Page 40 of The Quiet Witness

“I’ll scream.”

Good idea. There are actually people around this time.

Her mouth opened again, lungs and vocal cords ready for the concert of her life. No microphone needed.

But he cut her off. “I don’t particularly like threatening damsels in distre—”

“I’m not a damsel in distress.” Liar. She swallowed down her fear, lest the predator in front of her could smell it on the wind.

“Right, how silly of me. Allow me to rephrase.” Lucien’s black jacket filled her entire vision, and she had to lift her chin to meet the intensity in his gaze. “You’re a lion pressed into a corner, better?”

Black and white, wait… Kate stood on her tippy toes, glancing over his shoulder to see…

Jackpot.

A cop car, and a man who looked old enough to be a sheriff stepped out. The man reached for the hat on his head, allowing the sun to glint off the golden, seven-angled star shape on his chest.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Lucien’s gaze follow hers, landing on the man that would be her salvation.

“If you go over there, sweetheart… you better be damn sure of what you’re doing.” His tone was calm as always, no threat in it, but the words themselves.

She didn’t even turn to look at him, legs going heavy at the decision in front of her. Was it even a decision? If she screamed now, stepped toward him, she would be free. And better yet, the right pocket of her too big, black jacket went heavy. For inside it was blood Lucien had spilled.

A thought popped into her mind, and before she could stop herself, it spilled over her dry, cracked lips.

“What does it take to get death row in Montana?”

Silence met the rush of blood in her ears. The shopping carts, engines rumbling, a child screaming, all of it faded as her vision cleared. The cop leaned against his car with a coffee in hand, blowing on the steam. “Would you get to that place of honor… sweetheart?” Kate turned, taking in the surprise dancing across Lucien’s face.

The surprise made room for arrogance and he waved a cocky hand around. “I used to count, but at one point, you know, becomes too much to remember. That said, death row would definitely be on the menu.” A shrug. “If it can be proven of course.”

I will escape you. The words she had whispered before watching him shrink back from her lingered now. It hadn’t been said in vain.

“Go on.” His chin jerked to the cop stirring his coffee. “You better hurry. Because you’ll never forgive yourself if you don’t go.”

Wait, what?

She watched as Lucien raised a hand, deepening his voice to holler out across the parking lot. “Richard! Long time no see!”

The blood in her veins froze over when she saw the cop’s head whirl around and land on them. He, Richard, raised his hat in greeting.

Lucien mumbled lowly. “Better find out if I’m bluffing, but… just remember what I told you.”

“What was that?” How she kept her voice even with her limbs shaking, she would never know.

Lucien leaned closer, still wearing that charming smile. A predator wearing the colors of a chameleon, a killer in the midst of a parking lot. And no one passing by knew. Her chest grew hollow, making room for panic.

“Better be sure of what you’re doing. Because if you don’t play nice, Kate, I’ll have no choice but to incorporate some consequences. It’s not something either of us want. Right now that is.”

Threats, threats, and threats.

Meanwhile the right pocket of her jacket was heavy with... evidence. Invisible from the outside but tainted on the inside, a crumb that could lead to death row for the man beside her.

How many people had died under his hands. A hundred? More? When did one stop counting?

Time, she was wasting it. She pushed away from the car, leaving Lucien to stand beside it. Her feet passed the white line that indicated a parking spot, and another one. She stopped when a man hastily carried his groceries to his flaming red Mazda. But her eyes remained on the prize.

When Richard threw his empty coffee cup in the iron waste bin.