Page 63 of Shadowed Witness

Retract your statements, or next time, it won’t be a camera.

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Allye continued to stareat the text messages.

No, no, no, no.

She had to tell her family—warn them.

The time caught her eye. It was late. They’d all be in bed by now. Should she wake them?

She reread the message. Forced herself to think logically. The photos might be recent, but it had been hours at minimum since they’d been taken. And she doubted whoever sent the threat expected her to be able to do anything about her statement tonight.

Her family wasn’t in immediate danger.

But that did little to calm her nerves. Theywerein danger. And it was all because of her.

What should she do? She couldn’t lie to the police—couldn’t let a murderer and drug dealer keep ruining some lives and outright ending others. But she couldn’t let her family be harmed either.

Her brain finally kicked in. She needed to call Eric. Show him these texts and ask what he recommended she do. Before she could second-guess herself, she paused the movie and dialed his number.

He answered quickly. “You okay?”

Relief swept through her at the sound of his voice. “Yes, I’m fine—I think.”

“You think? Did something happen?”

“I just received a text message threatening my family.”

“What did it say? Better yet, forward it to me.” He gave her the number of his work cell.

“One second.” She sent the messages through. “The photos came through first, then the threat.”

He grunted. “I’m assuming you don’t recognize the number?”

“No.”

“Probably a burner phone, but I can try to track it down if you give me the number.”

She pulled the phone from her ear again and read him the number. In the quiet that followed, she could hear his pen clicking.

“This changes things, Allye. I know you’ve been trying to shield your family from this, but they need to know so they can watch their backs.”

“I know,” she whispered. “I’ll tell them in the morning.”

“Do you need me to come with you?”

She hesitated. Did she want him to go with her? Yes. Full stop. Did she need him there? No. She could do this alone. No need to pull him from his work. “I can handle this.”

“I know youcan. That wasn’t what I meant. Would you feel better having someone along that knows what’s been going on and won’t react emotionally?”

“I mean, yes, but—”

“Then I’ll be there. Tell me when and where.”

“I’ll have to let you know. I don’t even know if I’ll be able to get everyone together or if I’ll have to go to them separately.” She massaged her forehead. “Why threaten them? Why not just kill me and be done with it?”

“For some reason, they seem to want you alive.” He sounded puzzled. She had to admit it didn’t make any sense to her either. Her attacker, like most drug dealers, seemed to have no problem with murder.

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