Protected Secrets

Delaney’s chest seized, as if a hard, protective layer around her heart was being ripped apart, one tiny square at a time. The paramedic and Jim watched her with anticipation. She leaned forward and pulled back the blanket to find Winnie’s wide eyes. “Found you,” she said softly.

Winnie twisted so her face smashed against Bruce’s side, but the little girl’s laughter would not be contained and proved contagious to the other occupants of the ambulance.

The paramedic beamed and leaned back into his seat. “I tell you what, young lady. We don’t usually have a lot of laughter in the back of this vehicle. Would make my job a lot easier if we did.” He leveled a pointed look at Delaney. “We’re almost to the hospital if you need to arrange a ride.”

“Of course.” She pulled out her phone. “Jim, I need you to switch places with Bruce.”

Jim began to object.

“You’re taking his place as an added precaution, so we can slip away unnoticed. Bruce, put on the marshal’s hat.”

Bruce sat up and tried to hand Winnie to her. She froze until the little girl reached out her arms. Delaney’s back tensed but she reached forward and took Winnie. It wasn’t a big deal to hold the little girl so the men could switch positions without kicking someone in the head. Logically, she knew that.

It felt dangerous, though. It was becoming harder and harder not to think about her own daughter out there somewhere. Delaney had a little over fifteen years left before she could ask for the sealed adoption records to be opened.

“Let’s play hide again,” Winnie said.

“Maybe after we’re in the hotel, okay?” A hotel wasn’t ideal, as it required a lot more manpower to adequately protect a witness, but she didn’t have another safe house arranged in town. The less they had to travel, the better.

She dialed the chief deputy’s number and hoped the second team on the way had an extra vehicle for her. Every moment spent in the hospital—the very place where she’d delivered her daughter—would be torture. Even thinking about it, she could smell the phantom aromas of antiseptics and disinfectants. Her scars remembered the tenderness and pain after the emergency surgery. Winnie snuggled closer, and the smell of baby shampoo in her hair shifted Delaney’s focus.

The chief deputy answered, and she wasted no time outlining her plan to keep Bruce and Winnie safe. She held her head high as she spoke and hoped no one could hear the fear and doubt lacing every word.