Chapter 1
Who wouldn’t go out on a limb to help a child who was fighting for his life?
“Can you please help us, Ms. King?”
Ani’s gaze shifted from the desperate man and woman to the almost perfectly intact fourteen centimeter high bronze and gold statue of Tyrion III. With reverence she held the piece that came from the tiny country of Masia. She studied the art as early morning sunshine poured into the antique shop’s fifteen foot high windows, highlighting the statue’s delicate gold inlays.
If she wasn’t mistaken—and she was pretty sure she wasn’t—the statue was from the twenty-second Dynasty, circa 900 BC. She’d seen only one other like it, and it was in the Brooklyn Museum in New York.
Formerly an art curator for a major metropolitan museum in New York City, Ani now ran a dinky antique shop in Bisbee, Arizona. The Witness Security Program wouldn’t allow her to be in the same field as she’d been in before, but at least the U.S. Marshals had put her into an environment she could relate to. Even if most of the “antiques” in the place were junk.
But this . . . this was a priceless treasure.
A lead weight settled in her belly. It was likely also a very illegal treasure. It was against the law for any artifact to be out of the country where it had been excavated unless bequeathed to a museum.
Ani looked to the husband and wife who had brought her the artifact to ascertain its value. It was early morning and the Harrisons had been waiting for the shop to open to talk with her. They wanted to see if they could sell the statue to help pay medical bills for their son, a burn victim, and get him to a top-notch center that could treat the magnitude of his burns. The mere thought of what the child was going through made her own twisted scars itch from the small of her back to her shoulder blades.
Ani barely kept her hands steady as she settled the small statue into the intricately carved ebony box Mr. and Mrs. Harrison had brought it in. The velvet-lined box itself looked to be of some value. It smelled of aged wood and dust, but was in beautiful condition.
“Where did you get this artifact?” Ani asked the couple, wondering how something so priceless and illegal had ended up in Bisbee.
“My older brother just arrived from Montana.” Mr. Harrison shuffled his feet and looked down before looking back up at Ani. “He gave it to us to see if we can sell it to help our child.” The hollow-cheeked, emaciated Mr. Harrison fidgeted, then stuck his hands in his jeans pockets. “Our great grandfather was an archeologist.” His voice was scratchy as he spoke. “This statue was passed down through our family. His other findings went to museums and Masia.”
Ani studied him, her heart breaking apart for the family. “I can’t do anything with this piece. It’s illegal to possess an artifact from Masia unless it has been donated to a museum.”
Mr. Harrison cleared his throat. “In a secret drawer at the bottom of the box is a letter from Masia’s King Aronan awarding the statue to my great grandfather. It was a gift of appreciation for discovering the tomb of Tyrion III.”
Ani raised an eyebrow. Mr. Harrison stepped forward and showed her an almost invisible indentation in the wood at the bottom of the box. She pushed the catch, and a drawer slowly opened.
Nestled inside more velvet lay a yellowed parchment. She withdrew it and carefully unfolded the parchment that felt rough and brittle between her fingers. She scanned the page and her belly did a little flip. A letter from King Aronan himself awarding the priceless treasure to James Harrison for the exact reason the younger Mr. Harrison had said. It was stamped with a red wax seal and the letter looked as authentic as the statue. The letter by itself would be worth a fortune.
Ani looked up from the paper and met Mr. Harrison’s pleading gaze. She tried to keep her voice from wavering with excitement. “I know a collector who might be interested in purchasing this artifact. If you’ll give me two weeks, I’ll see what I can do.” In two weeks she’d be done with her testimony, the trial would be behind her and she’d feel safer contacting someone from her former life.
“We don’t have that much time.” Mr. Harrison interrupted her thoughts as he looked from his wife to Ani. “We only have enough money left to pay for a few more nights at the motel we’ve been staying in since our home burned to the ground.”
“Do you think that statue will bring enough to pay Jamie’s doctor bills?” Mrs. Harrison asked, her brown eyes bright with unshed tears.
Now? Could I do it now? The trial’s already started—it’s as good as over in a few days. Why couldn’t I help this poor boy? Isn’t it the right thing to do?
Heart aching even more for the family, Ani said, “I can’t promise anything, and the statue and letter will have to be authenticated. But I think this may be of some value.”
More than you can imagine.
Mr. and Mrs. Harrison looked at one another then back to Ani. “Please find out as soon as you can,” Mr. Harrison said.
Ani had been in the Witness Security Program for almost two years—two quiet, non-eventful years. She had the contacts from her past life to help these people, and her gut told her she should. Definitely the right thing.
“I’ll do my best.” Ani slipped the parchment into the drawer and shut it, then put the lid back on the wood box and extended it to them.
“No.” Mr. Harrison waved it off with a pained expression. “You’ll need the statue to make this happen for our boy, Ms. Carter.” She could see in his eyes how strong his love was for his son. The treasure meant nothing compared to Jamie’s welfare.
Ani offered him a smile even though her soul was wrenched in two for the little boy. “Let me get you a receipt.” She set the box on the counter. “And call me Ani, please.” She’d been Ani Carter for two years, and the name rolled easily over her tongue. But she still couldn’t think of herself as anyone but Anistana King.
Even though they usually recommended keeping the same first name, the U.S. Marshals couldn’t allow her to use hers, Anistana, because it was too unusual. But they did allow her to use an abbreviation of it.
Once the Harrisons were gone, Ani braced her hands on the glass countertop and stared at the ebony box. It had gold inlay within the carvings. Likely it was as old as the letter, over a century.
Priceless.
A fortune.
All that little boy would need to cover his treatment, but . . . did she really dare call George Hanover?
“I have to,” she said aloud. “I can’t live with myself if I don’t.”
