Star Witness

by Lisa Phillips

  Why was he being so weird about it? So she’d jumped to the wrong conclusion about why he was getting close and he didn’t feel anything romantic for her. Couldn’t they just forget about her monumental dorkiness thinking he really was about to kiss her and move past this awkwardness?

  Mackenzie sighed. “So you were the one driving the car? You provided the distraction so I could run away from those men?”

  “Except you were supposed to get in, not run away.”

  Mackenzie’s stomach churned with a combination of lingering adrenaline and embarrassment.

  “That was when Aaron showed up in the car I left you guys.” Sabine smiled. “Time seems to stretch itself out when you’re hiding, overwhelmed by fear.”

  Mackenzie rolled her eyes. She didn’t want to be that weak woman, but there was just so much to be afraid of. “That makes me sound stupid.” She glanced out the window where Aaron paced back and forth by the building, talking on his phone with big hand motions and a tight face. “I don’t like being overcome by fear. Helpless.”

  “We’ve all been there. Me, plenty of times. No one thinks any less of you, least of all Aaron.”

  Mackenzie frowned. “He’s a soldier. I doubt he understands hiding in the dark and crying because you’re scared someone’s going to kill you.”

  “On the contrary.” Sabine’s face gentled. “Soldiers probably understand fear better than any of us, but the job they do means they have to channel that fear into completing the mission. Fear is good. It keeps you sharp.”

  “That sounds a lot like personal experience.”

  Sabine’s nose crinkled. “It is. The CIA thought I was a traitor and my mom, of all people, was trying to kill me. But haven’t you had to overcome your fair share of fear? Performing in front of thousands of screaming fans can’t have been easy. How did you overcome your nerves then?” She bit her lip. “I hope you don’t mind, but Aaron told me.”

  She shrugged one shoulder. Mackenzie had never even thought of fame like that. “It’s true. I did get really nervous, especially before those big shows. I don’t think you ever get used to it, and the attention was just part of what made up that lifestyle.”

  “So how did you deal with it?”

  “You just push it aside and get on with it, I guess.” Mackenzie laughed. “Boy, I never would have thought fighting stage fright would apply to running for your life from men with guns.”

  “You have the tools already, Mackenzie. Almost as though God knew one day you might need them.”

  She glanced out the window again but couldn’t see Aaron. “What about Aaron...and your fiancé? What makes them put themselves in harm’s way on purpose?”

  “It’s the kind of men they are, I suppose. Highly specialized skills and a personality that means they can risk their lives on a daily basis and never get any credit for it because no one even knows that’s what they do for a living. And they’ll get up and do it all again tomorrow.”

  Aaron was so relaxed about his life. Everything except for Eric seemed as if it wasn’t a big deal to him, even being Special Forces. She was sure it was his job that showed him what was really important. After all, he had given up his time to help Eric, even though he was injured.

  How would it feel if he turned that commitment and loyalty to her? There was no doubt that whomever he fell for would be a blessed woman. Maybe it would be her, maybe not. And why did that make her want to kick something?

  She didn’t even know if Mackenzie Winters was the kind of girl who fell in love. Her WITSEC persona might feel more real, but even after all these years sometimes she still had to think what the girl she was now would do. Besides, she was too busy with the center for romance. Or, that was what she’d always thought.

  But then, maybe there was more to her that she hadn’t let grow because she’d been so busy trying to be the best Christian she could be. Her life the past sixteen years had been so narrow, her world so isolated, that it was hard to believe she could ever be truly normal.

  How could a romantic relationship help balance the scales of the person she’d been? When would she feel like she’d finally atoned for being a shallow, self-centered role model?

  “You look lost in thought.”

  Sabine’s face was bright and open, with the happy look of a woman who knew down to her soul that she was loved by a good man. She was planning a wedding and setting up her life. Sabine juggled everything because her husband-to-be was off on a job interview.

  Mackenzie would never be half the woman this lady was. “I was just thinking about the kind of person it takes to be supportive to a man who’s gone so much.”

  Sabine did that nose-crinkling thing again. It made her look more like a young woman than a sophisticated lady. “I spent a lot of years being alone—I suppose I got used to it. Now that I have Doug, I know he’s thinking about me as much as I’m thinking about him. Apart from that, you just keep busy with your life. When they get home, you make the most of the days you do have together. I’ll say one thing for this life. It makes you take nothing for granted.”

  “I’m sure.”

  “You could do a lot worse than Aaron.”

  Mackenzie laughed and pushed back a wayward strand of hair that had escaped her bun. “I don’t know if that kind of life is for me. Who knows what’ll happen to me before all this is over? I don’t see much point in false hope. Even if I thought Aaron was thinking about the future, I’m not. I can’t.”

  “Doug’s father told me that you have to let your heart answer the question. If it’s what you both want, then God will make a way.”

  “I used to think that. But the reality is we have two completely different lives. Even if I did want a relationship, it looks impossible.” Mackenzie sighed.

  “It looked impossible to me, too.” Sabine waved the fingers on her left hand. “And look where I’m at now.”

