The Only Witness

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Abby hid her face against Paige’s neck and Miles scrubbed his hands over his face, knowing that exchanging gunfire with the two thugs behind the restaurant had no doubt shaken the little girl’s faith in his ability to keep them safe.

“It’s been a rough twenty-four hours for her,” Paige said softly.

“For you, too,” Miles added. “We barely managed to get away from the last pair of gunmen. I’m hoping that using the truck will cover our trail.”

Mitch nodded. “Yeah, no kidding. I went to your place last night. The damage wasn’t as bad as I originally thought. Whoever searched the place didn’t break stuff, but they sure looked in every nook and cranny. What do you think they were after?”

“I have no idea,” Miles replied, scrubbing a hand wearily over his face. He had been trying to figure that out for himself, too. The timing being so close to Jason’s death and the gunfire at Paige’s place made him think that everything was related, especially since he’d been working his father’s case for months and hadn’t even gotten any clues to go on.

“Work stuff?” Mitch asked.

“No. I don’t bring much of that home, and thankfully I had my computer.”

“Do you want us to clean the place up for you?” Mitch asked.

“No need to bother. I’ll take care of it, later.” He opened the passenger-side door for Paige, assuming that carrying Abby around must be exhausting. Her citrusy scent clouded his mind, making him want things he’d planned to avoid, like home and family. “Why don’t you sit down? We’ll leave in a minute or so.”

When Paige couldn’t seem to get up, he put his hands around her waist and lifted her, setting her on the seat. Then he went around to the trunk to grab the duffel bag and computer.

“There’s a hotel about five miles away, called the American Lodge. The owner is related to a firefighter I trained with and I already smoothed the way for you. They’ll take cash, no questions asked.”

“Great, thanks.” Miles slapped his brother on the back. “I owe you.”

“Nah, this is what family is for, right?”

Miles nodded, then tossed his brother the keys to his car. “Don’t use it for long, leave it at my place.”

“I will. Mike is going to pick me up there, after we take another look through, make sure there isn’t anything that was missed.”

Miles highly doubted that the people who’d searched his home left anything behind, but he understood his brother’s desire to help out. “Thanks, bro. I’ll be in touch.”

The ride to the American Lodge didn’t take long, and he was surprised to see there was a church located nearby. For the first time since Dawn’s death he found he was interested in actually attending a service.

But not until he knew for certain they’d be safe.

* * *

The motel room seemed larger to Paige than the one they’d stayed in the previous night, although having additional space didn’t matter much, not when Abby still clung to her, as if afraid to let go.

She eased down on the edge of the bed. “Look around, sweetie, isn’t it nice here?”

Abby didn’t answer, not even by shaking her head.

She lifted her troubled gaze to Miles. “She’s been through so much.”

“I know.” Regret shimmered in his blue eyes and she liked the way he seemed to care about her daughter’s well-being.

“I’d like to take her to a child psychologist, but it doesn’t seem like an option at the moment.”

“I’m sorry, but we can’t do that. Not yet.”

Although she hated it, she understood. “Would you like to watch a movie?” Paige nodded toward the television and Miles brought the remote over for her. But when she turned on the television and found the kid’s channel, Abby didn’t even look at the screen.

Paige swallowed hard, trying to figure out what to do to get through to her daughter. After turning off the television, she gently rubbed her hand down Abby’s back.

“Let’s pray, okay, Abby?”

“Good idea.” To her surprise, Miles came over and sat down beside her. He placed one hand at her waist and the other hand on Abby’s back. “Dear Lord, we thank You for protecting us today,” he said.

It took her a minute to pick up the thread of the prayer. “We ask You, Lord, to continue looking after us, keeping us safe from harm.”

“We ask this in Your name, Christ the Lord, Amen.”

“Amen,” Paige echoed, humbled by how willing Miles was to pray with her, even if only for Abby’s sake. Something Travis had refused to do.

When Abby turned her head and looked toward Miles, Paige hoped that she was finally ready to talk, but instead her daughter reached out and patted Miles on the arm, as if thanking him for being there.

Tears burned her eyes, and she quickly tried to blink them away before Miles could see them.

