Witness Pursuit (Bodyguards #1)

“Yes, from Ben’s interview with me following my shooting. It was the last case I worked on, not that I recall it.”


“I’ve lied to you. We never went out on a date. I witnessed Johnny Taita’s murder.” Her words tumbled out in a torrent. “The young boy I cared for, his name was Jay.” Now he’d surely step back and leave.

“Keep going.”

She frowned. Okay, she’d try harder. “I’d just taken Jay to the corner playground. He ran ahead of me on the way home, and was inside when the car came.”

“What car?”

“The one that killed Johnny.”

“And…”

Her memory from that day returned with full force. “Johnny was leaving after a meeting with Jeffrey Lawntree. His car was parked beside the sidewalk, but Johnny got no further than the door of his–” She shook her head.

“Keep going.”

“Johnny was the son of John Taita Senior. Jeffrey had called their firm regarding a software line they sell. He wanted it installed on his home network. I’d never seen Johnny before that day.” Ice trickled through her veins, chilling her from the inside out.

“Look at me.” He ran his finger under her chin, aligning their gazes. “Tell me exactly what happened next. I’m right here.”

She gripped his shirtfront, holding on tight. “A silver sedan came screaming around the corner and hit Johnny head on. He flew through the air and hit the pavement just a few feet from me. His head was bent at an impossible angle. The car, it reversed–”

The image of the killer driving that car would haunt her forever, just as the horror of that day did.

Tyler’s lips parted and she focused on him. “You saw who killed him?”

“Yes, as he saw me.”

“Give me a description.”

She drew in the longest breath. “He was thin, with scraggly black hair and slanted side burns. They were patchy, but almost down to his chin. His eyes were black and beady, his skin sallow, a sickly yellow color. His gaze speared right through me.” She pulled on his shirt, snapping off two buttons, which pinged the railing. Skin. She nuzzled between the folds, drawing in his scent to ground her. “It’s the same face of the madman who came back ten days later and shot you.”

Her gut tied into a hundred knots as she recalled the day the murderer had returned. Tyler had snatched Jay off his tree swing at the first sound of the man scaling the fence. He’d pinned her and Jay to the oak’s wide trunk, but Tyler was too late. The lethal shots had already rung out and hit him while he’d raced them to the tree.

“You’re doing fine. Carry on.” His gentle voice urged her on. “Don’t think of the terror you experienced, only of what I need to hear.”

“I can’t stand this, but you saved my life and Jay’s that day, only from that moment on, I was moved into The Program. I have name suppression. Ben is my guard, and I follow his orders.” She kissed his skin, right there where she’d accessed. “You bled, and red ran like a river down your back and sides. I couldn’t wash your blood from my hands after the ambulance took you away.”

He bent and captured her mouth with his, his kiss tender. “Would you like me to show you how very much I live?”

“You don’t hate me for what I’ve withheld?” She’d been so sure. “You should tell me to go.”

“I can’t. You weren’t the one who held the gun. I’ll never hate you.” He undid the last of his buttons, pushed his shirt off his shoulders and turned his back to her. “Touch me if you want. They’re only scars and they’ve healed.”

No matter that they’d slept together, showered even, she’d not once seen his back.

Carefully she traced the three white lines, one at a time. The first was two inches long and slightly off center of his spine. The second was more jagged and intersected the third, which was to the side and three inches long. She leaned in. She shouldn’t do this, but she couldn’t help herself. She couldn’t walk away if he wouldn’t first.

Touching her lips to the first scar, she ran her tongue along the line. Licking, she followed the path to the second and then the third, her hands firm on his hips.

Peace stole through her as she stroked her tongue over his skin.

They were healed and he was strong.

She swayed, light on her feet as his muscles bunched under her hands.

“Lee, you have to stop.” He glanced over his shoulder at her.

“But I like it.”

He smiled. “So do I, but parts of me are getting very hard at what you’re doing, and that can’t happen. I have to keep my head in the game.” He tugged his shirt back on and caught her hand. “Let’s go downstairs.”

He led her to a private office on the second floor. Nico had told her no one used this room while they holidayed. He hadn’t showed her inside.

“Go in.” Tyler swung open the door and nodded her toward the blue and beige pinstriped couch.