The threat was real.
Nadia Marie’s eyes flickered, and she groaned.
“Marie.” Bolton reached for her, ran his hand down the back of her head. Not how he’d dreamed of touching her for so long. “You okay, Marie?”
She blinked. Frowned at him but must have seen it in his face, because she played along. “You know I hate when you call me by my given name.”
“Great.” The sheriff crouched. “This is Marie, and you are?”
Bolton stuck out his hand. “Steven Jones.” John Smith was a little too obvious. “Marie is my wife.”
The sheriff checked Grandpa’s pulse. “And what happened to my friend here?”
“It was a reflex, I’m sorry to say. He rushed at me, and I didn’t realize until too late that it was innocent. He thought we were hurt. But the helicopter had just exploded, and I was on edge. Sorry to say I hit him.” Bolton tried to look like he felt guilty.
Nadia Marie climbed to her feet. “You need help, honey?”
The endearment sliced through him like a razor blade. Thea had called him honey. Right before she’d stabbed him in the back.
Bolton nodded. It was possible he might have been able to take a few steps, but the sheriff would see him as less of a threat this way. The ambulance showed up, and they loaded Bolton onto a stretcher. He didn’t like lying there, but it was the fastest way out. The grandpa-rancher likely wouldn’t buy it when the sheriff told him Bolton had said the punch was an accident. But by then they’d hopefully be long gone.
No wheelchair materialized at the small hospital. Instead, they transferred him to a bed. Did they think they were going to run tests on him? When the nurse came over, he grabbed Nadia Marie’s hand and pulled her to sit by him on the bed. He surveyed her face. “Are you okay? You didn’t fall funny or hit your head?”
She started to shake her head, but he gently squeezed the back of her neck. “Actually, I do feel sort of dizzy.”
“I’ll go tell the doctor.” The nurse ran out.
Finally, they were alone.
“Nad—”
“What was that?” She got off the bed and moved so he couldn’t reach her. “You’re lying to them. You didn’t really punch that old man, did you?”
Bolton didn’t answer that. “We have no ID’s, no money. No phones. We have nothing but the clothes we’re wearing and I’m injured.”
She touched a hand to her forehead, and then ran both hands through her long hair. “Why do we have to lie about who we are?”
“Maybe because we’re in witness protection?”
“You don’t have to talk to me like that.” She shot him a look. “The sheriff can call the closest Marshals office. They can contact Grant Mason. He’s the director of the whole Marshals Service! He’ll send someone to get us.”
Bolton shook his head. She was going to freak out and expose them both. “We have to get safe first. It’s too risky to do that right now—from here.”
“We have to call someone, first!”
Bolton moved his legs off the left side of the bed so his back was to her, and he lifted the back of his shirt. “This is what happened the last time I called for help.”
He knew what she saw. Angry redness. Scar tissue from the burns surrounding an injury that cut across his spine. She might have even touched the tips of her fingers to it, but he couldn’t feel anything. The whole area was void of sensation. His spine was a ticking time bomb. One he was supposed to have gotten fixed tomorrow.
The helicopter should have taken them away from the wreckage of town, toward a military hospital where he could have received the medical treatment he badly needed. Experimental surgery from some cutting edge doctor.
Bolton lowered his shirt.
“What do we do?”
He waved her around to his side of the bed. She looked so lost it made him want to reach for her again. But that wasn’t going to solve anything. Whatever feelings he might have had for her, those were things the Bolton who was in Sanctuary had allowed himself to have. Now that he was out of the protection of their town, it was impossible.
His testimony had put Dante Alvarez in federal prison, and the minute Bolton surfaced, he’d be hunted. It was a given. The man would hunt him until Bolton either disappeared, or Dante killed him. The only advantage he had was that Dante would be looking for one guy, not a man in a wheelchair, travelling with a woman. But the man still had plenty of friends, ones who would shoot first and check Bolton’s ID after.
