out why all this was happening. Why did her past have to come back now? Why couldn’t she still be at the center, doing the good that she was supposed to be doing? There was no way she could make up for any of it if she was alone with Aaron, running from Carosa.

  Always running.

  The air between them was cold, so she wrapped her arms tight around herself, not willing to give in to the shudders. He might say he understood, but eventually he would see Lani when he looked at her. It was inevitable.

  “Are you two going to stay there all day, or can we get out of here?”

  Mackenzie looked beyond Aaron to the door of the warehouse office. The glamorous woman from the motel stood there with one hand on her hip.

  * * *

  “You’re telling me I was only
in there for ten minutes?”

  Sabine turned back from the front passenger seat of her rental car and squeezed Mackenzie’s hand. “Felt like much longer, didn’t it?”

  Mackenzie nodded, unable to believe she spent such a short time alone in the hangar’s office. It seemed like so much longer before Aaron walked her out and introduced the woman as Sabine, his former team leader’s fiancée.

  Sabine had laughed and added, “Ex-CIA. For a while now, since my mom—who was an international arms dealer and all-around criminal—duped me into running missions for her. Until she killed my brother and tried to kill me, too. Doug helped me. My mom didn’t survive, but we did. Now Doug and I are getting married.”

  Mackenzie liked her. “How did you find me?”

  “Uh...well, I had the cab drop me at the rental place and doubled back to the motel. I saw you guys return from breakfast. When the mercenaries took you but not Aaron, I followed.”

  Mackenzie laughed. “Why did you say that as though you’ve done something you shouldn’t have? You saved me.” She seemed so perfect, while Mackenzie was the kid who got picked on in P.E.

  “Aaron told me to leave it alone.” Sabine rolled her eyes. “He should know me better than that.”

  “Have you been friends long?”

  Sabine nodded and some of the levity disappeared from her eyes. “My brother was on the team with Doug and Aaron. I’ve hung out with all of them when they were home a bunch of times, but only really got to know the rest of the guys since Doug, even though he’s no longer on the team.” Her smile turned wistful.

  “I’m sorry you lost your brother.”

  Sabine gave her a small smile. “Thank you, Mackenzie.”

  Mackenzie kept her eyes on Sabine so she wasn’t tempted to look out the front window of the car, at Aaron. Again. Sabine hadn’t asked, she’d just handed him her keys and he drove them, since he didn’t want to keep the other car any longer. Sabine had tried to get Mackenzie to ride up front, but it would’ve been too weird.

  After he parked them behind a warehouse in an industrial district he excused himself and got out to use his phone. It might make her feel better if he’d even looked her in the eye once since he hadn’t almost tried to kiss her in the warehouse.