Liam's Witness Protection (Man On A Mission 4) (11 page)

“Special ops?” Liam asked Callahan, his respect for the man growing by the minute.

“A lifetime ago, but yeah. Some things you never forget. You were in the Corps, too, weren’t you? McKinnon told me all you Joneses were, including your sister.”

“Yeah, but I was just a run-of-the-mill marine. I wasn’t special ops.”

Callahan bent over and dug into the box he’d left at the first drop. “No such thing as a run-of-the-mill marine,” he said flatly as he started forming the first of his traps. “You either
are
a marine...or you aren’t. Period. End of discussion.”

* * *

Liam took Cate on a tour of the cabin’s perimeter after Callahan left, making sure she knew where every trap was located so she’d know where
not
to tread. Not that he had any intention of letting her wander around outside without his protection, but just in case...

They opened some cans and heated up the contents for dinner, then ate sitting on the front porch steps. As before, Cate sat silent and nearly still while she ate, but Liam could tell she appreciated the pristine beauty of her surroundings.

He did, too. He’d spent much of his adult life away from the mountains—first in the Marine Corps and then wherever the DSS posted him—but he’d grown up in the Rockies, and he hadn’t lost his love for mountain country. He wondered if Cate was as enamored of mountains as he was. She’d grown up in Zakhar—he knew that much from her cousin, Angelina, his new sister-in-law—and Zakhar was seemingly nothing
but
mountains, sort of like Switzerland. Still...

“Have you ever seen the Rockies?” he asked abruptly.

Cate glanced at him, hesitated, then said, “I was living in Denver when ICE arrested me,” she said. “Didn’t you know?”

He shook his head. “I know almost nothing about the circumstances surrounding your case. Alec didn’t tell me much of anything. Not until—” He broke off, unsure how much to reveal.

“Not until you were forced to become my bodyguard?”

Liam stiffened. “I wasn’t
forced
to do anything, Cate. I’m here because I choose to be here.” He held her gaze. “When it comes right down to it, I’m on vacation—you know that already. I could have just turned you over to Callahan and headed back to Denver if that’s what I wanted—Cody invited me to stay with my sister and him. But that’s not what I want.” He stood up, took her plate and utensils from her unresisting grasp and walked into the cabin before he could add,
Wherever you are, that’s where I want to be.
Because he wasn’t quite ready to admit that to her.

He placed the dishes in the sink, ran some hot water and added a little dish soap, then took his frustrations out on the dirty dishes.
Hell,
he told himself as he stacked the rinsed dishes on the dish rack to dry,
it’s not just that you’re not ready to admit to her how much you care. You’re afraid she’s not ready to hear it. That she’ll never be ready to hear it.

For a man whose own family called him a knight-errant, it was devastating to realize his damsel in distress might not
want
to be rescued...by him.

* * *

Night had fallen. Cate showered and got ready for bed while Liam made a perimeter check. She’d known when he told her how long he’d be gone that he was doing it to give her some privacy, and she was touched by his thoughtfulness. The folding screen beside the bed would give her privacy, too. She’d argued with Liam about the cot he’d set up for himself near the fireplace, but she’d known even before she’d started it was a battle she was destined to lose. Despite the fact that he was bigger and taller than she was, he wasn’t going to take the bed, and that was that.

She was already tucked under the covers, reading one of the books he’d bought her that morning when she heard the front door open. “Don’t worry, it’s me,” Liam told her in the deep voice that resonated inside her in a way she’d never thought possible.

She tried to concentrate on her book, but she heard him move around the room even though he tried to be quiet about it. When he went into the bathroom she heard the shower running. If she was any other woman—any
normal
woman—she knew she’d be curious. Knew her imagination would be piqued by the idea of a naked man in the shower. No, not just a naked man. A naked
Liam.
Especially since she knew he’d be even more splendid naked than he was clothed...and he was pretty impressive clothed.

