Star Witness

Aaron was almost to his mid-thirties, so it was past time to start thinking about fallback options. Especially considering the fact his team hated him at this point. When he got back, there wasn’t going to be much of a working relationship between them all if they didn’t trust Aaron anymore.

They’d banded together around Franklin, which was the right thing. Aaron didn’t fault them for giving their support to their blind teammate. Franklin would need it. But did they have to reject Aaron in the process? Hadn’t it just been a mistake? A horrific one, sure, but he was only human. Didn’t they know that?

“What do ya say?”

Aaron glanced down the hall where a teen boy in a white T-shirt and saggy jeans crowded a younger girl against the wall.

“I’m not sure.” The girl’s voice was a nervous murmur. “I don’t think—”

The boy’s face hardened. “Not the right answer, babe.”

Aaron sauntered over. “Hey, what’s up, guys?” They both turned to him. The boy’s face hardened and the girl’s eyes went wide. “Is there a vending machine around here? I’m really craving a soda.”

The girl’s face washed with relief, even though the boy hadn’t stepped back. She pointed down the hall behind Aaron. “In the kitchen. They’re a dollar, but if you hit the top three buttons on the left and the bottom right one at the same time, an orange soda will drop out.”

The boy looked at her. “Why would you tell him that?”

“He’s Ms. Winters’s new boyfriend. I saw them together earlier.”

The boy looked back at Aaron. “For real? You’re Ms. Winters’s new boyfriend?”

Aaron nearly rolled his eyes at the third degree from a kid who apparently thought his teenage self was something everyone needed to take note of. Was that what he had looked like at that age? Aaron must have seemed ridiculous. It was a wonder his foster parents hadn’t laughed at him.

Aaron looked at the girl, admittedly a little intrigued. “Does Ms. Winters have a lot of boyfriends?”

“I think you’re the first.”

“How long have you been coming here?”

“Like, four years.”

That was interesting. So as far as the kids knew, Mackenzie didn’t date. At all. Maybe it wasn’t just him who noticed the air of “I’m hiding something” that she wore. Or he only saw it because he knew she was in witness protection.

Aaron lifted his chin to the boy. “You might want to back up a step there, champ. Give the girl some breathing space.”

The teen’s eyes narrowed and he moved forward. Aaron’s body tightened in readiness.

“Is everything okay?” Mackenzie appeared beside Aaron, bringing with her the scent of cotton candy. She looked at the girl. “Megan?”

“Everything’s fine, Ms. Winters.”

Aaron watched the boy step back and wondered how Mackenzie managed to generate that level of respect just by smiling.

“Class is over, so your sister is waiting for you.”

The girl scurried around their huddle and disappeared around the corner into the room where Mackenzie had been teaching. Aaron turned back to see Mackenzie had closed in on the boy. “You take care, Hector.”

Hector? This was the kid whose brother had shot at them on the street?

“I don’t need advice from you.” Hector stepped back, motioning with his fingers.

Aaron moved to shut down whatever the kid was about to do, but Mackenzie stopped him with a hand on his chest. “Let him go. He’s dealing with enough.”

“Like an older brother who tried to kill you yesterday? I’m surprised he even showed up.” Aaron blew out a breath. “You shouldn’t let him disrespect you that way.”

Mackenzie frowned. “You don’t think these kids understand love, or kindness?”

“Trust me, they have one currency and that’s respect. Nothing else gets through to them.”

“You sound as though you know what you’re talking about.”

Aaron shrugged. “Same world, different city.”

“Maybe you could tell me about it later.”

“Why? So you can feel as if you know me?” He shook his head. “I’m not one of those kids.”

“I know that. Aaron, I just—”

“Thought we should be friends? Is that what you want? Or do you want me to keep you safe from the guy who wants you dead? Because you can’t have it both ways. That’s not how this works.”

Mackenzie stepped back and her face blanked. “I’ll be in my office. Try not to start any more fights, okay? I’m only going to grab my purse.”

He followed her, unwilling to mess up the only thing that would keep Eric’s respect when he found out Aaron was responsible for the failed mission and his teammate’s medical discharge. He watched her switch off her computer and shut out the lights. The other woman who worked there—Eva—met them in the lobby.

