Love Inspired Suspense January 2014

by Shirlee McCoy

  “Dating is bleeding you dry, huh?”

  Burke’s hands tightened on the steering wheel, and something flashed across his face. It could have been anger or sorrow.

  “Nah. I just have some expenses coming up,” he said, all of his normal animation gone.

  “Is it anything I can help with?”

  “No, but if that changes, I’ll let you know.”

  Hunter respected his friend too much to push for more information, so he let it go. “We’ll have to check with the rest of the team. If they agree, that might be the direction we take.”

  “I’m not sure there’s another direction we can go,” Burke said.

  He could have been right, but Hunter never made impulsive decisions, and he didn’t move forward with plans until he had confidence that they’d work out.

  This one might if they could keep Annie’s location secret, and if he could keep himself from getting even more involved in her life than he already was.

  That was the real problem with the plan. Nothing about protocol or rules. There was just something about Annie. Something different, and that might prove to be dangerous to Hunter’s professionalism and his heart.

  He couldn’t risk either one.

  SEVEN

  It took only twenty minutes to reach U.S. Marshals headquarters. Annie would have preferred twenty hours. Maybe even twenty days.

  She braced herself as Serena pulled up to the tall brick building. No doubt, Hunter was on his way. She really didn’t want to face him again. There wasn’t anything she could say that would excuse what she’d done, and she couldn’t promise that she wouldn’t do the same thing again.

  Sophia would always be first. Annie didn’t know any other way to do things.

  “Let’s get her out of her car seat and get both of you inside,” Josh said. He sounded tired.

  She felt tired, her body heavy as she unhooked Sophia’s straps and lifted her from the seat.

  They were as close to the door as Serena could get, but Annie still felt nervous as she followed Josh out of the car. Two steps, and she was inside the building and walking through a wide foyer.

  “We’ve got a room ready for you and Serena upstairs.” Josh punched the elevator button and the doors opened.

  “How long will we be here?” Not that it mattered. She’d stay as long as they wanted her to, leave when they told her to, go where they brought her.

  It had been that way for a year.

  She hadn’t complained because she’d agreed to cooperate with the marshals. She’d listened to Hunter’s list of rules and regulations, and she’d followed every one of them. That had seemed like the only way to protect Sophia.

  She stepped into the elevator, nearly falling over as Sophia reached for the buttons. “I push!” she said.

  “Not this time, sweetie. Let Mr. Josh do it.”

  “She can. Fourth floor.”

  “Hold the elevator!” Serena called as she jogged toward them.

  She wasn’t alone.

  Hunter and Burke were just a few feet behind her.

  Great. They’d all be on the elevator together. Smashed together like sardines.

  Okay. Maybe not that bad, but it would be awkward.

  Very awkward considering that less than an hour ago, Hunter had been ready to take Annie’s head off.

  Josh held the door, and all three crowded in.

  Perfect.

  No one spoke, the short ride to the fourth floor dead silent.

  As soon as the doors opened, everyone filed out.

  She was last, Sophia reaching for Hunter as she stepped into a long corridor.

  “Hold me!” she demanded.

  “No, Sophia. Mr. Hunter is busy,” Annie told her, her heart racing as Hunter’s dark gaze came to rest on her face. He didn’t look happy.

  “We’re heading to the same place, so I guess I’m not so busy that I can’t carry her there,” he said dispassionately. All his anger seemed to be gone, any remnant well hidden beneath his calm facade. “Come on, Sophia. You want some juice?”

  “Juice,” she agreed happily, squealing with delight as he lifted her to his shoulders. She clutched his hair with both fists as he walked down the hall.

  They looked cute together. If Annie hadn’t known better, she’d have thought they were father and daughter. The thought hurt way down deep where all her dreams of a happy family had lived before Joe had died.

  She followed them to a room at the end of the hall. Hunter opened the door, set Sophia down. “Stay here with your mommy. I’m going to get some juice.”

