Witness Bares All
~ Look for these titles from
Abby Wood ~
Now Available:
Alpha Agents
Book 1 G-Man and Handcuffs
Book 2 Witness Bares All
Book 3 Steel and Hardness
Coming Soon:
Finding Eternal Peace
Witness Bares All
By Abby Wood
Copyright Warning
eBooks
are
not
transferable.
They cannot be sold, shared, or
given away.
That is copyright infringement,
which is a crime punishable by law.
The unauthorized reproduction or
distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this
book may be scanned, uploaded to file sharing sites, downloaded
from file sharing sites, or distributed in any other way via the
Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the
publisher’s permission.
Criminal
copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary
gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years
in federal prison and a fine of $250,000 (
http://www.fbi.gov/ipr/
).
Please purchase only authorized
electronic or print editions. Please don’t steal from the authors
who have created books for you to enjoy.
This book is a work of fiction.
The names, characters, places, and incidents are fictitious or have
been used fictitiously, and are not to be construed as real in any
way. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events,
locales, or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Published By:
Etopia Press
P.O. Box 66
Medford, OR 97501
www.etopiapress.com
Smashwords Edition
All characters are 18 years or
older
Witness Bares All
Copyright © 2010 by Abby
Wood
ISBN: 978-1-936751-02-0
Edited by Georgia Woods
Cover by Valerie Tibbs
All Rights Are Reserved. No part
of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever
without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations
embodied in critical articles and reviews.
First Etopia Press electronic
publication: December 2010
~ Dedication ~
To Georgia, A wonderful editor who has
helped me not only with polishing up my story, but who has prepared
me if I ever have to enter the Witness Protection Program.
Chapter One
The black Hummer seemed to
crawl up the winding mountain road at a snail’s pace. Josie leaned
her head back against the seat and stared out the window at the
same scene she’d studied for the last several hours.
Sheesh, how long does it take to get to this
highly secretive place?
They’d been driving since before sunrise,
and every time she'd asked Donovan how much longer it would be,
he’d turned away from her and muttered without giving her a
straight answer. Blowing the bangs out of her eyes, she pushed the
control to lower the window. She sighed with relief as the flow of
cooler mountain air blasted her face. The tension between Donovan
and her was enough to suffocate her.
“Put the window up. The glass is blacked out
for a reason. We can’t take any chances.” He waited two seconds,
and when she didn’t immediately roll her window up, he pushed the
control button on the door himself. “Look, Marie—”
“Josie. My name is Josie.” She snorted.
“Agent D.”
“Not anymore, it isn’t.” He turned up the
air conditioner, glanced over at her, and then turned his attention
back to the road. “The trial is a week away. You can go back to
your life, your own name, and forget about everything you’ve had
to…suffer through. In the meantime, you’ll not take any unnecessary
risks, and I’d appreciate it if you’d follow the rules.”
Turning her face away from
him, she blinked to dispel the sudden rush of tears clouding her
vision. She didn’t want to go back to having no job, no life…no
Donovan.
Damn him.
“Marie…” He placed his
hand on her thigh. “I know it’s hard, but this
is
for the best.”
She refused to look at him, but nodded. Her
leaving and never looking back might be what he wanted, but all
these months of just the two of them depending on each other had
done a doozy on her. There was no happily-ever-after written in the
stars for her.
Agent D and she were two very different
people. Donovan had his high level of responsibilities, code of
honor, and seriousness. She was more spontaneous, a
fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants, live-life-to-the-fullest kind of
gal. And against her better judgment, she’d thrown herself at him,
fucked like it was going out of style, and somehow, during all the
chaos, fell in love with an agent for the FBI.
But, he didn’t return the feelings.
Donovan pulled the vehicle off the old
logging road and came to a stop. Josie sat up straighter. A lone
cabin nestled deep in the woods, symbolizing beauty, serenity, and
vacancy, sat in front of her. This was no safe house. The whole
scene belonged on a postcard depicting a national forest for
tourists to visit. A reenactment of pioneer life. “This is where
you are keeping me?”
“Yeah.”
“There are other people here.” She studied a
rather large man slugging another equally big man in the shoulder
walking around to the back of the cabin. Her chest tightened. He’d
made it perfectly clear. No one was supposed to know where she was
staying. Something wasn’t right. Her chest tightened, and her
breath seemed to lodge in her throat. Any one of these people could
work for Renfro Jackson.
She pulled the door handle, but Donovan had
control of the locks. “Let me out.”
“It’s okay. This really is a safe place for
us to stay.” He turned off the engine. “You’ve heard me mention
Agent Tony. Bryce and Taylor, the agents that transported you after
the incident at the casino, are also here. They’re all here to
double up on security. Tony’s girlfriend even came to keep you
company. You’ll like her. I think you have a lot in common with
each other.”
