Lone Witness

by Rachel Dylan

  Smith walked closer to her, gun in hand. “You’re coming with me.”

  What could he possibly want to do to her? Punish her and seek revenge? The scenarios were too awful to imagine.

  Monica’s words rang through her head—It’s personal.

  Sophie wasn’t going to budge. She could only pray that he wouldn’t pull the trigger.

  He fired a warning shot into the air. That got her attention, but she still feared the repercussions more if he took her out of the safe house. A quick death now seemed preferable to torture or worse.

  “You need to cooperate,” Smith said.

  He fired the gun a second time, this time hitting Monica in the leg. Monica crumpled to the floor.

  “Why did you do that?” Sophie shouted. “Are you crazy?” She knelt beside Monica, who was moaning in pain. Even though Monica had been working against her, Sophie didn’t want to see her hurt.

  “She’ll be fine,” Smith said. “Just a little nick to help maintain her cover. We’ve worked too hard to get her into the prosecutor’s office to pull her out now.”

  Smith pulled Sophie off the ground with one hand while keeping the gun in the other. His fingers dug into her arm. “Leave her there,” he barked.

  Reluctantly, Sophie took a step.

  He pushed her forward. “Walk.”

  The gun pressed into her back. She screamed as loudly as she could, hoping and praying that Cooper would wake up.

  “Stop it!” Smith demanded. He smacked the side of her head hard enough to make her stagger sideways, and then shoved her forward.

  They walked to the front door. She figured this might be her only chance to make a move.

  “Open the door slowly,” he said.

  Sophie did as he asked, but once the door was open, she lifted her right foot and slammed it as hard as she could down onto his foot.

  As he yelped, she sprinted out the door. She knew there was a risk that he would just shoot her in the back, but it was one she had to take.

  Sophie ran as quickly as she could, her heart pounding in her chest and her ribs aching. But she couldn’t let the pain get the best of her now. She ran around the side of the house, desperate for any place to take cover. Since the house was tucked at the end of a private cul-de-sac, she wasn’t sure she could outrun him to the nearest house. If the neighbors were even home. And what if Smith just killed them too? Her best bet was to find a place to hide. The darkness gave her an advantage.

  Smith couldn’t be far behind, but she kept running, her feet pounding on the ground. She grimaced through the searing pain shooting across her right side from her rib injury.

  She could hear him gaining on her. When the first shot rang out through the night, she pushed herself to keep going. There was no turning back now.

  The next round of shots came in rapid succession. She didn’t look back as she continued to run. She had to make a decision whether to keep going straight or to loop back toward the house. Because Cooper was still inside, she ran back toward the house, though she feared that as Smith got closer, he was bound to hit his target—her!

  The next thing she knew, loud heavy footsteps were right behind her. Far too close. Then she was tackled hard to the ground. She tasted a mix of grass and blood in her mouth, and she screamed in pain at the impact to her ribs. Her side was on fire.

  Smith was on top of her. He flipped her over and punched her hard in the gut. She saw stars and couldn’t breathe. She had ticked him off, and now he was out for his dose of revenge. Shooting was too easy. He wanted to make her feel real pain.

  He let out a string of curses as he slapped her hard across the face. She tried her best to fight back, but she was no match for him.

  As he reared back and was about to hit her again, a few loud gunshots pierced the darkness. Smith fell hard onto her, crushing her down into the wet grass. He didn’t move.

  Instinctively, she bucked and rolled him off of her then lay still on the ground, trying to catch her breath, staring up at the few stars in the dark night sky.

  “Sophie!” Cooper’s voice rang out. A second later, he was on the ground beside her. He gathered her up in his arms and held her tightly.

  She could barely catch her breath. The pain was so intense. She looked to the side and saw that Smith was unmoving. “He’s dead?”

  “Yes. He can’t hurt you anymore.” Cooper looked down at her. “You’re bleeding. We’ve got to get you help.”

  “I think some of it is his blood too.” She felt disgusted thinking about it. But her face was definitely bleeding from his attack. “Monica also needs medical attention. He shot her in the leg. She was working for him.”

  Cooper kept Sophie in his arms, but pulled out his phone and dialed 911. “They’ll be here any minute.” He pushed the hair back from her face. It felt like she was caked in blood.

  “Monica said she put a sedative in your drink at dinner.”

  “That explains why I was so tired. I should’ve realized something was off, but it came on so quickly that I thought I was just exhausted. I’m so sorry, Sophie.”

  “You still made it in time.”

  “Barely. But I’m not going anywhere now. It’s going to be okay.”

