“You’re a good person, Jessica.”
“I did what I had to do to survive. And I thank God that He’s been by my side each step of the way—including last night in the crash.”
“I can tell that your faith is strong.”
“Honestly, Zach, it’s the only thing that kept me going through some incredibly dark years. One of my middle school classmates invited me to church with her family, and it changed everything for me. None of my foster parents were believers, but most of them didn’t mind if I went to church because it at least got me out of their hair for a bit. I know there are good foster families out there. But for some reason, I had a stretch of a few really bad ones.”
He could tell the memories brought her a lot of pain. But he felt as if he needed to understand her better and give her a chance to talk if she wanted to. “Do you feel like sharing?”
“They’re not good memories I enjoy talking about.”
“You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”
“No. You should probably hear this. It will explain why I have certain hang-ups. Why I chose the path of becoming a prosecutor.” She paused for a while as if gathering the courage to continue. “There was some physical abuse that took place while I lived in the foster homes. Which is why I started taking self-defense classes in college. I no longer wanted to feel like a victim and wanted to be able to protect myself if I was attacked again.”
“I can’t even imagine.” It sickened him to think about what Jessica had gone through as a child.
“Yeah, a couple of the foster parents had issues with drugs and alcohol. When they drank they got violent. In one house it was the man, and in another house it was the woman. I never could understand how a mother could beat a child—but there was one that hit both me and her own kids. It was a terrible situation.”
“All I can do is say that I’m sorry for the awful pain that you went through. And to say that you haven’t let those obstacles stand in your way. Your strength is evident, Jessica. And your faith shines brightly.”
“It means a lot to hear you say that. I don’t want anyone’s pity or sympathy for what happened to me. But I’ve shared this with you so that you can understand why I care so deeply about my work as a prosecutor. Helping innocent victims means the world to me.”
He admired her conviction. The more time they spent together, the more he grew to really like this woman. But it couldn’t be more than that.
He looked down at his phone where the GPS was directing him. “We’re almost there,” he said, changing the subject.
“Good. My head is pounding.”
“You need to rest. Once we’re at the safe house, you can lie down. It’s perfectly normal considering the concussion and other trauma your body suffered.”
“You’re probably right.”
“Hang tight. We’re less than five minutes out.”
* * *
Jessica had crashed right after they’d arrived at their new location. They were in the middle of an upscale Coral Gables neighborhood about fifteen minutes from downtown Miami. The upstairs bedroom she was in was half the size of her apartment. The two-story Old Spanish–style house was nicer than any Jessica had ever been in. She’d expected something more low-key.
She looked at her watch and realized she’d slept for a few hours. It was time to venture out of her room and see what was going on with Zach.
As she walked out of the bedroom and toward the stairs, she heard male voices. It took her a second to realize that Ian Lopez was there. This couldn’t be good.
She was careful to hold on to the railing as she quickly made her way down the stairs. She hated to admit it, but she was still far from 100 percent.
She followed the voices and walked into the kitchen, where Ian, Zach and Brodie were seated around a large table. Each man had a coffee mug in front of him. And by the serious tones of their voices, they weren’t having a casual conversation.
“You’re up,” Zach said. “How’re you feeling?”
“Better than I did before, but still sore.” She wasn’t going to let on to the group that her head still hurt pretty badly. “What’s going on here?”
Ian looked at her. “Jessica, I was so worried about you when the FBI called and told me about the car accident. Which I understand now wasn’t an accident in the least bit.”
“I’m fine, though. I’ll be okay, and I’m ready to move forward with my job.”
“That’s what I’m here to talk about,” Ian said.
She needed to try to get out ahead of this before Ian went all the way down a path that would be difficult to walk him back from. “Before you say anything, you need to know that I’m able to try this case, Ian. I’ve been working around the clock the past two months to prepare.”
He nodded. “Jessica, I’m not questioning your abilities, but I am worried about your safety. We can’t have your body washing up on the beach.”
She cringed, thinking about Denise. “I can finish preparing out of the safe house. Then we can have additional security for the trial. We can do this, Ian.” She changed to the word we to make sure he felt invested in this, as well. If she was able to get a conviction, he’d look good. And if not, he’d just say it was her fault. It was a low-risk proposition for him.
“This is against my better judgment, Jessica,” Ian said. “Let’s proceed as if we are going to trial. I reserve the right to pull you if this thing gets out of control. As long as you think you can adequately prepare out of here, then I will try to give this another go. It’s important that we don’t let criminals think they can dictate how we prosecute people.”
She nodded. “You’re right, Ian. I’ll just need to get access to a few paper files, and the rest I have electronically and can access from my laptop. One of the paralegals is working on the exhibit list, and that’s almost complete.” She looked over at Zach and Brodie, who had been incredibly quiet. “What do you guys think?”
“We’re going to protect you,” Zach said. “I don’t like you being a direct target, but you two make a good point. We can’t let a criminal organization determine who is going to be prosecuted or not. The legal system has to continue to function.”
“Zach’s right,” Brodie said. “You have the full support of the FBI. We’ll make sure security is airtight so you can push through and try this case.”
“Thanks, everyone. I really appreciate it.”
The doorbell rang, and the three men shot up out of their seats.
“Were you expecting someone?” Ian asked.
“No,” Zach said.
“I’ll go see who it is,” Brodie said. “Zach, you stay here with Jessica.”
Jessica could feel the tension mounting in the room. Was the person at the door there to try to finish the job? How would anyone have found her?
After a few moments she heard voices but couldn’t make out exactly what they were saying. A few more minutes passed, and then Brodie returned to the kitchen with a man in a gray suit by his side.
He was tall and dark-haired—and looking directly at her. She couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d seen him before, but she couldn’t place him.
“Hello, Ms. Hughes. We haven’t met, but I needed to come here to talk to you.”
“And you are?” she asked.
“I’m