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Reluctant Witness
Kathleen Long
WHAT'S A SINGLE MOTHER TO DO WHEN HER YOUNG SON IS THE TARGET OF A CONSPIRACY…?He'd witnessed a heinous crime and now Kerri Nelson's young son insisted on testifying. Part of her was proud, but a bigger part wanted to wrap him in her arms and run. Then her nemesis–and one-time crush–Wade Sorenson stepped in and insisted on keeping them both safe. She had had no intention of relying on the man she blamed for shattering her family…until someone came after her little boy. Kerri soon found the safest place was in Wade's arms–which scared her more than any elusive criminal ever could. And made her realize how much she still had to lose.
“My son didn’t see anything, Wade!” Kerri shouted.
“He dropped his skateboard and ran when the fire started. I went back for his board. That’s all. You need to leave us alone.”
There was no denying the fury in her voice, but Wade spotted more than anger in her eyes. He’d known her long enough to know she was bluffing. “You’re lying.”
“I will not let you drag my son into this. Is that understood? He saw nothing.”
Wade sighed. “Someone was murdered, Kerri. The police have a lead on who did this, but they need a witness.”
One of her auburn brows lifted. “Get out of my house.”
“I’d never let anything happen to him. Or you.” Wade stepped out onto the front step, tensing as the door slammed behind him. He’d give her this round, but if she thought she’d won the battle, Kerri had another thing coming….
Reluctant Witness
Kathleen Long
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
As always, for Dan. Thank you for being
the most wonderful hero a girl could hope for.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
After a career spent spinning words for clients ranging from corporate CEOs to talking fruits and vegetables, Kathleen Long now finds great joy spinning a world of fictional characters, places and plots. She shares her life with her husband, her daughter and their neurotic sheltie, dividing her time between suburban Philadelphia and the New Jersey seashore, where she can often be found—hands on keyboard, bare toes in sand—spinning tales. After all, life doesn’t get much better than that. Please visit www.kathleenlong.com for the latest on contests, appearances and upcoming releases.
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Wade Sorenson— When ecoterrorists target his latest construction project, he vows to fight back. But when the only witness is the son of the woman he’s secretly loved for years, will he force the boy to testify, or protect the woman and her son, choosing love over justice?
Kerri Nelson—A widowed single mother, she’ll do whatever it takes to protect her son. But will she be able to protect her heart from the man who vows to keep them both safe—and whom she holds responsible for her husband’s death?
Thomas Weber—After being forbidden from playing near construction sites, he spots a lone figure running away from a local site just moments before a series of explosions and the death of an inspector. Now he’s the sole witness to a violent crime, and someone is determined to keep him quiet.
Adam McCann—He’s the local detective racing to keep his witness safe. He’ll do whatever it takes to keep Thomas Weber unharmed, but are his intentions pure?
Michael Chase—Son of the local crime boss and a childhood friend of Wade Sorenson. When he becomes involved in the protection of Thomas Weber, he seems on the up-and-up, but can he really be trusted?
Vincent Chase—Head of a New Jersey crime organization, but also the man who helped Wade Sorenson get his start in construction. He doesn’t want Wade anywhere near the family business, but just how far will he go to protect the man he considers a son?
John Weber—He died years before in an accident on one of Wade Sorenson’s sites. Was it a tragic accident, or was he involved in something far more sinister than bricks and mortar?
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Epilogue
Chapter One
Kerri Nelson never heard the glass she dropped shatter in the sink. As the series of explosions ripped through the quiet August afternoon, the dish towel slipped from her fingers, her heart catching in her chest.
Her mind raced through the possibilities—not of what had happened, but of where her son was. Where was Thomas? He’d taken his skateboard when he’d left an hour ago.
Where had he gone?
Fear danced along her spine, sending the small hairs at the back of her neck to attention.
Black smoke billowed into the crystal blue sky above the line of trees behind her home, and she sucked in a sharp breath. Close. Too close to home.
She hit the floor in an all-out sprint, slowing only long enough to yank open the kitchen door, focused on one thing only—Thomas.
As she raced through the woods and into the clearing, flames licked at all but one of the six huge houses in the area’s newest development. Pine Ridge Estates.
Anxiety pooled deep inside her. Tom had a fixation with construction sites, always had, ever since his daddy had taken him to work and gotten him his own tiny hard hat as a toddler.