Two years was a long time for her to be off the radar, but Hanover was a good guy. He wasn’t part of the Russian Mafia—and it wasn’t likely the mob would have contacted her old clients. It had been so long, and the mob probably didn’t know about Hanover anyway. George would buy the piece, and if she asked him to, he’d keep his mouth shut. She’d be careful. She’d go about this the right way, and she’d be able to help Jamie Harrison before she went to New York City to testify.
The trial . . .
She held her hand against her belly where it felt like an ice block had frozen. The FBI case agent, experts, and other witnesses were already testifying. She was on call and was to be flown in a couple of days before she had to get up on the stand in order to be prepped by the Associate United States Attorney, AUSA, John Singleton. He, as well as the FBI and U.S. Marshals, wanted to keep her out of New York City until the last possible moment. According to the AUSA, she was the one piece that would pull the entire puzzle together.
Now, here she stood with the welfare and life of a child in her hands. It wasn’t likely the Russian Mafia would have contacted her old clients. It had been so long. How would they even know about George?
Tears stung the back of her eyes at the thought of Jamie Harrison. Second and third degree burns covered eighty percent of his tiny body. The family’s home had burned down and the eight-year-old boy had been trapped in his bedroom until firefighters rescued him. The tragedy had been on TV, but as small as Bisbee was, everyone knew about it and many had been donating clothes, food, and other items. Even with monetary donations, they didn’t come close to fulfilling the need for Jamie to be sent to the best burn center in the U.S.
The burns Ani had received in the fire two years ago were nothing compared to Jamie’s. Her scars only covered her lower back up to her shoulder blades. It had been the most painful experience of her life . . .
No, losing her entire family had been.
Ani clenched her fists on top of the counter and closed her eyes. The little boy needed her, and she had the ability to make this happen. All she had to do was contact a friend from her old life.
With steely resolve, she raised her chin and tucked back an errant brown curl that had escaped her upswept hair. The Russians wouldn’t have a clue if she called George. He’d been one of the kindest men she’d ever known. The billionaire had an extensive collection of art, all legally obtained. He’d always struck her as honest and upfront and had become a good friend over the years they had worked together.
Plus, she’d use her cell phone. Then she would be sure her call couldn’t be traced. Her number was unlisted, so the possibility of the Russians identifying her location was next to nil.
With a lump in her throat, she pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and called information. When the operator came on the line she asked for George Hanover in Brooklyn, New York. There were three listings, but she recognized one of the addresses. Ani grabbed a pen to scratch the number on a notepad by the phone.
She took a deep breath. Her fingers trembled as she gripped the cell and punched in the number for the customer turned friend, and her hand shook when she brought the phone to her ear. She immediately recognized his voice when he answered.
“This is Anistana King.” It seemed weird saying her real name again instead of Ani Carter. “How are you doing, George?”
A brief moment of silence was followed by, “Anistana, what happened to you? I tried getting a hold of you at the museum, but they said you’d more or less disappeared. Are you all right?”
It felt so good to talk to an old friend and to hear the concern in his voice. Yet at the same time Ani’s gut churned. Maybe this hadn’t been such a good idea.
But the Harrison family neededwhat she could give them.
She gripped the phone tight enough that her knuckles ached. “When my parents died, I just had to get out of town.”
“Such a tragedy.” George’s voice softened. “I’ve thought of you often since then.”
“I’m glad we have this chance to chat.” A smile touched her lips. “Even if I have a motive behind it.”
He gave a low chuckle. “Go on.”
She toyed with the pencil in her free hand. “I’m calling because I’ve come across something that will fit perfectly in your collection.”
George cleared his throat and she could imagine the balding man tipping back in his office chair and studying the artifacts in his den. “Shoot.”
Ani heard excitement in George’s voice when she told him what she was certain she had. “It still needs to be authenticated,” she added. “But I don’t think that will be a problem.”
They negotiated a fair price that would more than help the Harrisons with Jamie’s bills, and then some. Before disconnecting the call, Ani gave George her cell phone number, swearing him to secrecy and asked him to not give her number to anyone or tell them about her call. He sounded puzzled, but agreed
For a moment, memories of other friends, co-workers, and acquaintances flowed over Ani and her chest ached. She hadn’t been able to say goodbye to anyone. One day she was in a burn center in New York City, and the next day she as good as disappeared from everything and everyone she’d ever known.
Ani missed terribly the three friends she’d lived with in the old carriage house in Brooklyn. Jules, Erica, and Lexi had probably been frantic with worry when Ani vanished. She’d lost her family to a murderer, then lost everything from her old life when she signed the contract to enter WITSEC. No connections to her past, no information about people from her former life, no trail that mafia could follow. WITSEC was absolute on that point, and the loss on top of loss had been brutal. Still, the hit the Russians put out on her was enough to convince her to enter the Witness Security Program. She intended to live to testify and put the man who murdered her family behind bars for manslaughter, among other crimes.
Just the thought of that bastard made her chest ache with rage and fear.
Ani caught her breath as she opened the box to peek at the figure of King Tyrion III again and marveled at its beauty. She carefully touched the blackened bronze, feeling its coolness beneath her fingertip. She could never get enough of true art, even if she couldn’t work in a museum because the Russian Mafia could possibly track her down in such an obvious occupation. And the Russians wanted her bad enough they’d do anything to get to her.
Not that anyone would recognize her now. She was the same cultured, refined, sophisticated woman she had been in New York. But with all of the trauma in her life since that night, she’d had a hard time eating and had lost eighty something pounds, most of it in the last year. She’d gone from a size twenty-two to an eight, which was a bizarre feeling. She’d always been heavy and had been comfortable in her own skin. Now she had a lot less skin and it just felt strange. She had to start eating again, or there would be nothing left of her.
Her black slacks hung loose on her hips as she took the box containing the statue to the back room and locked it in the old-fashioned but very secure vault. Her high heels rang against the tiled floor as she walked toward it. They kept what few valuable treasures they had in the safes along with the store’s daily take of cash. Which wasn’t much considering the price tags Tammy put on the merchandise. Ani had furnished her own small house on the street above Castle Rock with some of the nicer pieces that came into the store.
