“‘Four years ago you respected my wishes and introduced yourself as a friend. Since that time, the lie has become truth and I consider you family. By now you know I’ve pleaded with the Department of Justice to bring Jolene into the program. Jolene needs you. There’s evidence locked away in her memories. And I’m afraid I made a horrible mistake allowing her to move away from us. Her memories are beginning to surface even if she doesn’t recognize them. You’re the only one I trust to take care of her.’”
When he looked up from the page, her palm was extended. He handed it over, as expected.
“So there’s nothing in your letter, either.”
“I have a second page,” he said, and reached to the empty side of the berth for page two. He dreaded reading it to her. The short-lived camaraderie was about to end. She may explode, run, hate him. He’d believed the letter, believed in Joseph and believed in Jolene. She’d come around. She didn’t have to like him to accept his protection.
“‘If you’re receiving this note with your letter, Levi, it means we didn’t have a chance to meet after my return. I’ve been too bold, too careless and exposed my Atkins identity to the wrong people. Perhaps I should have just called you, but I don’t trust anything any longer.
“‘My absences have been following recent information that finally led me to something solid. I’ve never stopped searching for those who destroyed my family. I’ve discovered why my wife’s testimony was such a threat to her client. Her enemy is even more powerful after twenty years. I would turn over what I know to the Department of Justice now, but they refuse to help Jo. I had no choice but to return to Boulder. I hope she can forgive me.’”
He had to swallow, dreading the last paragraph.
“‘You can’t tell Jo until she’s safely in your care. I wish I could say everything I’ve done is only so my daughter can have a real life, but it’s also for Elaine. Jo’s letter, let her share it with you when she’s ready. I hope you’ll respect my wishes. Thank you, my friend, and farewell.’”
The first page crumpled in her fist. He placed his hand over hers but she threw it off, jumping up, wrapping her arms around her slim waist.
“He...he was... Oh, my God. They murdered him. Why didn’t you tell me? Tell anyone? What was he thinking?”
He’d been thinking like a friend, respecting the wishes of a man he admired. Not thinking like a U.S. Marshal. Deep down if he admitted the truth, he’d thought Joseph was a bit paranoid and he hadn’t believed the contents of his letter until the shot had been fired at the funeral.
“You should have told me.”
“You’re probably right. Hand delivering the letter was a part of my instructions. Maybe not my smartest move. I trusted your dad. I should have trusted him more, not less. Turns out his suspicions were right.”
“This changes everything. Are they investigating the accident? No, not an accident—murder. Both of my parents were murdered.” She turned to all the walls, felt her clothes drying in the shower area, paced back to the window and dropped her forehead against the glass. “Why can’t I remember anything?”
He stood so fast he clipped his shoulder on the top berth frame, a sting that couldn’t compare to what Jo must be feeling. Before he could reach out and try to take her in his arms she turned on him. Defenseless kitten into wild mountain cat.
“Why are you here? You’re the only person who knows the truth. You should be investigating his murder, not babysitting me.” She shoved passed him—not far since the compartment wouldn’t allow it.
“I did check.” He knew this would happen. At least she wasn’t shouting. One of the reasons he’d wanted the train moving when she read the letter was to keep her by his side. “There was no indication of foul play. When I retrieved your father’s body, I asked the local Sheriff’s Department to give the scene and car another onceover.”
“And?”
“I haven’t heard anything yet.”
“What is the Marshals Service doing?”
“They can’t do anything, Jolene.” That caged mountain cat was growing more edgy, rubbing her palms, tugging at the bottom of the T-shirt. “You can’t, either. Not here.”
She stopped, directly under his chin, looking at his shirt.
“This is ridiculous, Levi. They received a letter. What did it say?” Her voice was calm again.
Level, but demanding. Her fingernail tapped on his chest like it normally did her chin. He wanted to grab her hand—not to stop the tapping, just because. There wasn’t a reason and that made it very unsafe to stop the tapping.
“Joseph said you were in danger and needed to be protected.” He braced himself for a slap, shove, a reaction to his next words. “They considered it a last-ditch effort to get you in the program by a lonely dad.”
“They didn’t think it coincidental that he’d died?” She shoved at his chest and crossed to the compartment door. “And they aren’t concerned because I’m not legally their problem.”
“Come on, Jo, what do you expect? That letter was the first time your father had spoken about you to the Service in almost ten years. No one had any idea why he’d sent it. No one at the Service or the DoJ had any idea your dad was looking into the case himself.”
“No one?” she asked, her voice quivered with doubt and humiliation—maybe because she’d been excluded.
“Not even me.” He stayed his ground, ready to yank her away from the door if she tried to run. He wouldn’t blame her. She was hurting. He understood how much. “If I had known I would have stopped him. He knew that.”
“He gave up everything. Lost everything...”
“Not everything, Jo.” As gently as possible, he turned her around and brought her close to his chest. He should never think twice about bringing her closer to him, but that wasn’t their life. They were friends. More of a relationship wasn’t possible.
“Stop.” She pushed him away.
