Emma grew suddenly impatient. “Ruth, I assure you that I can manage the rest on my own. I’m a big girl and I’ve made it this far in life without help from you.”
The unexpected verbal attack caught Ruth by surprise. She started to get angry, but her ire quickly faded when she noticed Emma’s burning cheeks. On the surface of what she said, Ruth couldn’t argue, but there was more to this than a bid for independence. It didn’t take long after meeting her to know that Emma Blake was a fiercely self-sufficient woman. Very likely, she had a hard time feeling vulnerable and dependent on another person for her physical welfare. Ruth sympathized with her, but couldn’t allow Emma the distance she needed. Their situation had changed and even though safe from an imminent attack, Ruth knew this thing with Carlotti wasn’t over. She and Emma had to learn to rely on each other.
Ruth acknowledged the truth of that reality, but was honest enough to admit there was more. She felt like the earth had shifted under her feet in the last few days, although in reality, it had all started several months ago. Having people repeatedly try to kill her left Ruth dangling over a precipice, trying not to fall into hysteria and despair. Emma had become her tether. Her willingness to put her own life on the line to keep Ruth safe had earned her trust, something that didn’t come easy these days.
She knelt in front of Emma and placed a hand on her bare knee, ignoring the way she flinched. “I know you can,” she said softly. “Truly, I don’t think there’s anything you can’t do. I need to help you, not because I think you’re incapable, but because it’s my turn to keep you safe.”
Emma relaxed and her gaze softened. “I guess I can understand that. Thank you. Now go run the water. You’re not seeing me naked without a nice dinner and some candlelight first.”
RUTH LEFT EMMA soaking in the tub while she went to help Terry with dinner. Emma promised that she would shout when she was ready for assistance with her wounds. The time alone with Terry was strained. Ruth kept expecting her to ask about the circumstances that brought them to her door, but Terry acted as though there was nothing unusual happening. Terry had known about Ruth’s original injuries caused by falling from the cliff, but not the surrounding circumstances. Following Emma’s admonition to keep those details and the driving reason behind them to herself was difficult.
Terry leaned a hip against the kitchen counter with a spatula in her hand. She stood a short distance from the stove in preparation of turning the pork chops. The scent of food filled the air, but Ruth couldn’t ignore the intensity of Terry’s gaze. It appeared Terry was about to ask her some difficult questions.
“Are you going to tell me why you’re here?”
Ruth swallowed hard. “I wish I could, but it’s safer if you don’t know.”
“Uh huh, I figured you’d say that. All right, can you at least tell me how Emma got those injuries?”
“She saved my life from...someone.”
Terry waited, but there was nothing more forthcoming. “It sounds to me like you’re in over your head. Why don’t you girls just stay here and not go back to the city?”
Ruth only wished it was that easy. Her aunt lived a simple life and clearly couldn’t imagine how people like Carlotti operated. Even Ruth, who was neck-deep in all this mess, wasn’t quite sure what to do next. If it weren’t for Emma, she would be an easy target for the crime boss.
“I’m afraid that won’t work. Besides, we can’t just bury our heads in the sand and hope this goes away.”
Emma called out for Ruth from the bedroom, temporarily halting the conversation. She offered Terry an apologetic smile and then left the kitchen. Emma sat on the bed in her new tank top and a pair of grey sweatpants. Her short blond hair was a shade darker from the water and a few droplets trickled down her chest. Ruth watched one of the drops track down between Emma’s breasts. Her vision narrowed down to that place as her body reacted to the sight. Despite their circumstances, undeterred by memories of Jordan, Ruth’s mouth watered with the desire to taste Emma’s softness. The craving lasted only moments before Ruth forced her eyes upward.
With her head down as she checked the wound on her stomach, Emma couldn’t see Ruth’s expression. Grateful that Emma had missed it, Ruth adopted a cheerful tone.
“How are you feeling?”
“Better. These things don’t look so bad with all the dried blood washed off.”
