Page 34 of Fatal Witness

“He may have a concussion—he’s seeing double,” Dani said, overriding him.

“Is she right?” his boss asked.

“I just need a minute or two.”Or thirty.“Send Hayes or one of the other deputies to investigate. Someone was shooting at this lady.”

“Stay put. I’ll be there in twenty. And keep her there.” The line went dead.

“Evidently she hung up. And why does she want you to keep me here?”

“Can we wait until Alex gets here? My head is killing me.” Maybe he did have a concussion. He certainly wasn’t thinking clearly. “And do you think you can help me get to Mae’s porch?”

“You think it’s safe to leave the woods?”

“Yeah. If he was going to kill us, he could’ve done it earlier. Besides, you said you heard a car start up.”

“If you think it’s safe.” She turned. “Lizi, come.”

He watched as the dog went to her side. At least he guessed it was a dog—in the moonlight, it still looked more like a mop than an animal.

“Can you stand?”

“We’ll see.” Mark grabbed a nearby sapling and used it to pull himself up. Once he was upright, he waited for his world to stop spinning.

“You okay?” she asked.

For the first time he took a good look at the woman and blinked. Then he blinked again. Jolie? No. He’d heard her say her name—Dani Collins. Besides, Jolie was dead. And it’d been his fault she was dead. Mark focused. Dani had asked if he was okay ... “Give me a minute.”

“You said that already. When you’re ready, put your arm around my shoulder. I can’t hold you up, but I can guide you and maybe keep you from falling.”

He took a deep breath and nodded. The first few steps were wobbly, and sweat popped out on his face. As they walked, he found himself relying more and more on her.

“Can we get inside the house?” she asked as they neared the front porch.

“Nobody’s here.”

“Why is the porch light on if no one’s home?”

“I talked Mae into getting it. It’s on a timer.” He stumbled to the steps. “Let me sit here a minute. Maybe my head will clear.”

Mark sat on the porch and leaned against the post. Once everything stopped spinning, he said, “So you’re Dani?”

“I am. And you must be Mark.”

“Yep. Thanks for helping me.” Now that he could see her better, she didn’t look quite so much like Jolie. Both had golden red hair and blue eyes, but Jolie had looked like the soldier she’d been—solid but feminine as well. Dani was more delicate and artsy in the peasant dress she wore, which made sense since she was a potter and artist.

He had so many questions to ask, but first he thanked her again for helping him. “And I’m sorry we had to meet this way, but what are you doing here? You weren’t supposed to arrive until tomorrow.”

“When I got to Knoxville, it was so early and I didn’t have anything to do and it didn’t make sense to just hang out there.” She stopped and took a breath.

“A woman always has the right to change her mind, but why didn’t you let me know?”

“I almost did, but ... it’s Saturday night. I figured you’d be busy.”

He had to strain to hear her soft voice. “Nope, wasn’t busy. You should’ve called.”

“Actually, I couldn’t. My phone had died since I forgot to charge it.” She sighed. “I’m really not a ditzy redhead.”

“Never said you were.” He might’ve come close to thinking it. “I’m sure there’s a reason for you forgetting to charge your phone and it dying.”

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