Witness in the Dark (Love Under Fire #1)(9)

Oh, God. This is it. She was going to be shot in an alley.

Just like Heather.





Chapter Six


Though more than a little annoyed with the woman, U.S. Deputy Marshal Senior Inspector Garrett McKendrick concentrated on the task of getting Samantha Hutchinson out of that alley without either of them getting killed.

“When I say so, get ready to run,” he whispered and moved the gun away from her head. Threatening someone with a gun was the easiest way to get their attention, regardless of whether or not he planned to actually shoot them.

He pulled her against him so he could peek out around her—and caught her scent. Like vanilla and pizza. Two of his favorite scents. He’d noticed when he kissed her.

“Ready? Go.”

He grasped her hand, shoved her out into the alley, and tugged her along with him. Thankfully, she stayed close, especially when the bullets started whizzing past their heads.

“Oh, God! They’re shooting at me!”

Yes, they were shooting at her. But she held it together and kept running.

She gasped when he raised his gun to fire back at the assholes who were chasing them. The men ducked behind some barrels, and he dragged her along behind him again.

“Please. I don’t want to die in an alley,” she whimpered.

He couldn’t say as he blamed her. He didn’t want to die, either. There, or anywhere else.

After firing off another shot, he busted in a door that opened into the alley and pushed her through it, then blocked it from the inside with a chair. The space was pitch black and smelled of some chemical he couldn’t quite place.

He felt her breath on his face and the warmth of her skin where he grasped her arm to shove her forward. She squealed as she brushed up against something that made a rustling sound.

“Shh,” he ordered. He moved in front of her and pulled instead of pushed. She stumbled and tripped a few times in the darkness, and yelped again, but he tightened his grip, reminding her to be quiet.

“Please let me go. Please,” she begged, her voice weak and thready.

It would be just his luck if she passed out. People had many different responses to fear—some people fought while others lost consciousness. He looked her over briefly, gauging how long he could carry her if she fainted. Probably pretty long. She was kind of scrawny.

A sliver of light came in through a high window and he glanced around. They were in the back of a dry-cleaning establishment.

“I don’t have a lot of money. What do you want?” she asked.

He didn’t answer. He kept pulling her through the racks toward the other side of the building. She shivered when he opened the door and peered out to make sure it was safe.

Why didn’t she have a coat? It was the middle of October and freezing out. She needed a coat, but he couldn’t take the time to give her his. She’d have to deal with it for now.

Out in the next alley, he wasn’t expecting her to come to a dead stop, and he almost lost his grip on her.

“I’ll scream,” she threatened.

Two could play that game. “I’ll knock you out and throw you over my shoulder if you don’t keep up.”

Thankfully, his threat made her hurry. She was moving so fast their feet tangled, and he accidentally stepped on her foot. “Sorry.”

The light from the street lamp blinded him temporarily as he pulled her across the street into another alley. There was a car speeding toward them, so he tugged her into another building after kicking out the door lock.

As before, he blocked the door behind them with a chair, and led her into a small waiting area. There was a security light at the end of a narrow hallway covered in worn, red carpet. As they passed a few glass doors, he saw names written on them.

magistrate. district justice.

He pulled her through one of the doors that wasn’t glass, locked it, and flipped on a light. It was a small, windowless office. They couldn’t see out, which meant no one could see in.

It was a safe place to take shelter until help arrived.

He hoped.

She turned to him as he tucked his gun in the back of his waistband. His chest heaved as he caught his breath. “You okay?”

Her fiery green eyes homed in on him, and for a second, he almost wished she would have fainted.

“Garrett? What the hell?”





Chapter Seven


Sam glared at her captor. The same the man she’d served a cheesesteak and talked to for nearly an hour. The same man she’d kissed.

Shit. He really was a serial killer.

Why hadn’t she ignored his sexy blue eyes?

Garrett had put his gun away, but she knew it was still there. At least he wasn’t pressing it to her head anymore.

Anger swept through her. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“Saving your ass,” he answered hotly. “It would’ve been a lot easier if you’d just agreed to go for drinks with me.”

Her jaw dropped incredulously. “Right. I should have been more considerate and made it easier for you to abduct and murder me.” She lurched for the door.

He stepped in front of it and shook his head. “No one’s getting murdered, I assure you. At least, not by me. Though, no guarantees after the tune-up those guys gave your car,” he informed her as he took out a phone and hit the screen a few times.