The elevator doors slid open, and John pushed Ari behind him, while both officers pulled their guns. It gave Mrs. Laramie quite a fright. Ari was glad she hadn’t needed medical attention. 

“What’s going on? Ari, John?”

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Laramie. Someone broke into Ariana’s apartment, so we are a little jumpy.”

“I’ll say,” the feisty octogenarian replied. “I almost peed my pants. Thank goodness for Depends.” It shouldn’t have been that funny, but Ari started giggling which turned in to full blown laughter. She tried to stop, she really did. Everyone had to think she’d lost her mind, but Mrs. Laramie smiled and winked.

“Did you happen to see anyone hanging around that you didn’t recognize?” One of the officers asked as she turned to go to her apartment.

“Actually, there were a few Chinese gentlemen in the lobby earlier. They had a couple of boxes with them, I thought they were moving in.”

“Do you think you could give a description to a sketch artist?”

“I’m not sure, my eyesight isn’t what it was. But if it will help Ari, I’ll be happy to try.”

The doors slid open again, and it was a repeat of the last time. Ari swore she was going to have bruises from John pushing her around. She knew he was in full-blown protection mode, but it was getting out of hand. From the stink that wafted around her, even Mr. Darcy wasn’t taking it well.

“That won’t be necessary.” Ari couldn’t see who’d arrived on the scene because John’s wide shoulders were blocking her view, but she’d recognize that voice anyway—Senior Inspector Colin Rogers. The shit just hit the fan for sure.

“Wait just a minute,” the older of the two officers held out his hand. “You need to stop right there.”

Ari peeked around John and saw the pinched expression on Colin’s face. Yup, he was super pissed off. At least this time it wasn’t her fault, right? Wait, it couldn’t be her fault, could it?

Colin flashed his badge to the officers. “I’m Senior Inspector Colin Rogers of the US Marshall service. We’ll be taking over now. But thank you for the quick response.”

“I don’t know…” the other officer started to object.

“Call your captain, he’ll tell you. Oh and Mrs. Laramie, you won’t need to worry about the sketch artist, but thank you for offering.”

The short, silver-haired woman looked him over and then nodded. “If you need anything, child, let me know.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Laramie. Have a good evening.” It was the oddest thing to be happening in the middle of a crime scene, one more item to add to her list of experiences she’d never hoped to have.

“John Dillon? What are you doing here?”

“I live here, but it’s nice to see you too.” Ari was confused. They knew each other? And what was the odd expression on Colin’s face? She wished she was better at reading people. Duh, if she had been she wouldn’t be in this mess.

“You two know each other?” she asked as she stepped around John. There was no way she was in danger with all that testosterone. It was more likely they’d shoot each other. Men.

“Yes,” they answered at the same time and then exchanged glances. Okay, this was just getting weirder by the minute.

“We met in college, were roommates,” John said.

“Wow, what a coincidence to run into each other now.”

“Yes, it is. We’ll have to get together soon and catch up,” Colin answered. “But for now, I need to move Ms. Nelson to a safe house.”

“No. I told you earlier, I’m staying here.”

“But Ariana it’s not safe.” So, they were going to double-team her now? They might think so, but she had other ideas. “The apartment is trashed. I don’t think there is one thing that’s not ruined. You can’t stay there.”

“I want to see it.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Ari leveled a look at John that had been known to stop lesser men in their tracks. But it didn’t seem to faze him one bit.

“Don’t. Just stop. What did I tell you about being a Neanderthal around me?

“But…” She turned in time to see Colin trying to cover up the smile on his face. Like she was any happier with him.

“I’m going in unless there’s some other reason I can’t?” She directed the question to the Marshall.

“If you promise not to touch anything I’ll take you through it. I want to take a look.”

John started to object but thought better of it. She hoped it was the look on her face, but he probably realized it was useless to argue about it. It was her apartment, she was a grown woman, and she could handle it.

“Can you hold on to Mr. Darcy?”

“Of course.”

