Witness in the Dark

by Allison B Hanson

  It was a start.

  She squeezed her eyes shut for a second. “I wish I could wake up and be back in my apartment, with Nikki barging in to borrow my clothes. Maybe you could have knocked at my door and ask if I wanted to go for coffee.”

  “I don’t think there is ever an appropriate time to tell someone their long-lost father is actually alive. But if it were in my power to change any of this, believe me, I would.” Her father scowled at Garrett. “One thing I can do is take SI McKendrick off your case and give you a new protective detail.”

  She watched Garrett as he assisted the blonde woman working on the deputy marshal Sam had shot. Whatever he was, he was good at what he did. He’d trained her efficiently, and kept her alive. She didn’t want to start over with someone else.

  “I don’t want a different marshal,” she said, surprising herself as much as her father. “I want Garrett.”

  He had lied and hurt her, but he’d also saved her and protected her with his life.

  Her father searched her face, and apparently decided she wasn’t somehow being coerced. That she really meant it. “Very well. But if that ever changes, please tell me immediately.” He held out a burner phone.

  She was reluctant to take it. She could be tracked through a phone. Nevertheless, she reached for it. “Thanks.”

  He smiled and stood up. “Feel free to call me if you need anything, or just to talk. It was so good to finally meet you.”

  “Yeah.” She wasn’t sure what she should do now. Surely he didn’t expect a hug? Shaking hands with your father seemed strange. A high five, maybe? He didn’t look like a fist-bumping kind of guy.

  He bowed slightly and opened the office door for her. “I’ll let you tell SI McKendrick know he’s still responsible for your safety.”

  She walked out and released the breath that had been backed up in her lungs for the past half hour. Deputy Marshal Ryan glared over at her as the petite female marshal wrapped a bandage around his thigh.

  Sam winced. Should she apologize? She’d been very clear about her intentions…

  Garrett was next to them, talking to the woman. They were whispering. The woman laughed at something he said.

  Sam determinedly averted her gaze. How stupid she had been to fall for his ruse. For him. She’d known he was out of her league the first moment she met him. There was a reason people had gut instincts. She should have listened to hers.

  He had been playing her all along. She was easier to control when he gave in and pretended to like her. He’d said it from the beginning—she was easier to protect from up close.

  “Let’s go,” she said when she got to the desk.

  Garrett hopped up and turned back toward the office. “Does he want to see me?”

  “No. He said you’re still responsible for my safety.”

  “I am?”

  “Unless you’re too busy…” She glanced at the blonde, who was still smiling at him. “Or you don’t want to.”

  “No, I’m ready.” He looked around as if expecting it to be a trick, but nevertheless, he followed her out to the car. “I thought he would reassign me.”

  “He was going to, but I told him I preferred to keep you.”

  “You did?” Garrett’s eyes widened.

  “You’ve protected me so far. I don’t have it in me to start over with someone else.”

  “That’s the only reason?” he asked. His voice hinted at another meaning.

  “That, and because you do the right thing.” She looked at him, allowing her expression to turn steely.

  “Sam—”

  “How’s your arm?” she interrupted. She didn’t want to hear his reasons for lying to her.

  “Good. Angel restitched it.” He pulled up his sleeve to show the perfectly spaced knots.

  “She did a much better job,” Sam said. “Are the two of you friends?”

  “She’s like a sister to me.” After Sam spared him a dubious look, he elaborated. “Our team…we’re like a family. When you count on people, put your life in their hands time and again, your relationship goes beyond being coworkers. Your dad is our boss, and while he might come off like a gruff asshat much of the time, he cares. I know he cares about you. If you give him a chance, you’ll see that, too.”

  She didn’t know how to feel about that. The man was playing father to a team of deputy marshals instead of being her dad. She felt a twinge of jealousy that Garrett and the other marshals knew her father, and she didn’t.

  At least not yet. She would have a chance to know him. If she allowed it. That was more than she’d ever expected to have.

  “So, Task Force Phoenix?” Even the name sounded dangerous.

  “He told you?”

  “I think he’s trying to make it up to me for lying about every single thing in my life.”

  “Right.” He nodded. “Yeah, I’m on the team.”

  “He said everyone on his team had to start over. Is your name really Garrett?”

  “Yes. I didn’t lie to you about that. I didn’t need to change my identity.” He frowned but kept his eyes on the road. After a few minutes he finally spoke again. “When I got out of the Marines I was in a really dark place. I had no family. My friends had moved on with their lives. They were married with kids and homes and I…I lost my shit when someone made a loud noise.”

  She wanted to reach out, but didn’t.

  “Your father showed up out of the blue, and asked me if I wanted to join his team. He might have saved my life. I’m not sure how much more I could take. He gave me a new purpose. But because no one knew me, it didn’t matter that I kept my name. No one would look for me. No one cared enough to wonder where I went.”

  He had listened to her complain about having to give up her life. When he hadn’t had a life to give up. Shame kept her from saying anything.

  “Thanks for keeping me around,” Garrett said. “I still can’t believe he didn’t kill me after he found out what happened between us.”

