Witness Protection (Defenders of Love Book 1)

by LaRoche, Carolyn

  "Shhhh..." he whispered against her ear. "Did you hear that?"

  "Hear what?" she mouthed back but Logan never had the opportunity to answer. Chaotic sound filled the air as hundreds of birds flew up out of the trees at once. That only happened when there was an imminent threat; that much Angelina knew. But what sort of threat? Logan leaned down slowly and removed a small hand gun from an ankle holster hidden by his jeans.

  "Go inside."

  "I'm not leaving you here."

  Logan took her by both shoulders and stared deep into her eyes. "I'll be fine. Right behind you...I promise. Now, run. I'll cover you!"

  Angelina hesitated for a fraction of a second, unable to believe that Salvatore's goon had found her on the side of a mountain in the middle of nowhere. A loud popping sound followed by a whizzing noise next to her left ear convinced her quickly as a small tree behind her splintered into dozens of pieces.

  Someone was definitely shooting at them.

  Not waiting for Logan to encourage her, Angelina took off for the bunker, hunched low and moving fast. Resisting the urge to see if Logan was following her, she threw herself at the heavy steel door and yanked it open. Clara was already standing there loading a handful of shells in to a twelve-gauge shotgun.

  "I see we got ourselves a little unexpected company." Clara chuckled as she pulled on a metal hatch in the wall beside the door and stuck the shotgun through the opening. "You know anything about guns?"

  "I'm a cop, remember?" Angelina snapped.

  "I mean real guns! Not those sissy things you big city cops carry around on your hip," Clara teased as she pulled the trigger and popped off a round into the trees.

  "I'm Italian and I'm from New York! Give me a damn gun and let me shoot something!"

  "Here, take this one then. Fire a shot every thirty seconds or so to confuse the shooter while I go save that nephew of mine."

  A hint of envy fluttered low in her gut. She wanted to be the one to help Logan. Several shots fired from outside, quickly reminding her that this was no

  time to get possessive. Angelina fired one powerful blast into the trees just as Clara had done and instantly the shooting outside switched directions.

  Where was Logan? There had been plenty of time for him to run after her.

  Unless the shooter or shooters had him pinned down at the picnic table? Angelina couldn't bear the thought of him being trapped out there on her account. She should have stayed and fought with him, not run like a little girl whose dolly had been taken by the bully on the playground. Of course, without her gun she would have been as helpful as a heart attack.

  She fired another round into the trees and a hailstorm of automatic rifle fire rained against the front of the bunker. At the same time a loud commotion sounded in the back. She could hear Logan shouting but couldn't make out the words. Focusing on her job as the distraction, she fired another round into the trees. A flurry of bullets slammed against the steel door once again.

  Anxious to know what was going on in the back of the house, Angelina turned to follow the sound. A second round of automatic rifle fire peppered the front of the structure, one of the large caliber bullets penetrated the steel plate covering the hole where Angelina had just had her shotgun. The bullet lodged into the wall in front of her. Dropping to her knees, she scurried to the kitchen, hiding in a corner by the pantry. The yelling in the back of the house got louder as the gunfire stepped up its tempo. There were shotgun blasts and handguns firing mixed in with the rifle fire. Angelina tensed and covered her ears with her hands.

  The ambush reminded her all too clearly of that fateful night on the docks, the last night of her life as

  she once knew it. She covered her ears and begged her sanity to stay intact.

  A deathly silence replaced the hail of gunfire.

  She didn't hear Logan or Aunt Clara moving or speaking. Were they injured? Or worse, had they both been shot to death? It would only takes minutes for Salvatore's men to figure out she wasn't among the dead. What if they came in to the house after her? There was no telling what men like that might do...before they killed her. Looking around for the shotgun Clara had given her, she tried to convince herself that it was big enough and deadly enough to defend herself with. A loud pounding on the steel front door sent her heart down into her stomach. This was it; Salvatore was about to win once and for all.

  "Open up!" a voice called. "We know you are in there!"

  "Please go away. I don't want to die," she whispered quietly, her head buried against her knees.

