Home For a Cowboy Christmas(22)

Emmy looked down at the plate. “I didn’t want to come here, but Dalton had nowhere else to bring me. He told me Dwight’s ranch was a safe place. I didn’t believe him until I got here.” She looked at Victoria. “I do feel safe here. I shouldn’t because I know the people after me won’t stop until they find me.”

“Who are these people?”

“I work for a large bookkeeping firm in Denver. One of my clients was a successful Italian restaurant. I’ve worked on their books for nearly five years. A lot of communication passes back and forth between me, the restaurant manager, and the owner. Sometimes, it’s easy to become friendly with those I work with. That’s what happened with the Roma family. Joe Roma is well known and well liked in the community. He gives a lot to charity and helps those in need. He invited me to a Christmas event a few years back, and on a whim, I went. After that, he began inviting me to more parties. The more I went, the more I got to know not only Joe but also the rest of his large family.”

Victoria nodded. “Makes sense.”

“I should also add that Joe is a handsome man. He flirted, and I flirted back. I knew I couldn’t get involved with him, so I didn’t let it go any further on my end. But he did. He sent me small gifts. Nothing that would cause anyone at work to raise eyebrows, but enough to let me know that he was interested.” Emmy shook her head. “Looking back now, I can see the last thing I should’ve done was continue attending the parties, but they were glamorous affairs. I don’t really get out much. I work and go home. The parties gave me an excuse to get dressed up and meet new people. It got me out of the house to actually have something of a social life. It also helped that people would do just about anything for invites to these events.”

Victoria smiled. “Oh, yes. I know the kind. I’ve been to a few. They’re hard to resist.”

“One dinner party I went to was smaller than usual. It was a more intimate affair. I realized then that these were the people Joe wanted in his life. Most I recognized from those he surrounded himself with at all times. There were maybe a handful of others like me, and I was very aware that by continuing to accept his invites, I was giving him the impression that I wanted to be with him. And part of me did. To have a powerful man like him showing interest in me? It was heady.”

Victoria leaned over and put her hand over Emmy’s. “We’ve all been lonely and wanting something like that. Don’t beat yourself up about it.”

“Had I stopped accepting his invitations, had I not toed the line of what was acceptable with a client, he wouldn’t have asked me to stay after that dinner at the restaurant. And I wouldn’t have agreed.”

“But you did,” Vic said in a soft voice as she straightened.

Emmy nodded. “I was in the kitchen with a wife of one of the men, helping to clear the dishes. She walked out first as I rinsed my hands. I started out of the kitchen when I heard voices coming from a room off the kitchen. I don’t know why, but I followed the sound of the voices until I got to a door with a small window. That’s when I saw Joe and his men staring at another man. The guy was shaking, he was so terrified. I couldn’t hear what Joe said, but I saw him look at one of his men and nod. Joe’s man took out a gun I hadn’t known he had and shot the other man in the head. I covered my mouth to stop my scream. Then I hurried to the sink and turned on the water to begin rinsing off some of the dishes, hoping that no one would know what I had seen.”

Victoria’s eyes were wide. “What happened?”

“I stayed in there, washing and cleaning up until Joe came looking for me. He wore a smile like he hadn’t just had someone killed. I was still shaking from the ordeal. He told me I was pale, and I told him that something from dinner hadn’t set well. I could see that he wasn’t buying my explanation, and I got scared. The closer he got to me, the more frightened I became until I rushed to the bathroom and vomited. Joe had one of the wives tend to me, and they took me back to my place. Days went by without a word from Joe. Then he invited me to another party.”

Victoria shivered. “Oh, no.”

“I hadn’t turned one down in months and figured it would look odd if I said no to this one. So, I went. The entire time, different people from the restaurant asked me things, trying to trip me up to see if I had seen the murder. Somehow, I said all the right things. I went to the second party but declined the third. I was terrified that they would realize what I knew and kill me. I asked my boss to give Joe and his restaurant to someone else, but my boss declined. I had to keep up pretenses with Joe until I could find a way to get out from under him. It finally happened when I read that the Denver district attorney was looking into Joe.”

“You went to the DA, didn’t you?”

Emmy nodded. “I told her everything. And she told me that Joe was running the Roma mob again. I was utterly shocked. She called the US Marshals right then and put me into witness protection. I knew they had someone else in WITSEC, as well. Two days later, that witness was killed. Dalton, who was in charge of my safety, began to suspect something. They had to move me three times because someone from Joe’s organization discovered where I was. The last location was supposed to have been the safest place the marshals had.” She hugged her arms around herself. “Had Dalton not arrived when he did, I would be dead.”