Margaret Daley - Guarding the Witness

“I’m behind you, Kevin,” Brody said as he approached him.

The tense set to his partner’s body relaxed. “She’s leaving. Finally. When I was making my rounds, two cubs came out of the woods close to where I was. Mama bear followed not five seconds later. I tried not to show any fear and backed away. She came toward me—not charging, but making sure she was between her cubs and me. When I fired my first warning shot in the air, both of the cubs ran into the woods. She didn’t.”

Kevin kept his gaze fixed on the departing bear while Brody watched the front of the cabin. When the threat disappeared into the woods, they both headed for the porch.

“Good thing she doesn’t know how to open doors or windows. It took three shots to scare her off,” Kevin said, then positioned himself by the steps.

“She’s establishing her territory. Next time stay closer to the cabin and don’t play around with a grizzly sow and her cubs. They are very protective of their babies.”

“Believe me I’ll stay glued to this place. I don’t want to tangle with one of them.”

“I’ll be turning in soon. Mark will be on duty in the cabin. I’ll relieve you in five hours.” When Brody reentered the cabin, Arianna stood behind the couch. “What part of get down do you not understand?”

“The last order you gave me was stay put.” She pointed to the floor. “I stayed put. Besides, Mark was here.”

Brody shook his head. “I guess I’ll have to spell it out for you next time.”

“There’s gonna be a next time with that bear?”

“If she’s hungry enough or we threaten her cubs. Obviously she didn’t like Kevin near her cubs or shooting his gun—even in the air.”

“Oh, good. If she comes back to us, I’ll get to take a photo.”

“Photo? Of a bear charging you?”

“No. Don’t you remember you’ve ordered me to stay in the cabin? I’ll be watching from the window. No charging bear will be coming at me. Now that’s not to say she won’t come after you or your partners...”

He chuckled. “I’ll make sure I’m not your model for that picture.”

Mark laughed, too. “I’m going back to bed for the little time I have left. I’ll leave you two to hash things out.”

As Mark left, Arianna said, “When I finished a job in Africa, I went on a photo safari. One of the rare vacations I gave myself. After this job I was going to take a second vacation and see some of the wildlife. I don’t think that’s going to work out unless I can get the wildlife to come to me.”

“Give me the camera. I’ll take a picture for you.”

“Not the same thing. Besides, the bear is long gone by now. At least I hope so.” Another yawn escaped Arianna. “That’s my cue to say good-night.”

“Good night. Mark will be back in here—” he checked his watch “—in an hour.”

“Sleep tight then.”

“Don’t you mean sleep light? After all, I am guarding you.”

“Every bodyguard has to grab some good sleep if he or she is going to do a good job. And believe me, I want you to do a good job protecting me.”

He studied her body language as she said those words. “I think you believe what you said, but you also believe you can take care of yourself.”

She smirked. “I’m gonna have to work on fooling you better.”

“No one, not even myself, is invincible. We all need help from time to time.”

“And who do you turn to?”

“God and my partner on the job. In that order.”

Her eyes widened for a second before she rotated toward the hallway and headed toward her bedroom.

Brody watched her leave, flashes of his own experience questioning God’s intention going through his mind. He’d been the lead marshal on an assignment in Los Angeles. The witness he’d been guarding ended up being gunned down on the way to the courthouse because the cell phone in his pocket was used to track his movements.

Brody shook the memory from his mind. That was the past. He couldn’t change it, but he could learn from it. Now Brody needed to be the sharpest marshal he could be. He wasn’t going to lose another witness on his team.

When Mark relieved him later, Brody strode toward his bedroom. His glance strayed toward Arianna’s closed door. She was an interesting woman whose life would never be the same. How would he deal with giving up all he knew and starting over?

* * *

Her earlier adrenaline rush finally subsiding, Arianna removed her Glock from under the mattress and put it on the bedside table within easy reach. That was the only way she would be able to get any kind of sleep. When she lay down and closed her eyes, the image of Brody Callahan, laughing at some of the words she came up with, popped onto the screen of her mind. Though she’d won the Scrabble match, he hadn’t gone down without a fight, challenging a few of the words she’d used that he didn’t know. But mostly she remembered his good nature at losing to her.

Sleep faded the picture of her and Brody facing each other over the Scrabble board and whisked her into a dream world that evolved into a nightmare she hadn’t had in a year—one where she was shoved into a prison cell. As she swept around to rush out, the bars slammed shut, the sound clanging through her mind.

The noise jerked her awake. Her eyelids flew open. Silence greeted her and calmed her racing heart.

Until she heard a muffled thud—as though a silencer had been fired.

TWO

The distinctive sound of a gun with a silencer discharging nearby yanked Brody from sleep. As he rolled out of bed, he grabbed his Glock from his bedside table. Kevin and Mark didn’t have silencers on their weapons, which meant someone had made it inside. Had there been more than one shot? Since he hadn’t heard his partners’ guns going off, he had to assume something happened to them. What had he slept through?

Hurrying toward his door, he shoved deep down the thought of the worst occurring. He couldn’t afford to be sidetracked. He had to be as detached and professional as possible. There would be time later for emotion.

He eased open the door a crack and listened. Silence ruled. For a second he wondered if he’d dreamed hearing the sound. Hoped he had. Then a whisper of a noise alerted him to Arianna easing her door open slightly. His gaze seized hers, and he knew she’d heard the same thing. It wasn’t a dream.

The cabin had been compromised. Fortifying himself with a deep breath, he swung the door open wide and stepped out into the hallway with his Glock pointed toward the living room. To his side he noticed Arianna stepping into the corridor. He shook his head. She ignored him and continued out into the hall with a gun in her hand.

He shouldn’t be surprised she’d brought her own gun to the cabin. He would have in her place. But still he frowned and tried to convey silently that she get back into her room.

A low moan coming from the living room refocused his full attention on the threat in the cabin. Short of handcuffing her to her bed, she would be backing him up. Waving her behind him, he crept down the hallway. At least this way he could shield her.

Toward the entrance into the living room, he slowed and flattened himself against the wall then inched forward. Much to his dismay Arianna copied him but on the other side of the corridor. She brought her Glock up, both hands clasping it. She ignored the displeasure he knew showed on his face, her gaze trained on the living area.

At the moment, survival was the most important objective. He gave up trying to have Arianna hang back. He knew from all the reports she was very capable of handling herself so he indicated she cover the left side of the room while he took the right. They entered in unison.

One large man was dragging Mark’s body out of sight while Brody glimpsed another intruder by the front door.