  That was nice for Sabine, being on the giddy-with-love side of things. It was easy to tout the blessings of a solid relationship and marriage when you already had it.

  Being single was much harder.

  * * *

  Aaron growled. “Yes, I’d like to leave a message.”

  Why couldn’t the Marshals Service office just say where Eric was? His brother hadn’t answered his cell any of the times Aaron had called to tell him Mackenzie was fine. Something had to be going on if he wasn’t sitting by his phone waiting to hear word on whether or not Aaron had gotten Mackenzie back.

  Something serious.

  At least that would explain why the office was giving him the runaround. But what was going on? Hopefully it meant that whoever leaked information had been found.

  “Oh,” another voice spoke in the background, and then the lady came back on the phone. “Marshal Harper, the marshal in charge of our office—”

  “I know Steve is Eric’s boss.”

  “Oh, well, he said if you let us know where you are, then we’ll send a car to you and you can be here when he gets back. How does that sound? Eric shouldn’t be long anyway. He just had something to see to.”

  A niggle of doubt scratched at Aaron’s spine. “You can have Eric call me.”

  “Are you sure you don’t want me to have us come to you?”

  It was as if she was stalling him.

  TWELVE

  Aaron hung up the phone and ran a hand through his hair. If the marshals wanted to know his location, that couldn’t mean anything good for Eric. He climbed back in the driver’s seat but didn’t shut the door.

  “Something wrong?”

  He didn’t look back, instead dismissing Mackenzie’s question with a jerk of one shoulder.

  Out the corner of his eye, Sabine glanced between them. But she would have to deal with not knowing why he was being like this. He wasn’t going to embarrass Mac
kenzie by explaining that he hadn’t been about to kiss her. Even if—for just a moment—he’d really wanted to.

  She was a good woman with a big heart; she just wasn’t the kind who would put up with someone like him. Eventually he would disappoint her, and then there would be pain and heartbreak.

  But that didn’t mean he needed to be a jerk. “I’m worried about Eric. And I don’t want to stick around here so those mercenaries can find us again. We need to be more careful.” He turned back. There was hurt in her eyes. “In fact, give me your phone.”

  Mackenzie blinked. “My phone?”

  “Yes. We don’t need anyone tracking us.” He shook his own cell in front of her so she’d know that was what he meant. “So we’re going to get rid of them.”

  “I don’t have a phone.”

  Aaron exhaled. “Seriously? Everyone has a phone.” Why was she being so difficult?

  Sabine shifted in her seat. “She really doesn’t have a phone.” She was frowning. Why? He wasn’t Doug. Aaron was used to disappointing people. “At least tell us what you know, Aaron. What’s going on?”

  “I think the marshals were trying to find out where we are. They’re probably tracking my phone.”

  He cracked open the back of his phone, took out the SIM card because he’d need it later when this was all over and tossed the phone out the car. It bounced on the concrete and broke into pieces. Aaron slammed the door shut and fired up the engine.

  Now Eric wouldn’t be able to get hold of him; Aaron had just officially severed all contact. If he was a praying man, he’d ask for protection for Eric and Mackenzie. He didn’t deserve any consideration for himself, but Eric and Mackenzie were two of the best people he knew. If anyone should have peace and happiness, it was them.

  Aaron pulled onto the road. Two black SUVs sped up the street behind them, along with three police cars. Their lights were flashing, but sirens were quiet. He held his breath until they turned into the complex he’d parked in, then pressed on the gas and sped away.

  Aaron glanced at Sabine. She’d seen the team coming for them. She gave him a short shake of her head. He wasn’t sure if it meant that she didn’t want Mackenzie to worry, or that she was disappointed in him. His charge had been kidnapped earlier, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to start keeping stuff from her. But how was he supposed to keep her safe when their pursuers were so close behind?

  How much more of this could Mackenzie take before she broke? She’d been pretty strong so far, and even given how scared she’d been in the warehouse she’d still recovered quickly. But how long would it last?

  “Uh-oh.”

  Aaron took a left and headed for the freeway. He glanced at Sabine. “What?”

  She hit a button on her smartphone and held it up.

  A news reporter’s voice spoke over a picture of Eric. “Deputy U.S. Marshal Eric Hanning was arrested just a short time ago. He is suspected of selling information that put specific persons who are part of the witness protection program in danger.”

  Aaron pulled over to the side of the road.

  He grabbed the phone, aware Mackenzie had leaned forward to watch over his shoulder.

  “A source inside the Marshals Service office informed us that Hanning has worked for the Marshals Service for eight years, the past six serving as a WITSEC inspector. And now he has allegedly betrayed the very people he was supposed to be protecting.”

  Mackenzie gasped. “No one’s supposed to know.”

  “Someone just threw Eric under the bus.”

  “Law enforcement is also looking for two other people, a man and a woman, in connection with Marshal Hanning’s arrest.”

  A picture of Aaron beside Mackenzie flashed on the phone’s screen.

  “The identity of the woman is as yet unknown, but the man is U.S. Army Sergeant Aaron Hanning. He is the brother of the arrested marshal and is suspected of colluding with him in this leak of highly classified information. He is also suspected of kidnapping the unidentified woman.”