“I’ll be the judge of that,” Ruth joked, crossing the room to peer down at the injuries. The bullet wounds now resembled road rash scrapes, although the one on Emma’s stomach still leaked and gaped open around the edges. “They do look better, but I think you’re going to need some stitches on that one. I’ll get the first-aid kit.”
Terry walked into the room without knocking and took over for Ruth. She had overheard the comment about stitches. She gave Emma the choice of going to a hospital or having Terry apply the stitches herself. Ruth wasn’t surprised when Emma refused to go to a medical facility. Ruth and Emma remained silent as Terry left the room, advising them she would be right back. When she returned, Terry carried a bottle of rubbing alcohol in addition to the sewing items.
“I’m not going to lie,” Terry advised Emma. “This will hurt.”
“It’s okay. It’s not the first time I’ve had stitches without a local.”
Applying skills Ruth assumed she’d acquired with her late husband after the war, Terry set about inserting the stitches into Emma’s tender flesh. Ruth couldn’t watch. Just the idea of what she was doing threatened to make Ruth ill. Emma didn’t make a sound during the procedure, surprising Ruth yet again with the strength she displayed. When Terry finally finished stitching the wound closed, she insisted on applying antibiotic ointment to the other injury and bandaging everything. Ministrations finally complete, Terry urged Emma under the covers. Ruth moved closer to help.
“You stay here, sweetie. I’ll bring you a plate,” Terry offered.
“Oh please, that’s not necessary. I don’t want to be a burden.”
Terry clucked at Emma and Ruth did her best to hide a smile. “None of that. You’re no burden at all. It’s been a long time since I’ve had the chance to take care of someone other than myself.”
When they were alone again, Emma asked, “Is she always like this?”
“Be careful or she’ll mother you to death. Seriously though, you might as well give up. I know she won’t.”
“Great.”
Although it sounded like a complaint, Ruth didn’t think Emma really minded. “I’ll bring a phone in here so you can call your boss.”
She turned away, but then hesitated. Something had bothered Ruth since they pulled into the driveway. As much as Ruth wanted to put this off, she had to know. “Emma, how much can I tell her? She deserves to know why we’re here.”
“I’m sorry Ruth, but you can’t tell her anything. We don’t need to put her in danger too.”
“I was afraid you’d say that.” Ruth dropped her gaze, unable to meet the sympathy in Emma’s eyes.
“I know this is hard because this is probably the last time you’ll see her for awhile. Once you go into witness protection, you’ll have a new identity and will have to cut all ties to anyone you’ve ever known. I’m sure you don’t want to hear that, but without Adder, you’re the only witness we have.”
Unable to imagine never seeing Terry again, Ruth felt like she’d just had the wind knocked out of her. She didn’t have much family left and couldn’t bear the thought of losing her aunt. Somewhat breathless, she asked, “For how long?”
“At least until after you testify against Carlotti.”
An idea occurred to Ruth with the force of a lightning bolt. Perhaps there was another way after all. She had forgotten all about Adder’s last words to her.
“I know where the ledger is.”
“What? Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
“Because we’ve been a little busy running for our lives,” Ruth replied somewhat sarcastically. “I’ve had oth
er things on my mind.”
“Where is it?”
Before Ruth could answer, Terry returned to the room carrying a tray. She walked over and carefully handed her burden to Emma, taking the glass of tea off and setting it on the nightstand so it wouldn’t spill.
“We’ll talk about it later,” Ruth said. Emma was still tired and they could finish their discussion after she had eaten.
Emma fixed her with a grim stare. “You bet we will.”
Ruth left Emma to Terry’s care and retrieved the phone from the living room. She plugged it into the wall next to the nightstand and left Emma eating her dinner. Ruth didn’t want to leave her side long enough to consume her own meal, but needed some space after her previous reaction to Emma’s body. Dinner proved a long affair. Terry had outdone herself, cooking pork chops, mashed potatoes and gravy, brussel sprouts and dinner rolls with lots of butter. Their conversation centered around Terry’s life taking care of the property and which neighbors she got along with best. By the time it was over, Ruth was having trouble keeping her eyes open.
