Free Shadow Wolf by Jenna Kernan

face and the anguish of her expression.
    “He might still be here,” he said.
    Lea stopped struggling and stared up at him with wide, dark eyes. Tears flowed down her cheeks and her chin wrinkled as she tried and failed to stanch the sobs.
    “Quiet now,” he whispered. “They don’t have her identity yet.”
    “But I should do something.”
    “You
did
do something. You stayed in the car so he didn’t see you.”
    She glanced frantically around. “Is he still here?”
    “Maybe. But if he thinks he got you, that gives us a head start.”
    “But Ernesta... Nita.”
    “Gone.” Kino turned her to face him and gripped both her shoulders. “You understand? He thought one of them was you, and he took her out. He might be here right now, watching. Don’t give yourself away.”
    Lea went stiff at the thought then pulled the door closed and covered her mouth with her hands as if the air outside had become toxic.
    “You told me he’d come.” She pounded on his chest. “This is all my fault! You told me and I told them they could use my shower!”
    He tried to take her hand but she pulled back, pressing herself to the door as if preparing to throw herself out of the car. She didn’t want comfort. She wanted to escape this nightmare—and he could hardly blame her.
    “It’s not your fault, Lea. I sent a unit. You called her. If you want to blame someone, blame him.”
    She stilled.
    “He came to your house and shot the first Indian woman he came across. We have to get him, Lea. You and I, together.”
    She slumped in her seat. A moment later they were driving into the gathering darkness.
    * * *
    K INO FELT L EA ’ S sobs as if they were his own. That had never happened before. But he experienced her pain just as intensely and agonized with the knowledge that he could do nothing to ease her suffering.
    Her friend’s death proved his belief—the Viper planned to eliminate the only surviving witness of his crimes. Maybe he should have told Lea that she was a target sooner. Maybe then she could have warned her friends. But he hadn’t. He had only thought about Lea. He’d have to live with that doubt. But he was sure as hell that Lea didn’t need to live with it. She’d done nothing wrong.
    He tried to touch her but she pulled away, huddling against the door, as far from him as possible. Why did that hurt him? She was nothing to him but a witness. Right?
    But he knew that was no longer true. Somewhere between finding Lea lying in the bits of broken glass this morning and this moment, when she sat weeping softly in the seat beside him, his feelings had changed. She’d gone from being his witness to something more. Earlier he had protected her because he’d needed her. Now he just wanted her safe and wished very much that she had not bumbled into the middle of all this.
    “Where are we going?”
    “My place.”
    She lifted her head and stared, eyes narrowing as if trying to decipher his intentions. Funny, he thought, that she would think of that sort of danger after all the other threats she had faced today.
    “I’m not comfortable with that.”
    “You don’t need to be comfortable. You need to be safe. I can make sure he doesn’t get to you.”
    When she spoke her voice seemed almost sedated, as out of focus as her gaze. “Maybe I could stay with a friend.”
    “That would just put the friend in the crosshairs.”
    She rubbed her arms and rocked back and forth. “I can’t stay with you all night.”
    “Lea, think for a minute. You need protection. Nowhere else is safe.”
    “I could go home.”
    “To Salt River? He’ll follow.”
    She slapped her hands on her thighs in frustration. “You make him sound like the Terminator or something.”
    “Yeah. Exactly, but with one important difference. I can kill him.”
    She sat still as stone, moving her hand only to wipe at her eyes while giving the occasional sniff. He wanted to pull the car over and kiss every tear from her face. Hold her. Comfort