his fur rubbed against her arm. Mosquitoes buzzed, dive-bombing the exposed areas of Esme’s skin. She didn’t dare swat them away. The car was closing in, the engine growing louder. She wanted to grab King’s collar and make sure he didn’t lunge out from their hiding place, but she couldn’t get the image of him barking at the gunmen out of her head. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t stop seeing his sharp teeth and snarling mouth. Sure, he currently looked like a sweet goofy pet, but she knew he could be vicious if he needed to be. She’d keep her hands to herself and hope for the best rather than risk losing one of her fingers to his sharp teeth.
“Don’t move,” she whispered, and the dog shifted closer, his shoulder leaning into hers.
The car slowed as it approached, the tires rolling over dry pavement.
Keep going, she silently commanded. Please, keep going.
The car stopped, the engine idling, the soft chug making her blood run cold. Could the driver see her? Did he know she was there?
A door opened, and she stiffened. She had no weapon. Her only option was to run. In a place as inhospitable as the Everglades, that could get a person killed.
Staying could get her killed, too.
She waited another minute, praying that whoever was on the road had stopped to look at a snake or save a turtle or do some completely normal thing that didn’t involve hunting a woman through the swamp.
King barked, the sound so loud and startling, Esme jumped.
She didn’t scream, but she came close.
And then she ran, darting away from the road as fast as her twisted ankle could carry her.
* * *
Two strides and Ian caught up, catching Esme’s arm before she could run any farther.
She swung around, throwing a punch that nearly hit its mark.
“Hey! Cool it,” he growled, dragging her arm down to her side the same way he had before. This time there was no knife, and she looked even more scared, her eyes wild with fear.
“Let me go!” she demanded, and he did, releasing his hold and stepping back.
“Calm down, Esme. It’s just me.”
She met his eyes, seemed to finally realize who he was and frowned. “You just scared six years off my life.”
“Sorry about that.”
“You don’t sound sorry,” she accused.
“Maybe because I’m tired of following you all over Florida,” he replied, and she cracked a half smile.
“I’m not going to apologize, if that’s what you’re hoping for.”
“I’m hoping we can get out of this area before we run into more trouble.” He took her hand again, and this time, she didn’t resist as he led her back to the road and his SUV.
He opened the back hatch and called for King, and she didn’t say a word, didn’t try to leave.
The Malinois jumped in, settling into his kennel and heaving a sigh that would have made Ian smile if he hadn’t been standing next to Esme.
She was a problem.
Up until he’d tracked her down, he’d been resentful of the time and resources they were putting into finding her. The prosecutor had a good case against Reginald Dupree—even without his sister’s testimony. She was the witness who would put him away for good, though. First-degree murder. Planned and executed with cunning and without remorse.
Esme was the only witness, and without her testimony, evidence was circumstantial at best. At worst, it was unconvincing. A good defense lawyer might get Reginald off. That wasn’t something Ian was going to allow.
Yeah. He’d wanted to keep her safe for purely mercenary purposes. With her testimony, the Dupree crime family could be stopped. Without it, Reginald might go free.
Now...
He was beginning to feel sorry for her, beginning to see her as something other than the family she’d been born into. She’d given up her entire life to make sure her brother went to jail for his crime. She’d left her job, her friends, her fiancé. She’d done it all without complaining. Everyone who’d met her or worked with her had had only good things to say.
He’d told himself it was because she was a good actress and consummate manipulator. After hearing her talk about the woman who’d died, hearing the regret in her voice, seeing the tears in her eyes, he doubted that was the case.
Unless he was misreading her, she was who everyone else on the team seemed to think she was—a woman who’d been pulled into something she hadn’t expected or wanted. A woman who’d been running from her family because she valued doing what was right more than she valued loyalty to her family.
A tough place to be standing.
A tough decision to make.
She’d made it. She’d continued to say that she would testify despite the obvious threats against her.
He admired that.
A lot.
He frowned, closing the back hatch and turning to face Esme. “Did you really think you were going to walk out of here?”
“I sure didn’t think I wasn’t going to,” she replied, flipping her ponytail over her shoulder. A few strands of hair had escaped and were clinging to her throat and neck, the dark red strands gleaming in the SUV’s parking lights.
“The nearest town is twenty miles away,” he pointed out.
“I’ve walked farther.”
“Did you do it when you had a price on your head?”
She pressed her lips together and didn’t say a word.
“I’ll take that as a no.” He led her to the passenger side of the vehicle. “You keep walking on this road, and someone else is going to find you. If it happens to be one of your uncle’s hired guns, you don’t have a chance of surviving.”
“I’m not sure my chances are any higher with you,” she responded, but she didn’t walk away.
Maybe she was too tired.
Maybe the injury to her ankle was worse than she’d been letting on.
Whatever the case, she stayed right where she was as he opened the door.
“How about we discuss it on the way to the local police department?”
“Ian...” She shook her head. “I believed your organization when I was told I’d be safe. They were wrong, and I can’t see any reason to believe you again.”
“And yet you’re still standing here.”
“Because I’m tired. I’ve been running for months, and I have at least another month to go before the trial. It’s hard to sleep when you’re worried someone is going to break in and kill you. Without sleep, it’s really difficult to make good decisions.”
Her honesty surprised him, and he touched her arm, urging her to the open door. “I’ve had plenty of sleep. How about you let me make the decisions for a while?”
She laughed without humor. “You’re very convincing, but I think I’ll pass.”
“Then how about you sit in the SUV while I drive, and spend a little time thinking about what you want to do? It’ll be easier doing it in a safe place than it will while you’re out in the open.”
“Like I said,” she responded, finally stepping away. “You’re convincing, but I’m going to have to pass.”
“You’re a long way from the state line, Esme.”
“I was a long way from Florida a couple of months