“You look all in, kid. Why don’t you bring me Emma’s tray and then get to bed. I can clean up here.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want to leave you with all the work.”
“I’m very sure. Go on now...scoot.”
Ruth happily did as she was told. The last thing she wanted to do after a sixteen-hour drive was help clean up the kitchen. She felt a little guilty, but not enough to stick around. She didn’t hear anything from the bedroom so she carefully peered around the door jam. Emma was already asleep. She had finished most of her dinner and the tray sat beside her on the bed. Ruth quickly returned it to the kitchen before grabbing her bag and heading into the bathroom.
After a quick rinse and a long scrub of her teeth, Ruth changed into a new pair of pajamas she’d picked up while shopping for Emma. She shut the bedroom door, turned out the overhead lights and navigated to the opposite side of the bed by starlight. Thankfully, she’d be on the side of the bed away from Emma’s injuries.
Ruth was a little nervous about crawling into bed with Emma. They didn’t have the type of relationship that usually saw two people sharing a bed. She craved sleep, but the warmth of Emma’s skin was like a siren song calling out to Ruth. Determined to control her impulses, and convinced she had lost her mind, Ruth climbed between the sheets with her back to Emma. Certain she would never sleep, Ruth focused on the sound of Emma’s slow, deep breathing. She found the sound comforting and slowly felt her tension fade.
Chapter Seventeen
MORNING CAME TOO early as far as Ruth was concerned. As her eyes fluttered open, she groaned and closed them against the light streaming in the bedroom window. She attempted to raise her hand to rub her face when she realized she couldn’t move. Something had her arm pinned in place. Turning to look, Ruth found herself nose to nose with a still sleeping Emma. She disregarded her trapped arm.
Presented with such an unexpected opportunity, Ruth unabashedly studied her companion’s face. Asleep, Emma still carried tiny lines of tension around her lips and eyes. Ruth had never asked her age, but guessed Emma was in her late thirties. Long sandy-blond eyelashes cast half-crescent shadows upon her cheeks. Emma carried a small mole right in the center of her chin that Ruth had never before noticed.
As had happened last night, heat burned a path from her chest straight down to the pit of her stomach. Although she’d only known Emma a few weeks, it felt like so much longer. Surviving random gunmen and going on the run together could do that. Ruth wanted to explain this newly discovered physical attraction so easily, but she couldn’t. She didn’t have an answer at all. It was simply there.
Lost in contemplation over how quickly things changed, Emma surprised her by opening her eyes. Pale blue appeared almost silver in the morning sunlight. The corners of those amazing eyes crinkled in a soft, sleepy smile. Pupils dilated, Emma rose up slightly. Ruth couldn’t move as the distance between them shrank.
“I wish I’d met you before she did.”
The whispered words caressed Ruth’s lips, clouding her mind. An instant before Emma kissed her, the meaning sank in. The reference to Jordan was like a dash of cold water. Ruth turned her head and pulled away. “I can’t. I’m sorry.”
Emma released a breath and moved over to her side of the bed. Pins and needles sang through Ruth’s arm as the feeling returned, but she was so miserable that she barely noticed. What was wrong with her? Ruth had thought she was falling in love with Jordan...until the woman tried to kill her. Now, here she was with a wounded federal marshal and ready to leap right back into bed, so to speak.
“We should talk,” Emma said. “About our situation, I mean.”
Ruth was happy to latch onto anything that would create some emotional distance. “You want to know about the ledger? Snake told me it was hidden in a safe under Carlotti’s desk.”
“Clever. Since we know he has a wall safe in his office, I doubt anyone would suspect a second safe. Unfortunately, I don’t know if we’ll be able to get to it.”
Ruth was getting tired of the cat and mouse. In the movies, the officers received information that led to a search warrant. Why couldn’t this be just as easy? She said as much and received a smirk from Emma in response.
“Do you remember that we were all supposed to be present at Carlotti’s arraignment yesterday?”
