Witness in the Dark

by Allison B Hanson

  And fallen in love.

  It was high time he did something about it. Watching her from the next building didn’t count. It wasn’t helping either of them.

  Seeing her but not being able to talk to her or touch her was hell.

  No more.

  This had to end.

  Now.

  Chapter Seventy

  The next two days were much like the last two for Sam.

  The defense asking her moronic questions. The district attorney objecting. The judge trying to keep things civil and on track.

  Finally, the opposition announced they were done with her. Howe’s lawyer even went so far as to wave her away as though dismissing a lowly servant.

  Whatever. She didn’t even bother to glare at him, she was so relieved to be finished. This nightmare was finally over.

  She should have felt happier.

  But all she felt was hollow, like she was starving to death.

  The answer was obvious.

  Garrett.

  Her father had told her Garrett was taking some time off. He was probably sitting on a beach somewhere on a warm island with six beautiful, bikini-clad women feeding him grapes and fanning him with palm leaves.

  She winced at the image as she was escorted out of the courtroom and into an adjoining office by Angel and Justin. The marshals were quick and efficient, and she wasn’t even sure if her feet had touched the ground.

  “We’ll wait here until we’re sure it’s safe, then we’ll move you out the back to the van,” Justin explained.

  She nodded. “Okay.”

  “You did good. It’s all over now.” He gave her a wink as he took a seat by the door.

  “Yeah.” She perched on the edge of the table to wait for her new life to begin. She would be flying to Utah later that evening.

  Oh, joy.

  There was a knock at the door just as Justin’s cellphone rang.

  “Yes?” he said. “Who?” He glanced at her. “Do you think that’s a good idea?”

  Angel looked at him and mouthed, “What?”

  “It has to be now?” He held out his hand in irritation. “Transpo’s ready. We’re just waiting for things to settle down.” He rolled his eyes as he stood up. “Fine.”

  “What is it?” Sam asked.

  “You have a visitor.” He pulled his gun from its holster.

  Sam tried to muster a smile. Her father; this could be the last time she saw him for a while. She should at least try to be cheerful.

  Justin opened the door, his weapon aimed at the unseen person. “Come in. Hands on the wall,” he ordered.

  Okay, so not her father. But Justin was so large she couldn’t see around him as he patted the person down.

  “Back off, lover boy,” the other man joked.

  She would know that voice anywhere. “Garrett!”

  He turned to her and smiled. “Hey, sweetheart.”

  Chapter Seventy-One

  Sam didn’t know what to do. Or what to think.

  Was he really there?

  He strode straight to her and pulled her against him.

  Justin muttered, “Jesus, get a room,” and slipped out the door with Angel right behind him. She heard it lock behind them.

  Tears came to her eyes and she tried to make them stop, but she was just so happy to see Garrett.

  “Sorry,” she said as she wiped her cheeks. “I know you hate crybabies.”

  “It’s okay.” He helped wipe them away, but more fell. “Free pass.” He glanced over his shoulder. “Did Justin try anything?” Garrett joked. “I have to say, he’s got some good moves.” He waggled his eyebrows, trying to make her laugh.

  It worked.

  She hugged him tightly. “I’m so glad to see you.”

  “Me, too.” His hand brushed down her arm and he picked up her hand. He must have felt the wedding ring because he looked down at it, his brows creased.

  “Oh, uh…” She tried to come up with a reasonable explanation, but couldn’t. So, she just went with the truth. “It’s dumb, I guess, but wearing it made me feel stronger.”

  He didn’t say anything as he held up his left hand, showing her his matching band.

  Her mouth opened in surprise.

  “At first, I couldn’t get it off,” he said, “so I left it on. Then I decided I didn’t want to take it off.” He regarded her seriously. “I miss you, Sam. So much.” He ran his hand through his dark hair. “I’m constantly worried about you. Every second of every day.”

  “You were watching me.”

  He nodded. “Guilty.”

  For a moment she felt elated, but then she came slamming back down to reality. He was worried. Not in love and going nuts without her.

  She pulled away from him. “You still feel an obligation to protect me, but your job is over. You did it. I’m alive. You don’t have to worry about me anymore. I’m no longer your responsibility.”

  He captured her gaze with his. “Responsibility? Sam, I’m worried I’ll never see you again. I know how this works. When you leave here today, they’ll move you and I won’t know where you are.” He paced a few times, his arms outspread. “I can’t imagine living like that.”

  She searched his face. “Really?”

  “Really.” He looked completely serious.

  That changed everything.

  She wrapped her arms around his waist and squeezed him tightly. He pulled her even closer as she leaned up and kissed him.

  They kissed for what felt like hours. Then he pulled back and rested his forehead against hers.

  “I’ll make sure you know where I am, so you can come visit,” she promised.

  He shook his head. “It’s not safe for me to visit.”

  Her heart sank. She’d misunderstood. Again.

  “I don’t want to visit,” he said. “I love you, Sam. I want to be with you.”

  She jerked up to read the expression on his face. He was smiling.

  What the hell?

  How was this helpful? The most wonderful man in the world was telling her he loved her. But she was going to have to leave him behind when she started her stupid new life, and he couldn’t even visit her.

  “You don’t feel the same way?” he asked when he saw her face crumbling.

  “You know I do,” she said angrily. “I love you, but if I can’t have you in my life—”

  “Actually, you can.” He glanced over his shoulder toward the door. Was he nervous?

  “I don’t understand.”

  He gazed down at their joined hands for a moment and then back up at her. “If we were married—really married—WITSEC would move both of us. Together.” He waited as what he was saying sank in.

  Did he really mean…?

  Her lips parted, hope swirling through her whole body.

