Читать книгу Shielding His Christmas Witness - Laura Scott - Страница 12

FOUR

Clutching the door handle with a white-knuckled grip, Kari tried to keep her head down as she stared in horrified shock at the side mirror and the large black SUV keeping pace behind them.

Dear Lord, keep us safe!

“Call for help,” Marc said in a terse voice.

Tearing her gaze from the mirror, she searched for the new disposable phones his brother had purchased earlier that morning. She grabbed the device and pushed the 9-1-1 digits with trembling fingers.

The phone rang several times before the dispatcher picked up. “What’s your emergency?”

“We’re heading north of the interstate on Highway WW and there’s a black SUV with tinted windows shooting at us.”

“Is anyone injured?”

“Not yet!” Kari sucked in a harsh breath when another crack echoed through the air. Their car skidded for a moment on a slippery spot on the asphalt before Marc wrestled it back on the road. “Hurry!”

“I’m sending squads to your area. Please stay on the line.”

“I’ll try.” She swallowed hard when Marc pulled out his weapon.

“Grab the wheel,” he ordered.

Making a decision between the phone and the car wasn’t that difficult. Kari dropped the device in the center console and grabbed onto the steering wheel with both hands, doing her best to keep it steady. Her heart thundered in her chest as she stared at the recently plowed blacktop highway.

Marc rolled down the window and poked out his head and his gun to return fire.

The gunshot blasts were excruciatingly loud, seeming to reverberate through the vehicle. She winced and struggled to keep the car centered on the road.

Marc ducked back inside and took control of the driving once again. She heard the voice of the 911 operator asking questions so she picked up the phone again.

“Sorry...can you repeat that?” Kari asked.

“I need the name of the closest exit,” the dispatcher said. “I have two Washington County Sheriff’s deputies dispatched to your location but I need to provide more details.”

“We’re driving a dark blue four-door Camry,” she told the woman. She peered through the windshield, trying to find a distinguishing landmark amidst the snow-covered farmer’s fields. “There! We just passed Silver Lake Road.”

“That helps, hang on.”

Kari glanced over at Marc, who was dividing his attention between the road and his rearview mirror. Thankfully, there weren’t too many cars on the road. She stifled a scream as he leaned on the horn, barreling through yet another intersection without hesitation.

“The police will be here soon,” she told him.

“They’d better hurry,” he muttered in a grim tone.

Another gunshot rang out and this time there was an answering thud. Their car swerved sharply as the bullet found its mark.

“We’re hit,” she told the dispatcher. “You have to hurry!”

“My foot is all the way down to the floor,” Marc said, and she didn’t bother to tell him she’d meant for the dispatcher to work faster.

The landscape zipping past the window was making her dizzy, but it still wasn’t fast enough to put more distance between their car and the darkly tinted SUV. Kari didn’t want to think about what would happen if they didn’t find a way to escape the gunmen on their tail.

“Wait a minute, do you hear that?” Marc asked abruptly.

At first she didn’t know what he was talking about, but then she heard it, too. Sirens. Police sirens.

Help was on the way!

The SUV suddenly slowed down and made a dangerously sharp left-hand turn. She closed her eyes, silently thanking God for watching over them.

“Tell the dispatcher the SUV is headed west,” Marc urged. “They have to find it.”

She repeated what he’d told her to the dispatcher, but the woman cut her off. “So you’re not in danger anymore?”

Kari was still in danger, and would be until she testified, but didn’t think that was terribly relevant. “That’s correct...the SUV is no longer behind us.”

Marc had taken his foot off the accelerator, too, and the car dropped down to a reasonable speed. He turned right, heading east in the opposite direction the SUV had taken, then he reached over to take the phone from her hand, pushing the button to disconnect from the call.

She gasped. “Why did you do that?”

“I’m sorry, but we can’t waste time talking to the deputies right now.”

“But don’t you want to find the SUV that was shooting at us?”

“Yeah, I do. Especially since we don’t know how they found us in the first place.” He scowled and executed another turn. “First the safe house and now this? Not a coincidence. There has to be some sort of inside leak and that means being interviewed by the sheriff’s deputies is not an option. Not until I know who we can trust.”

Her mouth went dry at the thought of someone in law enforcement being entangled in this mess. “Do you really think that’s possible?”

He shrugged. “I can’t eliminate the possibility. My top priority is keeping you safe.”

Difficult to argue with his logic, since she wanted the exact same thing. She placed a soothing hand over her rounded stomach and let out a heavy sigh. “I don’t want you to get in trouble.”

The corner of his mouth tipped up in a crooked grin. “Don’t worry about me, Kari. Right now we need to find a place to hide. Keep your eyes peeled for even the most remote possibilities.”

She stared out the passenger-side window, not sure what he meant. The snow-covered farmers’ fields didn’t offer many hiding spots. The houses were few and far between.

They should have stayed in the city.

“There,” Marc said, his tone rich with satisfaction. “That will work for now.”

She frowned, looking around in confusion. There wasn’t anything around other than a large seemingly abandoned and rather dilapidated red barn located a few yards in from the road. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”

“I hope so.” He slowed the car and turned into the rutted gravel driveway leading to the structure. The car bounced and jostled as he crept closer. Then he threw the gearshift into Park, but left the engine running.

“I’m going to open the barn doors and you’re going to drive inside, okay?”

“All right.” She unbuckled her seat belt and then awkwardly climbed over the center console to get into the driver’s seat. She fumbled for the button to adjust the seat, moving it forward until her right foot reached the pedal.