  She closed her eyes, knowing what he said was true.

  The next morning, Cooper waited for Sophie in her kitchen. He’d only slept a few hours, but that was enough for him. He could tell she was thrilled to be home after being discharged late last night from the hospital. Thankfully, she had sustained no major injuries, and Smith had missed her cracked rib by a hair. It could’ve been so much worse.

  He’d just had two calls with the Feds and the APD, and it appeared that he didn’t have anything to worry about regarding Smith’s shooting. It was clearly justified, and his law enforcement background gave him credibility on that. Taking a life was never easy or something he took lightly. But the alternative of that man killing Sophie was unfathomable. He’d prayed for the Lord’s forgiveness, and he felt he was at peace.

  Now he hoped that he and Sophie could put all of this behind them.

  She walked into the kitchen, and anger bubbled up inside him as he saw her beautiful but bruised face. The only solace he had was that the man who had done that to her could never hurt her or anyone else again.

  “How did you sleep?” he asked.

  She leaned against the kitchen counter. “Once I got to sleep, I actually slept better than I have in a while. It helped knowing you were here with me.”

  “I’m sorry again that I didn’t wake up sooner last night.”

  “It’s not your fault. Monica drugged you.” She let out a breath. “Have you heard anything on her condition?”

  He nodded. “Yes, she’s perfectly stable. I think the Feds are set to question her this afternoon.”

  “I can’t believe they had someone on the inside the whole time. I would’ve never in a million years suspected her. She seemed so young and innocent.”

  “She is young, but not so innocent. It appears she took on a new last name years ago to distance herself from the Sanchez family. I bet they always planned to have her play a role on the outside. It’s like she was groomed for it.”

  “And everything was okay with the shooting, right? Do I need to talk to them again?”

  “No. It’s all fine.” He stood up and walked over to her. “Sophie, if I hadn’t woken up …”

  “Don’t talk like that. You did wake up. You saved my life.”

  He gently wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close to him. When she smiled, it was like a huge load was lifted off his shoulders. “Last night was so surreal. I was afraid I’d lost you.”

  “Right before everything went down, Monica told me her mother was calling. It was probably Smith, now that I think about it, but at the time, it hit me hard. I’m a bit emotionally fragile right now. I know you say I wear my heart and my feelings openly, and that’s always been a struggle for me.” She took a breath. “But I don’t want you to t
hink I have any doubts about us.”

  “Really?”

  “No. If anything, last night reminded me of my father’s story. And about how at least he hadn’t lived with regret, because my mother knew she was loved.”

  He lightly cupped her bruised cheek in his hand. “I don’t want to have regrets either. I had thoroughly convinced myself that I could never have a wife and loving family. That it would be easier to just go it alone. That I was bound to end up like my father—an addict with a violent streak that couldn’t be tamed. But through God’s grace and the love you’ve shown me, I know now that I was wrong. And I also know that I’ve completely fallen in love with you.”

  “Cooper, I love you too. It’s as simple as that. You created your own special way into my heart, and I wouldn’t change a thing about you. We can work through our issues together, hand in hand.”

  “I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

  He leaned down and kissed her gently. A promise of many things he hoped were still to come, if he had his way.

  Epilogue

  Over the past six months, Sophie’s life had changed in many ways. But the best of ways was that she was in a wonderful relationship with Cooper.

  They’d spent time really getting to know each other and working through the obstacles that stood in their way. She’d even convinced him to reach out to his father—who was still maintaining his sobriety.

  She didn’t think Cooper and his dad would ever be close, but it was an important step for him to be able to heal. Her own father had really taken to Cooper, and it made her heart so full seeing them together.

  They sat outside on her porch, enjoying a beautiful Atlanta spring day, the sun shining brightly down on them. Her life at work had returned to a much more normal routine. Keith was still in his job after taking a brief leave of absence. He’d been cleared of all wrongdoing, and she was thankful for that. Harrison was still gunning for Keith’s job, but he mostly left her alone.

  Although Patrick had decided not to re-try Ricky Wade, she’d come to terms with it. She’d even visited the victims’ families on occasion. They seemed to have moved on, so she needed to do the same. Even a guilty verdict wouldn’t have brought their loved ones back.

  Oddly enough, Patrick was giving the defense bar a try, and he seemed refreshed to be taking on a new challenge. They had remained in touch and had even had a case against each other. She couldn’t imagine switching sides, but it seemed like the right move for him.

  “So I’ve been thinking,” Cooper said.

  “Is this about the dog again?”

