Love Inspired Suspense January 2014

by Shirlee McCoy

  No one else seemed amused.

  “Of course you’ll be good,” Annie said hurriedly. Sophia never caused problems. At least, that was what her babysitter in Milwaukee said.

  “She’ll be as good as gold. You go on and get through the meeting. The trial is coming up soon, and we want you as prepared as possible.” Josh lifted Sophia and tickled her belly.

  “He’s right. We can’t miss this appointment.” Hunter cupped Annie’s elbow and urged her to the door, hoping she wasn’t going to continue arguing. The change in meeting time hadn’t thrilled him, but it was his job to work with the prosecuting attorney’s office. He accommodated their schedule. Not the other way around.

  He glanced at his watch. They were already running late.

  “Everything is clear on the security cameras,” Serena announced, her voice as tight and hard as her expression. She wasn’t happy about babysitting duty, but Hunter had thought Annie would be more comfortable having a woman babysit her daughter.

  From the look on her face, he’d say she wouldn’t be comfortable with anyone babysitting.

  He could understand that. Family was important. More important than jobs or obligations. Certainly more important than meetings with lawyers who’d already been met with.

  Annie didn’t say a word as he led her into the hall. Not one complaint or protest. Pretty typical, and fairly unusual for the people he worked with. Most of them had truckloads of complaints and hour-long protest sessions.

  Burke stepped into the elevator ahead of them, holding the door as Annie stepped in. Hunter didn’t miss Burke’s quick assessing glance or the way his eyes lingered on Annie’s hair or her tight black T-shirt. Not surprising. Even in baggy jeans and a T-shirt, her hair damp and no makeup on her face, she was beautiful. Burke loved beautiful women, and he pursued them with a shocking amount of zeal. No deep emotions about any breakups. No mourning over lost love. Just one relationship after another. If not for the fact that Annie was a client that they were protecting, Hunter was sure Burke would be pursuing her.

  If Annie noticed Burke’s attention, she didn’t let on.

  “Are you sure this is only going to take a couple of hours?” she asked, her blue eyes shadowed from lack of sleep, her face just a little too pale. A strand of dark hair fell across her cheek, and Hunter clenched his fist to keep from brushing it back.

  “I’d like to say I was,” he responded as the elevator door closed. “But you know how these things go.”

  “The last meeting lasted five hours, and most of it, I wasn’t even involved in.” She ran her fingers through her hair in a quick impatient gesture.

  “It shouldn’t be as long today,” Burke offered before Hunter could respond. He smiled the charming smile that seemed to win him a new girlfriend every week.

  Hunter had no interest in winning anything but Annie’s cooperation. The smile still annoyed him. Maybe he needed to have a talk with Burke about professionalism. After they got Annie where she needed to be and back safely.

  The elevator door slid open, and Burke stepped out first, speaking quietly into his radio. Either Serena or Josh would be manning the computer, watching for any trouble on the security cameras.

  There’d been nothing to indicate that Annie’s safety had been compromised again, but they couldn’t afford to take any chances. Adrenaline pulsed through Hunter’s blood as he led her across the parking lot. Burke already had the car door open, his gaze scanning the area.

  “Straight into the car,” Hunter murmured in Annie’s ear, the scent of shampoo and soap drifting on the cold afternoon air.

  She was halfway in the car when the world exploded, the sound reverberating through the lot, the force of the blast slamming Hunter to his knees. He fell into Annie, knocking her farther into the car.

  “Move!” he shouted, shoving her inside and crawling in behind her.

  Flames poured from a car near the edge of the lot. Sirens blared. Water poured from ceiling sprinklers.

  Someone had planned it all, and if Hunter and Burke weren’t careful, that person would get the shot at Annie he wanted.

  “Back or front exit?” Burke asked as Hunter slammed the door shut.

  He surveyed the parking garage quickly. Back entrance clear of fire. Front entrance smoke and flame-filled.

  There was only one choice, and he made it.