  Footsteps sounded through the bunker followed by Clara's sunny voice. "Hold your horses, you two! This old lady can only move but so fast!"

  Angelina sagged against the wall in relief. She wasn't alone. Clara knew the person knocking on the door.

  So were the shooters gone? Dead? She really needed to see Logan. Pulse pounding in her ears, adrenaline coursing through her veins, Angelina closed her eyes against the spinning and heaving going on in her abdomen. What the hell was wrong with her? This wasn't her first rodeo.

  The heavy steel door pulled open, scraping on the stamped concrete of the entryway floor. Angelina tried to stand up while pulling herself out of sight just

  in case it was actually the assassin on the other side. Her legs refused to obey her brain's commands, however, and she slumped back against the wall.

  "Mom!" an unfamiliar male voice sounded, echoing through the bunker.

  "Kaiden! I'm so glad to see you!" An equally pleased Clara responded. "Where's that brother of yours?"

  "He's out back, behind the bunker, with Logan."

  Logan! Logan was okay! That was the only thing she needed to hear. Angelina scrambled to her feet on legs that trembled violently. She stumbled forward, her legs barely beginning to function again. It became imperative that she see for herself that Logan was all right. Unfortunately she nearly stumbled headlong into the wall. A pair of strong arms grabbed her shoulders and steadied her.

  "Well, now what do we have here?" Two twinkling blue looked down at her from a face that very much resembled Logan.

  "Who...who are you?"

  "Name's Kaiden James, ma'am." He tipped an imaginary hat. "And you are?"

  "Angelina Ferrara."

  Kaiden stuck out his hand with a grin. "Nice to meet you, Angelina. Despite the circumstances, that is."

  "What do you mean?" Angelina snapped a bit more abruptly than she intended. She reluctantly offered her hand in return.

  "Oh, you know, getting shot at and all." He grinned again, resting one hand on the butt of a pistol secured at his hip. "My mother was right, you are adorable."

  "Adorable? I am a lot of things, but adorable is NOT one of them!" Angelina faced off with the newcomer, hands on her hips in indignation.

  Kaiden just laughed. "Yup. You are absolutely perfect for Logan."

  "You are absolutely infuriating!"

  "Women tell me that all the time!" Kaiden chuckled again.

  Angelina glared at him and stormed off toward the front door. Her near miss with death left her with no interest in being baited by the man, no matter the fact that he may have just helped to save her life.

  Never had she ever been so happy to see someone as she was to see Logan. Making her way back to the same table that they had perched on together just a short time ago, she heard his voice carry from behind Clara's bunker. Angelina jogged the short distance, but stopped dead when she saw Kaiden talking to Logan.

  Marching right over to where the men stood, Angelina was full of indignation at the whole James family, never mind the man that had just tried to kill her. "How did you get out here?" she demanded of the newcomer.

  The man slowly turned to look at her, a lazy grin on his face. "You must be Angelina?"

  "Of course I am! We just covered that in the kitchen!" She glared at him.

  Logan burst out in laughter. The side splitting, hold your gut with your arms kind of laughter. Angelina felt the heat of anger and embarrassment
color her cheeks. "What are you laughing at?" she demanded, stamping her foot for emphasis.

  Logan just laughed. Angelina turned on the other man ready to pick a fight with him too but then

  she noticed there was something distinctly different about him. He was Kaiden...only he wasn't.

  Shrugging and grinning once again, he introduced himself with a dramatic bow. "Name's Keegan James, Miss Angelina. I believe you have already met my brother Kaiden?" He motioned toward the corner of the house as the man she had met in the kitchen, appeared in the yard.

  "Twins?" she sputtered, sending Logan into another fit of tear rolling laughter. "Oh right. Clara told me. You are twins." Angelina sighed in resignation, remembering her talk with Clara about becoming a widow with twin toddlers. She was so over this day, Logan's entire family, and people trying to kill her. Logan stepped up and threw a casual arm around her shoulder. She tried to ignore the sparks of electricity the light touch flooded through her body as she tried to step away from him. Logan held her in place, a little smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

  "These here are my cousins, Aunt Clara's sons. She called them in for backup. Thought we might need a hand should our position become compromised."

