Page 12 of The Quiet Witness

The heat returned to her cheeks the moment she recalled his final words. The threat in them… How was she supposed to get up, and face him, again?

With nothing but your head held high, but for now best to focus on other things.

Like the fact that her room had been spotless upon entry last night, almost as if the man had anticipated a guest, which was ridiculous, seeing as she was supposed to have stopped breathing during Christmas. She’d traced her hands over the sparkling white, marble countertop of the en-suite bathroom, not a speck of dust to be found.

Obsessive-Compulsive-Disorder clean. You’d think his career would keep him busier than this.

Okay, enough with the stalling. Time to face the new reality. Nothing I haven’t done before.

With trembling hands, she opened the door a crack to see him… the killer who had ransacked her dreams of a new life, leaning against the kitchen counter with a cup of coffee clenched in his hand. His gaze shot to hers, and he raised the coffee mug in invitation. “Up for some coffee?”

So much for the threats I uttered yesterday.

Kate let the door fall shut behind her.

Let’s get this party started.

Chapter 5

Let’s Go Shopping

Even though her mouth had started to water, smelling the aromas of coffee and the sandwiches the man had prepared, Kate had refused both. When her stomach had started growling the man’s eyebrows had quirked up with amusement. But she’d waved him away, instead firing off the same question as she had done last night.

“What are you going to do with me?”

“Shopping.”

Shopping. He had been totally serious.

Her perplexed look had made the killer quirk his eyebrows. “I am quite serious.’’ Crossing his arms across his chest, his next sentence had sealed the deal. “Unless you want me to choose your underwear?”

Yes, that comment had gotten her in his black giant of a car again, voluntarily this time.

The man steered his ride with ease through the winding countryside, bypassing a car that had gotten stuck in the snow, tires screeching as the occupants, a family of five, tried to push their car out of the sludge, wheels throwing the caked-up dirt and snow against the Volvo’s side, eliciting a pained frown from Mister OCD sitting beside her.

“You might want to help them out with this big ride of yours.” Kate shot him a sideways glance.

And while at it. Let me get away screaming bloody murder.

“Ever a kind thought of you. In normal circumstances, I might have.’’ He let his gaze trail over her. “But with a lady by my side, it’s safest to stay away from strangers.”

Her tongue tingled.

Keep it to yourself, Kate. Think about last night.

“Didn’t take you for a gentleman.” That mouth of hers… so hard to control.

His finger tapped on the gear shift. Once. Twice. “There is a lot you don’t know about me yet.’’

And that needed to change. A million questions burned in her throat, begging for an escape, one climbed to the top of her mind, was he a killer for hire?

“So are you?” She blurted out, attacking the silence with her sudden outburst, but the man by her side didn’t even spook.

“Am I what?”

“A killer for hire?”

He let precious seconds pass by in silence. No doubt weighing how much he could say.