“So I’ll meet you at the restaurant? Or are you going home to change first?”

Aaron glanced between them. “What’s this?”

Mackenzie sighed. “I forgot to mention it. I’m really sorry, Eva.”

She thought Aaron wasn’t going to let her go?

Eva glanced between them before her attention settled on Mackenzie. “But you have to come out. You promised. It’ll be fun, I’m telling you. All-you-can-eat appetizers and we’ll splurge on something chocolate for dessert even though we don’t need it. Come on, what do you say?”

Mackenzie clearly wanted to go. Did she not want him tagging along and putting a crimp in girl’s night out? Well, too bad.

Aaron smiled. “Sounds great. I’m in.”

Eva’s eyes flickered, but she recovered quickly. “Sure, why not.”

Aaron stuck his hand out. “Aaron Hanning, nice to meet you.”

She shook his hand. “Eva Partez.”

“Mackenzie and I’ll meet you there. All right?”

Mackenzie swallowed. “Sure.”

He grabbed her elbow and led her out before she could change her mind. Mackenzie locked the front doors as Eva sped off in a black Mustang with the top down. The sun had turned the sky pink and Aaron had to sidestep so he could see Mackenzie’s face without the glare.

“All-you-can-eat appetizers?”

Mackenzie sighed. “She’s been asking me to hang out with her for weeks and I finally broke down yesterday and agreed. I actually thought it would be fun, but now that Carosa might have sent someone to kill me...”

“Carosa? As in the Colombian drug cartel?”

She hesitated for a minute, and then nodded.

“So that’s who the guy in the picture was.” He whistled. “You don’t mess around, do you? But don’t worry. I’ll be there to keep you safe, whatever this is. That’s why Eric asked me to stay.”

“Why would you? I mean, it’s kind of clear that you don’t really like me. Why would you give up your time to protect someone who basically means nothing more to you than some stranger on the street?”

“What I’m protecting is Eric’s witness. It’s his career on the line because of your safety. And I never said I didn’t like you.”

“Seemed kind of obvious to me.”

“Well, I’m—” he swallowed “—sorry for that. In the future, I’ll try to be...nicer.”

Mackenzie laughed. “That was hard for you to say, wasn’t it? Big tough guy like you. It must be rough, having to be pleasant.”

Aaron didn’t like one bit that she was laughing at him. “Let’s just get going, okay?” He grabbed her elbow again and headed down the street toward where he’d parked his truck.

“Why do you do that?”

“What?”

“Haul me around like a sack of potatoes.”

He loosened his grip but didn’t let go. “Guess I need to be nicer about that, too. I don’t usually work with people who are willing to cooperate. I normally have to push a lot harder to get the result I want.”

“Then maybe you should just try asking nicely.”

“Is it going to be as uncomfortable as apologizing?”

Mackenzie laughed. “Probably.”

Okay, when her face brightened like that he didn’t much mind that she was teasing him. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad having to be around her for a couple of weeks. He could get used to sparring with Mackenzie Winters.

Aaron opened the passenger door for her, like a gentleman was supposed to. Unfortunately that meant they both got a look at the interior. Last night he hadn’t been in any shape to apologize for the state of his truck. He’d just shoved everything into the middle to make a space for her. But now he saw exactly how bad it was. The foot well had a bunch of fast-food wrappers tossed there, and the passenger seat was under his jacket, a duffel bag and two gel packs that weren’t frozen anymore.

Aaron tossed the duffel and jacket behind the bench seat and motioned to the seat. “Your chariot, my lady.”

“Why, thank you, kind sir.”

When he pulled out, he scanned the street while Mackenzie stared at him again.

“So what are we going to tell Eva about you? I mean, you did just show up out of the blue, so we can’t pretend you’re my new boyfriend. What about my cousin?”

He glanced at her and then back at the road. “Why do we need to have a story?”

“Isn’t that what people do in these situations? Develop a cover story. Perhaps you could be my cousin from out of town, recently laid off from your job of hunting down rogue skunks in the Alaskan wilderness.”

