Deadly Testimony

by Piper J. Drake

  With the light from her laptop screen supplementing visibility in the room, a fine sheen of sweat shone on his skin. Candlelight would be a fantastic idea at the moment. She loved the way a flickering flame could show off the human form and it’d been a long time since she’d had a partner patient enough to set up small details like that in a room.

  Nope. Kyle was not a partner and this was not headed in the direction her thoughts seemed to be going on their own. There would be no fantasizing.

  “If something is worth doing,” Kyle huffed, “It is worth doing well. I’m not satisfied if I haven’t done my personal best. In anything.”

  Oh, but he was very good at inspiring all the naughty fantasies.

  Turning back to her laptop, she attempted to focus on something else, anything else. “Maybe tomorrow morning I’ll go through my routine at the same time. We can draw the curtain between the sleeping and sitting areas.”

  She disliked doing it because she preferred to have line of sight on the person she was protecting as much as possible, but so far he’d been careful to honor her instructions on staying away from the windows. He hadn’t once asked to leave the room.

  He paused and faced her, his hands on his hips as he stood there with a relaxed posture. “You prefer your workouts without an audience?”

  “Correct.” She bit the inside of her cheek. She’d just watched him go through his and hadn’t even thought about whether it’d be rude or not. She shouldn’t have made the assumption that he’d want an audience. Maybe she should’ve at least asked if he minded.

  He shrugged. “Okay. I can take my time in the shower if you’d like time to work out now.”

  “I’m not sure the hotel’s hot water heaters can handle it.” She gave him a small smile though. He really was surprisingly considerate.

  “Ah well.” He lifted his hands, palms up. “I’ve always showered with a lady sharing my room. To conserve water, of course.”

  She narrowed her eyes and glared at him. “Pass.”

  He grinned at her. “Consider it a standing offer, with global conservation in mind.”

  Irritation warred with a tiny spark of interest. She immediately squashed any and all thoughts resembling fantasies of the man. She’d let him lure her in some but he was a player and a womanizer and she was having none of it.

  Standing, she stalked toward him. To his credit, his grin didn’t fade and he didn’t give ground, but the look in his eyes turned wary. At least he wasn’t idiotic enough to think her approach was some sort of triumph for him.

  Without a word, she reached for the curtain and pulled it across most of the room, leaving a small space for a person to slip through if necessary. Not completely blocking him out, but still a definitive shutdown.

  Argh. She was as irritated with herself as with him. He had a knack for getting under her skin. One minute his charm seemed sincere and genuinely engaged her. She found herself drawn to him, liking him even. Which she would not be letting him know anytime soon. Then he’d switch gears, turning vapid and transparent. Shallow.

  It was infuriating.

  And it shouldn’t be.

  Normally, she had no fucks to give about what a man did with his time. If he was a player, well, there was a certain accountability to the women who fell into his bed willingly and she tended to figure it took two to make the decision. As far as she could tell, Kyle was up front about his intentions. No strings attached. He wasn’t the type to lead a girl into thinking there was a committed relationship of any kind. It wasn’t like he was a bad person, just not relationship material. So there wasn’t any of the duplicity there to set off her anger.

  No. That wasn’t quite right. He was being dishonest in a way. Not in what he said but in what he wasn’t saying. She got the sense there was more to him. He wasn’t shallow. He wasn’t an asshole. But he was far too good at letting people think he was.

  Maybe what was pissing her off was that he might’ve been pretending so long, he was starting to believe his own bullshit.

  * * *

  He needed to stop being an asshole.

  Hot water ran down his back as Kyle let the shower wash away the sweat of last night’s nightmare along with what he’d worked up doing his morning exercises. It had been less of a concern with his police escort or with the bland deputy marshal. None of them had been kind to him, or considerate, or thought much of him. And so, it was easy and even amusing to encourage the string of little judgments they would make about his character based on his jokes and innuendos.

  They hadn’t considered him as a person from the outset and he felt no compulsion to prove himself in their minds.

  Isabelle Scott was proving herself to be even more unique than he’d first thought. It was refreshing, intriguing and uncomfortable. She’d met him and given him a blank slate as far as he could tell.

  Oh, every person made judgments based on their impressions. It happened within seconds of first meeting. There was a certain wisdom in learning to assess people within moments of an encounter. He considered it a survival skill, whether out on the city streets at night or in a high-powered business meeting.

  Perhaps what was different about Isabelle Scott, or Lizzy as her commander called her, was her attitude. She hadn’t dismissed him out of hand when they first met. She’d been fairly brusque to all of them in turn. There had been no singling him out. Each one of them had been met with the same level of professionalism, impersonal and efficient.

  Perhaps Austin and Weaver were put off by her lack of deference but she also didn’t give respect before it had been earned. A sentiment he shared.

  Wetting his hair, he grimaced at the idea of using the hotel shampoo but was slightly mollified to find it was a reasonable brand at least. Working up a lather in his hair, he dug his fingertips into his scalp in an attempt to massage away the headache he’d woken up with this morning.

