Page 36 of Nicole's Shelter

Panic had her heart in a vise, tears blurred her vision, and she screamed when the driver’s door opened.

“Scoot over.”

Rick’s voice. Calm, soothing. Glancing up into his face, absolute relief washed over her. She wouldn’t have to figure out how to rescue him. She wouldn’t have to feel guilty for running off without him.

“Now.”

She moved, letting him slide behind the wheel. “You okay?”

“If okay includes terrified and cowardly,” she confessed. “He knows it was me. God, I’ve screwed this up. It was stupid to think I could get away. Just take me back to the marshal’s office.”

“I convinced him he was mistaken.”

“H-how?”

“Well, first I conceded your vague resemblance to the suspect. Then I pointed out the PR nightmare of an innocent trans employee being accosted by an overzealous agent with a bully complex. That kind of approach won’t win the hearts and minds of the general population. Assuming they care about that kind of thing.”

“Oh.” She might breathe normally again sometime before the turn of the century. “Thank you. I heard him say ‘DEA’ and then he reached for the camera and—”

“Shh. Take a breath. We’re not out of the woods yet. That crime scene is like a giant office water cooler. The rumors are ridiculous and most of them center on you.”

Chapter 8

Rick let that sink in while he called Eva and gave her an update so she could eventually verify the story he’d given the DEA agents.

“The lines I fed those two won’t give us much of a head start. We need to dump the car and find a place to lay low.”

“Okay.”

“North or south?”

“South.”

Well that was progress, if small. Nicole’s reaction only solidified his theory that the danger aimed at her was escalating. Her outright terror of the DEA agents worried him. She’d held strong through so much already, maybe she was just that close to the snapping point.

Her scream when he opened the car door had torn him up inside. She was deathly afraid of being found by the DEA agent who’d killed her neighbor. Obviously the federal prosecutors agreed with her assessment or they wouldn’t have hidden her with WITSEC. Since junior high. The mind boggled over the sacrifice of that kind of timing.

If she’d been safe for this long, how had they found her and why did they still want her dead?

“I’m sorry I didn’t see the DEA team before they saw you.”

“It’s okay.”

Her fragile voice was far from convincing. “Whatever it is, Nicole. Remember? I’m not leaving you to deal with it alone.”

“You should,” she whispered.

“Too late. You might as well tell me all of it.”

She only stared out the window.

“How did he find you?”

Her head flopped back on the headrest and she closed her eyes. Several minutes went by and he thought maybe she’d dozed off. “I don’t know,” she said. “I’ve been so careful. Annoyingly careful.”

There was a flash of temper in her voice now. Hearing it raised his hopes. Temper never went down easy and he wanted to believe Nicole still wanted to give her enemies a good, hard fight.

“I never drive more than four miles over the posted limit. No one gets to know the real me. I always know my provided background inside and out. My camera is usually between me and anything too interesting.

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