Shielding His Christmas Witness

by Laura Scott

  Her stomach rumbled with hunger and she hoped it wasn’t loud enough for Marc to hear. But the man had ears like a bat, because he quickly turned toward her.

  “You’re hungry. I should have realized it was beyond dinnertime.”

  “I’m fine. Let’s just get to the motel. We can pick up something once we’re settled.”

  “All right.” He made several twists and turns as he drove through traffic, obviously doing his part to make it difficult for anyone to follow them.

  Did he ever get tired of it? Not necessarily eluding the bad guys, since this probably didn’t happen very often. But always being on alert? Ready for anything? She remembered how he’d answered her call on the first ring the night her safe house had been breached. As if he normally slept with one eye open and one ear listing for the phone.

  And for the first time, she wondered what would have happened if she hadn’t gotten in touch with Marc that night. If she’d called Detective Monique Barclay instead. Would she have been astute enough to keep her alive? Or would she already be dead?

  She shivered, knowing it wasn’t smart to play the what-if game. Especially when Marc had answered the phone and kept her safe.

  “How about I pick up a couple of pizzas?” he offered, breaking in to her thoughts. “We’ll take them with us to the hotel. That way, we can eat while I work.”

  Her stomach growled again, making her blush. “Sounds good to me.”

  Less than an hour later, they were settled into a Holiday America hotel with two pizzas, both loaded with the works. The pepperoni and cheese smelled delicious, and waiting until Marc had carried everything inside wasn’t easy.

  Finally, he dropped onto the chair beside her. He took her hand in his and bowed his head. “Dear Lord, thank You for providing this food for us to eat. We also thank You for keeping us safe in Your care, and we hope You continue to guide us on Your chosen path. Amen.”

  “Amen,” Kari echoed, touched by the way Marc had taken the initiative to pray. “You remembered,” she said as she opened the pizza box. She’d only been teasing him at breakfast about how it was his turn to say grace, but he’d taken her seriously.

  “Yeah, I remembered.” He made sure she had two pieces in front of her before he helped himself to one. “Why do you think I suggested we eat here where we could be alone?”

  She chuckled, and took a large bite of her slice, enjoying the spicy tang of pepperoni. “Chicken.”

  “Yep, that’s me.” He grinned, then dug in to his meal. For several long minutes, they didn’t say anything, content to focus on their meal.

  When she’d finished three slices, she pushed the pizza away with a groan. “I can’t keep eating like this, or I won’t fit into any of my clothes.”

  “You don’t even look pregnant,” Marc protested. “I’m sure you’ll be fine.”

  She smiled. “I won’t be fine, not if I keep eating like this. My doctor made a point of warning me not to gain too much weight.”

  His gaze went serious. “When’s your next doctor’s appointment?”

  She had to think back; it seemed like months rather than days since she’d been home. “I think it’s a few days before Christmas. Why?”

  Marc didn’t say anything for several seconds. “The trial is scheduled the first Monday in December and we’re fairly certain we can wrap it up in a week.”

  “I was hoping I could go home after I’m finished testifying,” she said with a sigh. “You said I’d only be on the stand a day or two at the most.”

  “That’s the plan,” he agreed. He stared down at his pizza, as if he couldn’t look her in the eye. “But there is a small problem,” he added.

  She frowned. “What kind of problem?”

  “I’m not sure you’ll be safe at home, even after the trial is finished.” He lifted his gaze and her stomach clenched at the resignation reflected there.

  “Why wouldn’t I be safe?” She honestly didn’t understand his thought process. “Once Jamison is convicted, there would be no reason to hurt me.”

  “Maybe not, but are you willing to take that chance?”

  She crumpled a napkin in her fist, resisting the urge to throw it at him. It wasn’t as if any of this was his fault. “What are you suggesting, Marc? That I stay in hiding until your task force finds a way to track down and arrest Jamison’s accomplices?”

  “I think you should consider going into witness protection,” Marc said. “Starting over with a new name in a new town with a new career.”

  Her mouth dropped open in shock. Then she surged to her feet, fury radiating through her entire body. “You’ve been planning this all along,” she accused, unable to keep her tone steady and calm. She clenched her hands into fists. “Why are you just telling me this now? What about my life? I’m just supposed to give up the few friends I have and go somewhere else? Raise my baby among strangers?”

  “Kari, please...”

  “No! Don’t say anything more. I can’t talk about this right now.” She swung away from the table, putting so much weight on her sore ankle that tears sprang to her eyes. She blinked in an effort to keep them from falling as she made her way through the connecting door to her own room.

  Taking satisfaction from slamming the door loudly behind her.

  * * *

  Marc dropped his head into his hands, knowing he messed that up but good.

  Yeah, he should have mentioned witness protection before now. Early on, he hadn’t broached the topic because he felt certain Jamison would break down and tell them who he worked with. Once they had everyone in custody, there would be no reason to worry about Kari’s safety. She could go back to her normal life, planning for her new family.

  But then the safe house was breached. And the black SUV had shot at them, twice. Was likely still searching for them.

  Being in danger changed things.

