Page 36 of Witness To Murder
She wondered if he recognized her. Her hair was the same—same color, same length—and she was basically the same size. But she was older. Tired from juggling work and school, and from dealing with the strange things that had occurred this week.
She had gone from witness to a crime to a murder suspect to…whatever Lambert saw her as now in the space of four days.
“Leah.”
A too-familiar sensation flickered through her. The way he said her name was the same. She had loved hearing her name on his lips. He was her first love, her first lover. She would have done anything for him.
And then he’d disappeared, leaving her heartbroken and alone and in the crosshairs of pure evil.
“You’re alive,” she decided to say. “Everyone thought you were dead.”
He managed a small smile. It wasn’t until then that she noticed his cracked lips. “That was sort of the point, apparently.”
Part of her still wanted to punch him, but he looked to be in no condition to absorb the blow. “You double-crossed the wrong person.” It was what everyone assumed. And it was true.
“I sure as hell did.” He made a rusty sound that may have been an attempt at a laugh. “I guess I, as they say, got too big for my britches, and it cost me more than I was prepared to pay.”
Now she was just flat-out pissed. “You?” She leaned forward to ensure he heard her words. “The man whose money and drugs you stole was going to kill me.”
“But he didn’t.” His jaw hardened, lips formed a thin line.
“No.” All the emotions she had expected to feel if she ever saw Chris again were missing. All she felt was empty, sad. “He didn’t because I gave him what he wanted.”
“Yeah, I heard.”
“Are you going to tell?” The one thing she didn’t want to feel—fear—crept up her spine.
He stared at her for a long time before he answered. Each second that ticked off made that fear climb a little higher, until it coiled around her throat.
“No. What happened was my fault. I screwed up. I left you and the others to suffer the consequences. You did what you had to. Who am I to judge?”
Surprise radiated through her. She had. It had taken getting a beating like she’d never experienced in her entire life, but she’d spilled her guts in the end. “How did you get away?”
“He’s dead—the one who held me captive all this time. His latest wife said she didn’t want to take care of me, so she let me go.”
“You killed him?” Leah wasn’t sure she really wanted to hear the answer.
He moved his head slowly from side to side. “Nah, he had a heart attack—at least, that’s what the wife said. Since she was the only one to give him a kid, she was expecting to get all his money and to take over the business. But she didn’t want to deal with me, so she smuggled me out of his compound. First thing I heard when I got out was the trouble you were in. I figured the quickest way to find out about you was to turn myself in.”
“Why didn’t you just take off and keep going? I doubt anyone is even looking for you anymore.” He wasn’t making sense.
“I didn’t want to leave Chicago until I knew you were okay. I figured I owed you that much. As it turns out, the only person who had anything on me is dead now. The feds wanted to question me, and I saw an opportunity, so I gave them an earful. They’ll be taking me away as soon as I’m on my feet again. Witness Protection. I’ll be starting over somewhere. A house, a job. I’ll be set.”
“Good for you.” Leah meant it. “Perez held you prisoner this whole time?”
Lorenzo Perez had been a big fish in the world of drugs. Leah really was surprised he hadn’t executed Chris. Her, too, for that matter.
“He said keeping me prisoner was worse than killing me, and at first he was right. But the more time that passed, the more lax he grew with his punishments. Eventually, it was just like being stuck in a really bad motel with an old friend who visited occasionally to brag about his exploits.”
Leah laughed, couldn’t help herself. “Only you could survive more than nine years of being held hostage by an infamous drug lord.”
“My old man always said I could talk my way out of most anything.” He looked away for a moment. “I’m sorry, Leah, for what I did to you. I hope you can forgive me.”
“It doesn’t matter anymore. You didn’t do anything that I didn’t let you do. Since I’m the one who told Lorenzo where he would probably find you, I suppose we’re even…mostly.”
She would never be even with her father’s death, but that one was on her, not Chris.
“Guess so,” he agreed.
