Runaway Witness

by Maggie K. Black

  And she knew without a doubt that Mack would never stop seeking justice for her death.

  “I said to shut up!” His voice thundered through the truck. The tip of the knife dropped to the top of her shoulder.

  Help me, God! She yanked the wheel hard to her left. The tip of the knife sliced through her heavy coat, barely nicking her arm. The red-masked Jackal swore. But it was too late for him to do anything but hold on—the truck careened through the trees and down toward the frozen lake.

  “Stop!” he shouted, sounding young and panicked. “Stop now!”

  But she couldn’t brake even if she wanted to. One way or another she was careening down toward the lake. She hit the hazard light button, and her four-ways started flashing in the night like a beacon. She leaned on the steering wheel until the horn blared.

  Come on, Mack, hear me! See me! Find me!

  “Stop now!” the Jackal shouted. “Missy! Please!”

  Missy?

  “How do you know that name?” For a second, she froze. The only people who called her that were those who’d visited the homeless center. Was the Jackal one of her former street kids? Or did he know that name another way?

  The truck went faster, jumping and rocking as the descent grew steeper.

  “Missy!” he yelled. “You need to stop!”

  There was something in his voice that made her think that whatever he meant, it was about far more than just a crashing truck.

  “How do you know my nickname?” she shouted. “Who are you? Let me help you!”

  He yanked the door open and a panicked shout filled the air as he tossed himself out. The door swung on its hinges.

  Then the trees broke in front of her and for a moment she was airborne, nothing but empty air beneath her tires and the weight of the camper behind her like an anchor. Then truck and camper hit the ice, one after the other, and she skidded out across the frozen lake like a space shuttle breaking orbit with a parachute trying to drag it back. She spiraled helplessly, holding on and praying. Then she heard a crack and the nose of the truck pitched forward so suddenly she fell against the steering wheel.

  The ice cracked beneath her.

  EIGHT

  Mack pelted through the trees toward the flashing lights as they blinked on and off like a beacon in the darkness, casting the crashed truck and frozen lake in an eerie sea of light for barely an instant before turning the scene dark before his eyes again.

  What had she been thinking? Why had she driven off like that? Why had she shot out onto the ice? Even as the questions crossed his mind, his heart was pierced with the fear that she hadn’t done it willingly. The horn had stopped blaring, leaving nothing but the eerie sound of cracking ice behind. He could see the cab of the truck sink deeper and deeper beneath the ice.

  All Mack could do was run.

  “Update?” Liam’s voice came from Mack’s breast pocket, and Mack realized he hadn’t paused long enough to end the call. “What’s going on?”

  He yanked out the phone and shouted, “Iris is in danger! I’ll call you back. Don’t stop praying.”

  “Will do,” Liam said firmly. “God be with you.”

  “You, too.” Mack hung up the phone so quickly he wasn’t even sure if Liam had heard his answer. He couldn’t afford to pause. Not for a moment, not for a second, not while Iris’s life was in danger. He dashed down the snowy hill, through the trees and toward the ice.

  “Iris!” He cupped his hands and shouted into the night. “Can you hear me?”

  “Mack!” Her voice met his ears and his feet sped faster. “I’m here! I’ve climbed onto the truck and it’s sinking!”

  The hazard lights flashed, and he saw her slender figure crouched on the sharply slanting cab of the truck.

  “Iris, hold on!” he shouted. “I’m coming!”

  Then his feet hit the ice and he ran as fast as he could along the shoreline toward the flashing lights. The scene flickered from light to dark in front of him as the truck slid deeper and deeper into the lake, nose first and anchored only by the camper behind it. Iris climbed across the slanting cab toward the bed of the truck. He gasped for breath. As he watched, she jumped from the tilted bed onto the top of the camper and crouched there gingerly. The sinking truck pulled the camper closer to the water.

  “Don’t jump!” he shouted. “Wait for me! I’ll catch you!”

  If she jumped and hit a fissure, she could break through the ice and go under. But if she leaped toward him, he could brace himself, catch her and pull her to safety.

  The ice groaned loudly under the camper’s weight. Mack’s feet slid beneath him, and another crack split the air as more ice gave way.

  “Just hold on!” he shouted. “I’m almost there!”

  “Mack!” She screamed his name as if it were wrenched from her lungs. “Look out behind you!”

  A tranquilizer dart brushed his shoulder, tearing the edge of his sleeve before falling ineffectively to his feet. Mack glanced back in time to see a snarling face.

  The green-masked Jackal threw his huge bulk at him, and Mack hit the ice with the weight of the criminal on top of him. Desperately, Mack rolled over, blocking the Jackal’s punches. A fist hit Mack’s jaw and pain shot through him, stunning him just long enough for the Jackal to start fumbling for another tranquilizer dart.

  Yeah, there was no way Mack was going to let him load it. He braced his palms behind him on the ice and kicked up with both feet, tossing the Jackal off so hard that he flew onto the ice. Mack leaped up and yanked his gun from his holster as the Jackal got to his feet and stumbled backward.

  “On your knees!” Mack shouted. “Drop all weapons and place your hands on top of your head.”

