Witness in the Dark (Love Under Fire #1)(17)

Sam jumped up and ran out from her room to watch the report.

Her mouth fell open as the camera followed the neatly dressed man being escorted into the police station wearing handcuffs.

“This is all a mistake,” he shouted to the reporters over the chaos. “Someone is out to get me. No doubt a ploy to get me out of the race for reelection. I’ll set the record straight and everything will be fine.” The congressman flashed a guileless smile meant to reassure the public.

“What happens now?” Sam asked Benson and Wendy after the report had ended.

“They’ll question him until his lawyers stop it, then he’ll be released on bail.”

Sam gaped. “He’ll be back out on the street?”

“Until the trial. That’s when you’ll testify.” Benson glanced at Wendy. The look between them brought on a wave of uneasiness.

“How long will the trial take?” Sam asked. She couldn’t help but notice how the killer was allowed to walk around free, while she was forced to stay with two marshals who didn’t seem to like being on her detail all that much.

“Several months to a year. Maybe longer.”

She stared at them in consternation. “A year? I’ll be staying here with you for a year?” She’d go stark raving mad. “Maybe I should have let him find me,” she muttered.

“Don’t be so dramatic,” Wendy said.

It was obvious she didn’t like Sam. Sam had tried to stay out of their way, keeping to her room when possible, reading the books she’d requested.

Maybe she would put Sam out of her misery in a few days when she really got on her nerves.

Sam went back to her room, but before she closed the door she heard Wendy say, “I hate babysitting these ungrateful brats.”

Benson murmured, “It won’t be that long. I’ll let you have the honors.”

Honors? What the hell was that supposed to mean? Whatever it was didn’t sound good.

Sam locked her bedroom door, double-checked it, and got ready for bed, hoping she would actually wake up the next morning. She’d decided her protective detail didn’t make her feel very protected.

In fact, they made her feel downright afraid for her life.





Chapter Twelve


That night, Sam dreamed about being in Garrett’s car, with Garrett. Probably because that had been the last time she’d actually felt safe.

She was wakened from the dream in the middle of the night when the guy next door came home. His truck was loud and unfamiliar.

She got up and, from behind the window curtain, watched him park the truck, tuck the keys above the visor, and get out. Jeez. Did people really still do that? True, they weren’t in the big city, and it wasn’t like he had anything to worry about to begin with—no one would want to steal that heap of junk. Lights came on next door, and she tried to remember what if felt like being happy to be home. Thoughts of her many homes over the years filled her mind as she wandered back to bed and drifted into a restless sleep.

Wendy knocked on the door to wake her up the next morning. It was probably the fifth day she’d been here, but Sam was losing track. After getting ready, she went to the kitchen for breakfast. Wendy actually smiled at her when she sat down at the table. Somehow the deputy being fake-friendly was worse than when she was being a bitch.

Wendy offered another smile. “How are you doing?”

“Fine.”

Sam’s inner alarm bells went off. They were not friends, nor was Wendy a chitchatty kind of person. Something was off.

“Would you like to play some video games?” Deputy Benson asked when they finished up the dishes.

He’d never asked her to play before. What was going on?

But her suspicions proved unfounded. The worst thing that happened was that she got creamed at most of the games. Clearly, Benson and Wendy spent a lot of time babysitting and playing video games.

After a few hours at the television, they made sandwiches for lunch. Deputy Benson left for a while in the afternoon. At dinnertime, they asked her what she wanted to order.

They’d pretty much exhausted all of the takeout places in town. “How about Thai again?”

It felt like a last meal as they sat around the table eating. Benson grumbled a few times about his food, and Wendy was called away to take a phone call. Sam pretended to need another napkin so she could go into the kitchen to listen in.

She paused at the door.

“…tomorrow night, then. I’ll be glad to get this over with—” Wendy stopped talking abruptly when Sam walked in.

Things seemed normal enough for the rest of the evening, but her Spidey sense was definitely tingling, so she paid attention to every detail.

When Wendy unlocked her phone to text someone, Sam noted the four fours. Very secure.

She was exhausted from stress when Deputy Benson walked her back to her room for the night.

Something he’d never done before.

“Good night,” he said, not looking her in the eye.

Just before she turned away, he glanced at her with pity. Like he knew she wouldn’t be waking up in the morning.

That was what did it.

Her stomach twisted and she broke out in a cold sweat. Her instincts were sounding all her inner alarms.

When he was gone, she closed the door stood with her ear against it for a few minutes, listening.