Witness Read Free Page A

herself.
    “Shit,” he muttered, then immediately echoed the sentiment for having spoken at all. The last thing she needed was a thread by which to identify him. That would only make things even more fucked up.
    Not that they could get much more fucked up.
    Rennie had gone statue-still, probably not having anticipated hearing him speak. Then, she swallowed, “Please, I don’t want to die.”
    Dash exhaled. So she’d changed her mind, then. Or perhaps this was survival instinct kicking in. No use for bravery. She had nothing to lose by appealing to his humanity.
    Even if he’d used up the last of it in bringing her here.
    “He told you to kill me, didn’t he?” she continued, dragging her wrists forward as far as she could. Fresh rivets of blood pooled around the cuffs. “But you didn’t. You brought me here.”
    “You’re hurting yourself.”
    So what was the harm in talking? Rennie hadn’t seen him in over a decade. Odds were she’d forgotten all about him. He hoped she had. That’d make things easier.
    Dash edged as near as he was willing to venture, mindful of her legs. “Stay still now,” he continued.
    She shook. Her fingers flexed. Her toes curled. “What…what are you going to do?”
    Dash situated himself at her side. “Here,” he said by way of answering, and dabbed her mouth with one of the towels. She gave a violent jerk in response. “Chill out, okay?”
    Chill out. Had dumber words been uttered?
    Apparently, Rennie didn’t think so. The transformation from terrified hostage to emboldened, angry phoenix was truly remarkable. “Chill out?” she echoed. “You have me cuffed and blindfolded. How the fuck am I supposed to react?”
    In spite of himself, Dash grinned. “Ah. Now you’re pissed. Gotta say, I like this better than barfing all over the place.”
    Rennie stilled, and inexplicably, scarlet tinged her cheeks. “I didn’t mean to. Being kidnapped doesn’t sit well with my stomach.”
    Dash dragged the towel down her neck, then tossed the terrycloth over the pile of sick beside her. He reached for a bottle of water, unscrewed the lid. “All right,” he murmured, placing the bottle against her lips. “Now open up.”
    She blanched. “What?”
    “It’s water. Figure the inside of your mouth has to taste like a jock strap.”
    “Water, huh? Why should I believe you?”
    “You shouldn’t,” he conceded. “But I could always make you open that pretty mouth of yours, couldn’t I? At least this way it’ll be your choice.”
    A beat passed between them, then Rennie’s lips parted. Dash held the bottle in place as she gulped down several hearty swallows of water. When he began to pull away, she made a sound of protest, and he didn’t have the heart to deny her more. He hadn’t considered how thirsty she must be.
    “Thank you,” she said when the bottle was empty. Before he could summon a response, she continued, “You’re with Gunner, aren’t you? That’s why I’m here.”
    “Yeah,” he agreed.
    “He killed two people. I saw it happen.”
    Dash bit back the instinctive response, knowing that engaging in any conversation would only lead them in circles. Yes, Gunner had killed two people. That was what happened when a man walked in on another man screwing his woman…even if that woman was Luanne Stevens and not worth the effort, the fucking principle counted for something.
    Needless to say, things had gone south. The fact that the asshole with his dick in the cookie jar just so happened to be a deputy sheriff complicated things, but the deputy was none too clean where the law was concerned. The sort of stuff reporters didn’t print boggled his mind. Sure, Gunner had been a bit trigger happy, but what man could blame him after what he’d seen?
    Following Gunner there didn’t take much, and if Dash stopped thinking, he could pretend everything about this situation was normal.
    It wasn’t enough, though. Gunner couldn’t go to prison. The one person standing