After she finished locking the safe, she went back to work in the shop. From the time the store opened at 9:00 a.m., starting with the Harrisons’ arrival, it continued to be a busy day. Tourists picked through the collectables and not-so-collectables, most taking their time to browse the shop that included a huge lower level. Bisbee was an artists’ community with tourism supporting the economy, and the tourists definitely supported this store.
In between interruptions, Ani worked on the inventory program she’d convinced Tammy to buy. Even though she was constantly interrupted with customers, she still managed to get work done.
Her friend Lyra stopped by on her lunch break to see if there was anything new and interesting, specifically old lunchboxes and other old tin items. Lyra worked up the street in a shop where she sold metal sculptures she made out of pieces of tin and aluminum from various items. Ani had several of Lyra’s pieces in her own home. Lyra was one of the few friends Ani had made in Bisbee along with Lyra’s husband, Dare, a private investigator.
Around noon, her cell phone rang. “This is Ani,” she answered. The line crackled. “Hello?”
It crackled again, but she didn’t hear anyone. Probably one of the few friends she had in Bisbee, calling from a cell phone out of range. Happened all the time with Bisbee being in the Mule Mountains. The caller ID said “not available,” so it could have been anyone.
She punched off when no one on the other end responded.
The rest of the day flew past and Ani fielded a few calls on the antique store land line, along with another out of range call on her cell that didn’t come up on her caller ID. By the end of the day her feet were killing her and she had a headache.
Her cell phone rang again.
She glanced at her watch. Six o’clock. Time to close the store, and it was Friday. Also time for Daniel’s call—maybe he’d been the one trying to reach her earlier, even though he never called her that early in the day.
Her heart raced as she slipped her cell phone out of the pocket of her slacks. On the Caller ID it said “unknown,” but she was certain it was Daniel.
She answered the phone with a breathless, “Hello.”
“Hi, Ani.” Daniel’s deep, sensual voice affected her the way it always did. It sent a twist of sensation in her belly and caused her heart to beat faster.
“Hey.” Ani closed her eyes, imagining Daniel’s lean, muscled physique, his slightly wavy brown hair and warm coffee brown eyes. It had been an entire year since she’d seen the Deputy Marshal, the Inspector, who was her contact, but she could picture him in his Stetson and Wranglers, down to his boots. “Anything exciting today?” she asked.
“Not until you answered the phone.” His voice was smooth and sexy, like warm buttered rum, but the man never said anything he didn’t mean.
Ani almost sighed out loud at the feelings he stirred within her. “Same here,” she said as she opened her eyes and saw only Daniel in her mind’s eye. He’d been there from the beginning, moving her to the Oregon Burn Center, to rehab, to a safe house, and then to Bisbee. She’d been in Bisbee for a year now.
He used to call every now and then to check in on her, but those calls became more frequent and more personal, until they talked almost every Friday. Sometimes on the weekend. She’d fallen in love with everything about him.
She’d fallen in love with a man she could never have.
“How ’bout you? Anything interesting happen today?” Daniel asked in his lazy drawl.
She shook her head even though he couldn’t see her. “Same old same old.” She walked to the front door, locked it, and turned the Open sign to Closed.
“Oh, wait.” A buzz of excitement quickened her pace as she returned to the front register that sat on a long glass case. “A man and woman came in first thing this morning with a priceless treasure.” Her delight in handling such an object faded as she realized why it had ended up in her possession in the first place. “Their son is a burn victim, Daniel. Eighty percent of his body.” The large scar on her back itched again, but she tried to ignore it. “They need the money to pay his doctor bills, so I helped them broker the piece.”
Daniel was quiet for a moment. “Honey, what did you do?”
“Well, ah . . .” Heat flushed Ani. “I called an old client who collects Masian artifacts and hashed out a deal.”
“Shit!” Daniel’s voice came out so loud and harsh she held the cell phone away from her ear. “Goddamnit, Ani. You know the rules.”
“They have to have the resources for their son’s treatment.” She blinked back tears. “It’s been two years. George Hanover is an old friend—and he’s very discreet. How could the mob find me through him?”
“I’m coming to get you.” Daniel’s voice steeled and suddenly she didn’t recognize him. This man’s tone was harsh and unforgiving. “Do not leave the store. Stay in the back room, away from the windows. I’m sending in local police. Do not open the door for anyone except the police—if you’re absolutely positive it’s the cops.”
Ani said in a rush, “I used my cell. You and I use our cell phones all the time.”
“I’m not a contact from your past—your friend was,” Daniel said in a voice that sounded like a low growl. “He’s the point of reference the mafia could start with and work backward until they found you.”
“But—”
“It’s a four hour drive from Phoenix. I don’t have a Deputy Marshal available who’s close enough to you, so you’ll need to wait at the police department until I get there.”
“Daniel—”
“Like I said, don’t open for anyone but the cops, and there’d better be sirens and flashing lights. Do you understand?”
“Yes, but—”
“Are all the doors and windows locked?”
“Yes—”
“You are not to call anyone that you know, anywhere. Understand?”
She sucked in a deep breath, but the tears wouldn’t stop flowing and she couldn’t stop the tremble in her voice. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“I don’t have time to talk. I have arrangements to make.”
He severed the connection. She brought the cell phone away from her ear and held it in both fists as she flipped it shut. She leaned her head back against the wall and slid down it until her butt hit the floor. Tears ran freely from her eyes as she dropped the phone, wrapped her arms around her knees and buried her face against her slacks.
With one little phone call she’d screwed up everything. She could possibly have put herself in danger, and she hadn’t even thought about placing Daniel at risk.
She raised her head and dried her tears with the backs of her hands, then thunked her head against the wall when the tears continued to flow down her cheeks. What a freaking mess. Why did her father have to—well, do what he did? If he hadn’t gotten in bed with the Russian Mafia, her whole family would be alive today.
