For a moment, there was silence as Tyler thought through the matter. Finally, he spoke. “What’s your plan? Will I get police protection? Go to a safe house?”
Mast shook his head. “Neither of those options would be enough. Barco’s reach is too vast. No telling who we can trust. We’re putting you in witness protection.”
A sick feeling overwhelmed him. He knew all about witness protection. Those who went in lost all connection with their families. His daughter, Bethany—would he never see her again? Would she even know about him, or would she grow up and forget he even existed? And what about Annabelle? He had no hope of ever winning back his wife again, he knew that. He couldn’t change who he was, and she had already shown that she couldn’t accept that. Not to mention the danger he’d put her in if they were to get back together. But he’d never imagined a life where he could not even see her or hear her voice again.
The future that loomed ahead of him was dark and empty.
* * *
The hair on the back of Annabelle Everson’s neck rose. Was she being watched? She glanced around the grocery store, but no one appeared to be paying any attention to them. She must have imagined it. She shivered, then blamed it on the air-conditioning.
Even though she knew it wasn’t the cold that was making her shiver. This was the second time today she’d felt like someone was watching her. The first time had been outside the library, where she took her daughter every Wednesday afternoon for the reading hour. Today the library had been busier than normal. The local fire department had sent several of the firefighters and a truck to talk about fire safety. The children present were thrilled to get to touch a real fire truck.
After the library, she and Bethany went shopping. It was their weekly routine.
Annabelle pushed the cart down the aisle, listening as Bethany chattered on about the letter she’d received from her kindergarten teacher. Annabelle could hardly believe that her baby would be starting school in a month. Where had the time gone?
“Mommy, Tasha and Nikki said that their daddy is taking them swimming tomorrow.”
Annabelle braced herself. Tasha and Nikki were the twins who lived two doors down from them. Since they had moved in three months ago, Bethany had started to talk about their daddy constantly. Which nearly always progressed to “Why doesn’t my daddy do that?”
In truth, Annabelle wasn’t even sure that Bethany remembered Tyler. It had been three years since she’d left him. He’d seen Bethany a few times after that, but not since she was three years old. She had seen pictures of him, though.
Her heart ached for her baby.
“Mommy, when will I see my daddy again?”
And there it was.
“Honey, I don’t know. You know that. But I can take you swimming or to the playground with your friends if you want to go. I always do.”
It didn’t help. Bethany crossed her arms across her thin body and pushed out her lower lip. Oh, no. The last thing Annabelle wanted was for her daughter to go into a full meltdown in the middle of grocery store.
“Don’t even think about throwing a tantrum, Bethany Jane. Or you won’t be going swimming with your friends tomorrow.”
Bethany glared, but wisely kept silent. Annabelle never proposed consequences she wasn’t prepared to follow through on. It was one thing she’d learned as a single parent—something she’d never planned on being.
“Mommy, why is that man watching us?”
Forgetting her daughter’s near tantrum, Annabelle swung her head in the direction that Bethany pointed. Her heart pounded at the thought that she’d finally see who was watching them. No one was. A young man in his early twenties was reading the label on a soup can. After a second, he dropped two cans into his shopping cart and moved past her to continue shopping.
“He’s just shopping, Bethy. Like us.” Despite her words, she couldn’t relax. Her gut tightened. Her maternal instinct was on full alert. A mother knew when danger was near her child.
“Let’s finish up and get home, okay? If we hurry, we can stop and get pizza for dinner.”
Bethany’s eyes lit up and she grinned. “Yay! Pizza! Can we get ice cream, too?”
Annabelle tousled her daughter’s blond hair and smiled back. “Of course! What’s pizza without ice cream for dessert?”
Happy again, Bethany skipped beside the shopping cart.
Annabelle hurried as much as she could. She couldn’t shake the thought that someone was watching again. She turned her head suddenly. Her eyes were pinned by the stare of the young man she’d seen earlier.
Bethany had been right. That was not the face of someone shopping. The cold stare she encountered made her shudder. All thoughts of shopping left her mind. She needed to get her daughter home, where they’d be safe.
“Bethy, come with me.” Grabbing her daughter’s hand, she abandoned the shopping cart and made for the exit. A glance over her shoulder confirmed her fear. The man was on his cell phone, watching her. She moved quicker.
“Mommy, what about the ice cream?”
“Honey, I will see if we can get it somewhere else. But we need to leave. Now.”
Bethany was a very bright girl. She didn’t argue with her mom. Looking down at her daughter, Annabelle could see that she was pale and her eyes were wide. She hated that her daughter was afraid. Better scared and safe. That was the important thing.
She tightened her grip on Bethany’s hand and left the store. The little girl was trembling now. Who was that man? An image of him grabbing Bethany and running off flashed through her mind. Annabelle paused to lift her daughter in her arms. Bethany didn’t question it but wrapped her legs around her waist while winding her arms around her mother’s neck.
The parking lot was crowded. Annabelle ducked between two cars, crouching low. She set down Bethany, motioning her to keep low. Bethany squatted next to Annabelle. “Shh. Don’t make a sound. Okay?” she whispered in Bethany’s ear. The child nodded, burying her face in her mother’s shoulder. Moving as if in slow motion, Annabelle raised herself enough to peer across the parking lot through the windows of the car on her left. The man was standing outside the store, talking on the phone while his eyes searched the parking lot.
For her.
What did he want?
Settling back down, she considered her options. Her car was three rows away. It would be practically impossible to get there without being seen. Or worse.
She peeked again. Oh, no. He was heading this way. Now what?
Putting her finger to her lips to let Bethany know to keep silent, she crouch-walked away from the row, heading toward the next one. Her daughter stayed close to her side. She glanced back. Not good. He’d seen them and was picking up his pace. His eyes were glued to her as he moved toward her.
“Run, Bethany!” Grabbing her daughter’s hand, she ran as fast as she could with a five-year-old in tow. “Please, God. Keep us safe. Protect my baby.”
A police car turned down her aisle and pulled in two cars away from her.’
“Thank You, Jesus!”
The officer stepped out of his car.
“Officer!” She ran up to the man. “Help! We’re being followed!”
She pointed to the man who’d been following her. He was gone.
“Ma’am?”