Family In Hiding. Valerie Hansen

to put her children at ease. “It’s okay,” she told them, primarily concentrating on Kyle. “You can be in charge until I’m done checking on your father.”

      “Is—is he okay?”

      “You can see for yourself. He’s sitting right over there talking to the ambulance attendants. Now go with this policeman and be good for him, hear?”

      The child’s nod was reluctant, yet sufficed.

      “He’s a stubborn one, isn’t he?” Marshal Summers asked as they walked away.

      “Kyle’s hardheaded, all right. Just like his daddy.”

      “What about you, Grace?”

      “Me? Why?”

      “Do you see yourself as resilient and flexible?”

      “I don’t know. I’ve never pictured myself exactly that way but I guess the description fits.”

      “Good.”

      Grace was concentrating so hard on Dylan as they approached the ambulance, she almost failed to notice that her companion and the other marshal both circled behind her as if making themselves into human shields.

      Her eyes narrowed. She stared at her almost-ex-husband, willing him deliver an honest answer when she demanded, “What in the world have you gotten us into?”

      Although Dylan looked pale, he managed a contrite smile. Now that the medics had removed his glasses she could see the weariness in his eyes, not to mention the odd way they glistened. “I had to do it,” he said with evident remorse.

      “To deserve all those big bonuses. I know. You told me about it often enough.”

      Dylan was shaking his head. “No, honey. I don’t mean before. I mean now. I can’t walk away from this. I have to work with the police to try to stop the kidnappings.”

      “Of course you do.”

      His gaze left her and settled on the marshals. “You haven’t told her what’s up, have you?”

      “Not yet. Nothing will be settled until we get a look at the files you just gave us.”

      Grace clenched her fists and almost stomped a foot. “Will somebody please explain before I go ballistic?”

      “It looks like I’ll be going into witness protection,” Dylan said. “I’m sorry. They say it can’t be helped.”

      “But, if they have your files, why do they need you?”

      “Because I can swear to their authenticity, among other things,” he said. “Hopefully, I won’t be gone too long.”

      “What about the kids? Kyle is already beside himself over the divorce. If you drop totally out of his life, I don’t know how he’ll handle it.”

      “I’ll try to call him often.”

      Marshal Summers spoke up, shaking her head. “No, you won’t. There will be no outside contact. None. That’s how the program works.”

      Frustrated, Grace threw up her hands and made a throaty, angry sound. “Well, at least you won’t be able to harass me anymore.”

      “What are you talking about?” Dylan looked so puzzled it gave her pause.

      “The daily phone calls. I know it was you. It had to be.”

      “Well, it wasn’t.” He looked to McCall. “Did you have our phones tapped? If so, you can vouch for me.”

      “Sorry. Those odd, incoming calls were from a burner phone, the kind you can buy almost anywhere, use once, then throw away.”

      “But there were multiple calls? Grace isn’t exaggerating?”

      “These past few days there were,” the marshal said. “The caller didn’t speak until this morning when your son answered.”

      Dylan frowned at Grace. “What happened?”

      “Kyle was embarrassed to repeat what he heard,” she said. “The guy apparently cursed. A lot.”

      “And you didn’t think to mention it to me?”

      “Why should I? I thought it was either you or a friend of yours, trying to unnerve me.”

      Sighing, he slowly shook his head, then bowed it. “How did we get to this point, Gracie? What did I do to give you such a low opinion of me?”

      “Try consorting with criminals, for starters,” she snapped back. “I don’t know you at all anymore. Maybe I never did. For the kids’ sake I’m sorry that you have to disappear, but I can’t say I’m going to miss finding out more about your misguided career choices.”

      A light touch on her arm from Marshal Summers diverted her attention. “Mrs. McIntyre—Grace. I’m afraid it’s not that simple.”

      “Of course it is. The divorce will be final soon and the kids will get over missing their daddy eventually. If I had any doubts that I was doing the right thing, they vanished when I found out what Dylan has been involved in.”

      “I’m not talking about your divorce. I was referring to the need for you and the children to enter witness protection, too.”

      “Us? Why? I didn’t even suspect any of this until the police interviewed me a week ago. I told them then that I wasn’t involved. I’ve had nothing to do with Dylan for months. And before that he kept his business practices to himself. Now, I know why.”

      “Nevertheless, you met with him today and were present when he was shot. Whoever is responsible for this attack has no way of knowing you aren’t culpable, too. If you’re not worried about your own safety, think of your children.”

      Shock was too mild a word to describe Grace’s feelings at that moment. This whole scenario was the stuff of nightmares. She knew what the other woman was saying, yet her mind refused to accept it. There was no way she was going to leave everything behind and just up and vanish. What about her friends? Her mother and ailing father? Her church family? The kids were relatively happy and doing well in school. Kyle played soccer after school Thursdays and Beth was just getting interested in team sports.

      Squaring her shoulders, Grace faced the marshals and said, “No. I’m sorry. We won’t go.”

      McCall spoke aside into a radio.

      Several uniformed police joined them.

      Grace’s arm was grabbed and cold metal encircled her wrist with a click. She stared in disbelief. They were arresting her!

      * * *

      “There is one other way we can handle this,” Marshal Summers said, looking pointedly at Grace after the entire group was settled inside the van. “Participation in WitSec is voluntary for adults.”

      Dylan knew where this conversation was going and waited for the explosion of his wife’s temper. There would surely be one. When their children were involved, Grace was as protective as a mother tiger. He saw her brows arch, felt so much tension emanating from her it was almost palpable.

      Her eyes narrowed. “Meaning?”

      “Meaning, you can refuse to be relocated. However...”

      “Why am I getting the feeling you’re about to add something I’m not going to like?” Grace asked.

      Serena Summers gave a slight shrug. “We do have some room to maneuver when it comes to juveniles. A judge can rule that said juveniles be made wards of the court for their own good and be forced into witness protection.”

      “You can’t be serious. You’re threatening to take my children away from me?”

      “Not exactly. You’re welcome to stay with them wherever they go. But rest assured, Mrs. McIntyre, they are going.”

      Observing