Those bastards—especially Dmitry Borenko—needed to pay.
Ani’s skin crawled and her heart kept an unsteady beat. “I’m so stupid.” She rubbed her temples, got up from the floor as she picked up her cell phone. After she pocketed her phone, she slipped into the backroom, locked the wood door between her and the shop. She checked the locks on the big metal door that led to the alley.
When she checked again to see that the doors were secure, she started to pace the length of the room, but then she plopped into a chair by Tammy’s ancient roll top desk. There was one window in the backroom and she had to stay away from it. Smells of dust and pine-scented cleaner from the recently mopped floors clogged her nose and made her even more nauseated than she already was.
All she wanted to do was help that poor child. After being in a burn center herself, she could relate to Jamie, if only in a small way. God. Eighty percent of his little body. She wiped tears from her eyes with the backs of her hands again. She just wanted to help him.
How could George be any kind of link to the mob? How could the Russians even know she had called George? Of all the millions of phone calls going on throughout the day, how could her one little call be traced?
Nothing would likely come from it, but still, she had screwed up. Maybe she could have had Tammy call—but then the rather reclusive George Hanover would wonder how she knew of his collection.
But could the Russians have contacted every one of her past clients and friends? Her heart nearly stopped at the thought. Were her old friend and clients in danger? What if they’d been threatened from the time she vanished into the WITSEC Program?
The old shoulder wound from the bullet ached and the scar on her back itched. She rubbed her hands up and down her arms as she glanced in the direction of the shop itself that was on the other side of the locked wooden door. With all the windows the store had, that part of the place was like walking in the open.
The antique shop was a corner building at the end of Main Street. Being the gossipy and busybody type, Tammy liked keeping the fifteen foot high windows without blinds so that she could watch everything that went on outside, and so potential customers could see in. The store was directly across from the post office and library, and cattycorner to a small indoor mall. Well, if one could call it a mall.
She stopped rubbing her arms. Oh, jeez. She needed to let Tammy know she wouldn’t be back. Ani found a notepad on the antique desk that Tammy preferred to do her paperwork at.
Ani felt the weight of her cell phone in the pocket of her slacks, but remembered she wasn’t supposed to call anyone. She leaned forward in the chair and started a note, telling her friend and employer she was sorry but she had to leave due to an unexpected family emergency.
Sadness crept over her as she erased “family.” Tammy knew Ani had none. Tammy didn’t know the true story, just that her mother, father, and sister died in a fire.
Ani reworded the letter so that it simply said she was leaving due to an unexpected emergency.
For a moment her eyes glazed as she remembered her sister. Her mischievousness, her sense of humor. God, how her heart ached every time she thought of Jenn. They’d fought a lot as they’d grown up—what siblings didn’t? But they’d matured, they became so close that Jenn had been her best friend and Ani missed her so badly. Every single day.
Ani shook her head, trying to focus on the present. She fought back more tears, sniffled, then looked around her.
The safe drew her attention. The Harrisons. They had to be taken care of.
With a deep breath, she sketched out a note about the statue, the Harrisons, and their contact information. She also added George Hanover’s information.
When she finished the note, she signed it Ani. She’d really screwed things up now. She’d had a good life this past year, even if it was a small town, so different than what she was used to. After the trial, she would end up in another place with another name, and possibly a different Inspector Marshal if Daniel was mad enough at her.
The fact that Daniel was so upset with her made her gut clench. She gripped the armrests of the chair. The tone of his voice had been cold and professional once she’d told him what she’d done. When he arrived it would be the first time she’d have seen him in a year. All the times she’d imagined herself being close to him again, it hadn’t been like this.
He’d been in every one of her fantasies. She loved his deep, sexy voice, his soft laughter when they spoke and something amused him. His concern when she’d had a bad day for one reason or another. She even talked with him about her family and how much she missed them. He stayed with her through the tears, calling her honey and making her feel like she had someone in her life who really cared for her.
She learned a lot about Daniel, too. He told her of his two brothers who were in the military—Aaron was in Special Forces, and Jacob was a Navy SEAL. Their father was a retired U.S. Deputy Marshal. Daniel had told her things about his childhood and about his hobby of creating model airplanes. Sometimes he told her about cases he was working on—nothing classified, of course. After all of their intimate conversations, she almost felt like she knew him heart and soul.
Only now she was going to see him angry. Not smiling that smile that had turned her inside out the times he’d visited her in the burn center in Oregon and escorted her to a safe house there while she went through rehab and then here to Bisbee, all in the first year. This next year he’d kept in touch with her over the phone. She often wished he’d come and visit her.
Ani wiped her sweaty palms on her black slacks. Even though she’d ended up in jeans and T-shirt cowboy country, she still held onto parts of her past she couldn’t let go. When she worked she always wore tailored slacks, silk, and high heels.
She closed her eyes. Please don’t let that phone call, that mistake, affect my relationship with Daniel.
Ani opened her eyes and stared up at the ceiling. What was she thinking? All she had was a phone relationship with the man. He liked to talk to her. So? He probably thought of her as a sister. Or maybe this was part of his job.
That thought depressed her even more.
I’m so stupid!
Ani checked the locks on the heavy metal door again, the handle cool beneath her palm. It wasn’t likely anyone could come through that door, but she felt like she had to do something.
Damn, she forgot about the window. She started to pass by it to sit in the chair when she caught sight of a man, directly across the street. It was dusk, but she could tell he was staring at the antique shop.
In the fading sunlight, something metal glinted in one of his hands. He was smoking and he flicked ashes onto the sidewalk. The ashes glowed fiery red as they floated from his cigarette.
Ani stumbled back, sat in the chair, and gripped its armrests.
In slow motion, the memory of a glowing red cigarette butt tumbling end over end, flashed through her mind. It had landed on gas-soaked drapes covering Ani’s mother’s crumpled body.
