Runaway Witness

“Now you sound just like a cop.” She pushed herself to her feet. “And somehow now you look like a cop, too. The Mack I knew had this way of standing that made me feel relaxed and safe. He never stood with his chest all puffed out like that.”

Well, she’d never challenged his authority before. Or prevented him from trying to save her.

“If I look like a cop, it’s because I am one,” he said. “I’m an RCMP detective and have been in law enforcement for a decade. And in case you missed it, I just said local police were wrong to dismiss you the way they did, even if they were right to be skeptical. I’d still really like to know if it was just inherent bias against the homeless or if something more nefarious was going on. Oscar Underwood and his henchmen got away with too much for too long unchecked. But the RCMP had a whole investigation into Oscar Underwood, and your assistance was vital in that.”

“My assistance?” She shot the words back at him. “You pretended to be my friend.”

“I was your friend!” His voice filled the camper.

“I thought you were dead!” Her voice matched his. “Do you know what it’s like to think someone you care about has been murdered?”

Yeah, he did. Although in his case, they had actually died and stayed dead. He’d lost a couple of fellow officers and a more than a few informants in his work with the RCMP, which was why he never let himself get close to anyone he met undercover. Well, until Iris somehow burrowed her way under his defenses. He swallowed a breath and forced his voice to lower.

“I’m unbelievably sorry about that,” he said. “And I would’ve contacted you the moment I was out of intensive care, only by then you were already in witness protection and I wasn’t allowed to contact you or know anything about where you were placed. Then when I heard your file was compromised and you’d disappeared off the grid, I was worried sick. I know there’s nothing I can say to make up for how I hurt you,” he went on. “But while I didn’t tell you some things as part of my investigation, I never lied to you about who I was as a person or the man I am inside. You have no idea how hard I worked to find you and make sure you were safe.”

“How did you even find me?” she asked.

“It wasn’t easy,” he admitted. “When the files were stolen and auctioned off online, a few RCMP officers and a hacker came together as a secret task force to take the criminals down. I’d only been out of the hospital a few weeks and was still not allowed to return to regular work.” Suspended. That was the word he should say but somehow couldn’t get past his lips. “Two of my colleagues stopped the auction, but not before eighteen identities were sold. We then focused our attention on helping those whose identities had been compromised. Most were easy to track down and relocate into new lives. Others, like you, were a lot harder to find.”

Something hardened in her eyes. “That didn’t answer my question.”

Yeah, she’d never been one for accepting vague answers. Or giving up easily.

“I called in every favor I could think of,” he admitted. “Specifically I talked to a lot of criminals. I’ve been an undercover detective for a very long time and have met hundreds of unsavory people. My colleague Liam took the other side of the coin and talked to a lot of cops. A lot of people in law enforcement owe him a favor. Our hacker, Seth, ran online searches. When we’d gathered enough data points, I got in my truck and drove and started tracking you in the good old-fashioned, boots-on-the-ground way.”

He hadn’t slept in days and hadn’t stopped thinking of her once since the moment they’d last said goodbye.

“And why?” Iris demanded. “So I’d go back into witness protection? Because that’s not going to happen.”

“You were just attacked by two Jackals!”

She glared at him. “What’s to say you didn’t lead them to me?”

He stepped back against the wall and gritted his teeth to keep from pointing out that wasn’t possible. He’d spent his entire career infiltrating heinous organizations and he did it by remaining inconspicuous, not by getting himself followed by masked men. The only time he’d ever come close to blowing his cover was when he’d chased after the green-masked Jackal who’d been spying on her. And for all the criminal had known, Mack had just been a really concerned friend. He might not know Mack was a cop even now.

“If you knew Jackals were tracking me,” she added, “why didn’t you just arrest them?”

“Because, one, even if that was as easy as you just made it sound, I’m not the kind of cop who does the arrests,” he said. “I’m the undercover kind who pretends to be a really, really bad guy in order to gather the evidence needed for other cops to sweep in and arrest the real bad guys. I pretend to be the kind of man you’d never want to meet.” And that was a side of him he hoped she’d never see. “That means never blowing my cover. Second, I hadn’t actually seen either of those Jackals this time around, until one of them was attacking and sedating me, and once that happened, keeping us both alive became the highest priority. And trust me, I’d have known if I was being followed. Finally, I’ve been suspended—”

Mack cut his eyes to the walls around him to keep from having to meet her gaze in the darkness. But it didn’t prevent him from hearing Iris gasp as if someone had knocked the air from her lungs.

“The night we last saw each other,” he said slowly, “there was a Jackal in a green, camo-colored mask hanging around outside your apartment. He was looking in your bedroom window, holding a tranquilizer gun. I was pretty sure he was going to abduct you.” He huffed out a breath. “Also, I’m fairly certain it was the same one who attacked us back at the diner. I don’t tend to forget anyone I’ve tangled with, even if they’re masked. From hands to build to shoulders to voice, there are a lot of ways my brain tends to remember people like that beyond just their face. Anyway, I wasn’t supposed to engage, not unless your life was in imminent danger. But instead I chased him down and got shot for my trouble. I’m under internal review as to what went wrong. I’m not allowed to do anything to impact the Oscar Underwood investigation. And I only retained my authorization to carry a gun due to the sheer number of criminals out there who want me dead.”

He resisted the urge to point out she’d been running pretty close to the gray line of Canada’s handgun laws when she’d pulled a weapon on him for startling her earlier, not that he suspected any right-thinking officer would prosecute her over it.

“So you weren’t assigned to track me down?” she asked.

“No,” he admitted. “In fact, coming to find you like this could further complicate my suspension. But I’m hoping if any of the higher-ups are unhappy with me for looking for you, the fact that I was actually able to find you and hopefully get you back into witness protection and in court for Oscar Underwood’s trial will smooth that over.”

“And if I don’t go back into witness protection?” she asked.

Then I risked my badge for nothing but the knowledge you were okay. The words crossed his mind, but he stopped himself from speaking them. “At least we’ll know that we’re each safe and still alive, and maybe this time we can say goodbye properly.”

Sudden light flooded the camper as if someone was shining a bright light in every window at once.

“Get out of the camper! Hands up!” The voice was male, loud and exuded the kind of malice Mack had heard too many times before. “Now! Or we’re coming in!”

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