Suspect Witness

by Ryshia Kennie

  She shivered.

  “There isn’t a choice.” His gaze was solid and confident. “I hate to say this but...”

  “Say it, Josh,” she said and she fisted her hand as if that would protect her in some way against what was to come.

  “You’re in our custody whether you like it or not.”

  She’d known that. He’d as much as said it an hour ago, but she’d known it before that. It was the inevitable cost of life, her life. She’d accomplished the most important thing. Sarah was safe. There was a point where she had to trust, where she couldn’t run anymore, not by herself—this was the point where she faced it all.

  “Where do we go from Langkawi?” Her heart seemed to stop in her chest at the thought of the answer. She knew what he would say, where he was taking her. He’d told her, yet she had to ask again and again, as if that would make it palatable. As if by hearing the word she could imagine it as the place before she had run. A part of her past where there was nothing dark and deadly awaiting, where the risk had been mitigated. She wanted to believe that in the worst way.

  “Home,” Josh replied. “You know without me saying it again. There isn’t any other choice.”

  Her stomach tightened at the thought, even though there was also a rush of jubilation at the idea of seeing her family again. But then that wouldn’t happen, she’d be in a safe house along with her sister and as Josh had stated, not the same house, either. She’d be there until the trial was over and a conviction took place. And if a conviction didn’t take place... It didn’t bear thinking about.

  Fear sliced through her with icy discomfort and she took a breath as she looked at him. She could see the jut of his jaw, the firm line of his lips and the determination in his eye. And something changed for her looking at him like that, strong, yet so vulnerable. He would always do what was right, no matter the cost. Her heart did a small thump as she realized how close she was to saying yes to everything he might offer, yet he had offered her nothing except returning her safely home.

  Home.

  In another time, another place—another way, it would have been everything.

  “I’ll keep you safe,” he repeated.

  His words were reassuring, and they shifted the paradigm of reality. They made everything real and right. How had it happened in such a short time, that she had fallen for him, fallen for the wrong man, in the wrong place? Wrong in every way. The risk her brother had taken was small in comparison to what this man did for a living. She couldn’t risk it. She couldn’t... But there was no stopping it. She loved him. She’d already admitted that, to herself, anyway.

  “No worries, Erin. You’re in good hands,” Wade put in. “I’ve worked with this guy for half a decade now. There isn’t any better. Except moi.”

  “Bastard, fishing for favors again,” Josh said, but with a light edge in his voice.

  She looked from one to the other, but already her thoughts were moving ahead. What to do when she got to Langkawi? He’d said she was in custody. Did she trust him? Could she? Were there any other options? She was so conflicted—trusting on one hand, distrustful on the other. Fear was the only emotion that seemed constant.

  “If you run you’ll jeopardize everything, not just yourself, but Sarah, too,” he whispered as he leaned back to look at her. “You’re going to make it. I promise. It’s time to go home.”

  Her heart seemed to stop.

  She looked at Josh. Now he was talking to Wade. They were speaking in undertones, and she could hear none of what was being said over the roar of the engine. She leaned forward, and Josh turned.

  “You’re all right?”

  “Fine.”

  Her ears clogged as twenty minutes later they began their descent. And for the rest of their time in the air little had been spoken.

  Another five minutes, maybe ten, and they stood alone on the tarmac, Wade and the plane gone.

  “You’ll be fine, babe.” Josh leaned over and kissed her.

  She took a step back. She wasn’t too sure she wanted him or any of his romantic overtures. Not now. Not ever. They—couldn’t be.

  She spun around, away from him. She didn’t need her thoughts full of anything but keeping out of reach of the Anarchists. She didn’t need her thoughts full of him.

  A small Malay man in a longyi that had a brown-and-white tie-dyed look to it came up to them, maneuvering easily in the long cotton wrap, his plastic flip-flops snapping against the pavement. He spoke to Josh with words that Erin didn’t understand and that only upped her nervousness. Somehow those moments on the plane had seemed safe and now on the ground it was as if the danger breathed around her. Her nails bit into her palms as she looked at the black stretch of pavement lit by the runway lights. In the distance she could hear the waves crashing rhythmically onto the shore.

  An island. She wasn’t sure what Mike would say about that. She wished she could speak to him. She suspected he wouldn’t like it. But Mike may have betrayed her...

  It didn’t bear thinking about.

  She had to trust.

  Josh.

  He was still speaking words she didn’t understand. They were words that would affect her future. She didn’t take her eyes off him, as if that would change whatever was being decided. Josh nodded and the two men parted.

  Josh came over. “We’re here overnight. Pickup is arranged, as Wade said, tomorrow afternoon.”

  “It’s safe?” It was a ridiculous question. Obviously it was safe. They wouldn’t be here if it weren’t.

  He nodded. “For now we’re a honeymooning couple. Enjoying sights, spending too much time indoors with...” He looked at her and winked. “With each other.”

  She crossed her arms.

  “Kidding.” He touched her elbow. “Look, I’m sorry. I was trying to lighten the mood just a bit. You can relax, at least for now.”

  “It’s the for now that I’m worried about.”