  He’d dreamed of gunfire. He’d fallen to the street with Austin and Weaver standing over him, looking down as he bled out onto the pavement. Decker had been nearby, making an impersonal report of his death. Isabelle Scott had been nowhere to be seen until he’d looked up and beyond them. She’d been up on the roof of a building, shooting at someone else.

  All he’d been able to think was that he had others to keep safe. Lizzy would care about his family, protect them, if only he could ask her to.

  But he hadn’t had a chance to tell her how to find them.

  He ducked his head under the hot spray, rinsing away the shampoo.

  It wasn’t necessary and there was no reason to mention it now. In any case, there’d be no need to remain in protective custody once he’d completed his testimony in the trial. Only a few days and this would be behind him. At least he hoped it would. Follow-up trials would take much longer and there’d been no mention of him remaining under witness protection. Perhaps if she continued to prove as effective a bodyguard as she already had, he would look into keeping her on retainer.

  Even though he couldn’t imagine a reason for needing personal security, it never hurt to keep good resources in easy contact if unforeseen circumstances arose. He maintained a record of any number of services for the same reason. You never knew when you were going to need something, anything. And it was best to have an idea of who to call.

  The heat of the shower had eased tight muscles in his neck and across his shoulders. He rolled his head to stretch, hearing a few pops as his cervical vertebrae adjusted on their own. Standing with the shower spray directly on the back of his neck, he rolled his shoulders to encourage circulation in the area.

  He was carrying an immense amount of tension in his neck and shoulders, as well as his back. He doubted Lizzy would allow him to order a massage, even in the privacy of the hotel room. He was absolutely certain she would react in a definitively negative way to his asking her to give him on
e.

  He grinned. Perhaps he would ask just to see the anger flare in her eyes. She was incredibly attractive when angry. Moved to action, she was magnificent. He could hardly be blamed for wanting to see it more often.

  Finishing up his shower, he stepped out and toweled off. He studied himself in the portion of the mirror that had been treated to remain unobscured by steam. Usually, he was amused to see it because it tended to surprise any feminine company he might have with him. And it proved interesting if he did take a shower with a lady. Hot, steaming showers, plus the perspective a mirror could provide, made for added fun.

  But today he was alone and he looked haggard, gaunt even. It wasn’t only because of the fear from yesterday. It was the result of weeks, months, of having to allow events around him to govern his decisions and actions. There’d been no one to work with and no way for him to take constructive steps.

  All he’d been able to do was hide and swallow a hundred not-so-subtle indignities handed to him by police and the district attorney.

  Well. He’d changed the game. And the person with him was a different kind of protector. Perhaps she could be convinced to become an ally. Otherwise, the next few days were going to be very, very long.

  Wrapping a towel around his waist, he stepped out into the bedroom area. Lizzy was on the small sofa in the sitting area tapping away at her laptop. But there was a change in her appearance. Same clothes, but her hair was slightly mussed. A few more strands of dark hair had escaped from the knot at the back of her head. The skin of her neck glistened slightly with sweat.

  She actually had taken the opportunity to exercise while he’d been in the shower.

  He was disappointed he’d missed it. Then again, it was entirely possible and probably likely she wouldn’t have exercised if he hadn’t given her the relative privacy of going into the bathroom. Perhaps he should develop a longer morning routine in the bathroom to give her more time. It wouldn’t hurt him for a day or two.

  Lizzy stood then. “I’m going to head out to check on a lead and grab some food. It won’t be long. Are you going to want restaurant takeout or would you be okay with fast food?”

  She didn’t even blink at his state of dress. Or lack thereof. There hadn’t been a hitch in her voice or any sign of discomfiture, definitely no sign of interest. If nothing else, she was a lesson to his pride. He was used to women drooling, or stuttering at the very least.

  “I’m going with you.” He reached for his clothes.

  “No, you’re not.” Her tone was matter-of-fact.

  He turned to face her, clothes in hand. “The last time you left, there was an issue shortly after you returned. Before you joined my protective detail, I was attacked while my police escort had left me in the hotel room.”

  Her lips pressed together. “You were attacked in the elevator lobby, not where you were supposed to be.”

  “And I doubt it would have gone as well if they’d found me in my hotel, as I’ve mentioned to many. Those men knew where to find me. It was only luck I encountered them in a public area.” He kept his voice reasonable, no added sarcasm. He got the impression she’d shut him down if he went his usual route. Besides, her own tone had remained reasonable thus far. “While staying here might be the usual policy, I respectfully disagree with the plan because it’s what seems to be the standard. I strongly feel I would be safer directly at your side at all times. I will follow your instructions when we are outside, you have my word, but I most definitely will not if you leave me here to my own devices.”

  Perhaps ending with an implied threat hadn’t been the best way to finish out his statement, but he was at the end of his patience with cooperating.

