The Innocent Witness by Terri Reed Page B

Anthony’s handsome face. “Very little in life is.”
    His statement piqued her curiosity. Was he jaded because of his work or had something happened to make him so cynical? The question lay on her tongue but she held back. The last thing she needed was to become emotionally involved in this man’s life. He served a purpose. To get them to safety. Nothing more.
    She spread out the map on her lap. “We take U.S. 20 to I-84 east to I-80 east and keep going until we hit Iowa. Then we’ll merge onto I-280 east.”
    He nodded but didn’t respond.
    The distance on the map looked daunting. She sent up a silent prayer of protection. Hopefully, neither the bad guys nor the police would find them along the way. Viv stared out the window, watching the miles go by in a haze of anxiousness.
    The silence became too much. She gave in to her curiosity about the man she’d entrusted her and her son’s lives to. “How did you become a bodyguard?”
    His hesitation sent a ribbon of uncertainty through her.
    â€œI started out on the Boston police force,” he said finally.
    She tucked in her chin. “So wait. You’re a bodyguard that was a government lawyer that was a Boston police officer? A little bit of an overachiever.” But he still hadn’t answered her question.
    He shrugged. “I studied law at night after I joinedthe force. When I received my degree and gained my license, I applied for a government job.”
    â€œYou didn’t want to practice law?”
    â€œNo. Being an attorney was never my goal. I just needed the degree to do what I really wanted to do.”
    â€œWhich was?” she asked.
    â€œWork for the Treasury Department. Secret Service.”
    She raised her eyebrows. “And did you?”
    â€œYes.”
    Impressive. Guarding the President was a far cry from protecting the widow of a senator. “Why’d you leave the service?”
    He slanted her a glance. “Does it matter?”
    â€œTo me it does.”
    â€œWhat difference will knowing make?”
    She frowned. “Anthony, I have entrusted Mikey’s well-being to very few people. I’ve taken a huge leap of faith in trusting you this far. I’m putting a lot of faith in your ability to keep Mikey safe.”
    His mouth pressed into a thin line. “Your faith probably won’t help.”
    Apprehension bounced in her tummy. “That’s not comforting. Care to tell me why?”
    â€œSituations in which people like me are needed tend to be short on comfort.”
    â€œThat’s not what I meant.”
    He glanced at her. The world of hurt she saw in his eyes tugged at her heart. She wanted to ease the pain she saw there. Empathy prompted her to lift her hand to offer some sort of solace. His expression hardened as he shifted his gaze back to the road, making it clear hedidn’t want her compassion. Oddly hurt, she let her hand drop to her lap and folded her hands together. There was too much at stake to let raw emotions get in the way.
    â€œThe man I was protecting was assassinated on my watch.”
    Viv sucked in a stunned breath. Bad guys after them. The FBI suspecting her of murder. An unknown quantity of a bodyguard. And now this.
    But she wouldn’t jump to conclusions. Too many people had done so with her over the years. Even him, in thinking her capable of killing her husband. She wouldn’t be guilty of the same thing with Anthony. She tried to follow the Golden Rule as best she could. “So did you make a mistake or was it just one of those unavoidable tragedies?”
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    Anthony gripped the steering wheel tighter. Feeling her gaze like a laser dot on his temple, he tried to decide how to answer her question. He settled on the line his superiors kept spouting. “When a bullet’s got a name on it, there’s nothing anyone can do once it leaves the barrel.”
    She made a strangled noise. “What does that