But she wasn’t a normal woman. And she could never have a normal woman’s reaction to a man—she knew that. She wished with all her heart things could be different for her. That she could let herself be touched in intimate ways and not tremble in fear and loathing. Part of her wanted Liam to touch her, kiss her, caress her. Part of her wanted Liam to want her the way a good man wanted a woman—with desire, but also with respect. But she’d told him the truth on the drive up here. She was afraid to try, because she couldn’t bear to fail. And even worse, she was afraid she’d freeze up or scream if Liam tried to make love to her. He didn’t deserve that. He deserved a woman who could let him touch her without fear.

Cate closed her book, turned off the lamp on the nightstand and tried to think of something else. But her eyes burned with unshed tears as traumatic memories came back to her, memories she desperately wanted to suppress...but couldn’t.

Eventually she fell asleep. But her sleep was troubled by nightmares, and she was back in Vishenko’s clutches—a prisoner once more. Heard him laugh his coarse laugh as he caught her when she tried to run, then tied her to the bed and laughed again as she struggled against her bonds until her wrists were bruised and bloody.
No!
she screamed in her dreams.
No!

* * *

Liam woke at the first sound Cate made. The first whimper. He almost pulled his SIG SAUER from its holster where it hung from a corner of the cot. But then he realized whatever was troubling Cate wasn’t a real threat. At least, it wasn’t a
current
threat.

He threw off the sheet covering him and moved swiftly to Cate’s bedside. She was thrashing around on the bed, little moans of distress catching in her throat as she fought off the sheet and blanket entangling her. He flicked on the bedside lamp and called her name—softly at first because he didn’t want to scare her, then louder when she didn’t seem to hear him. “Cate! Cate!”

He touched her shoulder to wake her and she shot up in bed, fighting off his hand with both of hers and screaming, “No!”

Liam backed away, both hands up, palms facing her. “It’s okay, Cate. I won’t hurt you. I promise. You were having a nightmare, and I wanted to wake you, that’s all.”

Her eyes suddenly focused on him and she choked on his name. Then she covered her face with her hands and bent over, burying herself in the twisted bedclothes. At first he thought she was crying—any other woman would have been. But not Cate.

Pity swept through him. Just as last night, he knew he had to do something to make it right for her, and he didn’t stop to question either his need to comfort or hers to be comforted. He bent down and gathered her into his arms—sheet, blanket and all—then trod across the bare wooden floor to the rocking chair beside the empty fireplace. He sat down with her on his lap, her head cradled against his shoulder.

She was trembling inside her blanketed cocoon, but Liam knew it wasn’t from the cold because it wasn’t that cold in the cabin. She was trembling because she couldn’t shake off the nightmare. Because something had brought the past back to life for her, the past she wanted to forget.

He pushed the rocking chair into motion with one strong foot, crooning softly to Cate the way he remembered his mother doing to him when he was a little boy, as they rocked back and forth for endless minutes. Eventually she stopped trembling and her ragged breathing slowed, but still he rocked. Then he glanced down at her and realized—to his utter amazement—she’d fallen asleep in his arms.

In repose her face was totally innocent...and totally vulnerable. All those emotional fences she put up around herself vanished when she was sleeping, as if they had never existed. And Liam’s heart turned over.

Chapter 11

C
ate woke to the sound of someone trying to move quietly around the cabin and the smell of coffee. For just a moment she didn’t remember where she was—which wasn’t unusual for her because she’d often woken in strange places. What
was
unusual was that she had no memory after a certain point last night. Had no memory of how she’d wound up back in bed...but she had a pretty good idea how she’d gotten there. The last thing she remembered was Liam holding her in the rocking chair, which meant—unbelievably—she hadn’t been afraid to fall asleep in his arms. He must have put her to bed, tucked her in, then gone back to his less-than-comfortable cot to finish out the night.

The cabin’s interior was still shadowed, but there was enough light to see, so she figured it was shortly after dawn. But Liam was already awake.
He must be an early riser like me,
she thought. She laid there for a minute, until she heard the sound of a door open and close in the distance, then total silence.
Liam must have gone outside.