  "And it's a darn good thing Mom called us," Kaiden stated. "Obviously, your position has been compromised."

  "Look at you, stating the obvious." Keegan winked at Angelina. "Kaiden fancies himself the smart one."

  "No fancying about it. I am the oldest and therefore the smartest."

  "Taking your first breath seven minutes before I did does not a genius make you," Keegan ribbed his brother.

  Angelina took in the exchange, still seething a

  little but calmed down considerably. Except for her

  pounding heart. She wondered if Logan could feel it. Judging by the small smile playing at the corner of his lips she suspected he could. Trying to shrug off his touch only forced him to pull her closer. Angelina did not miss the satisfied look that passed between the twins as they eyed her and Logan.

  "Well, thank you so much for arriving when you did." Angelina croaked out through suddenly parched lips. She stole a glance at Logan. "I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't arrived when you did."

  She had a good guess but tried hard to bury the thought deep.

  "When one of our own is in trouble, we circle the wagons," Keegan replied, a smile very much like his cousin Logan's playing at his lips. "Good thing too. That dude was carrying an automatic something or other. He moved so fast, I couldn't catch the make and model but those bullets were a flyin'!"

  "No joke!" Kaiden chimed in. "That dude meant business. You have some nasty enemies, Miss."

  "Yeah, I guess I do." Angelina sighed heavily, defeat and resignation wearing on her soul. "And I cannot keep putting you all in harm's way. I've got to get out of here, find someone in the bureau who can protect me...and all of you."

  "No!" Logan snapped a little too quickly. "I mean, you are not going back to witness protection. I don't know much, but I would bet my left arm that it's your witsec agent who sold you out."

  "You can't keep me holed up here forever. Sooner or later, your department will expect you to show up for work. Weren't you in the middle of some

  kind of undercover gig at the school?"

  "School?" Kaiden's eyebrows shot up. "What school?"

  "Shut up." Logan shot his cousin a warning glance.

  "Logan was undercover as a history teacher in an all girls prep school!" Keegan explained happily.

  Logan shot him an even angrier look.

  "What?" Keegan shrugged. "Mom told me."

  Angelina ignored the exchange and turned her eyes up at Logan. "You can't keep protecting me. We need to find a way to stop Salvatore and his hit man for good. I want my life back."

  There was such sadness in her words that even she couldn't miss it. Logan stared down at her for a long time, not saying anything. Even the twins were quiet as church mice. He reached up a hand and smoothed a thumb across her cheek as though wiping away tears.

  "I...we...will get your life back Angelina. If you go out there on your own, you are a sitting duck for that dude. He's gone but he will be back..."

  "Exactly why I need to leave now," she agreed vehemently.

  "My cousins and I will find a way to stop this. I promise you we will get your life back for you."

  Angelina studied Logan's blue eyes, usually so clear but now filled with dark emotions as he watched her. The twins were stoic and silent.

  "Why?" she whispered. "You don't even know me. Why put your family in harm's way for someone you hardly know? Just drive me into town and drop me at the police station. Let the locals handle it. I'll be safe there...and so will you all."

  "Um, have you forgotten?" Logan pushed her now wild curls back from her face with both hands. "I am one of those locals and I'm not going to trust anyone else to keep you alive."

  "We got this, Lucy," Kaiden chimed in showing her a badge he pulled from his pocket. "Let us help you."

  "You all would risk your lives to help me? Someone you don't even know?"

  "It's called the thin blue line, lady. We all got to stick together."

  "What makes you think I am a cop?"

  Kaiden grinned again. "Just instinct, I suppose. Am I right?"

  "Currently I am employed as a high school teacher but before witness protection started, yes, I was a cop. In New York City. It's how I got into this whole mess in the first place."

  "And so now we get you out of it. If your witsec agent or any other legal representative is responsible for compromising your cover, well, that really gets my goat!" Keegan exclaimed.

  Angelina surprised herself by laughing at the man's odd outburst.

  "We need a plan," Kaiden stated. "And we need to know how they are tracking you."

