Lone Rider

by Lauren Bach

  The defense made regular objections, but despite the interruptions, she recounted to the court everything from the night she’d run out of gas, to the moment she’d walked out into the glaring lights and rain three weeks later.

  It wasn’t easy. She felt like she spoke with a catch in her throat. Several times she dissolved into tears, especially when asked about the murder.

  “What happened after Agent Michaels refused to name his accomplice?” Denny asked.

  “Bogen nodded.”

  “Nodded? What did that mean?”

  “Objection.” The defense attorney stood.

  Denny withdrew the question. “What happened after Bogen nodded?”

  “Snake pulled a knife and stabbed Matt in the back. He...he fell to the floor.”

  Denny gave her a moment to compose herself before pushing on. “Did you see Agent Michaels once he fell?”

  “Yes.”

  “What was he doing?”

  Tess clenched her fists. “He was choking, his body jerking. Bleeding a lot. Then he...went limp. Stopped moving.”

  “What happened next?” Denny continued.

  She looked down at her hands. “Bogen told Snake to dump the body in Lake Summer.”

  “Is that all he said?”

  “No. He told Snake to use plenty of concrete.”

  From the back of the courtroom came a low, keening cry as Matt Michaels’ mother dissolved into tears and was helped out of the courtroom. The judge pounded his gavel once, gaining everyone’s attention.

  Tess straightened. In that moment she knew that no matter how hard the trial seemed to her, for Matt’s family it was a thousand times more difficult. Tess had lived through her ordeal. Matt Michaels had paid the ultimate price.

  By noon, she felt battered, emotionally and physically. She spent the break alone, in a small anteroom, nibbling crackers and sipping water. The table was scratched, the chair ancient, uncomfortable. A stack of dog-eared magazines rested in the center of the table, but Tess ignored them.

  Right after lunch the defense would question her, and in Denny’s words, “it won’t be pretty.” Could she do it?

  When they returned to the courtroom, she was immediately called to the stand. Averting her eyes, she walked toward the defense table. Snake and Bogen sat side by side. Malice radiated from them.

  As she passed, she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. She heard the awful clinking of handcuff chains. Snake lunged, sending papers flying off the table.

  She screamed, felt his hands dig into her shoulders, brutally yanking her backward. He slammed her down against the table. For a moment she thought her spine would snap. Her arm shot out, knocked a glass to the floor, shattering it.

  Pain radiated down her back as Snake towered over her, his fingers pressed to her throat. “You were warned about testifying, bitch. They’ll hack that baby out of you!”

  Her baby. How did Snake know?

  His grip increased, choking her. Tess twisted, fighting back. Uselessly...

  She caught a glimpse of the defense attorney jumping away. Heard a member of the jury gasp out loud, “she’s pregnant?”

  Then, finally, bailiffs and guards swept forward, overpowering Snake. She heard Bogen laugh as the judge pounded his gavel.

  Rolling free, Tess fell to her knees on the floor, coughing, choking, finding it difficult to breathe.

  Denny dropped beside her. “Easy. Are you all right?”

  Dazed, Tess nodded, dragging in air. It hurt to swallow.

  “Think you can stand up?”

  Again she nodded, accepting Denny’s help getting up.

  Just as quickly as it all began, it was under control. Bailiffs escorted the jury from the room. Snake and Bogen disappeared amid a thick circle of officers. Reporters swarmed like flies. The judge barked commands, clearing the courtroom.

  Tess searched the sea of retreating faces, looking for Grey, then remembered that since he was a witness, he wasn’t allowed in the courtroom while she testified.

  Dropping her head, she took a step backwards, feeling claustrophobic, afraid she’d get sick. Immediately she doubled over as searing pain tore through her abdomen.

  Denny’s arm looped around her shoulders, supporting her, preventing her from falling. Sharp cramps tore across her stomach in waves. She clutched his arm, terrified.

  “My baby,” she whispered. “Oh, God, my baby!”