“Of course. I didn’t hit my head or anything.”
A finger chucked Ruth under the chin. She hadn’t expected Emma to have a playful side and the action effectively silenced her.
“Well, guess what? We didn’t make it. Since the prosecutors witnesses didn’t bother to show up, I’m sure Carlotti is out of jail with no charges hanging over his head. In a nutshell, he’s at home. As for a warrant, you haven’t actually seen the ledger. Snake told you about it, which makes your information hearsay. In this country, hearsay is inadmissible in court.”
“And that means?”
“It means we can’t use your information to obtain a warrant. Snake is dead and you are the sole witness. We will have to re-file charges and start all over again.”
A sudden, crazy idea occurred to Ruth and she froze, staring into space as her mind ran through all the ramifications. It was more than crazy. Her idea was downright suicidal.
“Do I even want to know what you’re thinking?”
Ruth blinked and returned to the moment. “Carlotti will be expecting that.”
“Yeah,” Emma said carefully.
“Yeah, so...he won’t be expecting us to retrieve the book ourselves.”
Emma started and sat up, the covers falling to her lap. “Are you out of your mind?”
“Shh, lower your voice. As charming as I find your accent, Terry might still be asleep.”
Emma complied, but her lowered words were no less intense. “First off, I do not have an accent. Second of all, assuming such a thing was even possible, why would you even believe I’d go along with such a cockamamie, screwball plan?”
“Because we don’t have a choice,” Ruth answered simply. She sat up beside Emma and attempted to make her see their current reality. “Everyone we’ve trusted so far has tried to kill us. We have no witness to testify about the ledger and Carlotti is going to keep coming after me. How long do you think it’ll take before he tracks me down like he did Mister Adder?”
“You’re right about all of that, but Ruth, Carlotti’s place is like a fortress. We’d never get past his bodyguards. He doesn’t go anywhere without them and unless you have some ninja skills that I don’t know about, the only thing we’ll accomplish is our deaths.”
“So we don’t try to get the book while he’s at home. You said he’s a businessman and the night he ordered Jordan to kill me, he said he was going to a board meeting. Don’t those things happen pretty regularly?”
“About twice a week,” Emma admitted. “More often if unexpected things happen. Carlotti always holds a final meeting of the week on Fridays
at eight p.m.”
“There you go.”
“There you go,” Emma mimicked. “Why didn’t I think of that? It’s not like he doesn’t have security cameras that will pick us up trying to break in or a staff that will shoot us on sight.”
“You must have some fancy spy gear that will help us get in and out. Plus, you said you’ve been after him for a long time. You must have a floorplan of his house.”
Emma sputtered in disbelief for a moment. “I’m sitting in bed trying to talk logic to a crazy woman.”
“Never mind that. What did your boss say last night?”
Emma hesitated and sadness etched her expression. “He was outraged about Lyle, of course. He sent out a team to recover the body. Harrington’s going to be okay, by the way.”
“Thank goodness.”
“Deputy Supervisor Waild said he could have a team meet us at another safe house if we want to return to the city.”
That information gave Ruth pause. “Won’t your partner have told Carlotti about all the safe house locations?”
Emma shook her head. “He probably only told him about the one we were using. Besides, the service has so many safe houses that I doubt if I know them all. Just so you know, I’m not really comfortable being so far away from everything.”
“You want to go back.”
“Yeah, I do.”
Ruth wasn’t thrilled about deliberately going toward the man who had ordered her death. Then again, if Emma eventually gave in to Ruth’s idea, they’d have to anyway. “When do we leave?”
Emma smiled and took Ruth’s hand. “Do we have enough money to get back or did you spend it all on new clothes and gas?”
Now it was Ruth’s turn to be excited. She was proud of having saved as much of their funds as she had. “Actually, I still have over a hundred dollars. It only cost thirty at a time to fill up and we only had to stop twice.”
“Wait a minute. How much did you spend at Walmart and in the drive-through?”
Illusive Witness Page 20