Texas Holiday Hideout Read online

  Miles shook his head. “Not a great description of the guy. The car was a silver sedan. I couldn’t really tell make and model and I didn’t see the license plate.”

  “There was another car, too,” Melissa told them. “It arrived after we’d crashed. A man got out and tried to shoot us.”

  “Did you get a look at him?”

  She shook her head and Miles sighed. Despite wrestling with the man, he couldn’t identify him, either. “Honestly, they were on top of us before I knew what happened.” He glanced over at Melissa. It was because of his attraction to her that he hadn’t been paying attention.

  No more.

  Josh turned to look at her, then nodded. “I’ll get a BOLO out for the cars and I’ve got deputies already at the scene. They can canvass the area. Maybe someone saw one of these cars and got a better look at the shooter.”

  “Doubtful. There aren’t many houses out that way and the ones that are are set far off the road. Unless someone happened to be driving by, I doubt they saw anything.”

  “Where were you?” Paul asked Josh. “Melissa tried to call you and so did I. It went straight to voice mail.”

  “I was busy. I came as soon as I received Cecile’s message.”

  Miles shot a look at Paul. Josh was acting odd and he looked nervous. It was unusual for him not to answer his phone, but he had to give his brother the benefit of the doubt. He was human and being tied up wasn’t a crime. He couldn’t be at everyone’s beck and call 24 hours a day. That’s why he had a crew of deputies.

  Josh gave him a grim look. “Maybe it’s time you told us all what’s really going on. Why is someone after Melissa?” He turned to look at her. “Why does someone want you dead? Is this a jealous ex-boyfriend or something?”

  She folded her arms as best she could with the cast, but shook her head. “I wish it were that simple.”

  Josh turned to Miles. “I can’t keep either of you safe if I don’t know what’s going on. You need to trust us, Miles. We’re your family.”

  He glanced at Melissa and saw acceptance in her face. She didn’t like the secrets, anyway, but had kept silent because he’d asked her to. But now even he had to admit that his brothers were right. He couldn’t keep her protected alone, at least not here. Their location had most definitely been compromised. His mind was spinning, trying to figure out how they’d been found, because if Shearer’s men could find them here, they weren’t safe anywhere. He needed his brothers, needed their help to keep her safe while they remained at the ranch, which wouldn’t be for long—they had to know the truth.

  He waited for the doctor to finish up and walk out. He glanced at each of them. Knowing would change everything. It would change the way they saw him and it might even place their lives in danger in the future. Plus, he’d kept this secret from them for so long. Would they be angry at him? Would they be able to forgive him for his deception?

  Thinking of the possible consequences made him feel sick to his stomach, but he refused to go back on his decision. All that mattered to him now was keeping Melissa safe. Bringing his brothers into the secret was the safest thing for her right now. He had to risk it.

  “The truth?” Miles asked.

  Paul nodded and folded his arms, readying himself. “The truth. What’s going on? Who is after Melissa?”

  He took a deep breath. “The man after Melissa is a very dangerous contract killer named Richard Kirby. He works for a mob boss named Maxwell Shearer.”

  They both stared at him, then at Melissa, then back at him. “How on earth did she get mixed up with a mob boss?” Josh asked.

  “Accidentally. Twenty years ago, Melissa’s mother worked for Shearer. She uncovered some fraudulent activity in his accounts and went to the authorities. She testified against him and was the key witness in convicting him. Then, a few months ago, an appeals court overturned his conviction and sent his case back to the lower courts to be retried. Four weeks ago, Shearer hired Kirby to find and murder Melissa’s mother in order to prevent her from testifying against him again. Melissa walked in on her mother’s murder—just in time to clearly see the killer. Fortunately, she managed to escape the house and ran for help.”

  “Only now she’s the witness because she saw his face,” Paul stated.

  Miles nodded. “She identified the shooter through his mug shot.”

  Josh rubbed a hand over his face. “You should have told us this earlier, Miles.”

