Page 2 of Security Breach

“Are you safe?”

“For the moment. The place is crowded.”

“I’ll be there in 20 minutes.”

Emma swallowed hard as she slid the phone into her pocket for fast access. So much could happen in 20 minutes.

Glad Mel provided two chairs in the restroom, Emma sat down to wait for Rafferty. She didn’t want to join the crowd of people in the dining room. The last thing she wanted to do was endanger innocent people. Rock Harbor had been her safe haven for six months. While she hadn’t gone out of her way to make friends, the residents were kind to her. They didn’t deserve to have death brought to their doorsteps because of her.

After what seemed like an eternity, her cell phone buzzed with an incoming text message. Emma glanced at the screen and jumped to her feet. Rafferty had arrived. Thank God.

Shrugging into her backpack, she opened the door and peered into the hallway. Laughter and the buzz of conversation reached her ears from the dining area. No movement in the hallway.

Hoping she’d eluded her intruder, she continued down the hall and turned right toward the exit door beside the kitchen that led to the back parking lot where Rafferty waited for her.

Two kitchen workers glanced Emma’s way when she reached the door, but didn’t stop her.

Rafferty had parked the car a few feet from the back entrance. He hurried toward her, car still idling. Scanning the area, he gripped her upper arm and hustled her toward the vehicle.

After assisting her inside and setting her pack at her feet, Rafferty circled the front of the vehicle. As he opened the door, a shot rang out.

The Marshal grunted and fell to the ground.

“Rafferty.” Emma scrambled to the driver’s side. Her handler dragged in a ragged breath. Blood pooled beneath him. “Rafferty.”

“Run. Take the car.”

“You need help.”

“Go,” he whispered.

More shots rang out. A second bullet slammed into the man who had watched over her for six months. His breath petered out and stopped.

Tears streaming down her face, Emma shut the driver’s door and threw the car into gear. Although she hated to leave Rafferty, his death would be in vain if she didn’t go.

She took as many side roads as possible on her way to the next town where she would join other early-morning travelers on the interstate. As Emma drove, one thought kept circling through her mind. If the Butcher had found her in WITSEC, no place was safe.

CHAPTER TWO

David Montgomery, sheriff of Morgan County, Tennessee, turned on the light in his office and frowned at the new mound of paperwork. He’d cleared the top of his desk before going on patrol six hours ago. If he didn’t know better, he’d swear paperwork had bred like a pair of rabbits in his absence.

He glared at the offending pile of white covering the scarred surface. If his assistant hadn’t already gone home hours ago, he’d have sent the scalding look her direction. Not that his ire would have fazed the grandmother of six. No, Iris had a spine of steel and the discipline of a drill sergeant.

After covering a shift for a sick deputy, David was due to report in for work in four hours. No point in tackling this paper blizzard at two in the morning. He was too tired to deal with the mess. Maybe he could just use the pile of paper for kindling in his fireplace.

He grimaced. If he chose that route, he’d have to contend with Iris fussing at him for hours. After that, the efficient woman would reprint everything he needed to handle. Annoying the lady was not good for his health or stress level.

Following a short conversation with the night dispatcher, David called it quits on his 20-hour day. His brother, Levi, was on duty until six a.m. along with the night deputy and a detective if the need arose. If the detective was sent out to a scene, David would be called in as well. Praying for a few hours of uninterrupted sleep, he left the building housing the sheriff’s department.

He climbed into his SUV, cranked the engine, and headed for the Rocking M, his family’s ranch. His route home took him past the Tucker place. As always, the sight of the empty house caused an invisible band to tighten around his chest until he could hardly breathe for the pain.

The sweet family had been murdered while on vacation. Worse, Emma Tucker, the woman he’d been dating, disappeared the night her family was murdered and was presumed dead.

David looked into her disappearance when he left the Navy and his SEAL team and came up with nothing. People didn’t disappear without a trace for 18 months. He could have done it. Emma? No way.

Grief hit him anew at the knowledge that the woman he’d been falling in love with was most likely dead by the hands of the man who killed her family.

In recent weeks, David’s friends and family had dropped hints, subtle and not, that it was time for him to jump back into the dating pool. He’d responded kindly to his friends and snarled at his brothers. Each time his response was no, the same response he gave to the single or widowed women around the county who approached him with an offer of dinner or coffee. Irrational as it was, he couldn’t go on dates with other women when the only woman he wanted was Emma Tucker.

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