  He firmly believed Tomas Lee was one of Jamison’s coconspirators. Especially after seeing the way his apartment had been ransacked. All they needed to do was find him.

  But it was the identity of the third man that concerned Marc the most. Especially if he had connections within the task force. Someone with a law-enforcement background could extract revenge on Kari even after the trial was over, making her death look like an accident.

  Over the past few days, the possibility of Kari needing to go into witness protection became real. Especially after he’d seen what had been done to Lee’s apartment.

  Blurting the truth about her future hadn’t been the smartest move he’d ever made, however.

  He needed to apologize, but she’d made it clear she didn’t want to talk to him. Her anger was understandable; he didn’t particularly want Kari to go into witness protection, either.

  Her plight wasn’t his fault, but he still felt responsible. He was the one in charge of the task force, which meant finding the leak was his responsibility.

  Marc rose to his feet and began cleaning up the mess from their lunch. There was almost half a pizza left over, so he shoved it into the small fridge and tossed everything else in the garbage.

  Setting his computer aside, he reviewed the information he’d printed out on Tomas Lee. But it wasn’t easy to concentrate; instead he kept listening for Kari.

  When he’d read the same paragraph three times, he gave up. He strode over to the door between their rooms. It was closed tight and there was no handle on his side, so he knocked.

  “Kari? Are you all right?”

  Silence.

  Was she ignoring him? Or had she fallen asleep?

  “Will you please talk to me?” Normally, he was always able to bury himself in his work, ignoring any and all personal problems. Wasn’t that what he’d done with Jess? But somehow, he couldn’t stand knowing that Kari was upset with him.

  Ha
dn’t she said that stress wasn’t good for the baby?

  He took a deep breath, intending to try one last time, when he heard the click of the lock. The door abruptly swung open and his chest tightened when he realized she’d been crying.

  “I’m sorry,” he rasped. “I should have mentioned the possibility of witness protection before now. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

  She snorted and turned away to limp back toward the bed. “Yeah, because leaving your entire life behind to start over with a bunch of strangers is something you’d do without hesitation.”

  Her sarcasm made him wince. The very idea of leaving his family behind was incomprehensible. He followed her into the room. “You’re right, I wouldn’t be very happy about leaving my family behind.”

  “Face it, you wouldn’t leave your family at all,” she corrected. “You’d figure out some other way to get what was needed.”

  He couldn’t deny her allegation. “You’re right.”

  “Of course I’m right. And just because my mother is gone, doesn’t mean I don’t have ties to the community.”

  “I know.” He sat down in the chair across from her. “I’m sorry.” He’d apologized more to Kari in the short time they’d been together than he’d ever done with Jess.

  Maybe he should have done more of that, earlier in their marriage.

  “There has to be a way to get to the truth,” she said, avoiding his gaze. “If we can figure out who Jamison was working with, I wouldn’t have to go.”

  “Agreed. I promise you, I’ll continue working the case, even after the trial is over.” He knew his caseload wouldn’t make that an easy promise to fulfill, but he’d use every spare moment he had to keep going. “But I think we’re getting a little ahead of ourselves, planning for the worst-case scenario.” He added, “Could be that Jamison will spill his guts sooner rather than later. Especially if he finds out that Lee’s apartment has been trashed.”

  “Maybe.” She didn’t sound convinced. Not too surprising, since he hadn’t managed to convince himself, either. Nothing about this case was going as planned. There had to be something he was missing.

  But what?

  Why wouldn’t Jamison talk? What game was he playing? How would keeping silent work to his advantage?

  He wished he knew.

  “Do you think I can spend Christmas at home, before I have to leave?” she asked.

  His stomach knotted, wishing he could assure her she could enjoy a nice Christmas celebration.

  With him? And the rest of the Callahan gang?

  The idea had a strange appeal. He liked Kari...a lot, more than he should. The exhilarating kiss they’d shared was imbedded in his memory.

  Wait a minute, what was he thinking? His family would assume things were serious if he brought Kari home with him. And he’d never hear the end of it from his mother, Nan and the rest of his siblings. Especially Maddy.

  On the other hand, the idea of seeing Kari again, once the trial was over, wouldn’t go away. At first, her pregnancy had reminded him of everything he’d lost, but now, he found himself wanting to be there for her.

  Not that she’d given any indication that she felt the same way.

  She was staring at him waiting for his response, so he did his best to reassure her. “Try not to worry about it now,” he said softly. “It’s better if we take it one day at a time. We have to get through the trial before we can think about what will happen afterward. And I suspect that once Jamison is found guilty, he’ll be more likely to cooperate with us, maybe in exchange for a lighter sentence.”

  She grimaced. “I’ll try.” She rubbed her chest.

  “What’s wrong? Do you feel sick or something?”

  “Heartburn from the pizza,” she muttered. “Having pepperoni for lunch seemed like a good idea at the time, but now, not so much.”

  A grin tugged at his mouth. “I might have some antacids in my bag.”

  “Really?” Her eyes brightened. “Enough to spare? That would be great.”