  He glanced at Melissa with a silent question. Should he finish the story? Tell them everything and let the pieces fall where they may? She nodded to silently encourage him on.

  “I don’t understand,” Paul said. “How did they find her? Why wasn’t she in protective custody or witness protection?”

  His brother had just landed on the exact question to ask to reveal the rest of the secret. “She was. Melissa and her mother entered the witness protection program twenty years ago. Melissa was only five years old at the time. She had no idea she was even in the program until the marshals arrived after her mother was killed. She’s been under the marshals’ protection ever since.”

  They both turned to look at him, understanding dawning in their expressions. Miles continued. “Melissa isn’t my wife. She’s my witness—and it’s my sworn duty to protect her.”

  EIGHT

  He saw his brothers processing this new information. Shock was written across their faces.

  Paul folded his arms and took a long, deep breath. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell us.”

  Josh nodded. “Guess we should have been more suspicious when you brought her home out of the blue.”

  “Wait, what do you mean, she’s not your wife?” They all turned to find Kellyanne standing in the doorway. She’d overheard their conversation.

  “What are you doing here?” Miles demanded.

  “Mom called and told me you and Melissa were in a car accident. I was making sure you were both okay.” She walked in and looked at Melissa in the corner. “Is this true? You’re not married to my brother?”

  She glanced at Miles, then gave a nod as her answer to Kellyanne’s question. He could see how this was tearing her up. She’d never wanted to hurt this family or lie to them, but anyone could see the hurt and anger in Kellyanne’s face. Melissa had grown to really like Miles’s sister and Miles knew that the feeling had been mutual. They’d become close, like sisters, but they weren’t sisters and they never would be.

  Kellyanne turned to Miles. “You lied to us.”

  He stiffened, then stood to face her. “I had a job to do. I couldn’t tell you.”

  Josh regained his bearings. “Back to this guy who is after Melissa. How do you think he found out she’s here? And why is she here instead of in a real safe house?”

  “That’s another thing I should tell you. I brought Melissa here because no one in the marshals service could know where she was. We believe there’s a leak in the WITSEC agency.”

  “A leak? Who would do that?”

  “I don’t know, and so far my boss hasn’t made any headway in finding out. All I know is that these men who are after Melissa keep finding her. Four weeks ago, right after she was placed in protective custody, she was ambushed. The marshals on duty were able to get her to safety, but two of them were killed in the attack. They moved her to another location. Two days later, the marshals assigned to her learned of an impending threat and moved her again. After that, it took Shearer’s men five days to find them, but they did. My boss gave me this assignment with explicit instructions to tell no one where we were. Not even he knows. The rest of the office doesn’t even realize I’m on this case—they think Dad had a relapse and I came home to help. So how did they find us?”

  Paul folded his arms across his chest. “It doesn’t matter how they discovered it. They just did.”

  “It matters to me. I have no idea who I can and can’t
trust in my own agency. A WITSEC inspector who is giving up witnesses is a major breach. It can’t be ignored, but my first priority has to be to Melissa and Dylan.”

  Kellyanne gasped. “Dylan! That’s why you asked about him and told Dad to get the rifle. You thought someone was coming after him.”

  “After the crash, I wanted to make sure he was safe. I didn’t know where that guy who ran us off the road was going.”

  Melissa stood and addressed Kellyanne. “Is Dylan still with your parents?”

  “He’s still at the ranch with Mom and Dad. Don’t worry. They’ll keep him safe.” She looked at Miles and her expression hardened again. “Learning he’s not their grandchild might kill them however.”

  He didn’t care for her jab at the moment. “I’m sorry, Kellyanne. Really, I am, but I can’t think about that now. I did what I thought was best. Can we please just deal with this for now? We’ll figure that out later.”

  She gave a regretful nod. “What do you want me to do?”

  “Take us back to the ranch. We need to pack up and get out of town before these guys have another opportunity to take us out.”

