Читать книгу Witness Undercover - Debra Cowan - Страница 12

FOUR

Things had gone okay for the rest of their stay at the hospital. Still, Griffin didn’t breathe easy until he and Laura were back at his house late that afternoon. The assailant had gotten past him. He was rattled and that angry red mark circling her neck didn’t help.

He still wasn’t sure if remaining as her bodyguard was the right call, but he’d agreed. He wouldn’t go back on his word. And she wouldn’t be attacked again, no matter what he had to do.

On the ride home, he had asked several random questions in an attempt to determine if she had suffered a concussion. She didn’t appear to have one. Now she sat at his kitchen table, her features drawn and tired. The knot at her hairline was now swollen to the size of a quarter and starting to turn blue.

Joy was on her way here with Boone Winslow, who was standing in for Sydney this evening. Opening his first-aid kit, Griffin took out a tube of antibiotic ointment and uncapped it. He started to give the medicine to Laura, but she looked completely done in.

He squeezed some ointment onto a cotton swab and leaned down, gently tipping her head to the side. “I’ll try not to hurt you.”

“I’m not worried.” She gave him a faint smile.

As lightly as possible, he dabbed the ointment on the vicious-looking abrasion around her neck.

“Okay?” he asked.

“Just fine. Thanks.”

Her silky hair hung across one shoulder, sliding across the back of his hand as he worked. Satisfied that he’d done what he could for her injuries, he capped the ointment and tossed it into the first-aid kit. Then he gingerly checked the knot at her hairline.

When she winced, white-hot anger rushed through him. Griffin wanted to pound the guy who’d tried to kill her.

“Good thinking to kick over that trash can,” he said, easing down into the chair adjacent to hers. “Have you remembered anything else about the guy who did this? Besides the possible tattoo on his wrist?”

“No. I’ll let you know if I do.”

The light in her eyes was gone and Griffin found himself wishing he knew how to put it back. “How are you feeling? Hungry?”

“Not really.”

“Do you need some ibuprofen for your head or neck?”

“No, thanks.” She didn’t seem to need or want anything. Maybe her time in WitSec had taught her that. If Griffin hadn’t thought she was strong before, he sure did now. Not only because she was still standing after being attacked twice in the past forty-eight hours, but also because she was still determined to do whatever was necessary to help her father.

Griffin couldn’t comprehend how she seemed able to just forgive her father or how her father could’ve forgiven her so easily. He knew it couldn’t be that easy. Could it? He’d never heard of anyone who’d done anything like that. He sure hadn’t forgiven Emily and they had broken up almost four years ago.

He searched his mind for a way to keep Laura engaged. “How long has it been since you’ve spoken to your dad?”

He expected her to say ten months, the length of time she’d been in WitSec.

“My graduation from vet school, three years ago. We didn’t part on good terms.”

He shifted toward her. “What happened?”

“I rebelled. Against my dad and God. It started after my mom died from cancer. It was a pattern of bad behavior that went on too long.”

“Until you turned evidence on Arrico?”

“Yes, although that didn’t fix things with my dad.”

“Were things always rocky between you two?”

“Not until my mom passed. I was seventeen, a junior in high school, and spent as little time as possible with him. The guys I dated were his complete opposite. Forbidden. I grew apart from him and apart from God, too.”

“Maybe God grew apart from you,” Griffin suggested quietly. That was what had happened to him on an Afghan mountain four years ago.

“I told myself that for a long time, but the truth is God was always there. I’m the one who turned away from Him.”

Griffin wasn’t sure he agreed. He’d lost God during a disastrous mission in the Hindu Kush that had also cost his career and the lives of his three teammates. God’s absence had been confirmed when he’d returned home and Emily had dumped him for someone else. “You met Arrico when he brought his injured dog into the school’s teaching vet clinic?”

“How do you know that?” she asked sharply.

“Marshal Yates and the trial transcripts.”

After a moment, she continued, “Back then I was looking for trouble. Vin asked me out. I accepted. Two months later, I moved in with him. Bad decision in more ways than one.”

Regret was written all over her pretty face. “Which you realized the night he hit you?”

Her eyes narrowed. “Before that, actually, but that’s when I finally left.”

“So, you found evidence of his drug dealing and human trafficking, and took it to the FBI?” he prompted.

She nodded. “The case didn’t go to trial for a year and I was under FBI protection until it wrapped up.”

“Then Arrico tried to kill you in a drive-by shooting. Which explains why you’re in WitSec.”

“Did Floyd also tell you that?” she asked accusingly, her voice taut.

He realized she must feel that her life wasn’t her own, which it wasn’t. “The Marshals moved you to Pueblo and you’ve been there ten months, safe and sound.”

“Until now,” she muttered.

He tried to imagine how he would feel if his control were taken away like that. “You seem okay with giving up your life.”

“Do I?” Her blue eyes were weary. “I wasn’t at first. I was angry and bitter and resentful. WitSec was my only