  “Don’t. That’s why I’m here.” His arm curved around her waist.

  “We have no luggage.”

  He turned her around and there, sitting on the tarmac, were two dusty blue, hard-shelled suitcases that hadn’t been there before.

  “Unbelievable.” She looked at Josh as a second thought came to mind. “Now where?”

  “A cab to the nearest hotel, which is just around the bend.” He released his hold on her waist. “And a cab, my love, is right over there.”

  She turned but for a moment her eye caught on the lush greenery that was highlighted faintly in the artificial light and reflected the jungle that was so tight and thick that it seemed to choke her as it sprawled around them. Something screeched, and what sounded like a scream followed.

  She jumped and muffled a shriek with a hand over her mouth. “I’m sorry. I just... I’ve never heard anything like it.”

  “Monkey. The island is full of them,” Josh said as he picked up both suitcases.

  “Let me carry—” she began, determined to be of some help.

  “What kind of husband would I be if our honeymoon started out with you carrying the bags?” he asked with a small smile.

  Her smile reflected his. “Not great, I suppose.” She looked across the tarmac to the cab. “Okay then.” She took a breath and stood tall. It would take all her focus to appear normal. A few minutes later she was wrestling with the sliding door of the van.

  Josh reached over her shoulder. “Let me,” he said as the door slid open in an uneven jerk. Erin got in and Josh threw in the bags. The driver grunted once, said something that she couldn’t understand as Josh closed the door with a slam.

  The ten-minute cab ride was silent. The driver’s speed and maneuvering of the dated van that served as a cab was painfully slow. They passed only one other vehicle. It was all that broke the drive except for the vehicle’s h
eadlights and the lights from the resorts that offered peeks of the endless stretches of jungle on the inland side and the views of the ocean that stretched out beyond them on the left. If this had been any other time, if this were a normal vacation, if they had been a normal couple—it would have been ideal.

  She looked at Josh, his face tense and alert, his classic good looks underscored by the courage and integrity he’d already shown her. He was a man who worked in the trenches and put his life on the line every day. He was the man who said he could save her after five months on the road when she thought that no one could.

  The cab pulled into a graveled lane where a yard light revealed a low-slung building that was cloaked in weathered pink siding. A sign announced the resort’s name in a slight right-handed list. To the left and about a hundred feet away, edging toward the nearby ocean, another yard light revealed a two-story, milk-white structure with five rooms up and another five down and stairs leading up to individual units. There was no one in sight. Early fall was the slowest season and this slightly run-down affair would not be a tourist’s first choice.

  “This is it?” she asked, though it really didn’t matter. She hopped out behind him, watched as he spoke briefly to a short, balding man and then reached for their suitcases.

  In minutes the door to their room was open, the keys were in Josh’s hands and they were alone.

  The room was desperately tiny. At first she wasn’t sure how they and their bags would fit. Josh dropped their suitcases between two small, legless beds that were really only a pair of mattresses on the floor. Outside, there was a little veranda, enough room for the white plastic chair and the pot of dying flowers that now occupied it. A flight of stairs led to a path that the owner said went through low-lying brush and over to the beach. Even in the dark it was clear this location was idyllic. Had they been honeymooners, she could imagine appreciating it despite the accommodation’s rustic edge.

  “Romantic enough for you, love?”

  “Cut it out,” she demanded. Considering everything, she wasn’t in the mood for teasing. “In another life this room would have been Flintstones funny. Unfortunately, now not so much.” She pressed a forefinger to her temple, hoping to ward off another headache.

  “This has been hard on you.”

  “You think?” she said and immediately recanted. “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t apologize for what you can’t help.”

  “All right, I won’t.” She plunked down on the bed, sitting cross-legged only inches above the floor. “So what now?”

  “We spend tonight here and then we head to the Malaysian mainland by small plane tomorrow afternoon.”

  “Back to our place of origin?”

  “Not quite. We head to Kuala Lumpur and from there it’s only a matter of a couple of stops and you’re home.” He shrugged. “I didn’t plan this segment. Wade did. He claims with a little help from Vern. Considering the foul-up in Georgetown, this segment makes sense.”

  “Vern?” she asked, wanting to know more than the little he’d told her on the plane.

  “The man who gave me this assignment. He’s safely stateside. But he’s who I report to when this is all done.”

  “A boss?”

  “More or less.”

  She pinched her bottom lip with her thumb and forefinger as she thought about the logistics of everything.

  “Stop it. Quit thinking so much,” he said as he sat down beside her.

  “We’re safe here?” It was a moot point, but somehow the question made it real, made the thought of safety something she could entertain.

  “I think so.” He put a hand on her thigh.

  “Think?” She leaned closer into him, as it felt safer with him near.

  “Nothing is guaranteed. But it’s the option we thought safest.”

  Safest, she thought looking at him, feeling herself falling for the lure of his warm cinnamon eyes, breathing in the scent that was uniquely him—fresh air and something that smelled vaguely like pine—and feeling on edge and uncomfortable and only wanting...

  She couldn’t admit what she wanted.

  He wasn’t safe.