  “Of course.” Relieved that she seemed to have forgiven him, at least for the moment, he hurried into his room to find the antacids. He suffered from heartburn occasionally, as well, and was glad he had something to help make her feel better.

  “Here you go,” he said, spilling two flavored tablets in the palm of her hand.

  “Can I see the bottle?”

  “Sure.” He held it out so she could read the label.

  “Calcium, that’s good for both me and the baby.” She popped them in her mouth, chewed, then scowled. “Too bad they taste like chalk.”

  “Unfortunately, they do. But if this is a side effect of being pregnant, you may as well get used to it,” Marc said wryly. “Just remember it could be worse.”

  “Yeah, thanks.”

  He watched her for a moment, struck again by her wholesome beauty. Maybe it was partially because she was pregnant, but her cheeks held a soft glow.

  “I guess I’d better get back to work,” he said, rising reluctantly to his feet. “Let me know if you need anything.”

  “I’m fine,” she assured him. “The antacids should do the trick.”

  He nodded, sticking his hands into his pockets to resist the urge to cross over, take her in his arms and kiss her.

  Opening up his laptop, he began searching for more information on Tomas Lee. But there wasn’t much out there—it seemed that Lee had been keeping a low profile, at least until he’d teamed up with Jamison to do the bank robberies.

  Marc stared at the tattoo designs. The men had gone together back in February or March to get their matching tattoos. Did that mean that they’d been planning the bank robberies even back then? The way they’d struck so many different banks in such a short period of time, less than two weeks, made Marc think that they’d done a fair amount of leg work prior to the main event.

  Which meant that whoever was involved inside the task force had been in on the planning, as well.

  He went back to the members of the task force. Detective Steve Young’s wife had filed for divorce in November of the previous year. Detective Monique Barclay’s credit score had also taken a hit about the same time. Agent David Hermes credit wasn’t that great, either, thanks to his late child-support payments.

  Marc figured he could put Agent Angela Wright and Detective Jason Wu at the bottom of the list for now, focusing his efforts on the other three with financial issues.

  His phone rang, jarring him from his thoughts. He pulled out the phone, recognizing his brother Miles’s number. “Hey, Miles, what’s up?”

  “I have news about Tomas Lee,” his brother said.

  Marc mentally braced himself, expecting the worst. “Oh yeah? What?”

  “We found his body in a back alley, not too far from his apartment. He had a gunshot wound in his right temple.”

  Marc let out a heavy sigh. “Homicide?”

  “My instincts say yes, but the ME hasn’t ruled out suicide,” his brother replied. “Tomas Lee was right-handed and there are traces of gunpowder on his right hand. It’s possible he shot himself.”

  “My gut says murder staged to look like a suicide,” Marc said. “When will the ME make a final determination?”

  “Couple of days. Plus we have several techs and officers going through Lee’s ransacked apartment, looking for any possible evidence linking him to the bank jobs.”

  “Good, I hope they find something. Did you verify the tattoo?”

  “Yeah, and you’re right, it looks similar to the one Jamison has,” Miles agreed. “I’ll keep you posted but wanted you to know we found him.”

  “I appreciate it.”

  “By the way, are you coming home for Sunday brunch?”

  As much as he’d like to see his family, he couldn’t risk exposing the
m, and Kari, to danger. “Not this week.”

  “I figured as much. I’ll let Mom know.”

  “Thanks.” Marc disconnected from the call, wondering about Lee’s death. No way did he think the guy shot himself, but why kill him at all?

  The only conclusion Marc could come to was that there had to be another reason Kari’s life was in danger. Not just because she identified the tattoo, but something more.

  Was it possible she’d seen something else? Something that could help them identify who the third person was? If so, they needed to figure it out before it was too late.

  THIRTEEN

  When Kari heard the shrill ringing of Marc’s phone, she slid off the bed and limped over to the connecting doorway so she could listen to his side of the conversation.

  Goose bumps rippled down her arms when she heard that Tomas Lee was dead.

  She closed her eyes for a moment and leaned against the door frame, wrestling with her chaotic emotions.

  One of Jamison’s suspected accomplices was dead, from either murder or suicide, leaving them with no other clues as to who else might be involved. A wave of helplessness washed over her. All of this death and destruction, for what? If the authorities were able to prove Tomas Lee was murdered, then she couldn’t argue against the heightened threat of danger. His homicide only proved it was necessary for her to enter a witness-protection program.

  She didn’t want to go to a strange town, in a different area of the country. Didn’t want to leave her friends and her coworkers behind.

  Especially Marc.

  There was no logic to that thought, since it wasn’t at all likely that she’d see Marc after the trial even if she wasn’t forced to go into witness protection. She knew better than to read anything into their kiss. Hadn’t she learned that lesson the hard way? Vince had professed to love her, but all along he’d intended only to take advantage of her.

  Marc wasn’t the kind of man who would take advantage of anyone, but he’d lost his wife and chosen to live in a world without color. Ridiculous to think their lives could ever mesh. Not to mention the small fact that he hadn’t indicated he’d be interested in seeing her again, once this nightmare had ended.