Witness in the Dark (Love Under Fire #1)(62)

Only the annoying hum from the fluorescent light above kept her grounded to that place and time. She focused her entire being on that hum, so she wouldn’t keep waiting for the sounds of gunfire.

Through her fog of terror, she heard the sound of the bunker door opening, followed by the hatch. She was frozen with fear and anger, and a chaotic tangle of emotions. Unable to move or utter a sound, she sat there trembling violently as Garrett walked into the bunker room, looked around quickly, and left without seeing her crouched on the floor between the cabinets.

His feet pounded on the stairs and he called her name.

She didn’t answer. She couldn’t. Her throat was too dry. She couldn’t move. The only thing she was able to control was her quick, shallow breathing.

She was losing it, and she didn’t even care.

She just wanted to be lost.





Chapter Forty-Nine


Garrett couldn’t find Sam anywhere. It shouldn’t have surprised him that she hadn’t listened and stayed in the shelter. If she’d gone back to the house to help him and fallen, she could be lying anywhere out in those woods, knocked unconscious.

What if she had fallen on the gun and it went off?

Sam was too smart to go running through the woods with a gun in her hand, but people didn’t always think straight when they were terrified.

Like he was now.

He needed to think so he could find her. If she’d taken a gun and gone back to the cabin, there would be a gun missing from its place on the wall.

He went back inside the bunker and rushed down the steps. The dim light was on, but it hardly helped. He pulled his flashlight to examine the row of guns. She preferred a 30-06 rifle, so he moved down to the end where they were kept. When his flashlight beam touched her legs, he jumped…and let out a gush of relief.

“There you are. Why didn’t you say anything?” When she didn’t answer, or even react, his panic returned. “Sam? Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

She shook her head. He cursed himself for asking two questions. Which one was she answering?

He took her shaking hands in his. They were like ice. It wasn’t cold enough in the room for her to be so chilled. This was something else. Something bad.

In the service, he’d seen hard men go into shock. When a person’s mind got to the breaking point, it sometimes simply shut down. And their body would try to do the same.

“Sam?” He gave her a little shake. She shook her head again, though he hadn’t asked a question. “There’s no one here,” he told her. “You’re safe. It must have been a deer or some other large animal that set off the alarm,” he explained, hoping it would help. “You’re okay. We’re both fine.”

But were they fine?

He’d said some horrible things in an effort to get her to move. Was that why she was like this?

“Come on. Let’s go back to the cabin,” he urged.

He helped her up, happy she was able to stand under her own power…because she refused his arm, or even a hand. The walk back was painfully slow. Twice he tried to help her, but she quickly pulled away.

It was encouraging to see her getting steadier as the cabin came into view. It was dark by the time he opened the door to let her in.

She marched right to her room, went in, and locked the door behind her. Not really a surprise. She wanted to be alone. He’d said some cruel things. Things he didn’t mean. But how was she to know that?

He would give her an hour or two to rest, and then they would talk.

Things would go back to normal.

They had to.





Chapter Fifty


Sam wanted to curl up into a ball and stay there forever. Alone in her room. She might as well get used to it. Because she was—truly alone.

It was time to stop playing house with the hired gun, and face facts.

Garrett didn’t feel the same way she felt about their relationship. This was just a fling for him. It was nothing. It wasn’t real.

His hurtful words echoed in her head, intertwined with gory memories of men falling and bleeding, until she finally drifted off into a fitful sleep.

When she woke the next morning, Garrett was asleep in the chair next to her. He must have broken the lock on the door. Was there nowhere she could go to get away from him? She slammed the door when she went into the bathroom to get ready. When she came out, he was gone.

She pulled out the book he’d gotten her for Christmas and started reading. If she was planning to sulk in her room, she needed something to do. A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door.

“Go away.” She knew that wouldn’t work.

“Do you want some breakfast?” he asked through the door.

“No.”

“You should eat something.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“Can I come in?”

“No.” As if she had a say in the matter.

“I’m coming in.”

She glowered up at the ceiling while she fumed.

“Okay, so it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see you’re pissed at me.”

She said nothing.

“Come on, Sam. Can we be adults about this? Please?”

She looked at him for the first time. A look that said, I’m listening.

“I have a job to do. I’m trying to do it.” He took a breath and regrouped. “You remember when I held the gun to your head to get you to run?”