He released his hold. One he had no right to.
“You can’t keep doing that. I can’t depend on anyone but myself.” Her knuckles turned white grabbing the small sink counter. “You taught me that two years ago.”
“I know.” It didn’t matter what he’d wanted or didn’t want. “You were the daughter of a witness. Period.”
“I can’t trust you to tell me everything. If you think it’s for my better good, you’ll...”
“You’re right about that. I will protect you at all costs.”
She hit the counter, tears overflowing from her eyes. “As soon as we get off this train, I want you to leave me alone.”
“Not gonna happen.”
“I’ll hire a private detective to find out about my family. Hire my own bodyguards.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You don’t have enough money to fight the ‘powerful’ enemy your Dad refers to.”
She looked lost and frustrated, using her sleeve to swipe at her cheeks. “I’m serious about you leaving me alone.” Her eyes darted first to her clothes, then shoes, where she’d stuck her phone and small wallet she’d had in her jacket.
But the battery was in his duffel.
“Don’t even think about leaving. You can’t do this on your own. That’s why your father sent me. I mean it, Jo.” The room was small. He only lifted an arm and touched her shoulder. “You need my help and I’m giving it. No strings attached.”
“You made that very clear two years ago.”
* * *
HOW HAD HE gotten himself into this mess? No partner. No backup. No information.
Levi splashed some water on his face and scrubbed it dry with a towel. No use looking in the mirror, the compartment was too dark. Couldn’t talk to himself or exercise, he’d wake Jolene.
Think.
He was tired of thinking. He’d done nothing but think since the letters had arrived. He’d been certain her private letter would sort things out. Point the finger at someone, somewhere to start an investigation.
Nothing. Joseph had lost his life. Jolene ha
d been shot at, might still be compromised. And he’d probably lose his job and the ability to investigate further.
How was he supposed to keep her safe if she refused to remember? That was all they had, their only chance. Return to the scene of the crime, where the murders had taken place and pray the images became clear in her mind.
In fact, Joseph had been certain the visit would trigger her memories. Levi could see now that many of their conversations over the past six months had been feeding him information he could use to help Jo through this threat.
He’d find out nine hours from now. But he couldn’t do anything at the moment. Not this tired.
They’d passed through Little Rock and his witness hadn’t tried to leave. She’d promised, but he hadn’t trusted her. Something about her acceptance of his assistance bothered him, put his senses on high alert.
Stop thinking.
It was time to grab some shuteye. He checked the locked door one last time and shifted the outside window curtains so just a sliver of moonbeam lit the bed. With his holster on his hip, he turned in the chair until he found a halfway decent position. Better to doze uncomfortably than fall into a dead state of exhaustion.
Besides, he wasn’t squeezing his torso onto the smaller upper berth and wasn’t waking Jo to move her back to it. His eyes had barely shut when something pushed his brain into gear.
A small foot peeked out from under the covers. Jolene’s back was to him. No way to tell if she was awake or still in slumber land. He kept his lids slightly parted to see what she’d do.
Did she really think she could get away from him on a train? Where would she hide?
The compartment lock turned.
Key.
Not Jo. Not the steward.
He wanted to let whoever threatened inside, catch them, eliminate the danger.
Not alone. He had to protect Jo who was vulnerable in that bunk. He shouldn’t have put the vest away with his gear.
He shot across the room as soundlessly as he could, pulled Jo on top of him on the floor, covering her mouth as she woke. As best as his six-two form could manage, he rolled her beneath him to protect from an assault.
He recognized the momentary panic in her eyes that quickly subsided, shifting to question.
Shh. He mouthed the age-old sign to be quiet and braced for an attack.
Where was the shot?
The door had slid inches, but no one entered.
He lowered his mouth to her ear. “I’m going to move toward the berths and you’re going into the shower.”
She nodded and they repositioned. He quickly got to his back with his gun pointed toward the door.
Nothing.
“Could it have been someone who had the wrong compartment?” she whispered a minute later.
“Door was locked.”
She stared through the three-inch opening. “What does this mean?”
“Whoever’s trying to kill you...is on this train.”
Chapter Four
Jolene crouched on the floor of the shower watching Levi’s arm muscles lock into place. He was on his back near the bunk, chin on his chest, gun pointed toward the passageway door, steady as a rock, barely breathing.
Ridiculous to think he was sexy, but that was the word.
She tugged her clothes off the shower nozzle and into her arms. She looked up in time to catch her protector move his head from side to side. No? Well, they’d at least be in her possession if they moved.
He mouthed at her to stay quiet. She interpreted his head motion and backed into the four-foot rectangle called a bathroom. They waited silently in the dark, out of each other’s sight, for what seemed hours. Reality was only minutes. She counted her heartbeats so she wouldn’t talk.
Levi finally moved. She heard him perfectly through the wall only as thick as an office partition. The compartment door slid shut, the lock turned, switches flipped back and forth.
“No lights. The call button doesn’t work,” he said in a deep, low voice.
“Aren’t you going after them?” she asked in the lowest whisper she could manage.