Ani tried to scream but the sound wouldn’t come from her mouth as she saw her mother’s body go up in flames.
Tears spilled down her cheeks as she came back to the present.
Flashback. It was just a flashback, a part of her PTSD from the horrible things she went through when her family got murdered. Post-traumatic stress disorder, the therapists called it.
Screwed-up was what she called it.
Shuddering, she rubbed the old bullet wound on her shoulder. The images of her mother’s burning body wouldn’t leave her mind. Her father, her sister . . . The heat, the house going up in flames so fast. So fast.
Ani ground her teeth. She had to make the mafia pay for what they’d done to her family.
Her throat went dry. What if that man across the street was part of the Russian Mafia?
The back door handle jiggled.
Her heart stilled.
It jiggled again, harder this time.
Ani started shaking so badly her teeth chattered. She looked around the room for something to use as a weapon. As if anything could protect her from a gun if someone was after her. There wasn’t even a place to hide.
Sirens sounded in the distance, coming closer in a hurry.
The door handle stopped moving.
Ani’s heart pounded like crazy.
The police. Thank God.
The screeching of tires and the piercing wail of sirens let her know the cavalry had arrived. The sirens cut out and blue, red, and white lights flashed and illuminated the backroom through the single window. To think, she’d caused all of this with one phone call.
A knock at the metal door about made her jump out of her skin.
“Police,” a deep voice shouted.
She tried to stand, but her legs were shaking so badly she couldn’t get to her feet.
“Open the door,” came the voice again. “This is the police.”
Somehow Ani got her legs to work, made it to the backdoor, and unlocked it.
“Are you alone?” the officer at the door asked and she nodded. “Step aside.”
She did and a couple of officers came into the room, sweeping it first with their guns.
Ani took a few steps back and dropped into the chair. She tried to swallow down her panic but her eyes were wide and her breathing shallow. She was going to hyperventilate.
One of the officers made her stand and patted her down for weapons, as if she was a criminal. When the officer finished, he said she could sit, but away from the desk, probably to keep her from going for a gun if she was a criminal.
After scouring the backroom thoroughly, a pair of officers stayed with her while several others went into the antique shop to check it out.
One officer came up to her. He was a tall man, probably six-two, about Daniel’s height. She held her breath as he squatted down to face her eye-to-eye. “Name,” he said in an authoritative voice.
At first her mouth wouldn’t work. “Ani Carter,” she finally got out. To the world, to everyone but Daniel, Anistana King no longer existed. Until the trial.
The police officer placed his hand on her shoulder, causing her to jump. “Are you okay?”
Ani gave a slow, jerky nod. “I’m fine,” she whispered, just before she passed out.
Chapter 2
Yegor Borenko pushed his bulk off his mistress, Mashka, and she groaned. He’d just fucked the hell out of her, taking out his anger on the bitch. She would have bruises on the insides of her thighs and her nipples would hurt as hard as he had bitten them.
Good. She craved the punishment. Masochistic slut.
His men had better find that bitch, Anistana King, before she testified. The frustration he had taken out on Mashka had done nothing to alleviate the anger he felt.
A knock came at the door of the backroom of his office. “Zahodi,” he growled. None would dare disturb him but his top in command.
Piterskij came into the room, a stoic expression on his face. He ignored Mashka and addressed Yegor.
“We have a lead on the King woman,” Piterskij said as Yegor rolled out of the bed, grabbed his clothing, and started pulling on his Armani slacks.
“Go on.” Yegor had heard this far too many times. He fastened his pants below his large belly. Mashka remained on the bed, naked and not covering herself. She knew better. He liked looking at her bruises. He liked showing off her hot, naked body—and his power over it—to anyone who cared to look.
“We believe she is in a small town in Arizona,” Piterskij said while Yegor pulled his sleeveless undershirt over his head. “With the trial so close, our intelligence has been almost completely focused on finding the woman. We have people inside the telephone companies, of course, who have the technology to constantly scan phone records of all of Anistana King’s known former friends and contacts.”
Yegor slid his arms into his starched white shirt and began buttoning it. “Good, good.”
“Krutov thought it well to look into this call that came from a cellular phone, as no calls have come from Arizona to any of these contacts. He called the mobile phone and recorded the female voice of the woman who answered. Alkash, who was present when her family was taken out, is certain he recognized her voice. We followed the cell phone’s signal and believe it came from a small antique shop in that town.”
For the first time in two years, Yegor felt a stirring in his gut. He would like to put a bullet into the head of the bitch himself. She’d identified his son, Dmitry, as her family’s killer and put Dmitry behind bars for a day before Yegor had paid the exorbitant bail bond. She was also set to testify with damning evidence that could send his son to prison.
That would never do.
Yegor stepped into his Gucci loafers. “Do we have operatives close enough to get to her?”
“One in Phoenix, four hours from the town where she is hiding.” A pleased look came into Piterskij’s eyes. “Lev is on his way as we speak.”
A good fuck and the good news picked up Yegor’s spirits immensely. They would take out this Anistana King before she even testified. Charges dismissed. No one had the depth of information that the woman had.
Anistana King was their final target.
Chapter 3
Daniel Parker ground his teeth and clenched the steering wheel of his black SUV with one fist while he pushed his other hand through his hair.
Goddamnit. Ani knew better. Two years and she screwed up, and just a few days before the trial.
Jesus Christ.
He slammed his palm on the steering wheel as he sped down the I-10 freeway from Phoenix. The darkness was only illuminated by his headlights and the occasional lights of passing cars. The speed limit was seventy-five but his speedometer was pushing ninety.
At least the local cops had Ani. First call he’d made after talking with Ani was to the Bisbee Police Department. Not much later, an officer called back. They’d had three units, a car on each side of the three-sided end building, securing it. The cop said Ani was safe and they were waiting on orders from him. Daniel told the officer to take her to the police department and keep her under tight guard until he arrived.