  He stepped back, gestured for Annie to enter.

  Not a word to her. No warning. No caution. Nothing.

  Despite his calmness, she was pretty certain he was still upset.

  She walked into the room, had barely cleared the threshold when he closed the door. He didn’t slam it, but she heard the soft click of a lock.

  Her heart jumped, and she turned the knob.

  He had locked her in!

  She almost couldn’t believe it. In the year she’d known him, in the months that she’d spent with him as her primary contact with the world, she’d never known him to be anything other reasonable.

  Locking someone into a room didn’t seem reasonable.

  Unless you don’t trust that person to stay put.

  The thought whispered through her mind. She couldn’t deny it. She couldn’t deny that she’d earned his distrust, either. No matter her reasons, she’d put herself and Hunter’s team in danger.

  She took Sophia’s hand and walked to a table that sat in the middle of the room. Conference length and surrounded by chairs, it had probably been used dozens of times by the men and women who were guarding her. There was nothing else in the room. No computers. No televisions. No scraps of paper. She didn’t even see a trash can.

  Tall windows stretched the length of one wall and looked out onto the parking lot. None of them opened. She tried the door handle again. Still locked. She’d known it would be, but in all the time she’d been in the witness protection program, she’d never felt like a prisoner.

  Now she did.

  She didn’t like it.

  She settled into a chair, watching as Sophia toddled around the room. Happy as a lark, not a care in the world. That was what Annie had wanted. From the very beginning, her goal had been to seek justice for Joe and to keep Sophia safe and free of danger.

  The doorknob rattled and the door opened.

  Her heart jumped in anticipation, her muscles tensed.

  Josh walked into the room and she nearly sagged with relief. As much as she wanted out of the locked room, she didn’t want to face Hunter again. Not until she knew her emotions were completely under control.

  “Juice for the kid.” Josh held up a juice box. “And diet soda for her mother.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Thank Hunter when you see him. He bought both from the vending machine.”

  “Where is he?” she asked, even though she told herself she didn’t want or need to know.

  “Meeting with the rest of the team. I have to get back. Make yourself as comfortable as you can. I don’t know how long we’ll be.” He walked out into the hall, closed the door and locked it.

  Probably on orders from Hunter.

  “Boo-boo, Mommy?” Sophia asked, poking at Annie’s raw knee. All the skin had been scraped off, blood still seeping from a deep gash.

  “Yes.” She glanced around the room. Nothing to staunch the flow of blood. Not that she was going to bleed to death from the wound. The other knee was just as raw. Both palms were ripped to shreds, too.

  “You know what, Sophia? Your mom is an idiot,” she muttered.

  An idiot who wanted out of witness protection.

  She didn’t know if she’d get that, though.

  She’d agreed to testify, and if she didn’t…then what? She’d be on her own, starting over in a new town and hoping that whoever had been tracking her down in St. Lou
is would leave her alone once the trial was over.

  Even if he did, she didn’t know if she could live with her decision. Running sounded like a good plan, but if the men who’d killed Joe got off because she didn’t testify…

  The lock clicked and the door swung open.

  Every muscle in her body tensed as Hunter strode into the room.

  “Okay, we have a new plan. It’s going to keep you safe as long as you cooperate,” he said.

  No preamble. No niceties. But that was Hunter. Blunt and to the point.

  “You’ve said that before.”

  “And I meant it before. I’ve never had this kind of trouble keeping a witness hidden. I’m not planning on ever having this kind of trouble again.”

  “Sounds good, but I was thinking—”

  “Hunt!” Sophia squealed, holding her arms up to Hunter. He picked her up, letting her pat his cheeks and tug on his hair.

  “Go ahead, Annie. Tell me what you were thinking,” he said. “That you’d cut out before the trial? Maybe make a new life somewhere? That you’d be better off trying to protect Sophia yourself than relying on us to do it for you?”

  Yes. Yes. And yes.