“You’ve slept with her too?” She whipped
around and glared at him. “Can we compare notes? Maybe we could
even swap partners…Agent D?”
His black eyes narrowed, but he didn’t deny
it. His hand came up and rubbed the whiskered five-o’clock shadow
along his jaw.
Shush, shush, shush.
It was a familiar sound lately, usually one
that came when he was at a loss for words and had to think up an
answer.
“Oh, whatever.” She snorted, sat back, and
waited for him to unlock the door.
He had her face encased in his hands before
she could spew any more anger toward him. “Dammit. Don’t be like
that. And stop calling me Agent D. My name’s Donovan.” He exhaled.
“Josie…Marie…Oh fuck it.” He leaned over and claimed her mouth with
his own. His tongue pushed past her lips. Hard, fast, and
possessive, he just as quickly let her go. “Come on. Let’s go get
settled.”
She sat with her mouth open, afraid to
breathe, and stared out at the rustic cabin. There was no way she
was going to believe that Donovan didn’t love her. Not with a kiss
like that. The man had more feelings wrapped up into his cold
exterior than even he knew about.
Chapter Two
The love between Tony and Jolene was
apparent to everyone, but especially to Josie. She turned her gaze
away from the couple embracing and moved a few steps away from the
crowd. Peering out into the distance, she noticed a path leading
from the yard down a slight embankment.
She had more freedom today than any other
time since being placed in a safe house because of the remote
location. Not wanting to admit that she found the rustic setting
quaint and charming, she kept her mouth shut and stayed out of the
friendly conversations floating around the cabin all afternoon.
Donovan had briefed her with the rules set up to protect her, but
he’d forgotten to mention exactly how far she could wander around
outside. She glanced back at her keeper. He was holding up a
security camera while Taylor and Brice verbally told him which way
to move.
Walking quickly away from the house, she
jogged along the path and out of sight. She inhaled and let her
body relax. She hadn’t had any space to herself since the night
Bryce and Taylor drove her away from the casino after the shootout
and straight to the safe house to live with Donovan.
Yesterday Donovan informed her that their
current location had been compromised, but she knew the truth. He’d
wanted someone around to keep them apart. She was growing too
dependent on him. There was no danger. He only wanted to stop their
sexual affair.
“Oh.” She stopped. The most beautiful river
lay in front of her, and on the bank a deer and her baby were
drinking at the water’s edge.
“They come down to the river every
afternoon, along with bears and elk. I think I could watch them all
day long.”
Josie turned and found Jolene standing
beside her. She crossed her arms. “I didn’t hear you following
me.”
Jolene laughed. “Yeah, well…I’m sneaky like
that.” She shrugged. “Donovan was coming after you, but I told him
I’d bring you back.” The woman stepped in front of her and faced
her. “Are you okay? I’m not usually this nosy, but I know the guys
can be pretty intimidating. It’s all those G-man hormones…they
bounce off each other.”
“G-man?” She chewed on the inside of her
cheek.
“That’s what I call the guys on Tony’s
team.” She winked. “It’s a much easier title to say than Federal
Bureau of Investigations Special Agent.”
Josie lifted the corner of her mouth.
“You’re right about that.”
“I take it you’ve been sleeping with
Donovan…”
She raised her brows, but something about
the woman had her nodding. “I’m that transparent?”
“No.” Jolene rubbed Josie’s bare arm. “I’ve
just been in your shoes. I know the look. It’s hard not to fall for
them. They’re like the last of the alpha males.”
Josie shrugged. “It’s all one-sided though.
Donovan…Agent D is all business, all the time…well, except when
he’s screwin’ me.” She tried to hold the tears back, but after
staying strong and having no one to talk to, the friendly
conversation undid her resolve. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be blabbing
about my troubles.”
“Aw…” Jolene reached out and wrapped her
arms around Josie. “You’re going to spend a week here with us, and
we’ll talk more later. Right now, let’s get you back to the house
before Donovan has all of the G-men stomping down here with their
guns drawn.”
She let Jolene turn her
around. She lifted her head and pulled back. Donovan stood in the
path frowning.
Uh oh.
“I was coming back. I just wanted to see
where the trail led…” She shut her mouth. That sounded like a lie
even to her.
Donovan ignored her excuse for running off
and nodded to Jolene. “Thanks, but I’ll bring her back.”
Jolene squeezed her arm before walking back
up the trail. Josie stared at Donovan. “I’m sorry. I know I
shouldn’t—”
He held up his hand. “It’s okay. You don’t
have to explain” He stepped toward her. “Let’s walk.” He motioned
off to the side. “We’ll leave the deer to enjoy their moment.”