“And get shot when I head down the stairwell?”
“Aren’t there two ways down from this level?” she asked and scooted forward until she could see him.
“We don’t know how many threats there are.” He kicked away his duffel that blocked the shower door, put his back to the wall, gun toward the threat.
“There’s got to be some way around them.” She was thinking aloud. Brainstorming. Trying at least.
“Like how? You want me to go out a window that probably doesn’t open, pull myself on top of a moving train at full-speed, climb down between the passenger cars and fight an unknown assassin bold enough to attack us in our compartment?”
“Sounds reasonable. Men do it all the time in the movies.”
“Right. I’m not stupid, Jo. And I won’t risk your life by leaving you alone.”
“I was kidding.” She stood, straightening her cramped legs, hoping Mr. Sexy would let her leave the increasingly smaller shower area. One shake of his head nixed that idea. It wasn’t ideal and completely embarrassing, but she sat on the toilet seat, wrapping the towel over her thighs. At least it was dark.
“The attack is so farfetched it doesn’t make sense. What did they want to accomplish?” He shoved his gun into its holster and pushed the steward call button again. “They must want to lure me away from the room or they would have shot us dead through the door. I won’t make it that easy for them. Bottom line—I’m not leaving your side.”
“Then what do we do?”
“You’re staying in the shower ’til we get to Dallas.”
She hadn’t been serious last night when she’d thought she’d hide in this part of the room the entire trip. “Now, you’re the one kidding.”
“No, Jo, I’m not.”
His voice had a perfect calm to it, the one she recognized as a U.S. Marshal taking command. Finding out his occupation explained so much about his actions, the way he spoke, stood, seemed to have eyes that watched everything. Including her.
A look she recognized and had interpreted as interest when she’d lived at home. She’d resented his arbitrary dismissal of their attraction two years ago. In spite of their current circumstances, she still wondered what it would have been like.
Oh, bother! None of it would matter if they didn’t get out of their train compartment alive.
“Why wouldn’t they just shoot us?” she asked to get her mind back on the situation.
“Killing a Marshal on a train would draw a lot of attention.”
“And they don’t want attention,” she added. “You said no one knew your connection to my dad, but, Levi, how would they know you’re a marshal?”
“Dammit,” he whispered angrily into the darkness. “We’ve been compromised.” He stood, looking taller than ever backlit from the small amount of moonlight.
The door slammed in her face. She swallowed a split second of panic at the dark, but she closed her eyes and imagined her college dorm room where she’d gotten dressed without waking her roommates lots of mornings.
So she did. She quickly pulled on her slacks. All the while hearing several savory curse words through the door. He wasn’t pleased. Assuming the coast was still clear, she stuck her head around the small dividing wall. “Mind telling me what’s going on?”
She sat in the chair. A look from him and she moved to the floor in front of the bathroom.
He moved to the door, pistol barrel pulling the curtain. Angrier than she’d ever seen him. A smidgen of light from the hallway caressed his frowning face, furrowed with thought and concern for her safety. She knew him or at least a part of him.
“Compromised? You could begin there,” she said.
“When they killed your father, they must have waited for his body to be claimed. I identified myself as a marshal. They’ve known who I was all along. I led them straight to you.”
“Oh.” Fear clogge
d her throat. There really was no going back. No return to the life she’d had in Georgia as a nonessential assistant, searching websites. No return to her father’s home under the protection of Levi.
“I can only assume they waited until they thought we were both asleep,” he said.
She was in over her head and completely defenseless, with the exception of Levi. A secret weapon she didn’t know about herself until a few hours ago. Having him close was a line of security she needed, but was also comforted by.
“Good thing you weren’t asleep.”
He raised an eyebrow. Instead of the smile that normally accompanied one of her wrong conclusions, his lips flattened. “They must have heard me drag you to the floor and changed their minds.”
“Then we’re very lucky.” She did feel fortunate. She couldn’t have been facing this alone, but Levi was there and determined to protect her.
“How do you figure that? We still don’t know who they are and we’re stuck on a dang train.”
“That’s right.” The fear had eased. She had a secret weapon—Levi. “We don’t know who they are, but at least we know they’re here.”
* * *
FROM THE ONE spot on the floor Levi let her occupy, Jolene watched him poised on the bottom berth. Whoever chased them would have to be a fool to face Levi now that he was prepared for their return.
She on the other hand, needed to stand and stretch, but the only place he allowed her to do so was inside the shower. Looking at the drain in the floor had gotten old—fast. She sat on a pillow ready to dive into the stall if there was another incident. He stared at the locked door, barely moving, acknowledging her ideas for leaving, but not divulging much about his plans.
No matter what scenario she’d thought up, he reasonably explained why they should stay where they were. He kept his back to the window, gun at the tip of his fingers, looking completely cool and comfortable.
Only one thing made her more frustrated. Come to think about it, she could blame Levi for that one, too.
“This is ridiculous.” She’d mumbled on purpose. She admitted the desire to irritate him just a tad and mumbling had always irritated him.
Dangerous Memories Page 4