She slipped out of bed and headed for the bathroom. When she came out Liam was just walking in the back door, and she scurried behind the screen, then grabbed her robe and tugged it on.

“Breakfast?” he called to her from the other side of the folding screen. “You’re not a coffee drinker, right? But I am, so I made a pot for me. Let me know if you change your mind and want some.” His voice receded and she knew he’d moved into the kitchen area, but she could still hear him clearly. “There’s not much in the way of breakfast food, except dry cereal. There’s no milk until Callahan comes back this morning. I can make some oatmeal if you want something hot and don’t mind eating it without milk.”

Cate grabbed her clothes and hurried back into the bathroom—the screen gave her
some
privacy, but not enough to dress. “Oatmeal’s fine,” she said right before she closed the door. “I’m not picky.”

* * *

Liam’s agency-issued cell phone rang just as he was pouring himself a second cup of coffee. He answered it, but lost the signal before he could find out who was calling, so he excused himself from the table and took his coffee cup and cell phone outside onto the front porch. Sure enough, it rang again almost immediately.

“Yeah?” Even though supposedly no one but the agency, his brother and Callahan had the number, Liam wasn’t about to answer with his name.

“Liam.” Alec’s voice sounded in his ear. “I’m glad I reached you. Angel’s desperate to know how Cate is.”

“She’s fine.”

“Don’t tell me where she is, but how safe is she? All Cody would tell me was that Nick D’Arcy has her stashed someplace. But he says he doesn’t know where that is.”

“Yeah, as far as I know, he doesn’t know.” Liam laughed a little under his breath at the irony of hiding out in Cody’s cabin without Cody’s knowledge. “I’m staying with her for now.”

“You are? That’s good.” Alec’s voice had betrayed his initial surprise, but it had quickly been followed up with approval.

“Yeah. And you can tell your wife to stop worrying. Even if someone knew where to look, I don’t think they’d find us. And if they did, we’d have plenty of warning,” he added cryptically.

“That’s good to hear.” There was a muffled sound, as if Alec was holding his hand over the phone and talking to someone.
Probably Angelina,
Liam theorized. His theory was confirmed when the warm contralto belonging to his sister-in-law spoke in his ear.

“Liam? Please, may I speak with Cate?”

“Sure. Hold on.” He stepped to the doorway and called, “Cate? Angelina’s on the phone. She wants to speak with you.”

He handed Cate the cell phone when she came outside, but as he did he warned her, “Stay out here. Remember what Callahan said, that reception inside the cabin isn’t the greatest. He’s right—I already had one dropped call inside.”

Cate nodded and flashed Liam a grateful smile, then took the phone and moved a little away from him before speaking. He tried not to listen to her end of the conversation with her cousin, but even though she was speaking in Zakharan he couldn’t help understanding most of what she was saying. He reached out quickly and grabbed the phone from her just before she revealed their location.

“Need to know,” he reminded her, dead serious, holding the phone against his shirt so their voices couldn’t be heard on the other end.

“But my cousin...surely it’s safe to—”

“I didn’t tell Alec. Don’t tell Angelina. Especially not over the phone. You don’t know who’s listening.”

Cate’s silvery-blue eyes were huge in her suddenly pale face. “I thought we were safe here.”

“We are,” he explained patiently. “For now. But in order to stay safe, we have to think safe. Act safe.” He lifted the phone and spoke. “Put Alec back on, will you?” And when he heard his brother’s voice he said, “Cate was just about to tell Angelina where we are.” He winced at the curse from the other end, followed by staccato reminders. “Yeah. I know. I
know.
And she knows, too. She just didn’t realize—look, you don’t have to tell me how to do my job. Just tell Angelina I won’t let anything happen to Cate, okay?”

“I’ll tell her,” his brother said.

“And, Alec? Do we know anything about how the guns were smuggled into the courthouse?”