  * * *

  The cramps stopped shortly after she arrived at the emergency room, but the physician insisted on keeping her overnight for observation. They placed her in a private room, with guards posted outside.

  Lying in bed, unable to relax, she recalled how frightened she’d been. She stared at the IV drip line, tried not to feel sorry for herself. It would be so easy to break down, wallow in self-pity. She ran her hands across her middle. The baby was fine. That was all that mattered.

  She turned her thoughts to another dilemma. Snake had known she was pregnant. That information could have only come out of Denny Bennett’s office. While she wanted answers about how the leak happened, it didn’t change the fact that by tonight, her pregnancy would be all over the news. Her regret over not telling Grey, not telling her family, was sharp.

  A knock sounded on the door. She turned, expecting a nurse. But when the door opened a huge bouquet of roses appeared, the arrangement so large it dwarfed the person carrying it.

  “Set it here, please.” She pointed to the table beside her bed, then struggled to sit up.

  “Where?”

  To her surprise Grey carried the flowers. She stared at him, inundated by raw emotion. She wondered at his thoughts, unable to read his face.

  He selected one perfect red bud and pulled it free.

  “Hello.” Not bothering to ask permission, he sat on the edge of the bed, setting the fragrant rose on her chest.

  She picked it up, nervous, brushed the petals to her cheek. “They told me I wasn’t allowed any visitors.”

  “I got a special dispensation from my boss.” He reached forward and brushed a strand of hair from her face. For the first time all day he felt calm.

  She looked tiny and helpless in the bed. He eyed the dark marks on her throat, felt his temper buckle beneath his iron control. Snake could have killed her. It had taken every bit of control Grey possessed not to pay Snake a visit in jail. The guards would have let him in. And turned their backs.

  By the time word of the attack reached him she’d already been loaded into an ambulance. He died a thousand deaths waiting to hear that she was unharmed. That their baby was safe.

  The news of her pregnancy flat out stunned him even though he had wondered about the possibility a hundred times. Hell, in the beginning, he’d even hoped she was pregnant, selfishly realizing that a child would forge a bond between them. But as the weeks passed and he heard nothing, well, he assumed she wasn’t. Or if she was...that she’d had an abortion. She could have done so without his knowledge or consent.

  He thought back to the night at the auction, when she’d been sick, kicking himself for not picking up on it then.

  “When did you plan to let me know?” The words came out harsher than intended.

  She burst into tears. “I’m sorry.”

  The guilt of knowing he’d caused her even more distress burned through Grey like a hot poker. She was pregnant. At another time in his life those words would have sent him running. Now...

  “You have nothing to be sorry for. How long have you known?” he asked more calmly.

  “I suspected it the first week I was home.”

  Relief speared through him. She’d known for nearly three months. Which only meant one thing. “You’re keeping it.”

  Her eyes met his. “Yes!”

  He grasped the sheet, tugged it down to her hips, exposing her. Very cautiously, his hand went to her stomach, low, pressing intimately. “You’ve lost weight, but your abdomen is definitely enlarged.” He looked at the insubstantial hospital gown,
noticing something else. “As are your breasts.” They were a lot bigger.

  He wanted to strip away her clothes, view the ripening of her body, then sweep her into his arms and tell her, show her, exactly how glad he was she was keeping the baby.

  He tugged the sheet back over her, his chest tightening painfully at the realization he had no right to any of that.

  “How are you feeling?”

  “Better now that the cramps have stopped.” Her hand went protectively to her midsection. “The doctor says everything’s as it should be.”

  Grey placed his hand on top of hers, covering it completely. “Good.”

  Tess met his gaze again. “I was going to tell you. Today. Then-- Snake knows I’m pregnant. How did he find out?” she blurted, unable to stop the words.

  Grey wondered the same thing. Barry Neilson was already pushing for an internal investigation into how the news of her pregnancy had leaked. Unfortunately, it wasn’t uncommon in high-profile cases like this one for someone to reveal details to the press. “Confidential sources” were routinely quoted in the paper.