  The news reporter flashed a smug smile of perfect white teeth. “If you see either of these people, there is a number on-screen to call and report their whereabouts. We will provide more information as it comes to us.”

  “We’re being set up.” Aaron wanted to throw the phone or punch something. Sabine grabbed it out of his hand, probably not wanting to spend a few hundred bucks on a new phone right before her wedding.

  “They think you kidnapped me?” Aaron turned back in time to see Mackenzie shake her head, her face pale. “This is unreal. What on earth is going on, Aaron? How could they think Eric is the mole in the office? He would never do that...to either of us. It’s just not possible.”

  “I know that. You know that.” Aaron sighed. “Someone is setting him up.”

  Sabine gritted her teeth. “They probably planted the evidence to make it look as if he was the mole. Get everyone’s focus off the real mole and on looking for Mackenzie instead.”

  “And destroy all our lives in the process.”

  Sabine said, “Which makes sense if the mole is now helping Carosa. Because if they think Mackenzie’s in danger, the police will be looking for her, and the marshals who know who she is will be trying to contain the leak. That means Carosa has even more of a chance of someone finding her and revealing her location.”

  Aaron frowned at Sabine. “Okay, seriously? You’re supposed to be planning a wedding.”

  “Not anymore.” Sabine looked smug. As though she knew he needed her and they both knew the help of a former CIA agent would be invaluable.

  He did, but that didn’t mean Doug wouldn’t skin him if he got her hurt. “Sabine—”

  “I think she should help us.”

  Aaron opened his mouth to tell Mackenzie it didn’t matter what she thought, because he was the one who was going to keep her safe. He sighed. She’d had a rough day as it was. “Sabine is not even supposed to be here. Doug’s going to knock me flat when he finds out I let her hang around when we’ve been repeatedly in danger.”

  Mackenzie pressed her lips together and nodded. “I don’t want to run. I’ve done enough of that already.”

  “Carosa is going to be that much closer to finding you now.”

  “Then we have even less time than we did before to help Eric. And it’s all the more important now.”

  “It’s risky.” But Aaron liked that she would put herself on the line for his brother. It was irrational, but emotions had never made sense to him.

  She lifted her chin. “I can handle it. Can you?”

  “Okay, we go after Eric’s partner first. It’s a good place to start. We’ll snoop around and see if we can get something that will point to him as the mole so we can get Eric cleared. If it’s not Schweitzer, we’ll move on to the next guy, and the next. I’m not stopping. Eric will need all the help he can get.” Aaron pinched the bridge of his nose. “He’s pretty much done now that the reporter told everyone he works for WITSEC, but who knows? If we can get Eric out from under suspicion, maybe he can salvage his career.”

  Sabine’s eyes were on him. “I’ll give you all the info I have on the people he works with.”

  “And then you’ll get lost.”

  She huffed. “Fine. But I’m calling Doug. If you get in even one sliver of trouble, he’ll be expecting a call.”

  “Sabine—”

  “You know he’s going to be mad that you didn’t call him in the first place.”

  Aaron figured that was probably about right. He started up the engine again. “Okay, let’s get on with this.”

  * * *

  Mackenzie could hardly believe what had happened. As familiar streets rolled by, she tried to assimilate the fact that Eric had been arrested, Aaron was suspected of kidnapping her and she was supposed to be the unwitting victim in al
l this.

  Everyone would be looking for them. Carosa would find her even faster now, aided by ordinary people who called the hotline, thinking they were helping her. Did that reporter have any clue what she’d done? Apart from ruining Eric’s career as a WITSEC inspector, provided he could get clear of whatever charges were against him and didn’t end up in jail, the reporter had smeared the reputation of both brothers.

  It was only a matter of time before someone who’d known her personally years ago—an old fan or acquaintance—saw the newscast and recognized her as Lani, and the fact that she used to be a pop star was made public.

  Her heart broke for what Eric must be going through. She really liked him. Not romantically, but he seemed like such a caring guy.

  A tear rolled down her face, and she wiped it away. Aaron glanced back at her and frowned. “You okay?”

  “I’m just worried about Eric.”

  Sabine was talking on her cell phone, filling Doug in on what had happened. It seemed as though they had the kind of close relationship where they told each other everything. Mackenzie didn’t even know how to be that vulnerable with someone. It would have to come with a whole lot of love and trust.

  She wanted that with Aaron. Despite the fact that it would likely never happen, she couldn’t help the jump of hope in her heart. Someday he might turn that intense devotion he felt for his family and friends toward someone else.

  “I know that.” Sabine sighed. “I know—”

  She sighed and held out the phone to Aaron. “He wants to talk to you.”

  Aaron nodded. “Put it on speaker.”

  Sabine motioned toward Mackenzie. “Are you sure?”

  “Just put it on speaker.”

  Mackenzie had too much buzzing around her head. She couldn’t get mad that there might be things they wanted to keep from her. The three of them were close; it was obvious to anyone watching that Aaron had a huge amount of respect for his friend, which now extended to Sabine.