“I’ll be right back. John will take care of you. You’re a good boy.” Mr. Darcy didn’t look very happy about her leaving him and let out a low growl, but she knew Colin wouldn’t want the dog muddying up his crime scene. “It’s okay. I promise I’ll be right back.” Then she handed the leash to John.

“Just remember, baby, it’s all just stuff. Okay?”

“Okay.” She caught Colin’s raised eyebrow at the endearment but didn’t want to deal with any of it right now. She wanted to see her apartment so she could figure out what to do next.

The Marshall went in first. After what John said, she thought she was prepared for a huge mess. But she was unable to hold back a gasp at the first sight of the total destruction of her home. “Why? I don’t understand how anyone could do this.”

“That’s because you’re a good person. Most couldn’t, but these are ruthless people and will do whatever it takes to stop you from testifying.”

“And they thought destroying my stuff would do that?”

“They’ve been escalating for the last few weeks. This is just the next thing in their arsenal. You’re not safe here. I wish you’d reconsider Witness Protection.”

“We’ve been over this. I don’t want to give up my life, my friends, my job. I like it here. Or did until this…”

“We need to keep you safe. I’m not sure even after the trial you’ll be safe.”

“Why not? If Paul’s in jail who would want to hurt me?”

“That’s just it, it’s not just Paul. He’s small potatoes, the people behind this are unlike anyone you can imagine. If they want to hurt you, they won’t stop until they do.”

“But they haven’t so far.”

“I know, and that’s part of what we don’t know. I think they were looking for something here. There’s just too much destruction for it to be anything else.”

“I don’t have anything of value to anyone but me.”

“Are you sure Paul didn’t give you something, anything? A flash drive, a memory card? Anything like that?”

“No. I already told you. Nothing like that.”

John was right, she couldn’t stay there. But she’d be damned if she was going to let Colin put her in a safe house. She wished she could go to Shira’s, but that would only put her in danger. “Can I pack a small bag, toiletries, some clothing? I know I can’t stay here. I’ll get a hotel room.”

“No…” Stereo answers again. These guys were too much. She turned to John who was standing in the doorway with Mr. Darcy.

“I don’t know what you were going to say, Colin, but no way. Besides, most of them won’t let you bring a dog. I think you should stay with me. I have a spare bedroom.”

“I would prefer she come with us to the safe house.”

“Really? I think I can do a better job protecting her. Your guys couldn’t stop this. What makes you think you can stop what’s coming next?”

“Because it’s what we do. Protect our witnesses. Inspector Charles was doing exactly what he was supposed to be doing. Watching the witness.” Ahh, so Shadow Four’s name was Inspector Charles. She liked calling him Shadow Four better. The Marshall in question was talking into his earpiece and looked mighty uncomfortable.

“Still, it doesn’t look like you’ve got a good handle on this.”

“You have no idea what is in play here.”

“Then why don’t you tell me?”

“Okay, you two need to back off. The testosterone in this room is stifling. Besides, I’m right here, and I can take care of myself.”

“No, you can’t.” Again, with the stereo answers. Just how well did they know each other? They were awfully in sync to not have seen each other recently.

“Excuse me, sir, they have the video and are running it through facial recognition.” Saved by the Shadow. At least he’d saved something that evening. Maybe she was being too hard on him, he’d been following orders, and she hadn’t been hurt.

“Good.”

“That’s why you don’t need Mrs. Laramie to do the artist thingy?”

“Exactly. We have several cameras on the property, inside and out.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“Ariana, contrary to what you seem to believe, we take your safety very seriously. I haven’t lost a witness in a long time, and it will never happen again.” The look on his face left no doubt he believed every word he’d said, but knowing he’d lost one didn’t make her feel very secure at that moment. 

The obvious choice was to stay with John in his apartment, except that was dangerous in other ways. She hadn’t told him anything yet, but he’d gotten a crash course in Ari One-oh-one. There’d be way more than twenty questions in her future, but she did feel safe around him. Safer than with any of the Shadows.