She’d forbidden him from coming anywhere near this site. Had he defied her? Could he have been playing inside one of the partially constructed homes when something went horribly wrong?
Her gaze landed on a township truck parked at the edge of the dirt road, yet she saw no one. An inspector probably. She sent up a silent prayer that whoever had driven that truck onto the site was far from where the fires originated.
Sirens wailed in the distance, drawing nearer. Kerri’s fear morphed into panic as she scanned the construction site and the surrounding woods for any sign of her son.
Her heart twisted in her chest.
“Thomas?” Her first attempt at calling her son’s name was strangled, tight. “Thomas!” Her second wasn’t much better.
“Mom.”
The sound of his voice teased her through the smoke-filled air, but she couldn’t locate the source. Couldn’t see her son.
“Thomas!”
The blaring sirens were muffled beyond the pounding of her heart, the rush of her pulse in her ears. When her son emerged from behind a stand of trees, she saw him as if he were in slow motion, his face pale, but apparently without a scratch.
She ran as fast as her feet would carry her, gathering the nine-year-old who’d grown too old for hugs into her arms, hanging on for dear life. His arms locked around her waist and squeezed. When Kerri finally put enough space between them to tip his face to hers, she saw terror in his eyes.
“Are you hurt?”
He shook his head.
“Did you see what happened?”
Tom nodded. “Everything blew up. I’m sorry.”
Sorry? Surely he didn’t have a thing to do with what had happened.
A horn blared and Kerri realized the emergency vehicles were crossing Red Lion Road, getting ready to turn into the dirt path that gave access to the new community. She linked her arm through her son’s and rushed him back toward the trees.
“Quickly,” she said, fear palpable in her voice. “Did anyone see you here?”
“No,” he answered, and relief surged through her.
They reached the cover of the woods just as a sea of vehicles and flashing lights careened onto the cul-de-sac, once lined with multimillion-dollar homes, now fringed by flames and smoke.
“Hurry.” She urged Tom forward, away from the fire and destruction, back toward the safety of their home.
Sorenson Construction no doubt had insurance that would cover whatever accident had caused the explosion. Lord knew it wasn’t the first accident on a Sorenson site.
Her stomach twisted and bile threatened to climb into her throat at the memory of another accident three years earlier. She shoved away the unwanted images—the hospital waiting room, the casket, friends and family gathered in her home.
Right now, Kerri needed to focus on her son’s safety. Nothing else.
She locked the door behind them as they entered the kitchen, as if the brass bolt could keep them safe from whatever threat might lurk at the Sorenson site.
“I’m sorry.” Tom dropped his gaze to the ceramic tile floor. “I wasn’t supposed to go there.”
“Ever.” The sharpness of her tone startled Kerri and she read the surprise in her son’s face as he lifted his focus to her.
“They put in new curbs,” he said flatly. “Frankie said they were awesome for skateboarding.”
Awesome for skateboarding.
Kerri closed her eyes and focused on her breathing. Her son was fine. He was unhurt. She needed to focus on that. But the reality was he could have been killed.
“I saw someone.”
If possible, Tom’s voice had grown even fainter and more frightened.
“From the township?” She snapped her eyes open and studied his expression. “The man from the truck?”
Tom nodded his head—slowly—as if he were afraid of what he’d seen. “I saw him, too. But he never came out again.”
Never came out again.
My God.
“There was somebody else?” Countless thoughts battled for position inside Kerri’s brain. Had the explosion been set on purpose? Had Tom witnessed a crime?
“He was running, Mom. The other man.”
The little color that had been left in Tom’s cheeks was gone now, making the blue of his eyes shocking next to his fair cheeks and sandy brown hair.
“Running where?” Kerri narrowed her gaze, her brain racing to keep up, to put the pieces of her son’s story together.
“Away from the last house. Into the woods.”
“From the fire?”
“Before the fire. Just before the fire. He came out of the last house after the inspector went into the first.”
“Like he knew what was going to happen?”
Tom nodded, his gaze dropping back to the floor.
Fear squeezed at Kerri’s throat, threatening to strangle her. What if the fire wasn’t an accident, but something far more sinister? What if the man her son had seen had set the blaze? What if he’d seen her son?
She worked to steady her breathing, wanting to avoid panicking Tom any more than he already was.
“Did he see you?” She spoke the words slowly, distinctly, punctuating the importance of the question.
He shook his head.