Marc worked quickly, opening the doors just wide enough for her to drive inside. The minute she cleared the threshold, he began closing the doors behind her. She watched in the rearview mirror, frowning when she noticed he didn’t close them all the way. He disappeared for several long moments before returning inside. This time, he closed the doors tightly.

Darkness surrounded them, forcing her to turn on the headlights.

Marc opened the passenger-side door and rummaged in the glove box, taking out a flashlight and testing the batteries. “I’m going to see if I can find some sort of tracking device on the vehicle. Sit tight for a few minutes.”

She huddled behind the wheel as Marc examined the car. The task seemed to take forever before he returned. “Okay, turn off the engine.”

She switched off the headlights and twisted the key, shutting down the car. Then she scooted back over to the passenger-side seat, giving him room to get inside.

“Did you find anything?”

“No.”

“Now what?” she asked, trying to read his facial expression in the darkness.

“We wait.”

She shivered, even though the temperature inside the vehicle was relatively warm. At least for the moment. “For how long?”

He skimmed his hand over his short brown hair and let out a sigh. “For as long as it takes.”

Kari didn’t like that answer, but what could she say? Arguing wasn’t going to help. And hiding from gunmen wasn’t exactly her forte. She had to have faith, to trust that Marc knew what he was doing.

She shivered again, and he reached out to put his hand on her arm. “You okay?”

“Yes.” Even through her winter jacket, his touch had the ability to calm her nerves. Not just because he was armed.

But because she liked him. Trusted him. Not only with her life, but with that of her unborn child.

She felt safe in his care.

* * *

Marc wished he knew how on earth they’d been found at the motel. Miles would never put him in harm’s way, and being a detective, his brother was smart enough to make sure he wasn’t followed to the motel. He hadn’t found a tracking device, either, so the only logical possibility was that somehow their location had been traced through the voice-mail message that Marc had left for his boss.

Obviously, returning to the Ravenswood Motel wasn’t an option, but he also didn’t like the fact that the SUV had followed his car. He had no way of knowing if they’d managed to trace his license-plate number.

He’d feel better if they were able to obtain a new car as soon as possible.

For now, however, they were well hidden inside the ramshackle barn.

Even surrounded by darkness and the musty scent of stale hay, Marc was hyperaware of Kari sitting beside him. Her cranberry-vanilla scent reminded him of the upcoming Christmas holiday.

Normally, he volunteered to work over the holiday. He didn’t have a wife or children like so many of the other agents did and keeping busy helped pass the time. Granted, he usually spent Christmas with his mom, Nan and siblings, but that wasn’t the same as having a family of his own.

Oddly enough, the holiday season was about the only time he missed Jessica. At least the early years of their marriage, when they’d cuddled by the fire, sipping hot apple cider and talking about their future.

But then things changed. Not all at once, but little by little over time. At first Jess complained about the hours he spent working, then their arguments became more frequent, especially surrounding his disinterest in attending parties that lasted way into the night.

His mistake was encouraging her to go out without him.

A mistake that had ultimately cost Jess her life, along with the baby she carried. Identifying his wife in the morgue had been the hardest thing he’d ever done.

Slamming a door against the gut-wrenching memories, Marc forced himself to focus on the present. He needed to figure out how he was going to keep Kari safe while continuing his investigation. He felt Kari shivering beside him, so he reached up intending to start the engine.

Kari stopped him by covering his hand with hers. “Don’t,” she said in a low voice. “I don’t think running the car in an enclosed space is a good idea.”

The softness of her hand was momentarily distracting. His emotions had been in a deep freeze for years, so why were they thawing for Kari now? He gave himself a mental shake and pointed through the windshield. “See the open spaces up in the loft? They’re enough to prevent the exhaust fumes from building up to a dangerous level.”

“I’d rather not take any chances with the baby,” she protested.

He didn’t necessarily agree, but dropped his hand from the key and turned toward her. “All right, then scoot closer and lean against me as much as you can. Staying close together will maintain our body heat.”

The console between the seats prevented them from getting too close, but he managed to get his muscular arm around her slim shoulders, sharing a bit of body warmth. She held herself tensely at first, but then relaxed enough to rest her head against his shoulder.

“How long do we have to stay here?” she asked.

“As long as we can stand it.” The coldness of winter would push them to move before he liked, considering the longer they could remain hidden, the better off they would be. The Washington County Sheriff’s deputies would be on the lookout for them over the next twenty-four hours, along with the SUV that had been shooting at them, but Marc hoped to slip out of the county before that happened.

Of course, the deputies here would likely put all the surrounding counties on notice, as well. And even though they were victims, he knew the police would still want to question them.

“Marc? Is there any way for me to avoid testifying in court?”

He frowned at her question. “Listen, Kari, I’m going to keep you safe, okay?”

She didn’t say anything for a long moment. “I know you’re going to do your best, but I just wondered if my testimony was really all that critical to the case.”

He understood why she wanted out of this mess, but refusing to testify? He swallowed a surge of unease. “Yes, we do need your testimony. Jamison’s tattoo was a major factor in his arrest. You’re our key witness. Not only did you see the tattoo, but you drew it so that the officers could recognize it. I know you’re scared, especially after everything you’ve been through, but we need you to do this, Kari. We need you to testify against Jamison.”

She let out a heavy sigh. “I know. I just thought...” her voice trailed off.

He wished he could see her expression clearly. “Taking you off the witness list doesn’t guarantee that you’d be safe. I believe Jamison’s accomplices would still come after you in an attempt to silence you once and for all.” He hated making her more afraid, but she needed to understand the full extent of the danger she faced.