“The FBI is working on that. The agency, too, but separately.”

“I’ll bet. I got the impression D’Arcy doesn’t trust the FBI at this point, and from what he had to say I don’t blame him. I just hope it wasn’t them. Or the US Marshals Service. Or...oh hell, you know what I mean. Keep me posted if there’s something I need to know, okay?”

“Will do.” Liam started to disconnect but Alec stopped him. “Oh wait, I forgot to tell you.”

“Tell me what?”

“Remember the two men chasing after you in the courthouse? The ones you thought might be FBI or backup killers?”

“Yeah?”

Alec chuckled softly. “Turns out they’re neither. You won’t believe this, but they’re from the Zakharian National Forces.”

“What? How...why...?”

“Long story, but they were trying to help you. They weren’t armed—no way they could get firearms into the courthouse past security—but they were sent to protect Cate. I just found out, or I’d have told you sooner.”

“Thanks. That’s one less thing to worry about anyway. Talk to you later.” Liam disconnected, then glanced over at Cate, who was standing exactly where she’d been a minute before. And her absolute stillness worried him. “Cate?”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I wasn’t thinking.”

He brought his thoughts back to what she’d almost done—reveal their location over the phone. “That’s why you have me.” He smiled to ease her alarm and self-blame. “You’re careful, Cate. And like you told D’Arcy, you stayed alive and on the run for six years, even with a price tag on your head. That takes smarts. But you’re not a professional at this—I am. This is what I do for a living—keeping people alive.”

“You and Alec.”

That little imp of jealousy returned when she spoke his brother’s name, but he fought it off. “Yeah, Alec used to be a bodyguard, too. But not anymore. Now he’s the regional security officer at the US embassy in Drago.”

“Yes, I know.” She breathed deeply all of a sudden. “But he and Angelina were watching over me in Zakhar, making sure I was safe. And Alec told me he’d never forgive himself if anything happened to me because he convinced me to testify.”

“You mentioned before he was the one who got you to testify.” He took her arm and led her to the porch steps, then sat down and drew her down beside him. “But I thought you weren’t supposed to have any contact with Alec before the trial because he’s a witness, too. He didn’t tell me you were living with Angelina and him.”

“I wasn’t. I was living in the royal palace.”

“You’re kidding!”

She shook her head. “No, the king arranged it. It’s kind of an involved story, and I don’t know all of it, but...”

Liam glanced around the clearing. “We appear to have plenty of time. There’s nothing urgent we have to do as far as I know.”

Cate looked at her hands, then at him. “The king had recruited Alec’s assistance in stopping a human trafficking ring that was operating between Zakhar and the US. It also entailed corruption and visa fraud at the US embassy—that’s where Alec came in.”

“That much I know.”

“Yes, well...” She paused to consider her words. “I told you Vishenko was directly involved in trying to assassinate the crown prince, didn’t I?” When Liam nodded she continued. “He’s also suspected of having the king’s cousin murdered in jail.” She shivered, despite the sun’s warmth. “I don’t know where the investigation on that stands. And no one knows just how much involvement Vishenko had in the attempted assassination of the king a few years back, and the woman who is now his queen. But the attempt on the life of the crown prince—responsibility for that has been established beyond a reasonable doubt.”

“One of the shooters confessed, naming Vishenko as the man who supplied the money,” he remembered. “Isn’t that what you said?”

“Yes, but they’ve nailed down the money trail, and it leads right to Vishenko. If they ever get him in a Zakharian courtroom...”

“Yeah, but D’Arcy told me that’s a big ‘if.’”

“I don’t know about that. The king is...” There was admiration in her voice, and an obvious desire to believe the king would not
allow
Vishenko to escape justice, no matter what he had to do. Then she picked up her story again.