  “I told him it was all my fault. You shouldn’t get in trouble because I chased after you.”

  “That’s not exactly how it happened.” Garrett smiled and looked over at her.

  She rested her head against the window and watched the trees flicking past. The brown flashes went by so quickly they were dizzying. Kind of how things had been with Garrett—it had all happened so fast she wasn’t able to focus on any of it at the time.

  And now it was gone.

  “You’ve been through a lot today, huh?” he said gently. “You found out you have a dad. If you need to cry, or talk, I’m here.”

  She gave him an incredulous look. Yeah, maybe when hell froze over.

  “What does it matter?” she said evenly. “Everything I thought I knew about my life was a lie. My mother was probably an alien, and my favorite teacher probably runs a drug cartel. What good would talking do?”

  He didn’t answer. He tightened his grip on the wheel and kept his eyes on the road.

  Smart man.

  When they got to the new safe house, she stalked to her room and went straight to bed.

  She woke the next morning to find Garrett sitting at the end of her bed watching her. “What are you doing here?” she asked.

  “Trying to think of something to say to make this right again.”

  Her heart squeezed. “Don’t say anything. You told me we meant nothing and had no future. You were honest and up front. You warned me, fair and square. You’re not to blame. I’m the one who made more of us than was really there. No hard feelings.”

  Yeah. He’d told her it wasn’t real.

  She just hadn’t realized how very true that was.

  Chapter Fifty-Seven

  No. Things between them weren’t okay, Garrett thought as Sam quickly stood and left her room.

  She had that same broken look about her he’d seen that first night when he moved her to the safe house. She looked defeated.

  It chilled him to the bone to see it. He couldn’t let her
give up.

  When she finally came out for breakfast, he laid out their goals for the day. He planned to show her where the bunker was so she could memorize the route. He expected her to complain about tromping through the woods in the cold. But all he got was a blank stare.

  “I don’t give a rat’s ass where the damn bunker is. I’m not running. I’m done. If Ashton Howe himself walked in here right now with a hundred of his men, I would empty my clip on them and that would be it. Fuck the bunker. Fuck hiding. And fuck you.” She turned her attention back to her bowl as she chased her cereal around with her spoon.

  “Sam, come on,” he said. “Don’t be like this.”

  She stared at him cold fire burning in her green eyes. “I. Don’t. Care.”

  “Your father cares,” he tried.

  She just got up and went back to her room.

  “I care,” he called after her, but he didn’t follow her.

  She was hurting, and he had no way to make it better. He wouldn’t make her promises he couldn’t keep. He wouldn’t tell her everything would be all right…because at the moment, he didn’t believe it himself.

  One way or another, he was going to lose her.

  And when he did, nothing would ever be all right again.

  Chapter Fifty-Eight

  Nothing else was said about the bunker. In fact, for the next two weeks, hardly anything was said at all. Sam thought it would get easier dealing with this new phase of her relationship with Garrett, but so far, it still hurt.

  Her father sent her a tablet loaded with all her favorite books. He’d called twice to check on her and make sure Garrett was being a marshal and not a sexual predator. She assured him that their fling was over, and Thorne seemed pleased.

  He’d also delivered the results of the DNA test.

  She was, indeed, Josiah Thorne’s daughter.

  Not that she hadn’t believed him from that first day. He looked like her, and everything he’d said seemed sincere. Besides, what possible motivation could he have for lying about it?

  But it was good to have absolute proof. Unlike so many other things in her life these days, it was a reality she could trust.

  When he called, they tried to talk about everyday things, but it was a struggle. He was her father, but she’d never had one before, so she didn’t know how she was supposed to relate to him. And since he’d never been a dad before, he didn’t seem any better prepared for it than she was. Despite her best efforts to remain protectively indifferent, she found she liked him.

  “How long have you known my dad?” she asked Garrett one evening after their silent dinner.

  “Dad? You’re calling him ‘Dad’ now?” He smiled in approval.

  “My father,” she corrected. She didn’t want or need Garrett’s damned approval.

  “Thorne recruited me out of the Marines. One of my first assignments was your junior prom.”

  Her jaw dropped in surprise. “Excuse me?”

  “I was told to go make sure you were okay. When I reported back that the subject had left the prom and went to a hotel room to have sex, it was pretty obvious by his outraged expression that I’d completely missed the objective of the assignment.”

  She covered her heated face with her hands. “You were there the night I—?” God, how embarrassing. “How many other times were you assigned to watch me?”

  “Quite a few over the years. Your class trip to Paris. Your new apartment. I checked it out before you moved in. Everyone on our team referred to it as being on ‘princess detail.’”

  If he thought she would think this was funny, he was wrong. “Incredible,” she muttered.

  “I didn’t mind.”

  “Sure, you didn’t.”

  “Easy assignments,” he said with a shrug.

  She went back to silence as she did the dishes. When she turned to go to her room, he was standing right behind her.

  “I thought I knew you because I watched over you. But I didn’t.”

