she actually wanted a relationship.
His phone rang.
* * *
Aaron reached for his back pocket and hissed. Ouch. His medical leave was only supposed to be two weeks, but given how hard he’d hit the sidewalk and rolled, he guessed the recovery was going to be longer.
He stepped away from Mackenzie. “Hanning.” The background noise was a steady rush of people and movement.
“You called?” Eric’s breathing was labored. Was he in a hurry?
Aaron perched on a circular table in the corner. “So...you work witness protection, huh?”
There was a short pause. A door shut and Eric said, “Who told you that?”
“Met a friend of yours tonight. Mackenzie Winters. She thought I was you, but that was after she and I nearly got shot in a drive-by.” Aaron rubbed his eyes with his free hand. It was a shame his coffee had spilled all over the sidewalk.
“I got her voice mail, but it didn’t say anything about a shooting. I take it you saved her?”
“A gun went off. After I reached for the weapon I wasn’t carrying, I just moved us. It was a reflex, nothing more.”
What was it with everyone assuming he was some kind of hero? He still hadn’t told Eric he was on medical leave or why he’d instinctively fled from anything army related.
Reconnecting with his brother was long overdue, there was no doubt about that. But the real reason he’d come to Phoenix to see Eric was more about what he was going to face when he returned to work. About the fact his teammates wouldn’t even let him see Franklin. They’d expected him to apologize before he left, but how did you say sorry when you’d blinded someone? It just wasn’t good enough. “I’m not a hero.”
Eric sighed. “I’m boarding another flight right now, I’ll be back ASAP. Can you stay with Mackenzie?”
“Why? She’s fine. The cops are taking care of her. I didn’t think this had anything to do with her being in witness protection. She said something to the cop about the center where she worked.”
“The likelihood is that it isn’t connected with her being in WITSEC. But I’d still like someone watching out for her until I can get there to assess the situation.” Eric sighed. “Please do this, Aaron. I really need your help.”
Eric wanted him to stick around with Mackenzie longer, when his last failure had cost someone their sight—and their future? “I’m not your guy for this one. Don’t you have resources? Surely there’s a plan when things like this happen.”
“Of course there is, but that was before I spent two days in D.C. trying to get to the bottom of a potential leak in my office.”
“No offense, but I’m on leave with an injury. This doesn’t really concern me.”
“You saved her. She’ll trust you, and she needs someone to keep her safe until I can find out if this is related to her past. And find the traitor in my office.”
Aaron blew out a breath. “You think a U.S. marshal is responsible?”
“All I have is supposition right now. We can’t rule anyone out until the FBI determines who caused the leak of a number of files. It could have come from inside or outside of the office—at this point we still have no idea. We had the FBI warn the witnesses whose names were leaked, and those with active threats have been moved.”
“So why was Mackenzie still in Phoenix?”
“Her file was not one of the ones that were leaked.”
“So the shooting is unrelated.”
Eric’s footsteps stopped. “We still have to keep your involvement in this under wraps. If Mackenzie is being targeted for anything, then she should be kept safe. The leak could be a diversion. I can’t go through normal channels because everything is balanced on the edge right now. I can’t disrupt anything or the FBI case unravels. If there’s a mole, whoever it is will bury themselves so deep we’ll never find them.”
Aaron got to his feet, his eyes on Mackenzie. He might not be a true hero, but there was no way he was going to leave a woman unprotected if he could help it. “What do you want me to do?”
“You’ll help?”
“I’m not going to leave you hanging.” Maybe this was the chance he’d wanted to connect with his brother. If the cost was reopening the wound in his shoulder, Aaron would gladly pay it. Eric was all the family he had, and at least his brother didn’t think he was a failure like his team did. They wouldn’t even let him in Franklin’s hospital room. “What do I do with her?”
“Keep an eye on her until I get this whole situation figured out. The FBI thinks it should only take a couple of days to track the source of the virus that copied the files. Have Mackenzie stick to her normal routine, but keep your eye out. The cops will do their own investigation to find out if there’s a threat against Mackenzie, and I’ll be there tomorrow.”
Mackenzie turned. Her eyes widened and her cheeks flushed at whatever was on his face. So she wasn’t used to direct attention. And why not? She was a pleasant-looking woman; she just downplayed her looks, unlike pretty much every woman Aaron had ever dated.
He hung up and crossed the room to her. “Eric asked me to keep an eye out for you. In case someone is after you, I can make sure you’re safe.”
“So you believe me?”
Aaron shrugged his good shoulder. “Does it matter? Someone may or may not be trying to harm you, and in the meantime I’m going to make sure they don’t succeed. The truth will come out in time.”
“Oh.” She glanced around the café.
Aaron took gentle hold of her elbow. She was the protectee now, and he would maintain a professional distance.
“Let’s walk to my truck.” His shoulder needed looking at, but he’d have to find supplies somewhere. He did have extra gauze and bandages in his hotel room, plus no one would know she was there.
He looked around the parking lot as they walked but didn’t spot anything suspicious. Eric wanted her safe, and the best option for that was a hotel he already knew was secure. But that was probably the last thing Mackenzie wanted.
“We can stay at your house.”
Her eyes widened. “I don’t have a guest room.”
“I’ll sleep in the truck.”
“You can’t do that. You’re injured.”
“I’ve slept in worse places. Believe me.” Aaron got the feeling he was going to have to do a lot of reassuring with this woman.
When she’d settled herself into the passenger seat of his truck, Aaron turned to her. “Okay, here’s the deal. You do exactly as I say and you don’t ask questions. If something happens, we’re not going to stop in order for me to explain it to you, we’re just going to run.”
By the next morning, Mackenzie had almost managed to forget that someone tried to kill her the night before. But when Eric walked into the Downtown Performing Arts Center, it all flooded back.
Aaron was around somewhere, supposedly protecting her, although she hadn’t seen much of him. She hadn’t told him anything the night before, but she had convinced him to stop by the E.R. and get stitched up. Mackenzie had driven back to her house and in the end she’d convinced him to spend the night on the couch instead of in his truck. He’d said it was so he could see her front door, but she’d seen the pain in his eyes. Especially considering he’d refused a prescription for pain pills.
“Who