  Paul stopped him. “You can’t go.”

  “I can’t stay. Her life is in danger. I can’t risk staying now that this location is known.”

  “You just said yourself that you don’t have anyone you can trust. Well, you know you can trust us. Stay here and let us be your backup. Now that we are aware of what she’s involved in, we can help you keep her safe.”

  “I can’t ask you to do that.”

  Josh stepped forward. “You don’t have to ask. We’re here for you, Miles. We always have been. Besides, we know these men are in town. You’ve got law enforcement on your side. That’s an advantage you won’t have anywhere else. This is the perfect opportunity to capture them and make sure she stays safe.”

  Paul and Kellyanne both agreed, but Miles ran a hand through his hair. “No, I’m sorry. I have to get her somewhere else. I appreciate your willingness to help, but capturing this madman isn’t my job. Keeping Melissa and Dylan safe is.”

  “But wouldn’t it be better if we could do both? You keep her safe and we’ll do the legwork to try to find this guy who’s after her. If he’s in town, someone must know something.”

  Still, Miles hesitated. He turned to Melissa, his eyes questioning. He could see she wanted to say yes, to accept his family’s help. And he wanted that, too.

  He looked back to his family. “Can you give us a moment alone to talk about it?”

  They all agreed and stepped out of the room.

  * * *

  Miles turned to her. “Well? What do you think? I say it’s too dangerous. We need to leave.”

  “I’ll never be able to rest easy if we don’t capture this guy,” she told him. “Dylan and I will always be running. That’s not the kind of life I want for my son.” Or for herself, if she was honest. She wanted a family just like the one Miles had shown her. A family that stood together and helped one another out, who faced danger and trouble together, united. She’d grown used to this clan and would miss them when she left here, but if they could help her stay safe a little while longer, then why run? “Besides, you said you trusted your family.”

  “I do trust them. With my life, not with yours and Dylan’s. That’s a responsibility I trust to no one but myself.”

  “I don’t want to leave,” she whispered. She reached up and touched his face, running her fingers over his jaw. She wasn’t ready to say goodbye to the Averys, but mostly she wasn’t ready to say goodbye to Miles. “I haven’t felt as safe anywhere else as I have here and that’s even with the attacks against me.”

  He pulled her into an embrace and hugged her, pulling her so tight against him that, for a moment, she couldn’t breathe. “I shouldn’t do this,” he whispered. “I shouldn’t be putting your lives at risk this way.”

  She broke their embrace and locked eyes with him. “If we leave the Silver Star and they find us again, we’ll have to face them alone. At least here, we have people who can help us. I’m ready for this to be over, Miles. One way or another, I want it to end.”

  He sighed, then walked to the door and opened it, addressing his brothers and sister. “Looks like we’re staying.”

  By the time the sun rose, Kellyanne had helped Melissa pack her and Dylan’s things and transfer them to her bedroom in the main house after Miles determined that it was safer for them to stay there instead of the cabin. It didn’t take long because they didn’t have much, but Melissa was grateful for the help, and glad to know that Kellyanne wasn’t holding a grudge over her secret about being married to Miles.

  But Kellyanne did seem sad as she helped them get set up in her room. “What’s going on with you?” Melissa asked when she had the opportunity.

  Kellyanne sat on the bed and sighed. “I thought I had another sister. It’s been me against the boys for all of my life. When Lawson married Bree, I thought, this is great. I finally have a sister, so I’m not so outnumbered. And when you and Miles arrived at the ranch, I thought I’d gotten another.”

  Melissa sat beside her and reached for her hand. “That’s nice. You were so kind to me. I hated keeping that terrible secret from everyone. It made me feel so guilty, especially when you all were so welcoming.”

  “I understand why you felt you had to. You trusted Miles and he was just doing his best to keep you safe. At first, I was angry with him for getting married and not telling us. Then I was just happy for him, you know. I was happy that he finally found what he was looking for.”

