Backfire. Elizabeth Goddard

Mountain Cove so much. The sense of community here. People cared. She couldn’t afford for them to care for her, but still, she didn’t want to leave. Didn’t want to run again.

      “I’ve called my contact. Left a message. Until she calls me back there’s nothing more that I can do.” There was nothing he could do, either.

      “Sure there is. You can get out of here.”

      “And go where?” She almost yelled the question at him. She moved away from him, which was increasingly difficult to do in this cottage that seemed to grow smaller by the minute.

      At the kitchen sink, Tracy washed out the cups and the coffeepot. She doubted either of them would drink the rest.

      “Anywhere would be safer than staying here.”

      “I’m in the middle of nowhere, practically, David. People can’t even drive here. You know that. If someone can find me here, they can find me anywhere. So...no.” Well, that was it, then. She had made up her mind, thanks to David. “I’m not leaving. I refuse to have someone else control my life anymore. I won’t be forced out of a life I love, a town I love. I’m just like my father after all.”

      David took the cup from her and placed it in the cabinet. “Your father?”

      “Yeah, when I first agreed to testify, I told my family that we could all go into WITSEC. He refused to go into the program with me. He has a successful business he doesn’t want to leave behind. He can’t start his life over. I couldn’t leave my family behind like that, never to see them again. I’d already lost so much.” Lost someone she loved. “So instead of entering the program, I dropped off the map on my own. And I love my home now. I’m staying here.”

      “Okay, then, it sounds like you’ve made up your mind and I can’t convince you otherwise.” Something in David’s tone pulled her attention from washing out the sink and up to his earthy green eyes. “And believe me when I say that I don’t want you to leave.”

      Tracy wanted to go into his arms. The oddest of things—she’d spent half a day with the man and here she was, wanting to feel his arms around her. She shook off the foolishness his proximity brought on and took a step back.

      “I’m not really sure what to say to that.”

      He laughed. “At least sleep in the house with Jewel and her guests until they catch this guy, okay? And if you don’t already have a weapon, then get one.”

      Stay in the main house and put Jewel and the others at risk? No, she couldn’t. “I have Solomon to protect me, to warn me. He saved me before, so I trust him to do that again.” And she had the big can of bear spray and the smaller pepper spray she carried in her purse. But her excuses sounded weak, even to her own ears.

      David didn’t appear convinced, but it wasn’t his decision. And yet Tracy cared about his opinion and she wished that she didn’t.

      “You really think Solomon can protect you from a killer? Maybe he saved you before—I don’t know the circumstances. And maybe he can warn you, but, Tracy, even if Solomon was a real guard dog, he couldn’t protect you from this guy. And what about the danger to Solomon? What if the man has a gun next time? Solomon doesn’t wear armor. What if he gets hurt trying to protect you?”

      Tracy hadn’t thought of it that way, and the accusation in David’s tone choked her. But she didn’t get a chance to respond. Her cell phone chirped. Tracy rushed to the end of the counter and stared at the caller ID. The number on the screen belonged to Marshal Jennifer Hanes.