Page 31 of Hostile Witness
“Maybe leave the floodlight lit in the driveway.”
“Yeah.” She sighed wistfully. “Poor Flynn. The big dog in the sky needs to cut him a break.”
Ethan smiled. “Let’s be thankful he didn’t cross the rainbow bridge.”
Tia laughed a little and shook her head. “You’re something. I hardly ever meet a person who’s on the same wavelength as me.My friends Mo and Sarah understand me, but they’re about the only ones. You really ought to meet Sarah, Ethan... ”
“Don’t.” He didn’t apologize for sounding harsh this time.
She turned to face him. “Why not? She’s very nice and pretty, too. And you’re a decent guy, a good dog daddy, a respected sworn officer.”
“I’ll find my own woman when I’m ready.” And he was still chewing this over in his head, but if anyone could motivate him to cancel his self-imposed moratorium on serious relationships, it was the woman sitting next to him.
Tia snickered. “Yeah, right. Sometimes you have to try more than once to get a good fit.”
He stopped at a red light and gazed at her speculatively. “Do you hear yourself? Are you ready to try again after whatever the hell you went through?”
She lifted her chin and stared out the window. “I’ve got a lot more to fix than you do. And there are some things I can’t magically erase. I’ve just gotta live with them.”
Twisting the thin leather strap of her purse between two fingers, she murmured, “I guess I’m a little like Flynn... at least I didn’t cross the rainbow bridge trying to get out of the situation I got into.”
Ethan pulled into her driveway and parked.
Tia grabbed her things and jumped out. “Thanks for helping me today. Flynn thanks you, too. You don’t need to come in. I’ve got it.”
He flung open his truck door. “I’m coming in. It’s not up for discussion. You stay in the kitchen while I clear the house. Then I’ll leave.”
She rubbed her forehead with a finger. “Okay, if you insist.”
“While you’re in an agreeable state of mind, and because you won’t stay with your mom and Carson, would you consider sharing phone locations with me?”
She rolled her eyes. “Is that really necessary?”
“You’re on your own tonight without Flynn. And if you need something—anything—we can find each other quickly.”
“For heaven’s sake, I’ll be fine.” She smoothed the hair off her face. “But I do understand your concern, because that creep has my license, so okay, I’ll share my location with you as long as you reciprocate. And it’s temporary, until Lieutenant Plante’s killer is caught.”
“Agreed. Thank you.”
He cleared the house, sent her a share location request, and spied her phone on the hallway credenza. She’d probably get busy and forget to accept it. Grabbing the phone, he swiped at her screen, tapped twice, and approved it on her behalf. There. All done. He locked the door behind him as she placed a frozen pizza in the oven.
What on earth had happened to her? It had to be a matter of public record. He could look her up in the system and find out every sordid detail.
But after getting to know her a bit, he didn’t want to invade her privacy by reading the CliffsNotes. No, he’d wait. Maybe one of these days she’d open up about it on her own.
He drove by the Feds near her house and gave them a two-finger salute. Tia wouldn’t be crossing any rainbow bridges tonight. They’d make sure she stayed safe.
20
Ethan rubbed the temporary-hair-color gel into his crew cut and slicked it back with a comb. His usual light brown instantly turned almost black. It’d do. He lathered his face and proceeded to shave his beard and mustache. Easy come, easy go. They would grow back. Tonight, he couldn’t look like himself.
He was one of four men in the Sanctuary locker room transforming themselves into someone new. Crisp tuxedos hung in a neat row on a clothing rack above complementing wing tips. They’d used this chameleon smoke-and-mirrors routine many times before. At least tonight he didn’t need to endure a new nose affixed or contend with prosthetics in his mouth to change the shape of his jaw. This job required simple hair color, contacts, eyebrows, and a clean-shaven face. He was down with that.
Mac stepped to the center of the room already wearing his wino getup. Because Mac’s past included way too many glossies on magazine covers, he always dressed as a local drunk, nondescript and harmless. Few people knew he was the brains behind the Sanctuary missions and, when needed, the eyesbehind the sniper rifle. Mac cleared his throat, and the room fell silent.
He held up a spray bottle. “Before I douse myself with this eau de garbáge, I want to go over the details one more time. Ethan and Gus are running point tonight as emissaries of a Russian mafia boss in search of new women for his entertainment. Derek’s manning the van and computers. He’ll take down the live feed in the club hallway and the loading dock. Beck and Mooney?”
They both raised a finger.