It was only a matter of time before someone showed up with intent to kill.
**
Nadia stared at him. Her body ached where she’d landed on the hard ground. She could barely make sense of any of this, let alone figure out Bolton’s plan. It was like he was playing a part. Surely they could call someone, couldn’t they? “We need a phone.”
Bolton shrugged. “Do you know the number to John’s satellite phone?”
The Sanctuary sheriff was her best friend’s husband, and the only person in town with a phone that dialed outside town. The rest only worked internally. And the only way for the residents to communicate with the outside world was during the one hour of internet access they got each week at the library.
Antiquated, but necessary for their protection. Nadia had seen commercials for fancy cell phones and iPads on TV and online, but she’d never actually seen one in person. She’d been in Sanctuary twelve years next month. Bolton had been there before her. Neither of them had ever talked about what put them in witness protection. It wasn’t done. Every single resident was there to start a new life and leave their past behind. The cost of that life was some of the freedoms people enjoyed. But it was worth it, given the alternative was death.
Nadia sighed. “Of course I don’t have the number to John’s satellite phone. What about a computer? Maybe I could log on to my email from here and send them a message?”
“We have to be careful. We can’t let anyone find out who we are.”
“That’s why you gave the sheriff fake names?”
Bolton lifted his chin. “If he hadn’t shown up, I’d have stolen that rancher’s truck, and we’d be two towns away by now.”
“But this is where the helicopter exploded,” she said. “They’ll come looking for us, to help us.”
“Everyone will be busy tracking down Tommy and getting Remy back. We have to hang tight. But not here. The good guys aren’t the only ones who’ll be looking for us.”
She’d forgotten about Remy. Lord, protect her. Nadia’s faith had been born as part of her new life in Sanctuary, and now it meant more to her than anything. God was the one who would protect Remy. Nadia’s brother, Shadrach, had been a marine. He would find Remy, and Ben Mason would help him.
When they found her they would deal with Tommy. The rogue SEAL wouldn’t get away with nearly destroying Sanctuary and then kidnapping Remy. Leaving Bolton and Nadia Marie for dead. They’d get Remy back. They were experts at saving people, particularly witnesses they were charged with protecting.
“Tell me about that necklace you gave Remy.”
Bolton stared for a second then nodded. “It had a GPS tracker in it. It was the only way I could think of that Ben and Shadrach would be able to find her.”
“And you just happened to have it on you?”
“Yes.” His voice didn’t invite any argument. Was she supposed to be grateful he’d told her that much? He’d barely begun to answer all the questions she had about what on earth was going on here. They needed to get back to Sanctuary. Then Bolton could figure out getting his surgery.
“Shadrach will help Remy. Then he’ll be here.”
“I’m sorry, Nadia. Your brother won’t be here for a while.”
Nadia folded her arms. “So we wait here for someone else to come and help us.”
There was no procedure for this. It was unprecedented.
“We’ll be dead before they get here.” He wasn’t agitated. He showed no sign of distress. Bolton just sat the
re, cold as anything, and told her they’d be dead. “The necklace was a tracking device, remember?”
“One that will help them find Remy!”
“And it will also help someone else find us. Unless we get out of here and find somewhere safe to hide.”
“Who?” He didn’t answer, so she said, “Someone is after you?”
Bolton nodded. “The threat against me is very real. They will come looking.” He paused. “What about you? Do we have to worry about someone coming after us, who wants you dead?”
Nadia didn’t even know how to answer. Her story was so complicated she barely knew where to start or how to explain the way the story had ended. She took a breath and tried to decide what to say.
The door opened. The sheriff strode in. She preferred John Mason, and the way he’d made Andra—a former assassin—do that melty smile she did now.
The man nodded his greeting. “Well, folks. Got a couple questions for you, and then the doctor will be in to see y’all.” He looked at Nadia. “Heard you’re feeling dizzy.”