Daniel had made it through Tucson and was closing in on Benson, but that was still a good fifty miles from where Ani was. An hour away.
The Russian Mafia was loaded with former KGB operatives as well as former Soviet military intelligence, GRU, operatives. They had people employed everywhere, and he had no doubt they had informants at the telephone company.
If Ani’s call did get the Russians’ attention there was a chance their own contacts in Tucson or Phoenix could get to the scene long before he did. A sniper could’ve taken her out the moment she walked out of the police cruiser to head into the department headquarters. The Russians wouldn’t let any cops surrounding her stand in the way. No, they’d be picked off one by one.
The Russians were absolutely ruthless.
He hadn’t told Ani, but the Russians had recently stepped up the search for her by plastering her picture all over the internet, claiming she was a missing “heiress” and offering an obscene reward for her recovery. The info had passed from person to person by many who forwarded e-mail chain letters.
As soon as the Russians found her, they’d put a bullet in her head.
No way in hell was that going to happen. It went beyond what drove him to protect those he was assigned to.
When he was in Judicial Security Division of the U.S. Marshal’s Service, he’d failed a judge whose courtroom he’d been assigned to. If he hadn’t been distracted . . . If he’d seen the gun . . . If he could have thrown himself in the way . . .
He hadn’t gotten to Judge Moore fast enough—but he wasn’t about to let it happen again.
He wouldn’t lose Ani.
After Daniel went on a leave of absence, a colleague had recommended Daniel to WITSEC, and he had transferred to the program to be trained as an Inspector, a Deputy Marshal who had the responsibility of keeping in touch with the witnesses he’d been assigned to and making sure they stuck to the rules and didn’t break their contracts.
Most of the people in the Witness Security Program were basically thugs. They’d been involved in organized crime, drug trafficking, and other criminal activities, and were now testifying against those higher in the organization, usually to save their own asses.
But Ani . . . she was one of the few innocents forced into the Program.
In the two years he’d known Ani, he’d admired her intelligence, her bravery—hell, everything about her. He didn’t know when it happened, but something about their relationship had gone far beyond Program participant and contact. She was off-limits, but he’d needed to talk to her weekly. Needed to hear her sensual voice.
He could still imagine her flowery scent and picture her full curves and vivid blue eyes. And her lips. He’d escorted her from the burn center, to rehab, then to different safe houses, including the one in Bisbee, where she’d been living up until now.
With the feelings she stirred up inside him, being around her was a bad idea. A real bad idea. He’d have to get another Inspector to take over the case once he got her to New York City to testify.
Without glancing down, Daniel slid his cell phone out of its holster on his belt. As he drove, he flipped the phone open and punched the speed dial number for Ani without taking his eyes off the road. He’d pushed that button so many times he didn’t have to look at his phone to call her.
He brought the phone to his ear as he caught up to a pair of red taillights and switched lanes to pass the vehicle, then moved back into the right lane. In moments he came up on the exit to Benson. If he was going to do any kind of fast driving through the small towns from here to Bisbee, he’d have to use his lights.
A ringing tone started on the other end of the line, but immediately the generic recording came on telling him to leave a message. Looked like she was listening to him in one regard—he’d told her not to talk with anyone.
When he took the exit, he slowed down but switched on his flashing red, blue, and white strobes. He went a bit faster than he should have through the forty five, thirty five, then twenty five mile an hour zones. All of the small towns on this stretch of highway were speed traps, and he couldn’t waste time being pulled over.
From the three small towns was a long stretch of highway and a good thirty minute drive to Bisbee. It felt as if he was driving like a boat against a current.
When he finally reached the Mule Pass Tunnel he should have felt some relief, but he remained as tense as a coiled spring.
Ten more minutes and he’d be there.
Agonizing minutes.
Daniel finally reached the police department. He pulled out his credentials, shut off his flashing lights, then stepped from his SUV and strode into the department building.
“U.S. Deputy Marshal,” Daniel said to the officer manning the front desk and showed the cop his creds.
After checking them out, the cop motioned him on.
Daniel strode to the back of the building where he’d been directed. In one glance he saw Ani wasn’t in the room. Only one woman was there, other than a female police officer. The civilian woman was talking with a paramedic.
What the hell were paramedics doing here?
And where the hell was Ani?
His voice came out in a growl, carrying over the discussions in the room. “Where’s Ani Carter?”
“I’m right here, Daniel.” The familiar feminine voice came from the left of him—from the woman sitting next to a paramedic.
“Ani?” He narrowed his eyes, taking in the slender woman who looked so unlike the Ani he knew that he hadn’t recognized her. But her crystalline blue gaze, her dark brown hair, small nose and fair complexion were familiar even though her face was much thinner. What clinched it for him were her full lips. Lips he’d wanted to kiss way too many times.
Goddamnit. He had to get those thoughts out of his head and now.
She offered him a nervous-looking smile and he pushed his way past the officers in the room and past the paramedic. He crouched in front of her, wanting to take her in his arms, but he couldn’t. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine.” She looked down at her hands in her lap. “I’m so sorry.”
He hooked his finger under her chin and forced her to look at him. “Everyone makes mistakes, honey,” he said in a low voice that likely couldn’t be heard by anyone but her. “But yours could get you killed. You can’t take chances with your life.”
A tear trickled down her cheek. “I just had to help that boy.”
The desire to take her into his arms and hold her was so strong he found it difficult to restrain himself. He dropped his hand away from her face. “We’ve got to get you out of here.”
“All right,” she said quietly. “What do I need to do?”
“Wait here for a few moments.” He couldn’t be mad at her, no matter what had happened. “I’ll be right back.”
Daniel rose from his crouched position and turned away from her. He talked with a couple of officers before heading out to his SUV, then drove up so that the passenger side door was next to the rear door of the police department. He brought in an extra set of body armor for her to wear for protection. If he could, he’d make her wear a helmet—anything to protect every inch of her.
