Witness in the Dark (Love Under Fire #1)(66)

“Just a cut. Damn window.” She examined it in the visor mirror, feeling around her throat. “Keep going.” Suddenly, she gasped.

“What is it?” His voice was frantic.

“My necklace! It’s gone.”

He took a breath. “I’ll get you a new one. Are you sure you’re not hurt?” he asked again, still only half paying attention to the road.

There was a dark wet spot on his jacket sleeve.

“I’m fine,” she said, and frowned. “What’s with your arm?”

“Can you believe I got shot again, in the same place as before?”

Alarm swept through her. “Are you okay to drive?”

“Yeah, it’s not as bad as the last time.”

“Unbelievable.” She reached in her bag and grabbed a shirt to tie around the wound. “Where did they come from?”

“My guess is they have a lot of people looking. Congressman Howe has access to a lot of resources. Some of the same ones I have. No one is safe.”

“How am I ever going to make it to the trial like this?”

“We’ll keep moving you. I’ll make sure you’re safe. I promised, remember?” He offered a strained smile. “You did good back there. Really good.”

He probably thought she was about to start crying. She wasn’t. The constant flow of adrenaline was beginning to feel normal.

“We can’t go back to the house,” she said. Not a question.

“No.”

Now she really wished she’d packed his game and her book. And her necklace was gone, too.

“All of our presents to each other—” She shook her head as the trees along the road flashed by.

“They were only things, Sam. Things don’t matter as much as people.”

“I know. But when you’re gone…” She couldn’t finish the sentence.

“When I’m gone, you’ll have memories.”

She nodded as he ran his hand over her hair. “I guess.”

“You’re okay. That’s the only thing that matters. Everything else is replaceable.”

It took them two hours to get to the next garage where he had another vehicle waiting, this one a white sedan. She stitched him up again, not doing much better than she had the last time.

As they got in the new car and headed off again, she realized something. She was comfortable and happy, despite all the craziness and uncertainty. She was happier than she had ever been. She didn’t even care that people were chasing her—not as long as she had Garrett there beside her.

The way her hand naturally slipped into his, the way she knew what snack he wanted when they fueled up. The way she knew without a doubt that she loved him. It all told her they were not even close to being casual anymore.

They were partners in this. His life and her life were a package deal.

“Try not to get ambushed,” Garrett joked as she walked into the store at their next fuel stop. She stuck out her tongue at him and he laughed.

She got him a soda and a disgusting stick of beef jerky from the tub on the counter, and with a content smile and her gun in her waistband, she walked back to the car. He was sitting in the driver’s seat waiting for her.

He leaned over, kissed her, and snagged the jerky from her hand with his teeth, then started the car and pulled out.

“I don’t know how you can eat that stuff. Room temperature meat? Something about that is so wrong,” she teased as he took another bite.

“You should try it,” he mumbled with his mouth full.

“I’m in love with you,” she said.

She slapped a hand over her mouth. The words had just popped out of nowhere, like a cork from a bottle of shaken champagne.

He stopped chewing for a long moment as her words sank in. Then he pulled over along the side of the highway.

“Sam.” He swallowed. “I can’t do this. I’m sorry.”

She wasn’t surprised by his response, just saddened. “I know you don’t feel the same way,” she said. “I understand you are better at casual than I am. I just…thought you should know. I had to tell you, in case I lose more than my necklace at the next gas station. I want you to know how I feel about you.”

Several moments ticked by. Finally, he said, “I realize it seems like we have this great thing because we’ve basically been playing house all this time. But what you’re feeling—it’s not real.”

She looked over at him. If he believed that, he was lying to himself as much as to her. “Are you looking forward to going on to your next assignment?” she asked.

He sighed and shook his head. “No. My next assignment could be even worse.” He laughed once and ran his fingers through his hair nervously.

He obviously didn’t want to talk about this.

Fine. She wouldn’t make him. She’d told him what she wanted him to know. “I don’t see how that’s possible,” she said quietly, then leaned over and took a bite of his jerky. “Hmm. Not bad.” She winked at him and he laughed again before pulling out on the road.

A little while later, he reached over and took her hand. She loved him, and now he knew it.

That night, they stayed at a motel. He crawled in bed next to her after she checked his arm. The wound was more like a cut than a huge ravine like the last time.