“Some.” She found a chair, just to keep up the ruse. It was basically lying, and she didn’t like doing that. She hadn’t done it in a long time. But Bolton evidently thought it was going to keep them alive now.
If Bolton was telling her the truth then maybe it would put the sheriff in danger if they told him who they were. Maybe he had kids, and they would come home from school to find their father had been killed. All because Nadia had un-learned how to lie.
“I’m just glad we’re okay.” She tried to smile. “It’s been a hard week, especially for Steven. We were headed to the city for some tests, you know. Get that little problem of his figured out.” She leaned toward the sheriff and whispered, “A little night-time problem.”
The sheriff coughed. “Of course.”
“Wouldn’t you know there was some kind of malfunction, and the bird just got out of control. I can’t believe it exploded. There was a full tank of gas in there. And my purse!”
Nadia could have burst out laughing at her own fake-ness. Hopefully she wasn’t laying it on too thick, or they’d be sunk. She’d never claimed to be a good actress, though a part in the town play had given her a few pointers. Make it real enough they believe it.
She’d said all those lines about love and devotion on the stage and pretended she’d been saying them to Bolton. But that was months ago now.
The sheriff said, “And…who was flying the helicopter?”
“Me, silly!” She slapped her hand down on his knee then lifted her fingers and gasped. Nadia whipped her head around to Bolton. “My ring!” She explained for the sheriff. “It’s too big. I stowed it in my purse so we could drop it at the jewelers before my darling’s doctor’s appointment.” She faked up some tears and moved so her back was to the sheriff.
Bolton reached for her. “It’ll be okay, honey. We’ll get you a new one.”
Nadia nodded for the sheriff but widened her eyes for Bolton. She didn’t want to give them away, but there had to be a logical explanation for everything.
Her brother would find Remy, and that was good. Shadrach really liked Remy, and he needed to make her safe. Ben and Grant, John’s brothers, would bring Tommy down. Everything would be fine—except for them.
Lord, what do we do?
Chapter 2
The sheriff cleared his throat. Nadia shifted on the bed and looked at him like she’d forgotten he was there. Because she was a shallow rich woman with a helicopter pilot’s license. Were they different from a regular pilot’s license? A rich woman whose cowboy husband had “night-time” problems. She nearly groaned aloud.
“Just a couple more questions.” He glanced at Bolton. “Any idea about a cell phone? The rancher you hit said he pulled it out, and you grabbed it.”
Bolton had a cell phone?
“No idea. I was so out of it, just coming around. I didn’t know what I was doing. That’s why I hit him.” Bolton paused. “I’m real sorry about that. Will you convey that to your friend? The pain, you see. It’s real bad. I wasn’t thinking.”
The sheriff nodded slowly.
“Anything else?” Not that Nadia was eager for more questions. She just wanted to be alone again with Bolton so they could talk about what they were going to do.
Warm fingers covered hers. She didn’t look at Bolton’s hand, just turned hers over and grasped his. He always seemed so strong, even like this. Like there was nothing he couldn’t do.
“Actually there is something else,” the sheriff said. “I’d like to know how you came to be in this area in a helicopter. You see, there’s a whole bunch of strictures about flying around here. We’re almost a no-fly-zone except for the military, because of this extremely rare, wild bird. It’s endangered. Can’t set off fireworks. Kites can’t be more than two stories high. Forget about clay pigeon shooting. That’s what’s gotten me so confused, see. The rancher reported you came from over the mountains. Hills we can’t even hike because it’s this bird’s nesting grounds. Yet you flew right from there.”
Nadia was going to have to sell this. It was their job to protect the integrity of the witness protection town of Sanctuary. She shuffled on the bed, and Bolton squeezed her hand. “It was my fault.” She turned to him, but his attention was on the sheriff.
“The pain was bad, and getting worse. I couldn’t hold it together, so I had Marie fly this way. We both know about the flight restrictions, but I couldn’t bear to save a bird and wind up losing my dignity all over the floor of the helicopter.”