After she had the Kevlar vest on, over her blouse, he took her by the arm and with the cover of several police officers, hustled her into the passenger seat of the SUV and slammed the door behind her.
He sucked in a deep breath of relief as he went to the driver’s side. They’d gotten her this far. He’d never let anything happen to her.
When he climbed in and shut the door, he paused to look at her. “It’s good to see you again, Ani.”
She’d been staring at her lap, but her head jerked up when he spoke. “You’re not mad?”
“Hell, yes, I’m mad.” He reached over and gripped her forearm. “Because I was worried about you.”
He shouldn’t have touched her. A jolt traveled through him and he removed his hand. Her eyes widened, as if she felt the same electrical feeling he had.
Daniel forced himself to look away from her and turned his keys in the ignition. “Let’s get out of here.”
The drive back through the small towns and on to Tucson was less hurried, but the tenseness in his muscles wouldn’t let go.
They were both quiet for a while, before Daniel said, “I’ve been looking forward to seeing you for a long time.”
“You have?” She sounded so shocked that it surprised him.
“Ani, we’ve been talking to each other nearly every week for a year now.” He glanced at her. “Don’t you think I’d like to see you?” Daniel clenched the wheel tighter. What the hell was he saying?
“I guess,” she said as he focused his gaze on the road, and he frowned. “I mean, I feel the same way,” she continued, “it’s just the circumstances—”
“Are behind us now.” He shifted his hold on the steering wheel.
This time when he glanced from the road to look at her she was smiling. She was so beautiful. He’d always thought she was, no matter what she looked like. It might take him some time to get used to this toothpick version of the woman he’d—
Daniel clenched his teeth.
Don’t even go there.
After a moment’s silence, she asked, “Where are we headed?”
“After we stay the night in Tucson, we’ll take a puddle jumper to the Phoenix airport in the morning.” Daniel guided the SUV into the passing lane. “We’ve booked a direct flight out of Sky Harbor to New York. Our plane leaves at noon.”
She shuddered. “The trial. It’s time.”
Daniel gave a slow nod. She stared at his profile that was illuminated by the red dashboard lights. She’d memorized his features down to the shadow of a beard on his jaw. But now her heart was pounding like mad.
“Oh, jeez.” She leaned her head against the headrest. “I can’t believe it. So much time has gone by that it doesn’t seem real now.”
“It’s real, honey,” he said in his deep voice. “We’ve got to do everything we can to protect you.”
Ani’s belly did a little nosedive when he called her honey, the endearment he’d used so many times on the phone. Maybe he said it to all women, but it made her feel special somehow.
“Have you had anymore of those bad flashbacks from your PTSD?” he asked quietly. “You sure had me worried the last time.”
“Not since then.” Ani paused, then remembered that she nearly did this evening. “Well, I almost had one while I was waiting for the cops, but I pulled out of it.”
He glanced at her. “Did something trigger this one or did it just come on?”
She shivered before she said, “I saw a man outside the window, watching the store. He dropped his cigarette butt and it reminded me of the fire—how it started.”
Daniel’s jaw was hard when he looked at her. “That could have been one of Borenko’s men. They could already be on to you.”
Ani took a deep breath “The doorknob to the backroom jiggled just before I heard police sirens.”
Daniel cursed again. She saw him look at the rearview mirror as he said, “It’s dark, and with the amount of traffic—it might be hard to see a tail.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, but this time Daniel didn’t answer.
They were quiet most of the trip to Tucson. On the way, Daniel had Ani use his secure cell phone to call the hotel and make a reservation. Her stomach dropped to her toes when he said one room, no smoking, double beds.
Her voice shook as she made the reservation. Daniel and her sleeping in the same room?
That thought drove away her worries about the danger from the Russians.
Daniel. Her.
In the same room.
So that he could protect her, of course. That was it.
After she made the reservations, Ani could hardly think straight the rest of the way to Tucson. She didn’t know what to do with her hands, so she clenched them in her lap. Every now and then, Daniel would glance her way, and she felt heat in her belly that traveled downward, and it wasn’t to her toes.
When they arrived in Tucson, Daniel drove up and down several streets and said if they did have a tail he hoped they shook him off.
At the hotel, Ani walked beside Daniel up to the front counter, her high heels clicking against the stone-tiled floor in the large lobby. It was a nice place with a restaurant and a gift shop.
She had absolutely nothing with her but what she was wearing, which now included a plain navy blue windbreaker she had zipped up over the body armor. Daniel hadn’t even let her bring her purse, her cell phone, and definitely not her credit cards. He’d forced her to leave them all at the police station. Now that the location where she worked had been exposed, her identity had been compromised.
Daniel had brought in a duffel bag with him, and she wondered if he kept one packed in his SUV for emergencies.
Like helping a dumb protected witness who gave away her true identity to someone from her old life.
He’d put on his Stetson before heading into the hotel and that just about made her melt. Between that bod, the tight Wranglers, Stetson, and boots, she’d been a goner from the first time she met him.
Once Ani and Daniel checked in at the front desk, they took the elevator up to their floor. Daniel swiped the key card in its slot to let them into the room. It smelled of new carpeting and starched sheets when they walked in. She blinked in the darkness and Daniel switched on a light.
The first thing she noticed was that there was one king-sized bed in the room. Not double beds.
She could barely breathe and stood still. He tossed the duffel on the bed, laid his hat on a vanity table, and shrugged out of his plain dark blue windbreaker which he discarded by draping it over a chair.
“I’ve got to take a shower.” Exhaustion was evident in his voice and he rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. It was well after one in the morning. “Mind if I head into the bathroom first?”
“Uh, Daniel?” She swallowed hard when he turned to face her. “There’s only one bed.”
He cast a tired glance over his shoulder at the bed. “Yeah, there is,” he said just before continuing into the bathroom.
Ani stared at his back and then the bathroom door as he closed it. She was standing in the same spot when she heard the shower start.