  She didn’t want to admit it, though, because she didn’t want him to know how accurately he’d read her.

  “I was thinking that, until today, I’ve done nothing but cooperate. It hasn’t done me any good.”

  “It’s kept you alive.” His gaze dropped to her legs, and he touched the ripped edge of her jeans. She felt the warmth of his finger, the quick zip of awareness that arced between them. “But it didn’t keep you from getting hurt. Wait here. I’ll be right back,” Hunter said, his hand dropping away.

  He hurried out of the room, and she could breathe again.

  She couldn’t deny what he’d said. Being in witness protection had kept her alive, but she wasn’t sure it had kept her safe. She didn’t feel safe. That was for sure. And that was what she wanted. To feel safe. To know that she was doing everything she could to make sure Sophia was okay. She’d promised Joe. Promised him as he took his final breath because Sophia had been his last thought, his only thought as he lay dying.

  Don’t let anything happen to the baby.

  His words had set the thought in Annie’s head that something could happen to their little girl. She didn’t believe in premonitions, but at night, when she couldn’t sleep, she wondered if Joe might have had some hint of the future during his dying minutes.

  Wondered and worried.

  Even though she knew that God was in control, even though she’d always trusted Him, she hadn’t been able to shake the anxiety that had plagued her since Joe’s death.

  She settled into a chair and watched Sophia run from one end of the room to the other. She had a lot of energy. Just like her father. She also had limitless amounts of joy and enthusiasm. Two more traits that she shared with Joe.

  Sometimes, it was hard to think about that. Hard to acknowledge how similar Sophia’s personality was to her father’s.

  “You’ll do better than your daddy, though, won’t you, sweetie?” she said as Sophia ran toward her.

  “Juice?” Sophia asked, resting her hands on Annie’s thighs and looking up into her face.

  “How about we wait until later?”

  “Wait for what?” Hunter stepped back into the room, a small white first-aid kit in his hands.

  “She wants more juice.”

  “She’s probably hungry, too,” he said. “We can get her something to eat once we’re finished here.”

  “I thought we were finished.” She stood, wincing as her knees straightened.

  “Almost.” He opened the first-aid kit and took out packets of alcohol wipes. “Go ahead and sit down again.”

  “What—?”

  “We’re both tired, Annie. How about you just do what I’m asking, so we don’t have to argue about it?”

  “Fine.” She dropped into the chair, bracing herself as he opened one of the packets. “But I can do that—”

  “Too late.” He snagged her left calf, holding her leg still as he swiped at her knee. She hissed, all the air seeping out of her lungs.

  “That hurts!”

  “I’m sure it does.” He didn’t stop, and she couldn’t scoot back far enough to get away from his hands.

  “I help!” Sophia yelled, grabbing one of the wipes.

  “Not yet, Sophia,” Hunter said gently. “You can help with the Band-Aids.”

  He took the wipe from her hand and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket.

  “Here. You can hold this for me.” He handed the phone to the toddler, and Sophia pressed it to her ear. Obviously, the kid knew exactly what to do with a phone.

  “I’m not sure letting her play with that is the best idea, Hunter,” Annie said. “She’s only two.”

  “It’s turned off.”

  “She could break it.” She winced as he dabbed antibiotic ointment onto her knee.

  “If she does, I’ll get a new one.” He didn’t seem at all concerned. That didn’t surprise Annie. In every other way, he’d seemed cold and unfeeling, but when it came to Sophia, he was warm and caring.

  He’d make a good father.

  Maybe he was a good father.

  She’d never thought to ask. Never really thought much about what his life was like outside work because he’d always seemed so devoted to his job, so completely driven by his need to follow the rules and maintain protocol.

  “Do you have children?” The question slipped out as he opened a large gauze pad and pressed it to her knee.

  He stilled, his palm pressed to her knee, his fingers warm on her lower thigh. She could feel the pad of each digit, the heat of his palm. Her skin tingled in response. She inhaled sharply, her heart pounding way too fast.