“The king told Alec it mattered just as much to him that Vishenko pay for his role in the human trafficking conspiracy as it did for the part he played in trying to kill the king’s son. When the king learned I had evidence against Vishenko and was willing to testify in court about what I knew, he insisted on providing me with round-the-clock protection—the same protection the royal security details provide for the king, the queen and the crown prince.”

Now it made sense to him that men from the Zakharian National Forces were in the courthouse, guarding Cate as best they could without firearms, but he didn’t say anything because he didn’t want to interrupt her.

She smiled softly. “The king was so kind—he said it would be best for me to live in the royal palace while I waited for the conspiracy trial, because it would be easier to protect me there than anywhere else. But of course, every time I came over here—depositions, prepping for the trial, the trial itself—I was guarded by US Marshals.”

And Zakharian agents,
he added in his mind.

Her smile faded. “I knew Vishenko would stop at nothing to silence me. I tried to warn everyone, especially the prosecutors. I really did, Liam.” Her eyes beseeched him to believe her.

“I believe you.”

“Alec believed me, too. And Angelina. And the king. They all knew I was the key witness. And they all knew Vishenko had killed every witness who’d ever tried to testify against him. No proof—he was too smart for that—but...” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “I never wanted anyone to die because of me. I should have known...should have expected...”

“How could you know? How could anyone predict what would happen in the courthouse?”

Cate suddenly stood up, and her voice was hard, cold and unforgiving—of herself. “I could have. Because I know him. I should have killed him years ago, but I was a coward. Instead of killing him, I took all the evidence I could lay my hands on...and I ran.” Self-recrimination colored her next words. “I told you I was a coward, Liam, but you didn’t want to believe it. That prosecutor? The other witness? They’re dead because I didn’t kill Vishenko when I had the chance.”

Before Liam could react, before he could stop her, Cate stormed up the steps and entered the cabin, slamming the door shut behind her.

Liam started to go after her. But he’d only taken two steps when a faint sound from the other side of the clearing had him whirling around, his SIG SAUER in his hand.

Callahan froze in his tracks, but by no other sign did he indicate a gun was aiming at his heart. “Guess I should have called to let you know I was on the way,” he said laconically.

Liam chuckled softly and holstered his gun. “Yeah, might have been a good idea.” He met Callahan halfway and relieved him of the cooler he was carrying.

“Brought you some milk, eggs and butter. Fresh bread, some cookies and an apple pie, too. Mandy—my wife—likes to bake when she’s worried. And she’s plenty worried right now, so we’ve got more bread and other baked goods than we know what to do with.”

Liam honed in on the most important fact as they walked toward the cabin. “What’s she worried about? I thought this place was as secret as we could wish for.”

“It
is
secret. But no place is perfect. Even though Mandy doesn’t know
who
you are, she knows why you’re here...and she’s remembering the two times we’ve been holed up here ourselves.”

“Keira mentioned you’d used the place for this kind of thing before.”

“Yeah. The first time was before we were married—right after Mandy’s home was firebombed by men trying to kill me. The second time was right after our nearest neighbor showed up on our doorstep bleeding out, trying to warn me I headed up a hit list—and our kids were with us. Not good memories, either of them.”

“But—”

Callahan mounted the porch stairs ahead of him and opened the cabin door. “Mandy’s worrying for nothing. D’Arcy’s got our backs on this, so we’re good.”

* * *

“Every man has his price,” Aleksandrov Vishenko repeated to himself in Russian, as he’d been doing almost hourly while he was awake—and even sporadically during his sleep—ever since he’d met with the government official and made him the offer. A day had passed, and he still hadn’t heard back. Not a single word. “Ten million dollars. How can he turn it down? He cannot,” he reassured himself. “He is merely trying to see if I will raise the price. He is a cunning one, that man. Oh yes, cunning as a fox. He has tried to bring me down for years, and has failed every time. So now he will join hands with me instead.”

He filled his snifter with cognac, trying not to think of how he was drinking more and more these days. How the stress over the impending trial was driving him to rely on the Courvoisier L’Essence he loved but had always drunk sparingly...until now.