  “Front,” he growled.

  SIX

  Flames.

  Smoke.

  Water pouring from the sky.

  People streaming from the building, confusion on their faces. All of it whizzing by as the car zipped toward the exit.

  Sophia!

  Annie scrambled for the door handle, desperate to get out of the car. She had to get to Sophia, had to make sure she was okay.

  “What are you doing?” Hunter shouted, dragging her back across the seat, his arm a steel band around her waist.

  She clawed at his hand, tried to pry his fingers from her waist. “Sophia! I have to get to her.”

  “By getting yourself killed?” he shouted.

  “She needs me.”

  “Alive, and you won’t be if you jump out of the car.” His grip didn’t loosen as Burke sped out of the parking garage. “Everything is under control, Annie. I promise you that, but it won’t be if you don’t start cooperating.”

  “Start cooperating? All I’ve done for a year is follow your rules and protocols and suggestions.” And she was done. She wanted out of the car, out of witness protection, out of the situation she was in. She wanted to get her daughter and go home.

  Wherever home was.

  Not St. Louis. Not anymore.

  Not Milwaukee, either.

  Somewhere where she could start over, make a good, peaceful and safe life.

  All she had to do was get to Sophia.

  She shoved his arm again, but it was rock solid, his palm pressed tight against her side. “Let me go,” she muttered.

  “Not until you agree that you’re not going to jump out of this car.”

  She pressed her lips together. The car was picking up speed, buildings flying by in her periphery. If she didn’t break her neck hitting the pavement, she’d probably be run over by an oncoming vehicle. She looked over her shoulder, saw clouds of smoke billowing from the parking garage.

  Everyone would have to be evacuated. The structure couldn’t be stable. Was Sophia still inside the building? Outside it? “You can’t hold me against my will. It’s kidnapping. Pull over and let me out.”

  “Where would you go? Back to the building where someone is probably waiting to kill you?”

  “Back for my daughter.”

  “She’s not there. Josh and Serena have already evacuated. They’re on their way to headquarters. We’ll meet them there.”

  The truth or a lie?

  She wouldn’t put it past Hunter to say whatever was necessary to get her to cooperate. He’d never think of it as being dishonest because he’d believe it was for the greater good.

  She glanced at the apartment again. People stood on the sidewalk, staring at the flames that licked the outside wall of the structure.

  Was someone standing in the crowd, waiting for her to emerge? She’d be an idiot to go back if Sophia was safe. She sagged against Hunter, her muscles loose with fear.

  “That’s better,” Hunter murmured in her ear, his arm slipping from her waist. He smelled like soap and sunshine, his warmth seeping through her coat and jeans, seeping into her skin and bones until she wanted to melt against him and beg him to tell her everything was going to be okay.

  She scooted back across the car, her heart thumping painfully.

  She could not melt for anyone. Couldn’t give in to her neediness. That was what had gotten her into trouble before. That and her too-trusting nature.

  She shifted in her seat, looking out the back window. A block from the apartment building, and she could smell the acrid smoke. More people stood on the sidewalk, the growing crowds pressing in t
oward one another, a writhing mass of humanity all vying for the best view of the burning garage. A man separated himself from the crowd, a little girl in his arms. Her dark hair glinted in the sunlight, the curls bouncing as the man moved.

  Sophia!

  Annie would know her daughter anywhere from any distance.

  Hunter had lied.

  Sophia wasn’t safe. She was standing outside the apartment complex in Josh McCall’s arms.

  She’d been angry before. Angry with Joe when bills hadn’t been paid. Angrier when she’d found out about his lies and the debt he’d accrued.

  Up until that moment, though, she’d never been furious. Never been so angry that her head hurt and her lungs ached and she wanted to scream until her throat was raw.

  She watched as Josh stepped to the curb and looked up the street. Sophia waved at the passing cars, oblivious to the danger she was in. Oblivious to the smoke and people and chaos.

  Hunter said something, but the words didn’t register.

