Hidden Summit (Virgin River #17)(39)

“Where’s this going? You going to just leave her high and dry when it’s time to testify?”

“No,” he said. “At the very least I’m going to tell her. Everything.”

Brie palmed the top of her own head and dug her fingers into her scalp, massaging. “Oh, God. And make her collateral damage, too?”

“How?”

“If the other side ever finds out who’s important to you here—”

“The list would be long,” he said flatly. “And it might even include you.”

“No. No, you don’t understand. The rest of us have a lot of other links—like for example, I’m married to a cop. Jack’s not exactly someone you love even if you like him. Lots of people worked on the school. But Leslie is alone....”

“No, she’s not. Paul and Dan look out for her, too. She’s not that alone and I’m not going to leave her stranded and like a sitting duck. Not going to.”

“You shouldn’t tell anyone anything until your testimony is complete and you’re finished with the court!”

“You know where I am, so what if the bad guys snatch your daughter? Would you tell them?”

“I’m not going to know where you are after then, which makes what I’m putting out for this effort the ultimate sacrifice!”

“You’re going crazy,” Conner said. “Stop it, it’s my job to go crazy.”

“Can you break it off?” Brie asked. “Before it gets any more serious?”

“No.”

“Conner, this could be bad for you. Emotionally bad, if you have to cut and run. It could be bad for her if anyone on the other team ever figures out there’s someone here you really care about. They could leverage her to get to you.”

“Then maybe we should change the game plan....”

“Huh?” Brie said, startled.

“Just thinking out loud, maybe Danson Conner disappears forever and Conner Danson grows a new life in Virgin River. I have a hard time believing any of Mathis’s connections are going to figure out I’m here.”

“People will make the connection when you testify....”

“Maybe I won’t testify, then,” he said. “I can’t believe they won’t make a conviction without me—they have the car, the murder weapon, forensics.... Max said there’s other evidence, he just wouldn’t tell me what.”

“And an eyewitness, who led them to all the other evidence! Max will pull the plug on you! He’s not going to help you maintain this cover—he can’t. It costs the state money.”

“I’m working. I’m paying the rent on this cabin,” he argued.

“You think transferring all your identity and bank accounts was free? You think that truck you’re driving is free? And if you try to sell your Sacramento properties without a middleman like the D.A., Mathis is going to find out. At least we have to assume he knows how to get that information, even though it wouldn’t be through legal channels. Besides, you know it’s the right thing to do! If you don’t testify, you’re setting a murderer free, and even though he looks upstanding, if he’d kill once… Conner…!”

“Settle down. I know it’s the right thing to do. It also might be right to stare him in the eye while I do it.”

“And what the hell does that mean?”

“Hey—didn’t you tell me you looked the man who almost killed you in the eye and said, ‘He’s the one’? And did you change your identity? Hide in Virgin River? No, you pointed at him, put him away and got on with your life.”

She was shaking her head. “There was no evidence he was connected to dangerous people, people he could commission to come after me for revenge!”

Conner chuckled. “Don’t you watch TV? He’s been in prison for years now. If he wanted to, he could make a partnership. I doubt he will, but he could. Revenge is a hot poker, kind of hard to forget. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to scare you or anything. I bet I’m not telling you anything you haven’t already thought of.”

“I’m just trying to help keep you safe. And you’re making me very nervous.”

“You’re not the one who should be nervous. I’ve been thinking a lot and I think maybe what I’ll do is ask Max to unload all that property. Sell it. The furnishings and personal property in the two houses. He can launder the money, so to speak, so the proceeds of the sale aren’t made out to Danson Conner. We’ll liquidate, make a fresh start. It’s what we were going to do anyway. When it’s time, I’ll go to Sacramento and testify and come back here. I’ll start over here with my new name and my family.”

“Your family?”

“I don’t know what Katie wants for herself and her boys, but we’ve talked. We know we’re not going home. But I want them here. This is the right kind of place for them. Maybe I’ll work cabinetry for the rest of my life. Maybe I’ll do something else.”

She took a step toward him. “And Leslie, as well? Mathis had your store burned down! Your life was threatened!”

Conner looked down. When he lifted his eyes, they were blazing. “I never saw it coming. He won’t take me by surprise again.”