He picked up Abby’s hand and gave it a brief kiss. “I promise to protect you and your mom, okay?”

This time Abby nodded.

“Will you watch a movie with your mom?”

Abby nodded again, and Paige let out a little sigh of relief. Her daughter still wasn’t talking, but at least she was responding.

To Miles.

She turned the television back on and Abby finally relaxed her grip. Paige plumped up the pillows and eased Abby against them, making sure that Ellie was nearby.

Amazing that Ellie had made it this far, considering everything they’d been through.

“Do you want to make a list of things you need from your house?” Miles asked in a hushed voice. “As I mentioned before, I’ll ask one of my brothers to head over there to pick up whatever you need.”

While she wasn’t thrilled with the thought of some strange man going through her personal things, she desperately wanted a change of clothes and more toys for Abby. Keeping a child occupied in a hotel room wasn’t easy. “That would be nice, thanks.”

“It’s the least I can do,” Miles said with a frown. “I feel terrible that those guys managed to trace my car.”

“It’s not your fault,” she protested. Taking the paper and pen from the desk, she quickly wrote out a list of items that she’d love to have. “Here you go.”

Miles took the list. “As soon as the disposable phones are charged and ready to go, I’ll call my brother, Mike. He’s a private investigator, and I’m sure he’ll be able to get in and out of your place without anyone detecting him.”

“Speaking of phones, I’d like to call my boss,” Paige said. “I normally work from home, and he’ll wonder why I’m not logged in to my email.”

Miles lifted a brow. “What type of work?”

She straightened her glasses and suppressed a sigh. There was no getting around the fact that her job was dull and boring. “I’m an accountant.”

“Nice, I’m impressed,” Miles said, admiration clear in his tone. His smile of approval warmed her heart. “Numbers aren’t my strength.”

“Numbers make sense, at least most of the time.”

“What company? It’s nice that your boss lets you work from home.”

“I work for Larson and Avery, they’re a group that supports several small businesses.” She dragged her fingers through her hair, thinking about what to say to convince her boss to give her a few unplanned vacation days. “I like it a lot better there than Sci-Tech.”

“What?” Miles snapped his head around to stare at her in shock. “You used to work at Sci-Tech as an accountant?”

“Yes. Why?” she replied, confused by his reaction. “It was several years ago. I left shortly before my divorce, knowing I needed a more flexible schedule, and Sci-Tech made it clear that working from home wasn’t an option.”

“Did you have access to sensitive information while you were employed there?” Miles pressed. “Something that would cause them to come after you?”

It took a minute for her to figure out what he meant. “Not at all. I handled their purchasing and accounts receivables, nothing related to payroll or anything like that.” She couldn’t believe Miles would think that the gunmen had come after her because of her old job.

“What sort of supplies did they purchase?”

She wrinkled her nose. “Nothing exciting, trust me. Lots of computer parts, mostly, some robotics. I only handled the smaller accounts...my boss handled the bigger clients.”

“Do you know if Sci-Tech had any government contracts?”

“If they did, my old boss, Steve Kane, would have been the one who worked on them, not me.”

“Yeah, okay.”

“This,” she waved her hand in the air, “isn’t related to my work at Sci-Tech. Why would it be? I’ve been gone for a long time. There’s no reason for anyone there to worry about what I might have stumbled across, especially now.”

“You’re probably right,” Miles agreed. “I was just surprised to find out you once worked there.” He was silent for a moment before asking, “You’re sure you didn’t know Jason Whitfield?”

She slowly shook her head, thinking back to the time when she’d been employed at Sci-Tech. “I’m sure. I didn’t associate with the tech team who worked for Travis. Our marriage was rocky even back then, so I avoided contacting him at work. I’m sorry. I wish I could help.”

“It’s okay. I just needed to be sure.”

She nodded, wondering again about Travis. She wanted to ask Miles about her ex but hated to bring up the subject in front of Abby. Especially since her daughter was finally relaxed enough to watch a movie.

Was Travis still missing? Or was he simply off somewhere with his latest girlfriend? She hoped the latter, because Abby had been through enough and losing her father might send her over the edge.