  “You’re all so close. I’m not used to that.”

  “Aren’t you close to your family?”

  “I never really had any. Only my mom. I was an only child, just like my parents.” Melissa paused for a moment as she thought about it. “I don’t even know if that’s true. Mom told me that my dad died before I was born, but maybe he’s alive, but wouldn’t go into WITSEC with us.” She shrugged it off. “If he’s alive, or if I have any aunts or uncles or cousins connected to him or my mom, then I never knew about them. It was always me and my mom. Even my late husband, Vick, didn’t have any family. Now, Dylan is all I have.”

  “He’s a precious little boy.”

  “Thank you. He’s enjoyed being here so much. The last several places we’ve stayed have been hotels or apartments with no room for him to run and jump and play.” She felt tears pressing against her face and she covered her mouth to keep them at bay. Kellyanne saw her distress and slid across the bed, putting her arm around Melissa’s shoulders.

  “It’s okay. I guess you’ve been through a lot, haven’t you?”

  She nodded. “I try not to focus on it. I do my best to be strong for Dylan’s sake, but it’s been so hard. And the other marshals who I’ve dealt with, well, they’ve been nothing like Miles. They all treated me like I was a criminal.” She remembered the marshal who’d let her keep her mother’s necklace and realized that wasn’t entirely true. “Well, most of them did. But Miles was different from the start. He seemed to care, wanted to make us comfortable. I knew right away he was a good person.”

  Kellyanne nodded. “He’s a great guy. And I think he’ll make a great husband one day.” She stood and went back to folding clothes. “I still have a hard time believing you two aren’t married. You seemed so perfect for one another. And I know Miles has become attached to that kid of yours.”

  And Dylan was just as attached to him. It was too easy to imagine what a good father Miles would be to Dylan. And what a good husband he’d be. Melissa recalled the way he’d held her and rocked her in his arms, assuring her everything was going to be okay. He’d been the only comfort she’d had since this nightmare started and her growing attraction to him was only making her confusion more pronounced.

  She glanced at Kellyanne and felt her face redden with embarrassment. Kellyanne had t
he strange ability to look right through her and see the feelings she was trying so hard to keep hidden.

  Her face broke into a big grin. “I knew it! I knew you weren’t that good of actors. You do like him, don’t you? You’re in love with my brother.”

  She flushed and was quick to correct her. “It’s way too early to claim to be in love with anyone. I’ve only known your brother a short time.”

  “But you like him, don’t you?”

  She couldn’t deny her attraction to Miles. In fact, she’d grown more and more enamored with him since they’d been here. But none of that mattered when their futures were meant to be separate. “Of course I like Miles. And Dylan has grown very fond of him. But we could never make a relationship work. I’m running for my life and his is here in Texas. No matter what happens, when this is over, I’ll be sent to live in another city, another state. I’ll take on a new name, and no one who knew me before will be allowed to know where I am. He’ll stay here doing his job and protecting people.”

  “He could come with you.”

  She’d already considered that scenario, but she couldn’t ask that of him. “You don’t realize what you’re saying, Kellyanne. For him to come with me, he would have to enter the witness protection program. He’d have to leave his job and his family behind and he would never be able to see or speak with any of you ever again.”

  Kellyanne’s hopeful expression soured. Melissa couldn’t blame her. It wasn’t a life anyone would want for someone they loved. She had no family left to mourn or miss her, but Miles would be missed terribly by his family. She could never ask him to make that big of a sacrifice. And even if they somehow worked all this out, found the WITSEC mole and captured Kirby and Shearer, she could never trust a man with so many secrets. “Besides, I’ve been lied to my whole life. I could never really trust a man who is so comfortable being deceptive, even toward those he loves.”

  The door opened and Dylan rushed inside, called her name and leaped into her arms. “Mama, Grandpa John let me feed one of the horses. He took a sugar cube from my hand.”