no refusal.
“That may not be wise, ma’am. You may be called as a witness, too. We need both of you to stay somewhere safe until the trial is over.”
“Are you taking us into protective custody?” I asked, straightening in alarm. “A witness protection program or something?”
The officer rubbed the back of his neck. “Due to budget cuts and a lack of foundation in this aspect of the case, we haven’t been able to get the approval rushed through yet. For the time being, until we can, we strongly suggest you get out of here and find a place to stay where you won’t be found. A hotel might do the trick. Don’t tell any friends or family where you are. If you can afford it, take some time off from work. And stay in touch with us.” He offered a business card, which I barely glanced at before stuffing it in my pocket. “We can call you in when it’s time, or when the approval to put you under official protection goes through.”
“This isn’t an official visit, is it?” I asked.
Smith reddened, sharing a significant look with Yarmouth before answering me. “No. Can we trust you?”
I blinked. “Excuse me?”
“Can we trust you?” he repeated, darting a furtive look at Sara.
“We can keep a secret, if that’s what you’re asking,” Sara replied, puzzled.
Yarmouth kept his voice low and conspiratorial. We had to lean in to hear him properly, he spoke so quietly. “In his way, Jim did you a favor. Earlier today he sent us copies of all the material he had gathered, along with some extra info on your connections to the Sunstrikers. This is our case, but someone’s been doing their best to sabotage it. We’ve lost a few witnesses in this investigation already. We can’t afford to lose any more. All of this is completely off the record; we were never here. And since that’s the case, I can also tell you that you may want to hurry; there are a few other officers from a different bureau planning to speak with and possibly detain Ms. Waynest. Stay out of any places where your information might be traced. No hospitals, no credit cards, no cell phones. Get it?”
Sara and I shared a look. This wasn’t good news—not that I’d had much of that the last few days anyway, but this made things even more difficult and convoluted than they already were. Funny to think that the reporter had been looking out for me, in his way, even if it took destroying my personal life to do it.
“Thank you, officers,” Sara said. “We’ll get back to you as soon as we’ve found a place to stay.”
They nodded, heading for the door. “Don’t tell us where you are. Just let us know you got there safely and check in every few days.”
“Will do,” I promised.
As soon as they were out the door, I leapt into action.
“Damn it, Shia, where are we going to go?” Sara asked, following me into my room. She slammed her palm against the wall, gritting her teeth as she spotted the picture of Chaz I’d been glaring daggers at earlier. “I can’t believe he’d stoop so low. We can’t go to my house, or my sister Janine’s, Arnold’s, or your parents’ place. I’m not camping out at the office, and I can’t leave the dogs behind. Where the hell are we going to go? How are we going to get any work done?”
“Let me think a minute,” I replied, though a hazy idea was already forming in my mind.
I didn’t have enough cash to pull off a disappearing act until this blew over. Sara might, but most likely she kept the bulk of her money in the bank, which meant any transaction could be traced and lead authorities—or the Sunstrikers, if any of them were savvy or connected enough—right to us.
If the cops were that sure there would be retaliation for being a victim or a witness or whatever the Sunstrikers thought of me, I wasn’t going to sit around and wait to be found. Undoubtedly, they’d eventually come across me if I stayed in the city. No matter what, I’d make it as tough on them as I could. If they came looking for a helpless human, then I’d do my best to pull together all the firepower I could muster. Since we couldn’t go to my family or Sara’s for help, and had little money, our options for running were extremely limited.
That left us