  He had been pushing for rescuing a puppy. She’d given him a hard time about it, but secretly she was totally excited about the whole thing.

  “No. Not exactly about the dog. Not just yet anyway.”

  “Why not? I thought you had your heart set on one of the lab puppies at the humane society?”

  He smiled. “Why do I get the sneaking suspicion that your heart is also set on one of those puppies?”

  She laughed. “Okay. I’ll ’fess up. They were adorable. The thing is, I know it sounds silly, but at this point it would feel like your dog instead of our dog. The pup would be staying with you. That’s really my only hesitation.”

  “What if that all changed?” he asked, his blue eyes sparkling.

  “What are you saying?”

  Cooper scooted off of his chair and knelt beside her as he pulled a sparkling diamond ring from his pocket. “Sophie Elizabeth Dawson, you are the love of my life. I want to be with you and take each step of this crazy life with you. I want to have that family with you that I know you’ve always wanted. The family that you’ve made me want. I love you with all that I am.” He took a breath. “Will you marry me?”

  Happy tears flowed down her cheeks. This wasn’t like she’d imagined over and over since she was a child. It was even better. “Of course. I love you, Cooper.”

  He slid the ring on her finger and scooped her up into a big hug. “I love you too. But one thing. Please don’t kill me.”

  “What?”

  He looked down at his watch. “Our engagement party is going to start any minute.”

  “Here? Now?” she asked.

  “Yeah. Our fathers are coming first. Then the rest of our friends.”

  “Our fathers?” She started to cry again.

  “Yeah. They’re right inside. You’ve convinced me that I have to keep pushing forward with my dad so that I don’t ever go back to that dark place again.”

  “I won’t let you go there, Cooper.” She kissed him with everything she had and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck—until she heard someone clear their throat.

  “Save that for the honeymoon.”

  She turned around and saw her father. He walked up onto the porch and gave her a huge hug. “Your mother would be so happy for you,” he said.

  “I know, Dad. I’m so glad you’re here for this.”

  “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

  She watched as Cooper and his father seemed to have a pleasant conversation. Pretty soon the back porch was full of people, including Kate and Mia.

  “Let me see the ring!” Kate squealed.

  Sophie showed them both the princess cut ring that sparkled on her finger.

  “So I guess this means I’m the last woman standing,” Mia said.

  Sophie wrapped her arm around her friend. “Don’t worry. Mr. Right will come along when you least expect him to.”

  “That’s what they say,” Mia responded. “But I’m not a dreamer and a romantic like you, Sophie. I’m not sure what’s in store for me.” She paused. “But tonight is not about me. It’s about you. Let’s celebrate.”

  A couple hours later, as the party was winding down, Sophie stood beside Cooper and rested her head on his shoulder.

  “So about that puppy,” he said. “I hope you were serious.”

  “Why?”

  “Because we’re picking her up tomorrow.”

  She laughed as she looked into the eyes of the man who had stolen her heart. “Guess that means we’ll have to get started on the wedding planning right away.”

  “Whatever you want,” he said. “I’d marry you right here and now.”

  And she knew he meant it. “Let’s not get too crazy. I am going to have that dream dress.”

  He kissed her again, and she couldn’t wait to start her new life with him. Cooper wasn’t the man of her dreams, but the man she never could have dreamed of. And that made it so much better.

  Acknowledgments

  Many thanks to those who helped make this book happen. To my agent Sarah for your constant support and encouragement. To Dave, Jessica, Noelle, Amy, and everyone in the Bethany House family for your hard work. I truly appreciate all that you do for me.

  Thanks to my family for the continuous love and support. Tog, thanks for being such a huge supporter of my books. Mama, I love you and hope you enjoy this book as much as the first. Aaron, thanks for being a part of this writing journey with me. I love you.

  Teresa, thanks for taking the time to provide me with your keen insights into the world of being a prosecutor.

  Rachel’s Justice League, you continue to be a source of joy and encouragement for me. Thank you for everything you do.

  I praise and thank the Lord for all He has done for me, and for each day that I’m able to write and share my stories with the world.

  Rachel Dylan writes Christian fiction, specializing in legal romantic suspense. Rachel has practiced law for over a decade, including being a litigator at one of the nation’s top law firms. She enjoys weaving together legal and suspenseful stories with a romantic twist. A southerner at heart, she now lives in Michigan with her husband and five furkids—two dogs and three cats. Rachel loves to connect with readers. You can find her at www.racheldylan.com.

  Books by Rachel Dylan

  Deadly Proof

  Lone Witness

  Resources: bethanyhouse.com/AnOpenBook

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