Witness on the Run. Hope White
warm, solid hand brushed against her sleeve. “It’s okay. Take a deep breath. I’m not going to let anyone hurt you, remember?”
With a sigh, she opened her eyes. “I’d like to believe you, I really would. But let’s be real. I don’t know you. Why should you help me?”
“I’ve given you my word.” He opened the door. “My car’s in the garage.”
Great, now she was going off with a strange man?
“You can drop me at Jenn’s.”
“Please stay close,” Jake said, his hand on something inside his jacket. A gun? Did he expect Death Eyes to pop out from behind a car?
She hoped by morning the fog would lift from her brain, and she’d recall exactly what happened. At this point all she could remember were flashes of memory, frightening flashes.
She glanced at her briefcase and rubbed her fingers against the smooth leather. She remembered doing this before, brushing her hand across it while holding her cell phone to her ear.
Memories echoed in her brain.
I’m ordering you a longhorn burger as we speak.
Walking toward the elevators…noticing a light from an office spilling out into the hallway…she glanced right—
“Stop!” she gasped.
“Robin?”
She struggled to breathe, gripping Jake’s jacket with trembling fingers. “I saw the light from the office. Someone was there.”
“In the Chambers Building?”
She nodded, but words couldn’t make it past her throat.
“It’s okay.” He glanced across the half-empty garage. “Let’s get you out of here.” He put his arm protectively around her shoulder and led her to a small pickup truck.
Robin couldn’t stop trembling as the memory clawed at the edge of her mind, taunting her, terrorizing her with the unknown.
A bang made her shriek.
“Shh, it’s okay. Someone just slammed a car door,” Jake said, squeezing her shoulder.
As they approached the pickup, a security officer stepped in front of them. “Ma’am, are you okay?”
“I’m…I’m, no,” she said wanting to destroy the memories circling her brain like crows over a dead animal.
“Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to step away from the woman,” the security guard ordered.
“You don’t understand—”
“The woman obviously feels threatened by you.”
Jake released her and Robin felt utterly vulnerable all over again.
“Robin, stay close,” Jake said.
The security guard stepped between them. “Sir, please keep your distance.”
“She’s suffering from a head injury.”
“Hands on the car.”
Jake turned and placed his hands to the roof of his truck. “Robin, it’s okay.”
He was being patted down and was still trying to take care of her.
“What’s this?” The guard pulled a gun from inside Jake’s jacket and waved it in his face.
She shivered at the sight of the black steel. A chill started deep in her bones and permeated her entire body to her fingertips.
“I’m a private investigator. I have a permit for that.”
Robin had seen one of those before, black steel aimed at her…
She backed a few steps away from Jake and the guard as she fought back the memories.
A red stain spreading across the carpet…
Saturating a man’s crisp, white shirt.
Her pulse raced as she turned away from the sight of the gun. She looked up just as blinding headlights pinned her in place.
The squeal of tires pierced her eardrums.
She couldn’t move, couldn’t cry out.
“Robin!” Jake shouted.
FOUR
Jake lunged at Robin and yanked her out of the way of the moving car. Blood pounding in his ears, he turned his back and held his breath.
The roar of the engine bounced off the low ceiling as the car clipped another car, then sped away. Jake glanced up to catch what he could of the plate number. The guard chased after the car, probably with the same idea.
The feel of Robin clinging to his shirt snapped Jake’s attention back to the trembling woman in his arms.
“It’s okay. Shh.” He stroked her hair, held her against his chest. He couldn’t remember ever comforting a woman like this. Was he doing it right?
“He tried to hit her,” the guard said, marching up to them. “What was that about?”
“Call Detective Ethan Beck. He’ll explain it.”
Jake gave the guard Ethan’s number. While the guard made the call, Jake opened the passenger door to the truck and placed his hands on Robin’s shoulders.
“Why don’t you get in the truck?” he said.
She nodded with a look of utter devastation. Her beautiful eyes were clouded with fear.
“Hey.” He tipped her chin up with his forefinger. “You’re okay. He’s gone.”
She absently shifted into the front seat. He started to shut the door.
“Wait,” she said. “Can you…leave it open?”
“Sure, no problem.”
The guard walked around the truck to Jake and held out his cell phone. “He wants to talk to you.”
“Are we good?” Jake asked the guy.
“Yes.”
“My gun?”
The guard slipped it from his belt and handed it to him.
Jake took the phone and stepped away from the truck. “Ethan, someone just tried to—”
“I know. Listen, I’m going to text you the address of a safe house. Get her there, ASAP. My guys are waiting.”
“Are you sure you can trust them?”
“Yes. Just go with me on this, okay? I’ll fill you in later.”
“I got a partial plate on the vehicle that tried to run her down. Washington plate, starts with one-six-four. Honda Civic probably seven, eight years old.”
“Thanks. I’m depending on you, buddy,” Ethan said.
“So is Robin. She’s asked me to stay close.”
“Robin might be involved in something pretty nasty. Drop her off and drive away.”
“You keep asking me to do that, but you know I won’t.”
“Jake—”
“Talk to you later.” He ended the call and handed the phone to the security guard. “I’ve got to get her to a safe house.”
“Right. Sorry about before.”
“You were doing your job.”
Jake went to the passenger side of his truck. Robin’s eyes were closed. She leaned back against the headrest.
“Robin?”
She