  The Jackal hesitated. Mack got him securely in his sights and prayed he would surrender.

  An engine roared somewhere in the trees, and headlights flashed. The Jackal turned and sprinted across the ice. Mack pulled the trigger. His gun misfired, and visceral pain spread through Mack’s core as he watched the man disappear into the trees.

  At this distance in the dark, it would take a precision shot to hit him and it would be almost impossible to guarantee he wouldn’t hit something life threatening. Even grazing the man could lead to dangerous levels of bleeding, considering how far away they were from shelter or medical attention.

  The Jackal had lurked outside Iris’s home, left two bullets in Mack’s chest and almost killed him. He’d somehow found Iris twice, both at the diner and again here. But with Iris’s truck gone, and no guarantee anyone else was around to save a fallen comrade, Mack couldn’t risk shooting the Jackal and letting him die. Chasing after him wasn’t even an option.

  Only one thing that mattered, and that was saving Iris.

  He turned and ran toward her, throwing caution to the wind and pelting straight across the ice, even as it grew thinner and thinner under his feet. She was crouching lower on the camper now, like she was trying to find a way to climb down inside a window.

  “Just stay there!” he shouted. “The ice is going to break!”

  “But I need to get inside!” She grabbed the edge of the camper with one hand and leaned down. “I need to save my stuff!”

  The truck’s headlights flickered on and off eerily under the ice.

  “You can’t! It’s going to go under and take you with it!”

  She was only a few yards away. The ice cracked. The camper lurched, dropping several feet into the water. Iris screamed, clinging to the top of the camper as it nearly tossed her off into the water.

  “Jump!” he yelled. He pelted forward. “Just jump, and I’ll catch you!”

  She flung herself through the air as he ran toward her. Her body hit his, knocking him off balance and tossing them both backward onto the ice. The air flew from his lungs, but his arms tightened around her, and he clutched her to his chest. She shudde
red against him.

  “It’s okay,” he whispered. “You’re okay, Iris. I’ve got you.”

  But any response she gave was lost in the sound of the ice groaning beneath his back.

  * * *

  “Come on,” Mack said. She felt him shift underneath her, then he crawled to his feet and reached for her hand. “The ice is going to break. We’ve got to go. Now.”

  She stumbled to her feet and looked back. The camper was bobbing in the water now, the air inside keeping it afloat as water seeped in. Desperation welled up inside her. She couldn’t lose her camper. Every last thing she owned was inside. If it sank, she’d have nothing.

  “No!” She took a step toward the camper, but Mack’s hand tightened on hers, pulling her back. She watched helplessly as everything she owned sank deeper and deeper beneath the water.

  She couldn’t just stand here and watch everything she owned disappear. She had to save something—her wallet, her phone, her Bible, her gun, the little box of cash that now served as her bank account, the emergency backpack she kept ready in case she ever had to grab what she could and flee. But all that was gone, sinking beneath the water.

  “I can’t lose everything!” She wrenched her hand away from Mack and turned toward the water. “I have to save something! I have to try!”

  She felt his hands land softly but firmly on her shoulders.

  “I’m not going to pick you up and drag you back to shore.” His voice was deep and warm in her ear. “If you want me to let you go, I will. I’ll stand right here on the ice watching and waiting, ready to try to rescue you the moment you scream for help or start to drown. But you won’t make it. The water’s too cold, and you won’t be able to swim. The cracks in the ice will spread and soon the space we’re standing on will be under water. So, please, come with me, get off the ice, don’t risk your life over things that can be replaced.”

  But they weren’t just some things, they were all of her things. Everything she had left to her name. She’d never had that much to begin with, but then she’d packed up everything she owned and emptied her bank account to buy the camper and truck.

  A sob escaped her lips as she watched the camper sink. He was right, she knew it, but just how much was taking down Oscar Underwood going to cost her? Just how much was she going to lose?

  Mack tugged her shoulder gently, just enough to let her know that he was there. She turned toward him, and her eyes met his in the dying flashes of the submerged taillights. Anguish filled his gaze and she remembered that the ice was at risk of cracking underneath his feet every much as it was beneath hers.

  “I’m so sorry,” he said softly. “But we have to go.”

  Hot tears rushed to the corners of her eyes. The groaning of the ice grew louder. Any moment now, the lake would split beneath them and drag them under. She looked back. Only the top of the camper remained now. The world grew darker as the lights disappeared deeper and deeper under the lake. Mack was right; it was all gone and he would let himself drown before he ran and left her there.

  She slid her right hand into his. “I know.”

  He didn’t say anything. He just took her hand. They ran together across the lake and back toward the shore. Ice splintered behind them, like distant thunder cracking the sky.

  Then she felt snow under her feet again. They pressed on until dense rocks and trees sprung up around them. Only then, when she was certain they were on solid ground, did they stop and turn back, toward the empty hole in the ice where every last cent, every last scrap she’d once owned was now lost.

  “He called me Missy,” she said. “The red-masked Jackal called me Missy while he was holding a knife to my throat. My homeless center is gone, my life is known and now criminals know my nickname. What if he was someone who visited the homeless center?”