  “No,” Hunter finally said, smiling a little as he met her eyes. “My life is too busy for a family.”

  “That’s sad.” It really was. A guy like Hunter should have a wife and kids to care for.

  “Why do you say that?” He taped down the gauze and moved on to the next knee. This one was worse, a deep cut still oozing blood onto her ripped jeans.

  “You’re putting all your energy into strangers. Why not put it into people you love?”

  “Because my job requires all my energy, and if I had a family, one or the other would suffer. I’m not willing for that to happen.” He pressed a piece of folded gauze to her oozing knee.

  “Ouch!”

  “Sorry.”

  “You don’t sound sorry.” He didn’t. He sounded annoyed. She wasn’t sure if it was because of her question or because he was taking precious time to clean wounds that she’d caused.

  “I am, but I’d be sorrier if I weren’t thinking about how you did this to yourself and about how I let you.” He lifted the gauze and eyed the cut. “Still bleeding.”

  “It’ll stop. Just stick the gauze on and let’s get out of here.” She took gauze from the first-aid kit, slapped tape on both sides of it and brushed his hand away.

  She pressed the gauze to her knee, not even bothering to center it over the cut. She didn’t want to have a conversation about her actions. She couldn’t explain them. Not in any way that she thought Hunter would understand.

  “There. Done.” She stood.

  “Not quite.” He grabbed her wrist, tugging her to a stop.

  “Wh—”

  He flipped her hand over, frowning at the raw skin on her palm. “This is going to hurt for a few days.”

  “I’ll live.”

  “Let’s hope so,” he muttered, swabbing her hand with alcohol.

  It stung like crazy, but she refused to complain.

  He was right. She’d done this to herself.

  “You know,” she said as he studied her other palm, “you didn’t let me do this, Hunter. I did it all by myself.”

  “I don’t agree. Neither do my coworkers.”

  She hadn’t thought about how her escape might be viewed b
y the men and women who worked for Hunter. She’d known before she’d met him that he had a great reputation within the marshals. The FBI agents and prosecuting attorney that she’d met with after Joe’s death had assured her that the best of the best would be protecting her and making sure she made it to trial safely.

  Her escape had probably embarrassed Hunter, and she hated that. The last thing she ever wanted to do was hurt someone.

  “Sometimes I do things without thinking them through,” she admitted.

  “I guess that makes you human.” He finished cleaning her palms and tossed wrappers and gauze onto the table. “How about we just move on from here?”

  “So, forgive and forget?”

  “More like forgive and remember so that we can learn from our mistakes.” He smiled a little as he answered, his eyes the deep black of a moonless night. They were darker than she’d thought, the irises rimmed with black, his lashes thick and long.

  A handsome man. Really handsome, and she wasn’t quite sure why it had taken her so long to notice.

  She looked away, saw that Sophia had snatched several Band-Aids from the first-aid kit.

  It was as good a distraction as any.

  She took them and spent a little too much time neatly organizing the box.

  Hunter didn’t say a word, but she could feel the weight of his stare, feel the warmth of his body as he moved closer.

  “You can’t avoid it forever,” he said quietly.

  “What?” Did he know that she had been avoiding his eyes, his handsome face, the butterflies that were fluttering in her stomach?

  “Hearing the new plan and agreeing to it.”

  “Okay.” Relieved, she closed the first-aid kit, met his eyes. “Go ahead. Tell me all about it.”

  EIGHT

  “Are you kidding me?” Annie said so loudly that Hunter was pretty sure the windowpanes shook. “That is the worst plan I’ve ever heard!”

  He’d had a feeling she would react that way when he’d told her that he planned to bring her to the house he shared with Burke.

  Truth be told, he wasn’t all that happy with the plan, either, but after discussing it with the team, he’d had to agree that it was the best option for keeping Annie safe.

  “I disagree. The worst plan would be me putting you into another safe house.”