Deadly Vows. Shirlee McCoy
bled into another and she couldn’t make sense of any of it. Disgusted, she dropped the book back onto the table, grabbed her purse and jacket and opened the front door.
Outside, the day had turned cool, a brisk breeze stirring the trees and grass. Across the street, Maria and Joshua Silverman were herding their three kids into their 1950s ranch style home. Both waved before disappearing inside. Olivia knew a lot about them. That they’d married straight out of high school and had their first child a year later. That they were honest, hard working and that they’d believed every word Olivia had said about being newly divorced and looking to start over again. What she didn’t know was what they’d think if they found out the truth. That most of what she’d told them was a lie. That she was a woman with a price on her head, and that at any moment one of Vincent Martino’s thugs might end her life.
She shivered, pulling the jacket closed and glancing up and down the quiet street. Her contact with the U.S. Marshals had been limited since she’d been relocated, but she’d been assured she was under twenty-four-hour protection. Maybe so, but she didn’t feel protected. She felt vulnerable and more alone than she’d ever been before. No matter where she went in Pine Bluff, no matter what she was doing, she felt exposed. As if a predator were hiding just out of sight, waiting to pounce.
It wasn’t a good feeling, and when she spoke to Micah McGraw again, she was going to ask him just how much protection his team was providing.
“Headin’ out for the night?” Jeb Carlson, Olivia’s next door neighbor, called out from the window of his house, and she smiled. Maybe the marshals weren’t watching, but Jeb sure was.
“I’m teaching at the Y.”
“Pretty girl like you should be out having fun on a Friday night not working.”
“Having fun won’t pay the bills.”
“You got a point there. You get the delivery?”
“What delivery?” Olivia went cold at the question, her heart beating rapidly. She hadn’t ordered anything, and as far as she’d noticed, no packages had been left for her.
“Van pulled into your driveway a couple hours ago. Guy got out and grabbed something from the back. Thought he was going to leave it on your porch.”
“There was nothing here when I got home.”
“He left pretty quick. I put on my shoes and walked outside and the van was already gone. Probably realized he was at the wrong house and left. Happens sometimes.”
“Yeah.” But agreeing didn’t make it so. Maybe there’d been a mistake. Or maybe the Martinos had found her.
Found her? Of course they hadn’t found her.
If they had, she’d be dead.
Jeb was right. The van and delivery were simply a mix-up. Nothing sinister or scary about them at all.
“You okay, doll?” Jeb asked, and Olivia forced herself to smile and nod. Nothing was going on. Nothing that couldn’t be explained. She really did need to stop jumping at shadows and imagining Martinos around every corner.
“I’m fine. I’d better head out, though.”
“Don’t work too hard. A lady in your condition needs her rest.”
“My condition?” Olivia paused with her hand on the door to her car. She hadn’t told anyone in Pine Bluff about the pregnancy. Though she’d shared with a few people in Billings, discussing the baby inevitably led to questions about the baby’s father. Questions Olivia couldn’t answer with any amount of truthfulness.
“Now, don’t be worrying that I’ll tell every Tom, Dick and Harry about it, but I’ve been around enough pregnant women to know one when I see one.”
“I—” Olivia glanced down at the slight swelling of her stomach. Was it really that noticeable?
“Besides. I saw the pregnancy book on your table when you had me in for coffee the other day. I suppose it’s that no-good ex-husband’s child.”
“Yes.” She barely kept herself from correcting Jeb, from telling him that she wasn’t divorced and that Ford wasn’t no-good. That he was just too caught up in making money to care much about creating a family.
Or about her.
“Well, it’s your business when you tell other people, but if you need anything, I’m right next door.”
“Thanks, Jeb.” Olivia got in the car and started the engine, her hand shaking. In Pine Bluff, keeping to herself was nearly impossible. The town was small, the people friendly and curious about the newcomer in their midst. Being standoffish or closed-mouthed would only make them talk about her more and that was the last thing Olivia wanted.
Blend in.
She could hear the words that had been pounded into her from the moment she’d agreed to enter the witness protection program. Don’t do anything that is going to get you noticed.
That was a lot easier said than done when you were single and pregnant in small-town America. Soon, the little bulge of her stomach was going to grow. The baby that she’d been able to hide up to this point wouldn’t be hidden any longer. When that happened, people would talk.
But, please, God, don’t let any of Martino’s men be around to hear it.
The sun dipped below distant mountains as Olivia drove across town, shrouding streets and alleys in shadows. As always, the darkness brought memories. The gun. The explosion of sound as it was fired point-blank into another man’s head. Vincent Martino’s cold face illuminated by moonlight. No matter how hard Olivia fought to let go of her old life, she couldn’t rid herself of it. Perhaps that was why she felt so on edge, so nervous.
Streetlights did little to dispel the darkness or to chase away the memories, and Olivia was tense with anxiety as she pulled into the parking lot at the Y.
Housed in an old warehouse, the building was long and narrow, the parking lot large. A few cars were parked near the building, and Olivia pulled in close, hesitating a moment before opening her door. Maybe she should quit teaching at the Y, quit waitressing and lock herself in her house until the marshals came to take her to Vincent Martino’s trial.
Go about your daily life as if nothing has changed. Keep up the appearance of normalcy. Don’t give anyone a reason to think you have something to hide.
“Easy for you to say, Micah. You’re not the one with the price on your head,” she murmured as she forced herself to open the door and step out of the car. Evenings in Pine Bluff, Montana, had a richness to them. The sky seemed ripe with starlight, the distant mountains fading into deep azure sky. God’s creation, filled with wonder and beauty, but Olivia could find no comfort in it.
She hurried toward the building, her pulse jumping as something scraped on the pavement behind her.
She didn’t want to turn to look.
Then again, she didn’t want to die with her back to her killer.
She whirled, ready to face down the threat, but the parking lot was empty of life.
Olivia took a step back, her eyes probing the shadows. Was someone there, waiting and watching? A U.S. Marshal, maybe? Or someone worse?
Skin crawling, the hair on the back of her neck standing on end, Olivia took another step back and then turned and ran toward the building. She yanked the door open with enough force to send it crashing against the wall and bounded into the foyer, her breath heaving, her heart racing.
“No need for quite that much of a hurry. You’ve got ten minutes before the class starts,” Lorna Scott said, peering out of the office. Sixty, with short, dark hair cut into a pixie style, Lorna eyed Olivia with curiosity. “Is everything okay?”
“Fine. Everything is fine. The door just got away from me.”
Lorna raised a dark eyebrow, but