She closed her eyes and imagined water running in rivulets over his hard, naked body. Her breathing elevated and her heart pounded a little harder at the images. She knew his body would be perfection. Picturing his muscled form caused her nipples to harden and she ached between her thighs like she’d never ached before.
Ani opened her eyes and shook her head. In her fantasies she didn’t have a scarred back or an equally ugly pit from a large bullet wound in her shoulder. Even if there was a chance of them getting together—a chance in hell—she couldn’t handle him seeing the mess her lower back was now.
With a sigh, she kicked off her high heels. When she went to the mirror over the vanity she ran her hand through her thick, brunette hair. She’d lost the clip long ago. She sighed at her appearance. Tired, red eyes stared back at her. Mascara smudged one cheek, her makeup pretty much gone from crying. Her black slacks were wrinkled and her white silk shirt limp and clinging to her skin.
This was all she had to wear and she was flying with Daniel to New York tomorrow. She sighed again as the weight of the day settled on her shoulders. She was so, so, tired. She pushed out of the windbreaker Daniel had loaned her, and tossed it on the chair by his.
The door to the bathroom opened sending wafts of steam into the bedroom along with the clean scent of soap. Suddenly she didn’t feel so tired.
Instead, her mouth watered and she could feel the ache in her nipples as they pressed against her bra. Daniel was rubbing a towel over his head and wearing another towel low around his hips. She’d never seen him in anything but jeans and shirts, and oh, my God, did he look delicious.
Fortunately, he didn’t seem to notice her panting or her tongue hanging out. Instead he went to his duffel bag, pulled out a T-shirt, and tossed it to her. “Will that do to sleep in?” She caught it and he went back to towel-drying his hair.
A little more and that towel around his waist would just slip off . . .
“The bathroom’s all yours if you want it,” he said in his smooth drawl.
“Um, yeah.” She gripped the T-shirt tight against her chest. “Thanks.”
She darted into the bathroom, closed the door, and leaned against it. Crap. Daniel was bound to see how attracted she was to him, and even if he was interested in her, they couldn’t do anything about it. And she wouldn’t want him seeing her—or touching the twisted flesh on her back.
Daniel’s clothing and body armor were lying on the floor in a heap with the rest of his clothing and boots. She paused to look at the armor. This was what protected him when he was out on the job.
Ani fumbled with the vest Daniel had given her for protection. When she managed to get it off, she put it on top of his. She slipped out of her clothing and folded them on top of the marble vanity.
She climbed into the shower and let the warm water ease her tired muscles and relax the tendons at her neck. The hotel’s almond scented shampoo, conditioner, and soap were all relaxing.
Ani felt almost human again when she climbed out of the shower and toweled herself off. The hotel hair dryer was handy, so she used it to get her hair mostly dry. The shirt Daniel had loaned her to sleep in had “U.S. Marshal” emblazoned on the back. When she slipped it on, his masculine scent surrounded her. The shirt was so big on her—or she was just so small now—that it hung to mid-thigh. It was one of the most erotic sensations, to be wearing his T-shirt with no underwear. Nothing had happened, and nothing would, but she always had her imagination.
After hand-washing her bra and panties, she hung them over the shower curtain and picked up her blouse and slacks from where she’d left them on one end of the marble vanity. She slipped into the bedroom, her heart thumping like mad. This was going to be so awkward.
But when she saw Daniel she had to stop and smile. He was passed out cold on one side of the bed, on his back on top of the bedspread. He wore a T-shirt that matched hers and a pair of jogging shorts, and one of his arms was resting across his eyes. She shook her head and went to the closet to hang up the blouse and slacks. She’d just have to iron out the wrinkles in the morning.
Before turning off the light beside the bed she had to study him. He was even better looking than she’d remembered. All those muscles, sinewy forearms and carved biceps. She was so in lust.
And so in love.
“Nope, nope, nope,” she mumbled to herself. “Not happening, not happening, not happening.”
She turned off the switch and slipped under the sheets on her side of the bed.
Oh, the sheets felt so good against her skin and the soft pillow . . .
#
Ani woke to the sensation of being cocooned. Like she was enveloped in a big bear hug.
She blinked to see it was morning, that she was in a hotel room, and Daniel’s arm was draped around her waist, his thigh over hers. He was still on top of the covers and she was beneath them, but she was now spooned up against him, her back to his chest. She felt completely and totally safe . . . and loved.
And good Lord, but the man had an early-morning erection that nearly made her moan out loud. She wasn’t wearing any panties and the sensation of being naked beneath that shirt made her feel naughty, sexy, and she felt moisture in between her thighs. Nothing but a bedspread separated them now.
To have him inside her . . .
Ani closed her eyes for a moment and pretended that she could wake up every morning like this. With Daniel up against her back and surrounding her with his big body. And then he’d make love to her . . .
“You smell like almonds and woman.” His voice was sleep-roughened and she groaned when he nuzzled her hair. “So good.”
He gave a low rumble and pressed his erection tighter against her back, rocking his hips as if he was taking her. Butterflies flitted in her belly and she ached between her thighs. She couldn’t hold back a whimper.
Did he? Could they?
“Christ!” He drew away from her so suddenly it startled her. “Oh, honey, I’m sorry,” he said when she rolled over to look at him and met his coffee brown eyes. He was already on his feet on the other side of the bed. He ran his fingers through his rumpled brown hair. “I didn’t mean—damn.”
She didn’t know what to say, so she just studied him. What was going through his head?
“I want—I can’t—damn.” He grabbed his duffel bag and strode to the bathroom. “I’ve got to take a shower,” he said and mumbled under his breath, “A freezing cold one.”
Ani didn’t think he’d intended for her to hear that last part. If what had just happened meant anything, he had the same intense attraction that she felt for him, or at least partly.
She shouldn’t even be going down that path. The main reason being he was a federal agent assigned to protect her, not sleep with her. What she wanted—even if he want
