Witness Pursuit (Bodyguards #1)

Colt’s wife, the other half of the Australian couple who oversaw Ronson’s station, Marianne, was so sweet. “After she cleaned up the boys, she said she’d radio him.” The boys were wee Ethan and Eli, Marianne and Colt’s adorable four-year-old twins. Those two scamps had stained their clothes and hands green sliding down the hill. Boy, Nico would’ve loved to have joined them in their fun. No. That couldn’t happen. Her heart pulsed with pain.

Turning, she looked out over the rolling green hills that sloped down toward the beautiful Awatere Valley and the deep blue waters of the winding river nestled below. Nico’s fifth birthday would come in a few days, which returned her thoughts with haunting force to Tyler. Her gut churned with how much she missed them all, Tyler’s family and hers.

She sat forward and her glasses slid to the tip of her nose. “Ronson, these glasses truly suck.” She shoved them back again.

He clasped his hands behind his head and stretched out even further. “The key for the truck is hanging in the mudroom on the hook by the door. Go and get them adjusted. You don’t have to ask permission.”

“I know. It’s hard to get used to though.” She surely loved heading into town. The hour-long drive and the freedom of traveling through the countryside eased the hurt in her heart. Ronson understood. “I’ll go tomorrow. The shops will be closing soon and I won’t get there in time if I leave now.”

Blenheim, a town of thirty-thousand, sat at the top of the South Island. Perfectly remote, yet it still thrived with community.

“What am I cooking my favorite uncle for dinner?” She scuffed the soles of her leather boots against the dusty wooden deck.

He let out a chuckle. “Well, Jenna, until we can get you past burning everything, it all tastes the same. It’s like you have no sense of smell.”

“Usually I do.” Although, when she tried to cook anything, she cried. When she cried, her nose stuffed up and she couldn’t smell. “Saria loves to cook, and I love to eat what she makes. Cooking reminds me of all the times we shared.”

“Jenna.” Ronson’s tone was soft. “Thoughts of your sister are good. Enjoy them, but don’t get lost within them.”

“I can’t help it.”

“You wanna talk? You know I have big ears. I understand you miss your sister and your family, just don’t bottle it in.”

She sucked in a breath. Ronson had a way of getting straight to the point. “I’ve spent months on end away from my family in the past, but never more than a few weeks from Saria. Usually I only have to pick up the phone and hear her–” Her heart ached with a depth that could barely be explained. “Then there’s Tyler. He’s gone from me in a way that feels like death.”

“He’s not dead.” The crinkles around his eyes deepened as he frowned.

“I know, and Saria will always be my sister, but Tyler, well, he’ll…move on.”

“You love him?”

“I wish I could say no. It would make my life easier.”

“Jenna, give yourself a break. Gilchrist said he’s hard at work on your case. Keep the faith that one day Johnny Taita’s killer will be found.”

“It’s been thirteen months. That’s why I chose this.”

“No. You chose this to protect your sister and the man you just told me you loved.” He gently rubbed her arm. “One of the reasons I offered to provide sanctuary for you was because I took one look at your file and couldn’t say no. I’ve told you Drake’s story. He’s six months out of juvie and doing incredibly well. We’re a family here, and you’re now our newest member. We look after our own.”

She held onto his words, taking them deep into her heart. She could do this, still, no matter her new family on this station, her thoughts returned to Tyler. Always to him.



Tyler’s family had gawked, their expressions shattered as he’d stroked the purple bikini and white t-shirt bundled in his hands. Then all hell had broken loose as a razz of broken images flooded his mind from before he’d blacked out. He recalled his time on board The Idle Dream with Lydia, but more than that, the specific moment of the shooting a year past, small shards where he’d held onto Lydia and Jay before he’d slumped to the ground in a pool of his own blood. Hell, he remembered the shooting. Nothing more of the ten days he’d guarded her, but at least that fateful moment was back in his mind.

He’d told Brigs, and within minutes, he’d seen to his release. They’d boarded the ship and cut their holiday short, and returned across the Pacific to Auckland.

Nine days had passed, and he paced the confines of Ben’s downtown city office. His need for Lydia stretched every nerve in his body to breaking point. He wrenched at the neck of his white button-down shirt. “I can’t stand this.”

“None of us can.” Ben thrummed his fingers over the dark wood of his desk. “I’ve informed Gilchrist of your memory recall from the moment of the shooting. He knows you’ve got nothing more than that, but he’s asked if you’ll keep working with the in-house psychologist. You haven’t told me how today’s appointment with the doctor went.”

“I got nothing more.” He scrubbed his hands over his face. Lydia had once again been left with no choice but to battle through on her own. He should have been there when Gilchrist had come for her re-identification. He’d left her again.