Shielding His Christmas Witness. Laura Scott
The sound of gunfire had him planting his foot to the floor, pushing the car engine as fast as it would go.
Another gunshot echoed and he gripped the steering wheel tighter.
He couldn’t bear the thought of failing Kari and her baby. He had to figure out a way to keep them safe from harm.
Because there was no way he could cope with another death on his conscience.
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