“Why would he think that?”
“Because Dale was in the Federal Witness Protection Program.”
“What?” Janet glanced at Sutker for confirmation, but his face was without expression. She turned back to Kendra. “Are you sure?”
Kendra nodded. “I had a pretty good idea back at your apartment. You know I’m good with dialects, and I was positive Dale was lying about being born and bred in Dallas. I’m guessing he was raised somewhere along the Georgia or South Carolina coast, with his accent flattened by a Midwestern influence from one or both of his parents.”
Sutker’s eyes widened. “How the hell did you—”
“That doesn’t matter now.” Janet appeared stunned. “You’re saying he didn’t tell me the truth?”
Kendra nodded. “He obviously lied to you about where he was from, he claims to have no family, and he has no contact with friends or anyone from his past. He is also unusually averse to having his face photographed. That suggests a man hiding from something, perhaps even the law, but the fact that the police would engage in some kind of cover-up and encourage you to stop asking questions led me to think in a different direction, maybe in terms of witness protection. So I had my friends at the FBI run the thumbprint.”
“Why?” Janet asked.
“I knew that if he was in Witness Protection the match request would be immediately flagged and an alert would go to the agency responsible for him. I hung around long enough for the FBI field office to get an urgent call from the U.S. Marshals Service, wondering what in the hell they were doing tracking their protected witness.”
“I’m sure your FBI buddies loved that,” Sutker said. “Having to explain why they were running a fingerprint for a nonagent?”
Kendra shrugged. “I have a history of annoying them.”
Janet leaned back against Kendra’s car. “I just can’t believe it. So Dale…He’s okay?”
Sutker nodded. “He’s fine. If it means anything, I’m sorry about the way I spoke to you earlier today. When you called us, we treated it like any other crime scene. But then we got a call from the Marshals Service, and they explained everything. Someone broke into your fiancé’s house and tried to kill him. Turns out he’s pretty handy with a kitchen knife and he killed his attacker. He called his handler and they pulled him out of there and removed the body. But you showed up before their team could clean the rest of the scene. Believe me, the only reason we behaved the way we did is for his protection.”
“His protection? What did he do?”
Kendra looked at Sutker. “We had an agreement, detective.”
“Your agreement was with the Marshals Service, not me.” He hesitated and then shrugged. “But I told them I would give you a ride. Least I could do.” He motioned toward his car. “Please come with me. It’s only a short trip.”
Short, indeed. Just three blocks away Sutker parked on a dark residential street.
“Why are we here?” Janet said.
As if in answer to her question, the rear door opened on a car parked across the street. A man climbed out and closed the door behind him.
Janet stiffened and then gasped as she recognized him. “Dale.”
She jumped out of the car and ran across the street toward him. He moved toward her, but they stopped short of each other in the middle of the deserted street.
Kendra and Sutker climbed out of his car and stood several feet away.
Tears welled in Janet’s eyes. “You didn’t trust me? Why didn’t you tell me?”
Dale shook his head. “Janet…It wasn’t that at all.” He moved closer to her. “God, I thought I would never see you again.”
“Answer me. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I wanted to, Janet,” he said hoarsely. “But I was afraid. Afraid I’d lose you.”
She wiped tears from her cheeks. “That could never happen.”
“Not even if you found out that I had lied to you about who I am?”
Another man climbed out of the car that Dale had come from. He flashed his U.S. Marshals Service badge at them. “Henry Samuels, ma’am. Whatever he may have told you, he’s a good man. He did the right thing.”
“You don’t have to tell me he’s a good man.” Janet’s gaze never left Dale’s face. “What happened?”
Dale looked away. “I worked for a company in Savannah, and I found out some things about my employers that I wished I didn’t know. They were mixed up in a lot of bad, scary stuff from drugs to Mafia-controlled vice. I thought about just ignoring it, but I couldn’t. I ended up testifying against them. The next thing I knew there was a price on my head, so I entered witness protection. I moved here, and I was really hating life…until I met you. After that, I didn’t regret anything that had happened.”
“Then why were you just going to leave without telling me?”
“It was for your own good, Janet. After that man tried to kill me the other night, I knew that I couldn’t stay. I had to leave you. I had to start all over.” He added simply, “It broke my heart.”
“Did it?” Janet thought for a long moment. “Then take me with you.”
“What?”
“I mean it. Take me with you. I’ll start over with you.” She met his gaze. “You said you loved me, that you wanted to spend your life with me. Unless you’ve changed your mind.”
His eyes widened. “Are you kidding? I’d love to have you with me. But I could never ask you to—”
“You didn’t ask. I volunteered.”
“But it’s your entire life. It would mean leaving behind everybody and everything you’ve ever known.”
“I know, Dale. But I’ll have you.” She smiled. “And I’m quite capable of creating a dandy new life for myself wherever we go. I won’t depend on you for anything but what we have together. Deal?”
“Deal. I’m not sure it’s a great bargain for you.” He drew her into his arms. “But I’m going to be selfish and take it anyway.” He kissed her. “I want you to know, if you change your mind, I’ll let you go.”
“Oh, shut up. You’re not going to get rid of me. I’ve made up my mind and Kendra will tell you that I can be very determined when I—But you don’t know Kendra.” Janet pulled away and gestured toward Kendra. “Dale, this is my friend Kendra Michaels.” She added huskily, “My very, very good friend.”
“I’ve already heard about her.” Dale shook Kendra’s hand. “I understand you threatened to go to the media and scream bloody murder unless the Marshals Service arranged this meeting.”
Kendra smiled. “You understand correctly.”
Marshal Samuels scowled at Kendra. “And the U.S. Marshals Service doesn’t appreciate being blackmailed, Dr. Michaels.”
“Too bad,” Janet said. “I sure appreciate it. When do we leave?”
“Immediately,” the marshal said. “The sooner we get you both out of town, the better. Don’t you want to think about it? Are you sure you want to do this, ma’am?”
Janet looked at Dale. “I’m sure.”
“Okay. It’s your decision.” He shrugged. “After tonight, Janet Sanders won’t exist.”
Even in the darkness, Kendra could see color drain from Janet’s face.
“Then I guess this is goodbye.” Janet forced a smile as she turned toward Kendra. “You know I can’t thank you enough.”
“Are you scared?”
“Maybe a little. It’s kind of a shock to realize that all my past and experiences don’t exist.”