  She shifted in her seat, cold with fury and with fear.

  The car slowed as it neared a busy intersection, the red light ahead stopping the cars in front of them.

  Burke slowed the car to a crawl but didn’t stop completely.

  The light turned green, and she knew it was now or never. She could sit like a lump and do what she’d been told, or she could go get her daughter and run as far and as fast as she’d ever run in her life.

  She grabbed the door handle, yanked it open and jumped.

  She hit the ground hard, tumbling onto her hands and knees. She was up before any pain registered, running back toward the apartment and her daughter, dodging people and a bicycle.

  Someone shouted her name.

  She ignored it, her gaze on Sophia and Josh.

  A car pulled to the curb in front of them, the door swinging open.

  “Wait!” she shouted.

  Josh glanced her way, his eyes widening.

  He didn’t pause, though, didn’t alter whatever plan he was part of. He climbed into the car and closed the door.

  Someone snagged the back of Annie’s coat and yanked her backward. She fell into a hard chest and harder arms.

  “This is the stupidest thing I have ever seen anyone do,” Hunter growled.

  “You lied to me!” she retorted, swinging around so they were face-to-face. He was taller, bigger and more intimidating, but she had righteous anger on her side.

  “Now isn’t the time to discuss it.”

  “Now is the only time I’m going to discuss anything with you ever again. I want my daughter. I want—”

  “To be shot dead on the sidewalk in St. Louis?” His gaze was as cold as his words, his eyes icy and hard. “Because that could happen, Annie. What do you think that bomb was? Some coincidental misfortune?”

  He dragged her to the curb as a car pulled up.

  Black and new-looking. The same one Josh had gotten into.

  The door swung open, and Josh reached for her arm, yanking her into the car so quickly she didn’t have time to think about what was happening. The door slammed shut. The car took off.

  “Mommy!” Sophia squealed from her car seat, her eyes bright with excitement, her curly hair bouncing with joy.

  She looked fine.

  She looked better than fine. She looked cared for and safe.

  Josh, on the other hand, looked fit to be tied.

  “That,” he said, “was the rashest thing I have ever seen anyone do in the ten years I’ve been working for the marshals.”

  “Rash but brave,” Serena said as she steered the car onto a side street and headed for the interstate. “You still shouldn’t have done it. Anyone could have been out there with a gun. One bullet. That’s all it would have taken.”

  That was all it had taken to steal Joe’s life.

  One bullet through the chest. He’d bled to death before the ambulance had arrived.

  Annie shuddered. Her knees and palms throbbed, her head ached, and all the rage that had fed her escape was gone.

  All she felt was tired.

  But she’d felt that way for a year.

  Sophia reached for her.

  “Hey, sweetie,” she said, taking her daughter’s hand. She’d do anything for Sophia. Even risk her life, but Sophia was safe, had been safe. Just like Hunter had said.

  She owed him an apology.

  She owed everyone an apology, but her throat was too clogged with regret to offer it. She looked out the window instead, wishing she were anywhere else but sitting in a car heading to U.S. Marshals headquarters.

  *

  Hunter didn’t lose his temper often, but he’d been pushed past the point of being reasonable. Behind him the fire had been doused by the sprinkler system, the smoke slowly dissipating. Whoever had planted the bomb hadn’t meant to take out the building. He’d meant to take out Annie. A distraction was the perfect cover for swift and covert movement.

  Hunter had no doubt that the perp was still near the building. Probably around the back where more people were gathered. If he’d been at the front of the building when Annie had jumped from the car…

  He clenched his teeth. Counted to a hundred.

  Told himself that he wasn’t going to lay into Annie the minute he saw her.

  Burke finally managed to navigate back to the building, his dark sedan moving slowly through the thickening traffic. Sirens were blaring and news trucks were bottlenecking the side streets.

  In other circumstances, Hunter would have stuck around to help process the crime scene, but he needed to get back to headquarters. Somehow, the safe house had been found. Again.