“I’ve decided to stay in John’s apartment. Mr. Darcy knows him, you’re already watching this building. It makes the most sense.”

“I don’t like it.”

“Sorry, my decision, unless you can tell me with absolute certainty that it’s too dangerous for me to stay here.”

Colin looked down, then at his phone, before answering. “No, I can’t tell you that. And I know John’s a SEAL, so he’s more than capable of protecting you should something happen. I just think you’d be better off with us.”

“I know, but I feel safer with John.” She’d bet he was smirking right now, but she didn’t want to turn to check. “The trial is in two days, right? I promise I’ll be extra careful until then.”

“Fine. But if anything else happens, we’re moving you to one of our safe houses. And you won’t be going in to work until after the trial.”

“What?”

“It’s already been cleared with your boss.”

“Jesus, do you guys hear yourselves? You can’t just take over my life like this.”

“We can, and we will if it will keep you safe.” Ari was done. Exhausted, stressed, and on the verge of tears. Long gone was the relaxed warmth she’d had throughout dinner. She needed to be far away on a beach, sipping margaritas in the sunshine.

“Whatever. I’m going to pack a bag.” When Shadow four started to follow her, she stopped him. “Alone. There is no imminent threat. I will be fine.”

She’d thought it was impossible for anything to be worse than the living room, but she was wrong. Even her bed was tossed around, the mattress sliced open. Her dresser drawers were tossed all over the room, clothes everywhere. Nothing had been left untouched, and the bathroom was the same.

Wading through the mess, she grabbed an overnight bag and threw in as much as she could that wasn’t destroyed. For once she was happy she was a trust fund baby because it would take more than she had in the bank to set the place back to normal. She’d sworn she’d never use that money except for an absolute emergency, and she’d say this qualified as one.

After packing what she could, she gazed around her room. It didn’t look anything like the room she’d gotten ready in a few hours earlier. This was a nightmare. Hopefully, the end was in sight.

John and Colin had their heads close together and looked like they were in a heated discussion as she came out of the bedroom. “What’s going on now?”

Startled, they turned in unison. Was that guilt on their faces? “Are you ready? John asked.

“Yes, but first I want to know what you were up to. Something’s going on. This is my life, remember?”

They exchanged glances and John shrugged his shoulders. “Well?”

When Colin nodded at Shadow Four, he went into the hall and left them alone. “John’s agreed to have you stay with him until the trial. You’ll have to stay in his apartment, no going anywhere. If you need something, your detail will get it.”

“And if I don’t agree?”

“It will be the safe house for you.”

“You can’t make me go.”

“Actually, we can. You’re a witness in a Federal espionage case, I can and will do whatever it takes to protect you.”

Recognizing a brick wall when she saw one, Ari gave in. What choice did she have? “Fine. I’ll accept your rules. But after the trial, all bets are off.”

“We’ll see,” Colin replied. But John was smirking again. Seeing them standing next to each other was like looking at two male cover models. John was dark while Colin was light, blond hair, blue eyes, and as tall as John. The two of them must have had women lined up at their door in college. If things were different, she might have been attracted to Colin, but she had always felt like he thought she was stupid for letting Paul take advantage of her.

“Do you have everything you need for now, baby?”

“Yes. Oh wait, I need Mr. Darcy’s bowls and food.”

“I grabbed them while you were packing. See?” he said as he held up the bag of dry food and a plastic bag with the dog bowls.

“Thanks. So, are we done for now, Colin? Or do you still need me?”

“You can go. I know where you’ll be if something comes up. Remember what you promised.”

“I don’t think John would let me forget even if I wanted to.” It was the first, truly genuine smile she’d ever seen from Colin, and it totally lit up his face. He really needed to do that more often.

“Take care of her, John.”

“I will, you don’t have to worry.” It was odd to walk away and leave him standing in the disaster that was her apartment. It was odder still that she was going home with John, but it’s what she did, after scolding Mr. Darcy for leaving a stink bomb that made her eyes water.