  He struggled to maintain a respectful, rational tone. “I make much better decisions when I’m not going insane hiding in a tiny, dark place, hoping the bad guys don’t find me. At least let me remain in the loop with your line of investigation.”

  Lizzy stood motionless and silent for so long, he was starting to feel the chill of the air-conditioning against his skin. Finally, she sighed. “I’ll show you what I plan to go check out. That doesn’t mean you’re going with me. But first, get your damn clothes on.”

  He grinned. She had noticed.

  Chapter Eleven

  Kyle leaned over to study the building. He wasn’t touching her but he was inside her personal space. Hell, she wasn’t sure if his body heat was actually warming her skin through her shirt or if her mind was doing bad, bad things to her at the thought of his proximity.

  “You think the shooter you’re hunting down was in this building?” Kyle didn’t seem to notice her issues.

  Good. He really shouldn’t ever know how much her body was trying to convince her chemistry was a good thing.

  She tightened her jaw and tapped the screen. “It’s an old neighborhood and just about every other building in the area is fully developed with either office space or tenants living on every floor. This one has several of the top floors not only vacant but under renovation.”

  “The top floors.” Kyle chuckled. “There’s at least one well-established business on the third floor and several others on the first and second.”

  She craned her neck to look at him and had to lean back to avoid accidental contact. He’d been leaning in very close. Ostensibly to see the laptop screen. Which was fair. Sure. “And you know this how?”

  He straightened, giving her space. “I’ve done business with them. They’re a third-party vendor we’ve used in the past to build databases for us or customize content management systems we’ve used to store and manage documentation related to contracts.”

  She didn’t respond immediately, her mind processing several things in parallel. First, he was up to something. The corner of his mouth was pulled back ever so slightly in the barest hint of a smirk. Second, she was more aware of the space between them than she’d been before he’d leaned over her.

  This definitely wasn’t the line of thought she wanted to pursue. Back to the smirk. She could be irritated with the smirk. “So you’ve been inside the building.”

  He tilted his head just a bit as he nodded. “There’s security in the front lobby. Anyone without a badge must have a visitor pass and an escort from someone who works in the building. All of the emergency exits have alarms, so there’s no slipping in a back entrance without setting one of those off. Any employees wanting to go out for a smoke have to go out the front door.”

  Not the toughest security she’d ever gotten past but she wanted to be in and out without leaving any evidence of her visit. “Maybe it’d be better to wait until tonight then.”

  He shrugged. “I was out to drink with a couple of the resources from that vendor. One of them told me a story about the time he’d been working so late, the security system came on. Apparently, badges stop working throughout the building after eight. There’s also motion sensor lights.”

  She scowled. “Your friend just happened to tell you this?”

  He lifted his hands, palms up. “What can I say? We work late hours on some projects in my line of business. There are times when you’re sitting at your desk and your hands at the keyboard aren’t enough movement. The lights go out and you have to wave your hands above your head to trigger the sensors to turn them back on again. When that happens, the roving security guard stops by to ensure all is well.”

  Ah. However he came by the information, it was handy to have. While stealth was a requirement to her specialization to a certain extent, her experience as a sniper had rarely included bypassing security systems to get to her chosen perch. It’d take much more time than what was available to gain access to the building on a hunch.

  After a few more moments of silence, she came out of her own head to the sight of Kyle watching her intensely. The look in his eyes was unreadable. Not the usual glint of humor or the expression of interest
as if she was a kitten that’d done something hella funny.

  Uncomfortable with his scrutiny she frowned up at him. “You have an issue?”

  His expression didn’t change but he shifted his weight forward a fraction, intent on her. “You are certain this building is where this sniper was hiding to take a shot at me?”

  She considered his question, not because she didn’t know her answer but because trying to anticipate where he was going with a line of questioning was a challenge. “My gut says a person took a shot at our police partners. It could’ve been lucky, or it could’ve been skill. The person could’ve been a trained sniper, or they could’ve been a contract operator taking a long shot. I’ll be able to tell a lot more once I find where they were hiding.”

  “This building is on the same side of the street and same block as the apartment building we emerged from after the incident. How would he have been able to see us?” His voice had dropped a few notches in volume and gone rough.

  He’d done a good job of handling fear so far. His observations were valid too. “I don’t have sure answers for you. There could’ve been another team out there looking for us. Or they could’ve thought we were in a different building. Maybe the one our deputy marshal was parked in front of at the time of the shooting.”

  There were still too many variables, too many different ways things could’ve been planned. She needed to know more.

  A pause. “And you won’t have confirmation or more information until you have a chance to investigate this building.”

  She nodded. “Either I’ll find what I’m looking for or I’ll rule it out as a theory.”

  He snorted. “How many theories do you have?”

  It was her turn to study him. She got the impression he wasn’t the sort of man to stay with all that many things long-term. “If I run out, I’ll come up with new ones until I have my definitive answer.”

  And her response seemed to satisfy him. “Well then, it appears we will be going to investigate this building tomorrow.”