“Rogue skunks?”

“Or something.”

He smiled. “Judging by the contents of the bookshelves in your living room, it doesn’t surprise me you have a vivid imagination.”

Mackenzie folded her arms. “What’s wrong with what I read?”

Aaron waved away her question. “I’m not even going to get started on what’s wrong with your taste in books. You really don’t want to know.”

“Well, what have you read lately?”

She probably thought he didn’t know how. He smiled. “Dr. Seuss.”

“Like when you were six?”

He nearly laughed. “No, a couple of weeks ago. There was this kid in the hospital who had burned his hands, so he couldn’t hold the book. I hung out with him a while before I got discharged. Sweet kid.”

“Seriously?”

“What? It was a nice thing to do.”

“It was.”

He pulled across an intersection, about a mile from the restaurant. “And you’re the only one who can help kids?”

“I didn’t say that. It’s just contrary to what I’ve seen from you before. You were a little...gruff earlier.”

“I apologized then.”

“And I accepted. I’m just saying—” Mackenzie froze.

A black van came at the front left corner of the truck. Another van came from the right, boxing them in. The two vehicles moved closer together, tightening the noose. Aaron gripped the wheel, fighting to keep them from bouncing off the side of one van into the other.

* * *

The vans screeched to a halt, stopping Aaron’s truck with them. The door on one van slid back, and Mackenzie gasped as hooded men in black fatigues with big guns poured out. More appeared behind them, cocooning them in the truck. All the weapons were lifted and pointed at Aaron.

“Let the girl out!”

Aaron gripped the wheel with both hands but didn’t move or speak.

“Um...Aaron?”

One of the men in all black moved toward her door.

“Put it in Reverse.” Aaron spoke, but his lips barely moved.

“What?”

“They can see both my hands. Reach over and put it in Reverse.” He pushed out a breath. “Now.”

He moved his foot to the clutch. Mackenzie ground the gearshift, wincing at the sound. Before she was barely done, Aaron’s foot hit the gas and they flew backward. She screamed and gripped the dash. The truck spun in an arc, Aaron changed gears again and they sped forward. She looked back. “They’re right behind us. They’re chasing us.”

“I know.”

“They didn’t shoot, though.”

Aaron glanced at her and then took a corner so fast they almost went up on two wheels. “You want to talk about this now? Fine. I’m guessing they don’t want you harmed. They don’t get paid for delivering damaged goods.”

“Carosa wants to kill me himself. I know. He yelled it across the courtroom the day I testified against his brother.” She took a deep breath and pushed it out slowly as they raced down the street. “This isn’t about Hector’s brother now. Maybe someone hired him just like they hired these guys.”

“Good thing for us Carosa seems to only know semicompetent thugs.”

Every few streets she glanced back until finally she said, “They’re not there anymore.”

“They must have backed off.” He pulled into a gas station and out the other side, cutting off a Buick. “That means they’re confident they’ll get another shot.”

FIVE

Aaron drove for the sake of driving, not worrying about where he was going. He reached over and squeezed Mackenzie’s hand. “You okay?”

Mackenzie’s fingers were chilled, as though the courage had been drained out of her. He let her hand go, wondering what he was supposed to say now that all of this was officially a whole lot bigger than just someone with a grudge against the center. Carosa had sent men for her.

Aaron pulled up at a stoplight. Mackenzie’s big eyes made her look more like a scared girl than a woman who dressed like a grandma librarian—except for the black high-heeled boots that started directly under her knee-length skirt. Her hair was still pulled tight in that ugly bun she’d been wearing all day. It was as if it was some kind of uniform she used to protect her identity. Had she been a recognizable person before? He looked at her again, trying to think if there was someone she resembled.

Eric should have pressed the local P.D. harder. Clearly Mackenzie’s name had been leaked somehow, given that it had taken no time at all for hired mercenaries to find her. And for what? Aaron didn’t even want to think about what Carosa would have done with her. Or how her current identity had been connected to the person she used to be.