  Except in this case the reporters covering the trial had been as surprised as anyone to learn the news of her pregnancy. So had the defense attorneys. Which made Grey wonder at Snake and Bogen’s connections. Did they have a mole in the U.S. Attorney’s Office?

  “I wish I had answers, Tess. Right now, I don’t. But I swear nothing like this will happen again. I’ll keep you safe.”

  She shook her head. “You can’t be at my side every moment, Grey. And what about later? When the trial’s over? I don’t want to live like this, in constant fear, always hiding.”

  She put a finger to his lips, hushing him when he would have contradicted her. “I went along with you once. Now I’m following my own instincts. After I finish testifying tomorrow, I’m returning to Boston. Alone.”

  Grey grasped her hand, knowing she wouldn’t like what he was about to tell her. “You won’t be testifying tomorrow. The judge ordered a recess. The trial won’t resume until next Monday.”

  “No! That’s four days!”

  “You can’t expect to just walk away from this, Tess. There will be more trials on the other charges. Barry is already working on a plan to continue security. He feels you would be safe enough if you went back to your family’s home in the Hamptons after you testify. Security there is top-notch and we’ll beef it up with federal support.”

  “You don’t understand. I want to go home, Grey. My home.”

  “I do understand.” Very gently, Grey eased her chin up, holding her gaze. “When I was in Montana, I resented the circumstances that kept me from my house and family. I know it’s hard.”

  A tear slid down Tess’ cheek. Unable to stop himself, he leaned forward and gathered her into his arms. He shifted, looking down at her. The deep blue eyes that haunted his sleep looked troubled. With gentle fingers he traced the delicate lines of her brow, her cheek. When she didn’t pull back, his thumb caressed the curve of her bottom lip. She was too soft, too sweet.

  He was going to have to kiss her.

  Lowering his head, he drew his tongue along the pink swell of her mouth, savoring her, capturing the tiny purr that escaped her throat. He kept the kiss tender, soft as thistledown, and was rewarded with a sigh of unmistakable abandonment.

  Grey pulled back, pressing her head against his shoulder, rocking her slightly, unwilling to let her go. He was worried. The dark circles beneath her eyes spoke of too little sleep. And she had lost weight -- which any idiot knew wasn’t healthy for a pregnant woman.

  He noticed the tray beside her. “You haven’t touched your dinner.”

  Groaning she pushed away, plopping back against her pillows. “You might know the one night I feel like a cheeseburger, I’m on a liquid diet.”

  Grey moved off the bed and pushed the bedside table closer. If he had his way, she’d be eating steak and potatoes three times a day to gain weight. “If you eat this, I promise we’ll find a cheeseburger tomorrow. With fries.”

  He removed the insulated cover. “Let’s see. Mmmm. Chicken noodle soup, hold the noodles, hold the chicken. Apple juice. And red Jell-O.”

  She grimaced, reaching for the apple juice.

  Grey tapped her hand, moving the juice out of reach. “Soup first.”

  She reached for the Jell-O, but wasn’t quick enough. Grey snapped a napkin open and tucked it under her chin. Then he reached for the spoon. “Soup. Then Jell-O. Then juice. I’ll even feed you.”

  Tess foiled him by picking up a straw. She stirred the pale colored broth, before sipping it through the straw and making a face. “I hope someday when you’re sick, someone bigger than you bullies you into eating something you don’t want.”

  Her tone tore at him. “Real men don’t bully.” To prove his point, Grey leaned forward, kissed her cheek, and surrendered the Jell-O.

  She fell asleep while he was still there. Actually he refused to leave, stretching out in the recliner beside her bed, watching television.

  When she woke in the morning, he was gone. Which left her feeling mildly depressed.

  A feeling that mushroomed after she spoke with her mother.

  The news of her pregnancy had greatly upset Madeline, who immediately pressed her to, “get rid of it,” then launched into a spiel about Tess’ duty to the family name.

