Page 36 of Exacting Vengeance

Kyle lowered his window. “Manny, stay with Tommy.”

“Will do,” Manny called out.

Jack took Tommy’s place in the passenger seat. “Keep going, down one more level.” Kyle took the next two right turns, heading them deeper beneath the courthouse. “There.” Jack pointed to where Ernie Hernandez waited by the elevator, holding the doors open.

Kyle parked and shut off the engine. Deke’s SUV rolled to a stop beside him. “Let’s go,” he threw over his shoulder, shoving open his door. Even within the seemingly safe bowels of the courthouse, he wanted to get Victoria and his witness into a holding room, guarded by his entire team ASAP.

On the other side of the SUV, Jack and Deke ushered Alyona into the elevator. Kyle clasped Victoria’s arm, glancing over his shoulder and inserting his body between hers and anyone behind them. Their bodies were so close, her hair tickled his chin.

“I’m right behind you, Aly,” she called out. “Everything’s going to be okay.”

Kyle hoped that was really true.

Luck hadn’t been with them when they’d drawn Judge Whittaker. Whittaker was fair to a fault and didn’t believe in exceptions to a defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to face and cross-examine witnesses against them in person. AUSA Washington’s request to have Alyona testify remotely had been flatly declined. As long as Alyona stayed inside the courthouse, she’d be safe.

When the elevator doors closed, Victoria rested her hands on Aly’s shaking shoulders. “Look at me,” she said in a soothing voice. “You’re going to be fine. You’ll be safe here with all these agents protecting you. Take a deep breath in, and let it out.” Alyona did, and her trembling began to ease. “There you go. You’ve got this.”

Though he had no right to think it, he was proud of Victoria and the gutsy woman she’d become. In the face of danger yet again, her first thought was for his witness.

When Victoria’s worried gaze met his, it was all he could do not to take her in his arms and hold her tightly, to feel her living, breathing body against his. Whether that was to comfort her or him, he wasn’t quite sure.

He inserted the earpiece back into his ear, then clicked the mic at his shirtsleeve. “We’re inside. ETA in three.”

Malik Jefferson, one of many agents he’d requested for this protection detail, replied, “Copy that.”

“Another shooting, bro?” Jack arched a brow.

Deke snorted. “Morrison’s gonna have a coronary.”

“Yeah. He will.” His boss had forced him to sit through an agency-required post-shooting wellness session over the weekend, then gotten the shooting review board to clear him in record time for the trial. At least for this shooting, he’d never even drawn his weapon.

The elevator whooshed them to a floor of the building that could only be accessed by law enforcement and other authorized personnel who’d undergone extensive background checks. There’d be no chance of crossing paths with the media or anyone else with an inkling to take out a protected witness. Despite these precautions, when the elevator came to a stop, Kyle said, “Wait here.” He stepped into the gray hallway and looked both ways. “Follow me.”

Leading the way, he walked them through a maze of deserted corridors. The only sounds came from their booted feet and the women’s heeled shoes. He clicked the mic. “Malik, we’re on the floor. Be there in one minute.” Up ahead, Malik and John O’Donnell, the Strike Force team’s tech agent, guarded the door to the holding room. Malik opened the door, and Kyle stepped aside for Victoria and Alyona.

The white-walled room was sparsely furnished with a small sofa, a rectangular table, and several chairs. A TV monitor took up most of one wall. Victoria led Aly to the sofa and sat beside her.

A cell phone blared. Alyona pulled a phone from her pocket, quickly silencing it.

Kyle narrowed his eyes, a sneaking suspicion taking root. He squatted in front of her. “Alyona, I need to ask you something, and you need to tell me the truth.” She swallowed and flicked her gaze to the phone in her hand. “Who have you contacted since you’ve been at the safehouse?”

“No one, I—” She rolled her lips inward. Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes.

“Tell me,” he said, gentling his voice. “This is important.” He needed to know if there was a leak in high places. He didn’t think so, but it was an unanswered question that needed to be answered. Before she testified. Her life depended on it.

She took a deep breath. “My mother. I haven’t talked to her in so long. I needed to hear her voice. I’m sorry. I know I wasn’t supposed to call anyone, but I had to.” More tears streamed down her face. “Please don’t be mad at me. Please.”

Shit. He hated seeing a woman—any woman—afraid of a man, and right now Alyona was afraid of him.

As if sensing his dilemma, Victoria intervened. “Aly, look at me.” When she did, Victoria gave her an encouraging nod. “Did you tell your mother where you were staying?”

“Not the address.” She gulped. “Just the town, so she’d know where I was and that I was okay.”

“Thank you for being honest.” She clasped Aly’s hand. “I know that was hard.”

Jack frowned. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”

“Yeah.” Kyle nodded. He and his brothers were always on the same security-oriented wavelength.