  Burke pulled up to the curb, and Hunter climbed into the car.

  “We’re meeting Josh and Serena at headquarters. I’ve already called Antonio,” he growled. “If he wants to see Annie, he can do it there.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” Burke responded. “Provided Annie doesn’t decide to jump out of Serena’s car.”

  “I think she’s done for the day. Now that she’s with her daughter, she should stay put.”

  “Or take Sophia and run. It’s what I’d do if I were in her shoes.”

  “Then let’s both thank God she’s not you,” Hunter muttered, the thought of Annie taking Sophia and leaving town chilling his blood. No way could he protect either of them if she did that.

  “She surprised me, I’ll tell you that,” Burke continued as if Hunter hadn’t spoken. He didn’t sound nearly as upset as Hunter. “I didn’t think she had it in her to buck the system.”

  “Me neither. Obviously, we were both wrong.”

  “You sound like you want to wring her neck.”

  “I want to get it through her head that we have things under control. Her daughter was never in harm’s way, and she won’t be as long as Annie follows the rules.”

  “If that were your kid, would you be so quick to think that a bunch of strangers could keep her safe?” Burke asked as he merged onto the interstate.

  “What does that have to do with anything?” Hunter responded, frustrated with the question and the conversation.

  “The way I see it, a parent is supposed to do anything for her child. Including jumping from a moving vehicle.”

  “And risking having her head blown off?”

  “I’d do it if I had a kid,” Burke said simply.

  Hunter would, too.

  Knowing it stole some of his anger.

  “All right. I get your point, but she’s the key witness in the case against Saunders and Fiske. We lose her, and they might lose the case.”

  “And that would be bad for your reputation?”

  “It would be bad for justice, Burke,” Hunter responded drily. He knew he had a reputation as cold and unfeeling, but he didn’t always like it.

  “It was a joke, Hunter. I know you well enough to know you care. I care, too, but that doesn’t seem to be doing Annie any good. We’ve had her at two safe houses, and she’s been found both times.”
<
br />   “Which means that someone is leaking information to friends of Fiske and Saunders.”

  “Exactly what I’ve been thinking.”

  “I trust our team, Burke. I can’t believe anyone on it would betray us.” He didn’t want to believe it. Maybe he didn’t have to. Administrative staff could access information from the main database at the office.

  “It could be anyone at the office.” Burke echoed Hunter’s thoughts. “We need to get some computer forensic guys in. If someone tapped into the computer databases, they’ll know it.”

  “We’ll make the call when we get to the office,” Hunter agreed. “We also need to find a place where Annie and her daughter will be safe until the trial.”

  “So far, we’re batting a thousand on that.”

  “We could move them out of state again until the trial.”

  “Or we could keep them even closer to home than they’ve already been. Somewhere we both spend time, so that no one at the office will think anything about us being there.” Burke tapped his fingers on the steering wheel.

  “I don’t think the office is baby-friendly, Burke.”

  “Not the office. Our place.”

  “No.” Hunter didn’t even have to think about the answer. The rental they shared was plenty big enough for a large family, but it wasn’t approved as a safe house. Even if it was, having the Delacortes stay there wouldn’t work.

  “Why not?”

  “This isn’t personal, Burke. It’s professional.”

  “That makes the plan even better.”

  “What plan?” Hunter was used to Burke’s out-of-the-box thinking. The guy had a habit of skirting rules and flying by the seat of his pants. Usually it worked out well for him, but that didn’t mean Hunter approved of his methods.

  “We take the Delacortes to our place. Under the radar. No one knows they’re there except for our team. We’ll run shifts. Me, you, Josh and Serena. No one else included. That will minimize the chance of Annie being found again.”

  Hunter’s knee-jerk reaction was to say no again, but, so far, playing by the book hadn’t worked. Maybe they did need to switch things up, try something different. “That will mean almost no time off for any of us. You realize that, right?”

  “It’s only for a couple of weeks. I don’t know about everyone else, but I could use the extra pay.”