“So you were going to…what? Set down and find a bathroom?”
“Right,” Bolton said. She could hear the edge in his voice. Served him right. It was his idea to lie, so why not make the lie that he was going to wet himself. “That was when the helicopter began to malfunction, and we had to set her down. Turned out it was catastrophic, and we barely got out before it exploded.”
Some of that was true, but this sheriff didn’t need to know about the rogue SEAL or the town of Sanctuary. He wouldn’t have believed it anyway.
Bolton shifted and cried out. Was that a lie, too? She’d seen it for herself, and whatever the problem it was surely serious enough he was probably in pain like that. How was she supposed to help him? She didn’t have a medical degree like Remy. Nadia was a retired artist who cut and colored hair. Everyone wanted to cover their gray these days. Her small life of work and working out at the town gym, then church. Her friends. None of it had equipped her for this.
Okay, Lord. I guess this is where You come in.
He’d placed Nadia here with Bolton, and she knew He would give her the tools she needed to help him in whatever way Bolton needed help.
And not just because she had been in love with the rancher for years.
**
Pedro swiveled in his chair. The glow of the computer screens was the only light in the room, and it turned Alfie’s face an eerie blue-white color.
“You aren’t going to believe this. I got something.”
Alfie didn’t respond. He was chatting with some gal online.
“Alfie.”
Alfie sat back in his chair. “Finally. She’s buying the plane ticket with her dad’s credit card.”
Whatever. “The necklace was activated.”
“What?”
“The necklace. The one Dante wanted us to monitor.”
“Dude, that was years ago.” Alfie shook his head.
“Yeah, but its online now.”
“So make the call. If you want.”
Pedro reached for his iPhone but hesitated. “You don’t think I should?”
Alfie shrugged. “I’m just saying. It’s been years, and your cousin is probably dead in prison by now. We have too much going on with Tank, and that business you have with that crooked DEA agent. We’re in hot demand.”
Like Pedro wouldn’t know if his own cousin was dead or not? He couldn’t wait for the day he was free of Dante. “If he’s not dead this week and he f
inds out it came online and we didn’t say anything?”
There was an edge of fear in his eyes. “Maybe we don’t care. Maybe we ignore it.”
“Maybe you shut up and get back to work.” Pedro didn’t plan to die over a stupid necklace that probably didn’t mean anything anyway.
He picked up the phone.
**
“I can’t believe you lied to a pastor.” Nadia pulled an extra blanket from the closet and hugged it to her chest.
Bolton lay back on the pillows. It had taken some wrangling and a lot of sweet talk, but the sheriff had backed off in lieu of talking with them more the next day. She didn’t know what they were going to come up with. The truth wasn’t a story they could tell.
He shut his eyes. “As opposed to you lying to a sheriff?”
“That’s totally different. The pastor could probably tell.”
“If he could, it’s only because you’re such a bad liar.” Bolton’s lips twitched.
Nadia was tempted to throw the blanket at him, but he’d probably keep it, and then she would be cold.
“You’re the one I was worried about.” There it was. That flash of what she’d seen in Sanctuary. The part of Bolton that cared, the part she’d fallen for. He was still in there, and that was the man she trusted to keep them both safe now.
“Nadia.” The look was gone.
She shook her head. She didn’t need to tell him what she was thinking.
Bolton looked exhausted. “We needed space. Time to regroup without having to answer more questions.”
“I’m pretty sure you could have found that without telling a man of God that we are married.”
Bolton opened his eyes and raised one brow. “He wasn’t going to leave us alone otherwise.”
With Bolton in a wheelchair, the elderly widowed pastor had given them his ground floor bedroom and told them he would be perfectly happy in the guest room upstairs. So for the first time in hours they were alone—and totally exhausted. Bolton had to be in serious pain. The injury on his back had looked bad enough from the outside. She couldn’t imagine what the inside felt like.
Sanctuary Breached WITSEC Town Series Book 3 Page 33
