Star Witness. Lisa Phillips

opened the passenger door for her, like a gentleman was supposed to. Unfortunately that meant they both got a look at the interior. Last night he hadn’t been in any shape to apologize for the state of his truck. He’d just shoved everything into the middle to make a space for her. But now he saw exactly how bad it was. The foot well had a bunch of fast-food wrappers tossed there, and the passenger seat was under his jacket, a duffel bag and two gel packs that weren’t frozen anymore.

      Aaron tossed the duffel and jacket behind the bench seat and motioned to the seat. “Your chariot, my lady.”

      “Why, thank you, kind sir.”

      When he pulled out, he scanned the street while Mackenzie stared at him again.

      “So what are we going to tell Eva about you? I mean, you did just show up out of the blue, so we can’t pretend you’re my new boyfriend. What about my cousin?”

      He glanced at her and then back at the road. “Why do we need to have a story?”

      “Isn’t that what people do in these situations? Develop a cover story. Perhaps you could be my cousin from out of town, recently laid off from your job of hunting down rogue skunks in the Alaskan wilderness.”

      “Rogue skunks?”

      “Or something.”

      He smiled. “Judging by the contents of the bookshelves in your living room, it doesn’t surprise me you have a vivid imagination.”

      Mackenzie folded her arms. “What’s wrong with what I read?”

      Aaron waved away her question. “I’m not even going to get started on what’s wrong with your taste in books. You really don’t want to know.”

      “Well, what have you read lately?”

      She probably thought he didn’t know how. He smiled. “Dr. Seuss.”

      “Like when you were six?”

      He nearly laughed. “No, a couple of weeks ago. There was this kid in the hospital who had burned his hands, so he couldn’t hold the book. I hung out with him a while before I got discharged. Sweet kid.”

      “Seriously?”

      “What? It was a nice thing to do.”

      “It was.”

      He pulled across an intersection, about a mile from the restaurant. “And you’re the only one who can help kids?”

      “I didn’t say that. It’s just contrary to what I’ve seen from you before. You were a little...gruff earlier.”

      “I apologized then.”

      “And I accepted. I’m just saying—” Mackenzie froze.

      A black van came at the front left corner of the truck. Another van came from the right, boxing them in. The two vehicles moved closer together, tightening the noose. Aaron gripped the wheel, fighting to keep them from bouncing off the side of one van into the other.

      * * *

      The vans screeched to a halt, stopping Aaron’s truck with them. The door on one van slid back, and Mackenzie gasped as hooded men in black fatigues with big guns poured out. More appeared behind them, cocooning them in the truck. All the weapons were lifted and pointed at Aaron.

      “Let the girl out!”

      Aaron gripped the wheel with both hands but didn’t move or speak.

      “Um...Aaron?”

      One of the men in all black moved toward her door.

      “Put it in Reverse.” Aaron spoke, but his lips barely moved.

      “What?”

      “They can see both my hands. Reach over and put it in Reverse.” He pushed out a breath. “Now.”

      He moved his foot to the clutch. Mackenzie ground the gearshift, wincing at the sound. Before she was barely done, Aaron’s foot hit the gas and they flew backward. She screamed and gripped the dash. The truck spun in an arc, Aaron changed gears again and they sped forward. She looked back. “They’re right behind us. They’re chasing us.”

      “I know.”

      “They didn’t shoot, though.”

      Aaron glanced at her and then took a corner so fast they almost went up on two wheels. “You want to talk about this now? Fine. I’m guessing they don’t want you harmed. They don’t get paid for delivering damaged goods.”

      “Carosa wants to kill me himself. I know. He yelled it across the courtroom the day I testified against his brother.” She took a deep breath and pushed it out slowly as they raced down the street. “This isn’t about Hector’s brother now. Maybe someone hired him just like they hired these guys.”

      “Good thing for us Carosa seems to only know semicompetent thugs.”

      Every few streets she glanced back until finally she said, “They’re not there anymore.”

      “They must have backed off.” He pulled into a gas station and out the other side, cutting off a Buick. “That means they’re confident they’ll get another shot.”

       FIVE

      Aaron drove for the sake of driving, not worrying about where he was going. He reached over and squeezed Mackenzie’s hand. “You okay?”

      Mackenzie’s fingers were chilled, as though the courage had been drained out of her. He let her hand go, wondering what he was supposed to say now that all of this was officially a whole lot bigger than just someone with a grudge against the center. Carosa had sent men for her.

      Aaron pulled up at a stoplight. Mackenzie’s big eyes made her look more like a scared girl than a woman who dressed like a grandma librarian—except for the black high-heeled boots that started directly under her knee-length skirt. Her hair was still pulled tight in that ugly bun she’d been wearing all day. It was as if it was some kind of uniform she used to protect her identity. Had she been a recognizable person before? He looked at her again, trying to think if there was someone she resembled.

      Eric should have pressed the local P.D. harder. Clearly Mackenzie’s name had been leaked somehow, given that it had taken no time at all for hired mercenaries to find her. And for what? Aaron didn’t even want to think about what Carosa would have done with her. Or how her current identity had been connected to the person she used to be.

      Mackenzie looked out the side window. Her fingers gripped the straps of the backpack that sat between her knees. They were on the run from Carosa, but Aaron had no idea what the deal was. What had happened to her?

      Ignorance wasn’t bliss—it got you killed.

      When the danger was hypothetical, that was fine. He’d had the time to wait for her to share. But now that it was real, he didn’t like not knowing the people involved, or the fact Eric couldn’t give him all the information about Mackenzie and the guy after her without breaking WITSEC rules.

      Some favor.

      He needed to get Mackenzie someplace safe until Eric called to say it was all clear for her to come home...probably only to be relocated again. Who knew what the fallout from this mess would be? Especially when the Marshals Service realized Mackenzie had disappeared.

      He studied her while the light was red, trying to guess who this woman really was and why she was hiding.

      “I need to know.” He clenched his jaw, willing her to talk to him. “Do you know any of the men who tried to stop us?”

      “I’ve never seen them before.”

      He sighed. “I’m sorry, I had to ask.”

      “Now you’re in danger, too. Because of