one is scaring me away. You know I have a job to finish here before I can go. Besides, I can help them identify the man. I would recognize his voice and his eyes anywhere. Plus, I hurt him.” Rebecca tilted her head so she could address Kurt around her grandfather. “He should have a cut along his arm or...” She closed her eyes and held up her right fist as if reliving it. “His right shoulder, to be more precise. I cut him with a letter opener.” She exhaled and looked past the judge. “I think I at least scratched his chest, as well.”
Kurt didn’t want to admit aloud that he was impressed, but she would be an asset in catching the attacker quickly. “If you drew blood, we could run a DNA test off the letter opener.”
She cringed. “It’s somewhere on the side of the road. Near the ditch I fell in.”
“Delaney, please have some officers sent to locate the evidence.” He tried to keep his jaw from clenching. If the police had interviewed her last night, they could’ve nabbed the guy by now.
Delaney spun on her heel and rushed out of the room.
“I don’t want this in the papers, Brock,” Judge Linn barked. “I need to go to the Boise courts for trial, and I don’t want her fighting a media circus.”
All of the federal judges within the state traveled between the three US courts in Idaho. But, if Judge Linn went now, the marshals would need reinforcements to provide for his protective detail. The deputy marshals stationed in Boise had their hands full. Many were out on fugitive cases like the one he just finished. They weren’t going to like the news. “Sir, we’re going to need police cooperation.”
Judge Linn ignored him for a moment as he gently kissed Rebecca’s forehead. Her eyelashes fluttered and Kurt found himself wishing he could see her pretty eyes up close.
The judge straightened. “Brock, a word alone.”
Kurt may have imagined it, but he thought he saw Rebecca fight a laugh as if she knew he was in for a lecture. He supposed she’d warned him when she’d said her grandpa was used to getting what he wanted.
Kurt stepped into the hallway as the judge rounded on him, finger in the air. “She refuses to go to Ohio because she’s scared she’ll lead the threat to her father—my son.” The judge shook his head. “If he hears a single word of this, he’ll never speak to me again. That sweet girl knows it and is determined to stay here until the threat is gone.” He narrowed his eyes. “Make sure there is no threat. Understood?”
It wasn’t his job to sort out family drama, but Kurt wanted to eliminate the threat as much as he did. “We’ll do our best, sir. You have my word.”
The judge frowned, nodded and took a step toward the elevator. “Oh...and, Brock?” He held up the same finger in the air but didn’t turn to look back. “I’m sure you already know that my granddaughter is beautiful and intelligent.”
Kurt’s spine stiffened. Unsure of what to say, he simply responded, “Yes, sir.”
“Don’t feel you need to get to know her any better. You read me?”
In other words, Kurt was to keep his distance. “Loud and clear, sir.” He didn’t need to be told twice.
All he needed to do was to keep her safe, catch the bad guy and put her on a plane back to Ohio.
Rebecca wanted nothing more than to turn her thoughts off, but if she stopped obsessing over the attack, she feared she’d forget some crucial detail. As soon as she got back to Grandpa’s place, she wanted some time alone on her laptop. Typing every single detail she remembered would allow her to get it off her mind and finally relax. At least, as much as she could unwind with two marshals guarding her.
She pulled her unruly hair back into a loose braid and secured it with a rubber band a nurse offered her. It embarrassed her a little bit to leave the hospital in a business suit, but her grandfather had grabbed the first thing he’d seen from her suitcase. He had already left with a policeman who would meet a deputy marshal from Boise in McCall to take over his protective detail. If her father knew she had been assigned her own protective detail, he’d lose his mind with worry, but she couldn’t deal with that yet.
Rebecca stepped out of the bathroom. Kurt faced the door. His thick brown hair was slightly lighter than hers, and she wondered if it was natural or from so much time outside. His skin, slightly tanned, seemed to indicate the latter. He leaned against the wall as he made notes on his tablet. His dress shirt was a bit strained at the center of his back. She knew from the way her brother complained that it was hard to find athletic fits of dress clothes.
The marshal was much bigger, much stronger, than her first glance had led her to believe. Guys like him probably spent all their free time in a gym. She couldn’t help but wonder if he would win a one-on-one fight against her attacker. Her attacker hadn’t looked as fit or seemed as strong as the marshal, but she shivered at the memory of the cold, calculated way he’d stared at her when she’d screamed for him to get away.
Kurt swiveled. His kind brown eyes searched her face. “Hey, are you okay?” He placed a steadying hand on her arm and his heat was enough to make her forget it was chilly. “You’ve gone pale. I can call the doctor.”
She blinked. “I’m fine. I was lost in thought, wondering why he let me get away.”
He stepped back and tilted his head. “Get away?”
She fidgeted with the edge of her suit jacket, curling it—a habit she couldn’t seem to break—and fought to ground herself in the present moment. “I’d like to think I got away because I did the right things, but...” She shook her head and cleared her throat. “The more I think about it, he probably could’ve caught up to me. Why didn’t he?”
Kurt crossed his arms over his chest. “Ma’am, you did do the right things. You fought back, you ran and you tried to get help.”
“You can call me Rebecca.” She turned her attention to the tiled floor. And while she appreciated his comforting words, it didn’t diminish her newfound fear. Her job required lots of travel. As a single woman, she took precautions and remained observant, but if she started to jump at her own shadow, she wouldn’t be able to cope.
His feet shifted as if uncomfortable. “You’ve met my fellow marshal, Delaney Patton. She and the police have secured your grandfather’s house. I’ll take you back there now, if you’re ready.”
She looked around the room but realized she had no personal effects. If Grandpa hadn’t brought her shoes, she wouldn’t even have that.
They walked to the elevator and parking lot in silence until they reached a massive white pickup.
He exhaled. “I wasn’t expecting...uh... We should have an official sedan available in a day or so. I hope you don’t mind riding in this today.”
“No, I don’t care a bit.”
He opened the door for her and offered his hand. She almost refused it except her head still hurt and it was quite a big step up into the seat. The moment her fingers touched his palm, her stomach flipped. He jerked his hand back as if she’d shocked him with static electricity. She elected to use the inside door handle to help her into the cab