  While it disappointed Tess, her mother’s reaction didn’t surprise her. She’d spent a good portion of her life trying to be a dutiful daughter, trying to live up to the Marsh name. Until one day she realized she could either live her own life or die trying to please her parents.

  She’d never regretted striking out on her own, and she vowed that her child would have her support in whatever he or she chose to do.

  “I have a duty to my child,” Tess had said finally. If she was determined to keep the child, she had better get used to censure. Especially from her mother.

  Though she knew her mother was concerned, the media attention generated by Tess’ abduction and subsequent trial clearly embarrassed Madeline. Madeline’s life revolved around her social status. It was her religion.

  In spite of her family’s dysfunctional tendencies, Tess loved them. Still, her mother’s response bothered her. Would Madeline ever accept the child?

  She thought of Grey. What would he tell his family about her pregnancy? How would they react? Would this innocent child find resentment on both sides of its family tree?

  As soon as the doctor made morning rounds she was dismissed from the hospital and whisked away in an unmarked patrol car.

  Tess dreaded returning to the safe house. At least at the hospital there had been other people. Doctors, nurses. Other women she could talk with about her pregnancy.

  And while Grey had been there she’d been less lonely.

  To her surprise, Grey was parked outside the safe house when Tess and her two guards arrived. She noticed he drove an oversize sport utility vehicle with deep tinted windows that he parked a short distance down the street, allowing the patrol car to slip into the driveway in front of the house.

  Watching him approach, she wished she had time to escape inside the house before he saw her. She was still wearing her suit from yesterday. But he was beside the car before the engine even shut off.

  “Good morning,” he said, opening the back door and leaning in to brush a kiss on her cheek.

  A cellular phone rang. All three men checked their pockets. Tess watched as one of the marshals nodded to Grey and stepped away, a phone pressed to his ear. The other climbed out of the car and headed toward the house.

  It was obvious the two marshals knew about her and Grey and were trying to give them a private moment alone. Tess winced, wondering if the men thought she and Grey were an item. A couple? God, she was carrying his child and she didn’t even know what they were.

  Grey took her hand, helping her out of the car. “How are you feeling this morning?”

  Before she could answer, the marshal switched
off his phone. “We got trouble.”

  Tess squirmed, trapped between the car and Grey. She peered around him, trying to catch the marshal’s words.

  “Bogen and Snake escaped this morning. We got orders to move her to another house. Pronto.”

  “No!” The words astonished Tess. “How could that happen?”

  “They were being transferred to another facility, ma’am,” the marshal said before turning to Grey. “I don’t know all the details, but it sounds like they had help.”

  Grey pulled Tess into the protective circle of his arms, hugged her, then released her. “Get back in the car.” He thrust her into the rear seat. “Watch your head.”

  “I’ll call for back up,” the marshal said. He stepped away, yelling for the other marshal to return to the car.

  The other marshal was already unlocking the door of the safe house. He stepped back, looking puzzled. Then he started running.

  At that moment an explosion split the air.

  Grey yelled. “Get down!”

  Instinctively, she dropped to the floorboard, huddling. Glass rained down on her as the car shook, the windows imploding.

  Her first thought was worry for her unborn child. The second thought was for the child’s father. Grey! Was he all right? What about the two marshals?

  As quick as it happened, the awful noise ceased, leaving an ominous silence in its wake.

  Tess raised her head cautiously, shaking off the shards of safety glass that covered her. She peered out the open car door.

  The house was on fire, the front porch completely demolished by the blast. One of the marshals was crumpled on the lawn.

  Twisting to get up, she caught sight of the second marshal lying on his side. Blood stained his shirt.

  Bile rose in her throat. The glass cut her hands and knees as she climbed free of the car searching for one more person.

  Grey.

  Where was Grey?

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  “Tess!”

  Grey called her name, grabbing her.

  “You’re alive.” She collapsed against him, aware he had his gun drawn. Aware they were still in danger.