  “You still don’t.” She didn’t really know herself. She remembered the old Sam Hutchinson, but this new person emerging from her recent decisions and their consequences was still an unknown.

  He stepped closer and put his hand on her cheek. He bent down close. His lips mere inches from hers.

  “Don’t do it,” she whispered as her heart crashed against her chest.

  “Why not?” His blue eyes studied her.

  She repeated the words he’d said to her months ago. “It’s not a good idea.”

  “Maybe I don’t care.”

  She could feel his warm breath against her lips, and she almost swayed in to kiss him.

  But she didn’t. She had to let him go. “Please, don’t.”

  He pulled back as if she’d slapped him. “What do you want from me, Sam? I don’t know what you’re expecting.” He actually looked like he was in pain.

  “I’m expecting you to get me to the courtroom alive,” she said. “That’s your assignment, right?”

  “Yes. That’s my assignment.”

  She left him in the kitchen, unable to help him past this. She couldn’t even help herself.

  In her room, she thought about his other assignments. How many other princesses had he been assigned to watch over? Maybe some of them were honest-to-God princesses and not just the secret daughter of his boss.

  Had his entire career been guided by her interest in Paris or her invitation to a party? No wonder he’d been so adamant in the beginning that he didn’t do babysitting. He had to be royally sick of her by now.

  Maybe she should talk to him. Ask him where he’d rather work. She had some pull with her father. She could put in a word for him, because he’d given so much of his time to her.

  It was late when she went to his room. She stood by his door for a few minutes, playing over in her mind what she wanted to say.

  He would most likely insist he didn’t mind babysitting her. He would want to see this through, because he was honorable and responsible, and he didn’t give up.

  Instead of knocking on Garrett’s door, she went back to her room and called her dad.

  When the call was over, she went to sleep. The pain would end soon. It had to.

  Except, it didn’t.

  The next morning, she sat at the table for breakfast, promising herself she wasn’t going to be upset. She wasn’t.

  “Why did you come to my door last night?” Garrett asked.

  Naturally, he’d heard her. “I wanted to talk to you about something.”

  “What is it?” He glanced up at her before taking a big bite of cereal.

  “I’d like to move to another safe house. With a different protective detail,” she told him steadily.

  His face actually paled. “If this about the princess thing, I didn’t mean it as an insult. Your safety is the most important thing to any of us on the team.”

  “I understand that. But you’re being reassigned. They’re coming to get me this afternoon.”

  “This afternoon? Wait. No! I want to see you through this. I want to keep you safe.”

  “My father said he’d give you some time off. Go on vacation, or relax at one of your houses.”

  Anger flashed across Garrett’s face. “Vacation? Are you kidding me? I don’t need a fucking vacation. I need—”

  She held up a hand. “It’s already done, Garrett.”

  His expression turned wounded. “You’re punishing me for what happened between us, aren’t you?”

  She had to harden her heart against the pain. “No. I just think you’ve spent a lot of time watching me, and could probably use a break. I know I would take a break if I could.”

  “Please don’t do this,” he said quietly.

  “I’m sorry. I’m going to go pack.”

  “Sam—” He was interrupted by his phone ringing. He grabbed it and barked, “What?”

  No doubt his orders coming in.

  His jaw flexed as he paced. “Okay.” He listened. “Okay.” Another paus
e. “All right. I guess we’ll be there at one.” He ended the call and looked briefly up at the ceiling. When he lowered his gaze to her, it was arctic. “We leave in an hour.”

  Chapter Fifty-Nine

  Garrett drove Sam to the rendezvous amid deafening silence.

  He couldn’t believe this was happening. It was his own fault. He’d let things get personal between them, and now she was leaving because being with him was too hard on her.

  But being without her was going to be too hard on him. Did she not get that? Did she not understand that he’d had no choice when he’d kept secrets from her? Orders were orders. He was merely a pawn.

  A pawn who missed her warmth in his arms while he slept. And the way she laughed. The way her hair smelled, and the sexy as hell way she handled a gun.

  He didn’t want a damn vacation. Time off would mean time to think. He didn’t want to think. Especially not about how nice it would be if he had a normal job and she had a normal life.

  If they weren’t surrounded by craziness and threats, they might have had a shot at being happy together.

  He’d known from the start he couldn’t have those things with her—for many reasons—but it hadn’t stopped him from wanting them.

  Before she got out of the car, he turned to face her. “I’m sorry I don’t have more to offer you. I’m sorry I can’t be what you need.”

  “I’m not asking for anything more. I understand. You would have given your life for me. You just can’t share your life with me.”

  The distinction cut him like a knife. “I’m sorry.”

  The words weren’t nearly enough. They didn’t even scratch the surface of how much he wished things could be different for them. She would be starting a new life in WITSEC, and he had a job that kept him on the move and in danger. Those two things couldn’t be combined.

  “Sure,” she said with a nod he didn’t believe. She was placating him. “I should go.”

  She got out of the car and walked over to the other car. Angel was leaning against the driver’s door with a smug look on her face.

  Garrett put Sam’s bag in the trunk as she got in the passenger’s side and closed the door. She didn’t look back.