  “But your life is here, your job—”

  “My life wasn’t much to start with, and without you, it downright sucks. I know this isn’t the way marriage is supposed to happen. We should be able to date first, maybe move in together. I’d take you out for a romantic dinner and propose to you properly. You’d have time to think about it, and plan a real wedding. Then I’d wait for you at the front of the church as you walk down the aisle in a beautiful dress.”

  He took a deep breath and pulled a box out of his pocket, then knelt down in front of her and took her hand.

  “Sam,” he said, then cleared his throat. “I promise we’ll do this better when we get settled. But…I love you and I want to be with you. Will you marry me? Today? Like, right now?”

  Her eyes widened with shock—and so many other emotions she couldn’t possibly name at the moment.

  “I thought I was prepared to let you go,” he said when she just stood there gaping at him. “The other night, before I called you, it all made sense. I was miserable, but I was sure I could do it. Just walk away. Then I saw you stand in front of that window and say you love me. And everything changed. Everything.”

  He opened the box to
show her a glistening diamond nestled in a bed of white satin. Her whole future shimmered up at her.

  As he waited for her answer, she could see the love in his eyes just as brightly. He would give his life to protect her, and she would do the same for him.

  For most people, those words were nothing more than an empty promise, but for them, it had been tested and proven.

  “Yes,” she said.

  “Yes?” Apparently he wasn’t sure he’d heard her correctly.

  “Yes, I’ll marry you. Right now. This very minute.”

  “You will?” He seemed genuinely surprised. And happy.

  She laughed and held out her hand, wiggling the appropriate finger. “Good thing we’re already in a courthouse.”

  “Oh, thank God.” He pushed the ring on her finger next to her wedding band and stood to kiss her. “I love you so much.”

  He kissed her then, a kiss that was filled with so much love and promise her heart overflowed. When they finally came up for air, he pulled out his phone and texted someone, then tucked the phone back in his pocket and smiled as he reached for her again.

  Before they could get back to kissing, the door was flung open and her father burst into the room in a panic. “What is it? What’s wrong?” he asked as he looked around, expecting some threat.

  “Not a thing,” she said.

  “No?” He calmed down and turned to Garrett. “Why the text? Come to the holding room. Hurry!”

  “We needed you to get here quickly,” Garrett said with a grin.

  “What the hell, McKendrick?” He lifted a brow at Garrett’s hand resting on the small of her back.

  She grinned up at him happily. “I need you to walk me down the aisle, Dad. Please?”

  “I probably should have talked to you about this first, sir,” Garrett cut in. “But I wasn’t sure she would say yes. She did, though. I know I’m going to be leaving the team a man short, but I’m leaving Task Force Phoenix. I want a life with Sam. I hope we have your blessing.”

  “My blessing?” her father said an unreadable expression on his face. He glanced first at her, then at Garrett. “For the last few months, every time I see my daughter she asks about you, and every time I see my senior inspector, he asks me about her. It was getting on my nerves.”

  They laughed, and Garrett said, “I take it that’s a yes?”

  “You’re choosing my daughter over your career?” her father asked.

  “Yes, sir.” Garrett didn’t sound like he had a doubt in the world. “Nothing will make me happier.”

  Her father nodded slowly. “In that case, yes, you have my blessing. You’ve made a much better choice than I did.”

  She threw her arms around her father and gave him a big hug. “Thank you, Dad.”

  He smiled down at her. “I never thought I’d have the chance to walk my little girl down the aisle. I feel like I missed so much of your life. I’m happy for you both.”

  Finally he smiled, kissed her forehead, and gave her a squeeze. Then he held his hand out to Garrett. “I know you’ll protect my daughter and take care of her.”

  “Count on it, sir.”

  They shook hands, then Garrett pulled her close. As they waited for the arrangements to be made for a judge to marry them, she and Garrett couldn’t stop smiling. The time fell away…and all that was left was a future together.

  “Mrs. McKendrick,” he mumbled against her lips.

  “Hmm?”

  “Just testing it out.” He brushed a strand of hair back from her face. She’d never seen him so happy.

  “But won’t we be getting a new last name?”

  “Not until after we’re married. That’s the rule. Until then, you’ll be Mrs. Samantha Elizabeth McKendrick.”

  She smiled. “It sounds nice. I don’t want to have to give it up.”

  “We’ll break it out on special occasions when we’re alone,” he promised with a wink. “Our secret.”

  “I’m still going to call you Garrett.”

  He grinned. “Not something less pretentious, like Todd or Steve?”

  “I like Garrett.”

  “Well, this Garrett loves you,” he said, and ran his fingers through her short red hair.

  Two hours later, they were standing in front of a judge facing each other, promising to love one another until death they do part—which, once Howe was put away for good, would hopefully be in the very distant future.

  Her misty-eyed father stood off to the side, watching from a distance, as he had all her life. “By the power vested in me by the District of Columbia, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Garrett, you may kiss your bride.”

  “My bride,” he whispered before his lips touched hers.

  He kissed her until she was lightheaded then beamed down at her, his blue eyes burning into hers with love and devotion.

  “You still kiss a little too perfectly,” she told him breathlessly.

  “Hmm. I’ll work on it.”

  He kissed her again, just as perfectly.

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  About the Author

  One very early morning, Allison B. Hanson woke up with a conversation going on in her head. It wasn’t so much a dream as being forced awake by her imagination. Unable to go back to sleep, she gave in, went to the computer, and began writing. Years later it still hasn’t stopped. Allison lives near Hershey, Pennsylvania. Her contemporary romances include paranormal, sci-fi, fantasy, and mystery suspense. She enjoys candy immensely, as well as long motorcycle rides, running, and reading.

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