Debra Cowan - Witness Undercover

Yates continued. “She sent Devaney for you and he contacted me.”

Even though Laura knew she shouldn’t have done so, she had told her aunt about WitSec the night she’d left Oklahoma City.

Joy knew Laura’s situation, knew the danger posed by exposing her. So why had Floyd brought Devaney here?

Palms clammy, she clasped her hands together, her attention locked on the man who had protected her for the past ten months. “Just tell me.”

“Your father has cancer,” Floyd said. “A relapse of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.”

Relapse? Panic punched her in the chest followed quickly by resentment and regret. Her mother had died from cancer. Was her father close to death? Did he want to see her?

“He was first diagnosed nine months ago. He was cautioned that if the cancer returned, he would need a bone marrow transplant.”

Devaney spoke up. “A lot of people have been tested, but you’re the only match.”

She frowned. “How do you know that?”

“You had a blood sample in the donor registry.”

Before going into hiding, Laura had regularly donated blood and made sure to put herself on the register for both blood and bone marrow donors. She turned to Floyd. “You said my dad had relapsed.”

“Yes. Two weeks ago, during his monthly check up, he learned the cancer was back.”

Two bouts of cancer. A bone marrow transplant. Her guilt over their years-long estrangement pinched at her. Laura was the last person on earth her father would want to help him, but Floyd and Devaney didn’t need to know that.

She glanced at the marshal. “Have you known about this since Dad’s first diagnosis?”

“No.” He hooked a thumb at the big man beside him. “Not until Devaney told me tonight.”

Even if Floyd had known, it would’ve done no good to tell Laura. She wouldn’t have been able to help her dad and her dad hadn’t needed her then. But he did now.

“What about Vin?”

“My boss called to tell me that Devaney was coming. He’s convinced this man can keep you safe. Devaney made a compelling case himself. He’ll be with you 24/7 and he has backup if he needs it.”

She could read nothing in the younger man’s rugged features, the tight mouth or eyes that she could now see were a perfect mix of blue and green. There was a stillness about him yet also a hum of coiled energy beneath the surface, as if he could explode into motion faster than she could blink.

She drew in a deep breath. The everyday scents of perfume and potpourri and a light citrus cleaner were comforting. “I’m supposed to just disappear? Again?”

“I’m sorry, but yes,” Floyd said gently. “I’ll have your apartment packed up and your things sent to you when you’re ready for them.”

“I’ll have to cancel my lease,” she said, half to herself. “Are you sure my leaving witness protection is safe?”

“It’s a risk. I won’t lie. Nobody would blame you if you said no. If you say no, we can all just forget about this conversation.”

“I can’t do that,” Laura said quickly. “Not if my dad really needs me.”

“I think he does,” the marshal said.

She trusted Floyd. He had never lied to her or put her in unnecessary danger.

She was going home. Aunt Joy needed her. Her father needed her. And then she would have to start all over again.

Having the marshal here and disappearing without notice meant her identity had now been compromised. After everything was done, she’d have to be moved, assigned another fake name and background. Get another job.

Sadness tugged at her. She’d made friends here and she really liked the store’s owner, Ann Childress, but Laura had never let herself forget that she might someday have to leave. And now someday was here.

“We should get going,” Devaney said.

Still off balance, Laura nodded slowly.

He frowned. “I’d rather you ride with me, but we can’t leave your car here.”

“Because it would look as if something bad happened to me.”

He nodded.

“I’ll have to call my boss,” she said faintly. “If it’s okay, I’ll tell her it’s a family emergency and make sure she knows I won’t be back.”

She glanced at Floyd. “So, we’ll drive to Oklahoma City?”

“No,” the older man said. “I won’t be going with you. I’ll meet you there later. Devaney has brought Enigma’s jet.”

“Jet?”

“The pilot is on standby,” her new protector put in. “We can leave your car covered and in the hangar where the plane is stored. I’ll follow behind you. Do you know how to get to the airport?”

“I didn’t even know Pueblo had one.”

After a last look around, she grabbed her winter coat and followed the men outside. Floyd put a hand on her shoulder.

“I wouldn’t have brought Devaney here if I hadn’t checked him out forward and backward. The director personally vouched for him. If I thought for one minute this guy wasn’t on the level or that he couldn’t protect you, I would’ve sent him packing.”

Aware of how careful the marshal had been with her up to this point, Laura knew that was true. Even so, she was nervous. Vin was alive and as long as he was, she was in danger.

Devaney waited for her to lock up, then gave her directions to the airport. In the darkness, he was nearly invisible until he slid behind the wheel of a dark sedan. She said goodbye to Floyd, then settled into her red compact. After the taillights of the older man’s SUV disappeared, Devaney waved her out of the parking lot and followed.

He appeared able to protect her. She hoped he was, but what if she needed to be protected from him ? The thought drew her up short. Where had that come from?

She drove through the quiet streetlamp-lit streets of Pueblo, glancing in her rearview mirror frequently.

The man who’d come for her stayed close as she battled a mix of resentment and fear and uncertainty.

Griffin Devaney had wrecked her manufactured life like an EF5 tornado. He hadn’t just brought up her past. He was sweeping her right back into it.

* * *

Laura’s aunt hadn’t met them at the airport as expected. Instead, she’d had to rush Laura’s father to the hospital.

Being back in Oklahoma City felt surreal. The plane ride and the composure of the man beside her had helped lessen some of the fear she’d felt at Griffin Devaney’s appearance, but not the apprehension or the uncertainty. As a result, conversation had been sparse.

During the drive to OU Medical Center, she was jumpy. What if Vin somehow learned she had surfaced? What if despite his need, her father didn’t want to see her?

She flattened a hand on her stomach, trying to still the flutters there. They weren’t all due strictly to anxiety. Devaney set off surprising flutters of his own.

She slid a look at the solidly built man behind the steering wheel. Occasionally, light from the streetlamps slanted across him, the shadows doing nothing to soften the carved-rock line of his jaw.

What was his story? Beneath the nerves, the uncertainty and wariness, she was intrigued by the man who’d found her. More curious about him than she’d been about any man in a long time.

Uncomfortable with the realization, Laura forced herself to focus on the reason she was here, not the grimly handsome man beside her.

What had happened between her and her dad had been just as much his fault as Laura’s, but she didn’t know if Nolan Prentiss would see it that way. And it didn’t matter. She had forgiven him and hoped he could do the same.

Not much had changed in the months since she’d been away from Oklahoma City. Though she didn’t see anything new on the drive from the airpark, she was unexpectedly nostalgic at the sight of the illuminated dome of the state capitol as they traveled I-235 South.