  They weren’t safe.

  Nothing could ever be safe again.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  “I don’t know how you do this,” Erin said. “This kind of assignment over and over. This kind of danger.” She took a breath. “That’s what I am, right? An assignment.” She stood up. She rubbed her palms, as if the friction would ease her thoughts.

  “I won’t lie to you. That’s what you were in the beginning,” he admitted. “No more.” He took her hand, pulling her down on the edge of the bed. The room was so tiny that a chair wouldn’t fit now that their suitcases had been set down.

  “I don’t know what will happen when this is over, Erin, but I care for you. More than I should—more than I ever have before.”

  “I’m not sure how to take that,” she said with a glimmer of a smile and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “But I’m glad you’re here. Without you I wouldn’t have made it.”

  He nodded. There was no need to say anything. There was more truth in what she said than she might ever know.

  She turned to face him, her lips still quivering, and he cupped her face between his hands and kissed her. He could taste the salt of her tears between them, slicking his lips. His tongue caressed her lips as it ran along them devouring her tears and then devouring her. He ran his hand along the sleek skin of her neck, resting where he could feel the distant and rapid beat of her heart.

  She was so much more than an assignment. She’d been more almost from the beginning. But what he felt for her could be dangerous, especially as they danced one step ahead of danger. They couldn’t afford any distraction or any hesitation.

  He sat back, his hand on her shoulder, his thumb caressing her collarbone. “I’ll get you out of here, Erin, but you can’t hesitate, question me—ever. That’s important. Promise me that. No hesitation ever again, not now that you know who I am and why I’m here.”

  “I...”

  “Hesitation can be lethal,” he said grimly. “The Anarchists have a bounty on your head. Ten million dollars.”

  “Ten million.” For a moment she was quiet. When she turned to look at him, shock was in her eyes. “That’s unbelievable, a staggering sum.”

  “You didn’t know?” He was surprised at that.

  “No. I haven’t been in touch with anyone at home for a long time. You said there was another assassin and that he’d been outsourced. How good is he?”

  His thumb stopped skimming along her collarbone. He knew what she was asking. Was Sid better than he was? Could Josh stop him if they met face-to-face?

  He shook his head. “Like I said earlier, he’s never failed. Word is he’s not alone. I need to get you home where there are the resources to keep you safe.”

  Seconds seemed to tick by and felt more like minutes. Outside, the silence seemed to whisper of danger.

  How far did her trust reach? His gaze met hers. He wanted to explain to her what she meant to him. Yet he didn’t know himself. He only knew that no matter what danger they danced around, he would protect her with his life.

  “It’s a game for you.” She frowned. “I don’t mean like that, but I think you live for the challenge. That every assignment is like that for you, including this one.”

  “Never that, Erin.” His hand covered hers. “You mean more to me than that.” He lifted the palm of her hand to his lips and brushed a kiss across it. “I don’t know how it happened, but I think I’ve fallen for you.”

  “Fallen?”

  Her hand remained in his.

  “Fallen,” he repeated, surprising himself.

  He kissed her then, parting her lips, her body pressing again
st his, the feel of her soft against his chest, the need for more was overwhelming.

  More wasn’t where they should be going. They had no future. He couldn’t compromise her like that. He couldn’t, wouldn’t...

  He let her go and dropped his hands.

  “I’m sorry.”

  She shifted away from him. “Do you know that my sister, Sarah, was pregnant?”

  It was a statement that seemed to come out of nowhere, and he didn’t know what to say. Instead, he said nothing.

  “I wasn’t happy about it. The guy was a mistake, as she says. Not in the picture. She’s too unsettled and she’s going to be raising a child as a single parent. I should be there for her, instead...” She choked back a sob but a tear slipped from beneath her lashes.

  He wiped it away with his thumb. It had been too much for her. He knew that. Most civilians would have collapsed by now. Not Erin.

  She looked at him. Her eyes shimmered with unshed tears. “I’m probably an aunt now, and I may never know if it’s even a boy or a girl. You know, despite all my original misgivings, I want to know that.” She shook her head. “I’m sorry. I’m not usually a crier and that’s all I seem to be doing.”

  He smiled at her, taking her hands in both of his. “She had the baby and both of them are healthy and well.”

  “Oh, my God.” Her hand went to her mouth. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner? I’m an aunt.” She laughed a rather startled giggle.

  “She had the baby ten days ago from what I’ve heard. A boy.” He squeezed her hands. “She was placed under protective custody two weeks ago and we had to pull one of our female field workers in—midwife in a previous profession.”

  “A boy,” she murmured. She looked up at him, and he could see the questions in her eyes, her doubt that it was true and that they were both safe.

  “They’re both fine, Erin. I promise.”

  “I believe you,” she said. “It’s just that... He’d have a name already I suppose...”

  “Liam,” Josh said. “The baby’s name is Liam.” His hand covered hers. He knew what a shock this was for her. Not having family near, with a mother who was troubled and needy, with little concern for her adult children’s lives, it had made the sisters close. It had surprised him when he’d first discovered that particular piece of her life. It was not how it had been with his mother but every family was different.