Mackenzie looked out the side window. Her fingers gripped the straps of the backpack that sat between her knees. They were on the run from Carosa, but Aaron had no idea what the deal was. What had happened to her?

Ignorance wasn’t bliss—it got you killed.

When the danger was hypothetical, that was fine. He’d had the time to wait for her to share. But now that it was real, he didn’t like not knowing the people involved, or the fact Eric couldn’t give him all the information about Mackenzie and the guy after her without breaking WITSEC rules.

Some favor.

He needed to get Mackenzie someplace safe until Eric called to say it was all clear for her to come home...probably only to be relocated again. Who knew what the fallout from this mess would be? Especially when the Marshals Service realized Mackenzie had disappeared.

He studied her while the light was red, trying to guess who this woman really was and why she was hiding.

“I need to know.” He clenched his jaw, willing her to talk to him. “Do you know any of the men who tried to stop us?”

“I’ve never seen them before.”

He sighed. “I’m sorry, I had to ask.”

“Now you’re in danger, too. Because of me.”

And that seemed to concern her a great deal. Why, he had no idea. She didn’t know him from any guy on the street, just like she’d said of him. Mackenzie cared way too much about a bunch of kids most people would write off—even him, before he’d seen how they opened up to her.

Aaron squeezed her fingers again. “It makes no difference if I’m in their sights, too—the play is still the same. We stick together.” He followed the line of cars that clogged the city’s streets. “My shoulder’s still healing. Eric didn’t know who else he could trust, and we’d already met.”

“What are you healing from?”

“You don’t have to worry about that. I’m perfectly capable of keeping you safe until we meet up with Eric and get the next move all figured out.” He hung a right, one eye on the traffic behind them, watching for a tail.

“Are you sure you’re okay with being involved? I mean, drop me at the next corner if you want. I won’t be responsible for dragging someone else down with me.” She glanced away, out the window. “Not again.”

Now, why did she have to go and say that? “I might not be a hero, but at least I’m not a jerk. I’m in this with you, and I have no intention of ditching just because things got hot. The threat is real now.”

“I know.”

“Mackenzie, you don’t have to worry. I’m going to stick with you until we know you’re safe. Either Eric will figure out what’s going on or we’ll get you a place to stay. Then you can go back to your life.”

Back to the Downtown Performing Arts Center, a building filled with kids and laughter from the moment school got out until well after dark. Music had permeated the whole place today—everything from the most somber classical piece to the latest radio hit song. What was it about Mackenzie that she could take a broken-down building and a bunch of kids everyone had written off and infuse them with so much life?

Aaron needed to know more about why Carosa was after her so he could wrap up this favor and get back to his life. But first he had to lose any possible pursuers, just in case there was someone behind them he hadn’t seen.

“Why now?”

Aaron didn’t know if she was talking to him, or if she had even heard what he said. He took a sharp right down an alley and hit the gas. They came out the far side onto another busy main street, and he flipped a quick U-turn to the sound of multiple beeping horns.

It was as if she didn’t even notice.

“Why couldn’t this have happened years ago, before I made a life for myself? He shouldn’t have been able to find me. This shouldn’t be happening.”

Aaron’s chest got tight. “I get that this is a shock, Mackenzie, but it can’t be unprecedented. Can it?”

She finally looked at him. “Being ready for what is a remote possibility is one thing. Thinking you’re actually going to have to leave the life you love because a group of soldiers is trying to abduct you is something entirely different. I’m done, I won’t ever be safe. He found me this time, he’ll find me again.”

“So that’s it? You’re going to give yourself up to die?”

She huffed. “What do you expect me to do? I’m going up against a man who’ll kill me without a second thought. What do I do in the face of that? Hit him with a guitar? Sing him to death?”

Aaron made a turn onto a major street lined with stores and restaurants. “As entertaining as that would be, you don’t have to worry. It’s why I’m here.”

“And I get to be the helpless female while the big strong man protects me? Sorry, that doesn’t work for me.”

He pulled up behind a sky-blue Cadillac at a stoplight. The air conditioning took that moment to stop working, and hot Arizona air filled the cab instead. Great.