  “Iris,” Mack said. “I’m so sorry. I would do absolutely anything in my power to fix this for you.”

  “I know.” She turned toward him again and could barely see his face in his darkness. “If you could save me from all this, you would.”

  “Yeah.” He dropped her fingers, but then he reached for her with both hands, letting them rest gently just above her hips, as if holding her in place, neither pulling her close or pushing her away. “And I know this is the worst possible time to tell you this, but I don’t think waiting is going to make it any easier. The reason Liam was calling was to let me know that some of the charges have been dropped against Oscar Underwood, and they’re letting him out on bail pending trial.”

  Frustration shot through her, balling her hands into fists. How was this even happening? How had everything been stripped away from her—family, friends, her job, the homeless center she’d created and now everything she’d owned—in order to take down this criminal and still lose?

  Lord, I sacrificed everything to stop Underwood, because people were in danger and I believed it was what You wanted me to do. And now it’s all gone.

  “Go ahead and scream, or cry, or hit me if you need to,” Mack said. “Whatever it takes right now. Because I care about you, I’m here for you, and no matter what, I’m not leaving you alone in this.”

  Suddenly as she heard him say those words, something broke inside her, like she’d been holding back a dam and now a wave of emotion was crashing over her. Tears of anger, fear and pain coursed from her eyes and she found herself tumbling forward into his arms. He caught her there and held her, safe and warm against his chest.

  After a long moment her tears stopped, but still he held her. His hand brushed her head and then fingers stroked the back of her neck.

  “I just wish I could undo all this,” he said. “I wish none of this had ever happened, and that I’d found a way to take Oscar and the Jackals down without ever involving you.”

  She tilted her face toward him. “Don’t say that,” she said. “Because I’m always going to be thankful you came into my life.”

  He gasped and she felt his breath brush her face. “How can you say that? Anyone in your shoes would wish they’d never met me.”

  “But I’m not anyone,” Iris said. “Mack? You infuriate me. You’ve hurt me. And when I heard that you were dead, it felt like someone reached inside my heart and tore off a piece of it. But that doesn’t mean I’m not thankful for the amazing, unexpected friendship we had. I never experienced anything even close to what we had with anyone else.” Her shoulders rose and fell. “And maybe I won’t ever again.”

  “I don’t get how you can say that,” he began.

  She reached up and brushed a hand along his beard and his words fell silent. “That’s because you don’t get how much I really, really liked you,” she said.

  “I really, really liked you, too, Iris.”

  She felt his touch grow firmer on the back of her neck. She leaned forward and their lips met.

  Their kiss was gentle and tentative at first, as if he wasn’t quite sure she was really there. Then it deepened, with a confidence that made her know somehow, deep inside, that in all those months they’d spent together as friends, Mack had thought about kissing her just about as many times as she’d thought about kissing him.

  When they broke the kiss, they hugged each other even tighter, and it felt like coming home to a place she’d been homesick for her whole life.

  He let her go, she peeled her arms away from him, and he stepped back. Silence settled between them that neither of them seemed ready to break.

  His phone beeped. He stumbled two steps away, like a man waking up from a dream, and glanced at it. He frowned, his face illuminated in the glow of the screen. “We’ve got a new problem.”

  “Your team is calling,” she said.

  “No.” He blew out a long breath. “That’s the signal to let me know my battery is low. I thought it was good, but it apparently hasn’t been charging properly since it was dropped in the snow.”

  He
glanced up at the hill ahead of them, thick with trees, and then back toward the lake.

  “Unfortunately, any phone charging option is now in the lake,” he said. “We’re in the middle of nowhere with no vehicle and a phone that’s down to just ten minutes of juice.”

  NINE

  Ten minutes. The words seemed to echo in the dark woods around them. She had nothing—no plan, no vehicle, no money and nothing but the clothes on her back. It was freezing cold, they were up to their knees in snow in the middle of nowhere, and now, Mack had told her they were ten minutes away from losing their only contact with the outside world.

  She closed her eyes and prayed.

  Lord, I am so lost, I don’t even know what to do.

  The deep murmur of Mack’s voice made her open her eyes. His phone was to his ear, and he was talking to someone quickly. “Yup... Got it... Will do... Talk to you then... You, too.”

  He ended the call, turned off the phone and with it their final remaining sliver of light. With the light of the truck and camper now gone, pinpricks of starlight spread out above her.

  “So, here’s the deal,” Mack said. “Seth doesn’t know how the Jackals found us. Liam and Jess are on their way to meet up with us, but that will take hours and we need to keep moving. Both in case the Jackals come back and also because it’s only going to get colder. Seth’s identified a motel about a forty-minute walk from here. The route is mostly back roads, which he thinks should reduce the risk of being spotted by drivers. We’ll walk along the tree line. Seth and I have agreed that I’ll turn on my phone every fifteen minutes, so he can map where we are on the GPS. It’s almost one thirty in the morning now. Liam and Jess hope to reach us by five.”

  So, in four and a half hours then. And then what would happen? She had nothing left. In the past few hours since spotting Mack in the diner, even the false sense of hope, safety and direction that had kept her going for so long had been taken from her. She had no choice but to go into witness protection now.