  "I really don't have any idea," Angelina answered. "I don't have my purse. My car is on the bottom of a ravine and my clothes are at your cousin's cabin in the woods somewhere."

  "Well, there has to be some way they are keeping tabs on you." Logan interjected. He had moved his arm from her shoulders and now clasped her hand tightly in his larger, warm one. Her mind didn't want to

  admit how much she enjoyed his touch, but her body was rejoicing, as her nerve endings sparked over and over again from the contact. The James twins eyed her with identical teasing expressions.

  "They aren't the only one keeping tabs on Angelina," Kaiden jibed.

  "Whatever," Logan shot back, but he tightened his hold on Angelina's hand a tiny bit. She toyed with the gold cross that hung on a chain around her neck. A gift from her mother when she graduated high school, it was the only item she had been allowed to take with her from her old life to her new one.

  The only thing she was allowed to take...

  "Oh no," Angelina murmured letting go of Logan's hand. With shaking fingers, she worked frantically at the clasp.

  "What's wrong?" Logan asked, his voice thick with concern.

  "My cross..." she mumbled, still trying to get it off, panic setting in.

  "Here, let me help you." Logan took over. Removing the necklace in a fraction of a second, he handed it back to her. Angelina dropped it on the ground and stomped on it as hard as she could with the heel of her borrowed boot.

  "Now, why did you go and do that?" Keegan asked.

  Angelina stooped down and grabbed the offending piece off the ground, turning it over in her hand. "Because it wasn't really mine."

  All three men watched her curiously as she worked the cross with her fingers. Suddenly it split into two pieces.

  "There." She held out her hand. "Do you see

  it?"

  Keegan nodded slowly. "I do. You see that, brother?"

  "Well, I'll be damned." Kaiden let out a low curse.

  "It's a tiny little tracking device." Logan let out a long whistle. "How did they get that past you?"

  "After the gunfight, I was out of it for a while. Wh
en I came to, my necklace was missing and I was already on my way to Virginia. I threw a major fit, demanding it be returned. A package showed up at my new address about three weeks after I moved in. The note from witsec said they didn't see the harm in letting me keep one memento from my past. Especially something as incongruous as a Crucifix."

  "So, someone has been tracking your every movement for well over a year." Kaiden let out another curse. It was obvious that he was the more outspoken twin. Under other circumstances, Lucy might have found the obvious personality differences in the brothers entertaining.

  "Apparently so." Angelina sighed. "And now they know about Clara's hidden retreat because I led them straight here."

  "Now don't you go worrying about our mother," Keegan stated emphatically. "Clara James has always been quite good at taking care of herself and with three lawmen on the premises, she'll be just fine."

  "Actually, it's good they know where we are," Kaiden chimed in. "Easier for us to plan. That dude will be back, with back up. No doubt about that. But, if I had to guess, he's gonna wait until almost nightfall which gives us a little prep time."

  "How are you at building booby traps, cousin?"

  Keegan asked Logan.

  "Set up a few mousetraps in my day," Logan responded.

  "Good." Kaiden nodded. "Let's head back inside and see what Mom has cooking. I always plan a battle better on a full stomach."

  Chapter Thirteen

  There was nothing quite like the after effects of a gunfight. Logan had been in a few in his day but nothing like what had happened that morning. A flood of adrenaline equal to the over wash left behind by a hurricane at the beach left him a little on the shaky side. The shooter had employed an automatic weapon to shower him with a hail of bullets. Not that he would have told Angelina, but if his cousins hadn't shown up when they did, Logan wasn't sure he would've made it out of there alive. With nowhere to run, and nothing to duck behind except an old picnic table, it had been a mere matter of time.

  Logan dropped on to the large sectional sofa in the living room. It was all he could do not to curl up in the fetal position under the large square coffee table. His cousins were busy clearing out Aunt Clara's pantry. Angelina had disappeared somewhere, maybe the bedroom Aunt Clara had assigned to her. Closing his eyes, he listened as Kaiden replayed his version of the attack over a huge ham and cheese sandwich. Kaiden was quite the storyteller, always had been. Heroes were always stronger, villains were always badder, and guns were always more powerful when his cousin told a tale.