Page 43 of Montana Freedom

“Good.” Evelyn grinned. “Food will be ready in a few minutes. And don’t forget, next time it’s the men’s turn to cook.”

Jude put his hands on Lena’s shoulders. “We haven’t forgotten. Promise.”

She reached up and grabbed his hand, leaning back into him. The simple gesture and the way he bent down and kissed the top of her head made meacheinside. That was what I wanted.

“Good. In that case…” Evelyn was grinning even wider. “Let’s eat.”

A sharp knock on the door made everyone freeze. Noah looked around. “Did we miss someone?”

“Anyone else who might be here knows to come in,” Daniel said. He strode to the door and opened it. I read the shock in his body before I heard him speak. “Agent Phillips. Agent Jones. Surprised to see you here.”

Dread spiraled down through me. Why were they here? Through the door, I heard one of them say something, though I couldn’t quite make out the words.

Turning, Daniel looked at me. “Emma? They’d like to speak to you.”

“Is it mandatory?”

His mouth quirked into a smile. I loved the amusement I saw there, like we were sharing a secret. “No, it’s not.”

Sighing, I stood and went to the door. “Stay with me, please.”

“Always.”

My heart flipped and my stomach dropped. He didn’t really mean the word in the way I heard it, but I savored it anyway. The two FBI agents stood on the porch in the sunset light. “This couldn’t have been a phone call?”

“I suppose it could have been,” Jones laughed. “But we need to ask you something, and we thought in person would be better.”

Phillips looked over at Daniel. “You don’t need to be here for this.”

“Actually, he does,” I snapped. “Because I asked him to be. If you have a problem with it, go sit in your car and give us a call I can put on speaker where you won’t know the difference.”

My own anger shocked me, and it equally shocked Phillips, who suddenly looked at me like I was a new person. And in his eyes, it was clear that wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

Finally, Agent Jones cleared his throat to break the tension, and I was intentionally not looking at Daniel, because I could feel him looking at me. “The information you gave us was very helpful, Miss Derine. We have a very credible lead on your father’s location, but—”

“That man is not my father,” I said. “Please don’t refer to him as such.”

Jones nodded, starting again slowly. “We have a good idea of where Simon is hiding, and we wanted to know if you’d help us in catching him.”

“His network is big,” Phillips said. “Bigger than we thought, and we already knew it was large. This is important. Taking him down would be a huge win and would have an impact on getting alotof illegal guns and drugs off the streets. You need to help us do this.”

I glared at him. His insistence was getting old. I understood the good I could do, but bullying me into the choice he wanted me to make wasn’t the way to do it.

“Is it dangerous?” Daniel’s voice was calm and even. It brought me back from the panicked place my mind was working toward.

“It could be,” Jones acknowledged. “But we’d be with you the whole time, and we will do everything in our power to make sure you’re safe. After your part in the case is finished, you’d be eligible for witness protection. There, you’ll be completely safe. We’ll take care of everything.”

The whole world went red. “No way in hell,” I spat.

“No one’s ever been lost in witness protection.” Jones held out his hands like he was explaining. “You would be safe, I promise.”

“You need to listen.” My voice was raw. “I don’t give a shit if it’s safe or not. I’m not disappearing into the system like that. Did you forget I have perfect recall? I know what kind of information I gave you, and I know there were dirty cops on those lists. If he can get to them, it’s not a far stretch to getting to other people who are supposed to be good. And telling me that’s my only option is the last way to get me to help you. You can’t force me to go.”

Phillips stepped forward, and Daniel was there, his body blocking the path between the agent and me. But I saw the man wasn’t trying to get physical; he was trying to be intimidating. His voice was as near to a growl as I’d ever heard. “No, we can’t force you. But you and your perfect recall need to think about it. Your life was and is in danger already, and as long as Simon is out there, it will continue to be. You might as well do some good for the world either way and take the offer to protect yourself before you overstay your welcome here, bringing more trouble to these people.”

Daniel went deathly still. “You are out of line.”

“Am I?” he asked. “You said yourself Simon wants revenge on you and your employees. You really think harboring his daughter, whom he wants dead, is going to make him feel less inclined to torch this place to the ground?”

---