He turned to her. “If you’re going to fight me all the way, maybe you should get out at the next corner. Or you could trust me and I can teach you how to survive.”

“Like how to shoot a gun?” She shuddered. “I don’t think so.”

“Then you seriously need my help. Eric wouldn’t have asked me to stick around if he thought you should just give up and die.”

“It’s his job to make sure I’m safe.”

The light was still red. Aaron studied her profile, folded in and wound tight again. “You don’t have to be scared.”

“I’m not worried about dying, but I’m also too much of a realist. Survival is pretty much a pipe dream at this point. This guy will never, ever give up.”

Something dark flashed in his eyes. “You’re not going to let me help you?”

She reached for the door handle. Aaron was blocked in, cars behind and in front of him in his lane and the light hadn’t changed.

“I’m not letting anyone else get killed because of me. I’m doing this alone.”

* * *

Mackenzie slammed the door. Aaron jumped out and called her name, but there were no footsteps that followed her. He wasn’t the kind of man who abandoned his truck on the street—even if it was a dump on the inside. It had been torture sitting there chatting as though she was going along with the whole thing while she waited for the right time to make her move.

She couldn’t trust anyone; that was the bottom line. And there was no way she would put anyone else in danger. Nothing good could come from spending time in an intense situation with a good-looking man who didn’t seem like a bad guy, even if he was occasionally a jerk.

Mackenzie needed to save her energy for staying alive instead of falling back into her old ways. Sparks, smiles, then a brief touch of the hand, a light kiss...it might as well be a whirlpool that sucked her under, or a riptide that took her back to the kind of person she had no intention of becoming again.

Mackenzie started down the sidewalk. Traffic streamed past in both directions. It took her a second to get her bearings, but she headed for a bus stop, watching every vehicle that passed for the vans the mercenaries had been driving. When she finally slumped into a seat on a bus, Mackenzie would be able to close her eyes and let herself relax. Buses were anonymous. People left each other alone for the most part, and she would be able to just stare out the window and not think about what her life had become.

Sometimes she rode the bus all day—through the city, out to the desert, tourist bus trips to the Grand Canyon—wondering what would happen if she never got off. The bus would stop eventually, done for the day. She could disembark and hop another bus...anywhere.

If you leave, I can’t protect you.

And yet she had left, which meant WITSEC was going to kick her out of the program for breaking the rules. She was off on her own now, no Eric, no Aaron. Fear churned her stomach, reminding her she hadn’t eaten since lunch. There was no way she’d be able to stomach anything now. Her life was over and she was as good as dead. Staying with Aaron only meant prolonging the inevitable.

At least this way he would be safe.

A young mom pushing a toddler in a stroller passed her. Mackenzie returned the woman’s smile. That could never be her. She’d done too much to ever be free of the chains of her past. She would be forever bound by the consequences of the girl she’d been.

A new life meant leaving behind everything and everyone she had come to love. She should have kept emotion out of it, done her job and gone home at the end of the day to her empty house. Too bad everything about the center kids made her fall in love the minute she looked in their eyes. They might be rough at the corners and some even hard, but they were so full of life and promise.

Something she didn’t have left.

Not since she’d testified against the son of a drug lord in a trial that ended with him getting life without parole for double homicide and attempted murder. Then it had all ended four years later in a prison riot. She should have been free because Pedro Carosa was dead. Problem over, except it wasn’t. In the years since then, his older brother, Alonzo, apparently hadn’t given up the idea of revenge. It seemed he was just as committed as ever to making Mackenzie pay for tearing his family apart.

And there was no way she was going to let anyone else get caught in her cross fire.

The car engine revved, but she didn’t turn. It was happening all over again, and this time there was no Aaron to dive with her out of the line of fire.

The vehicle slowed, but she wasn’t about to turn that way and allow whoever it was to get a look at her. Mackenzie sped up her pace, her eyes on the road ahead.

How could she get out of here? A side street? Into a café and out the back entrance? Would a bus come along just in time? Maybe a cab.

But what was the point? Carosa had found her.

The vehicle’s brakes squealed as it stopped and the driver’s door slammed.

She started running.

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