Free When She Wasn't Looking by Helenkay Dimon

asked.
    Courtney’s throat bobbled. “Maryland, ten years ago.”
    “I don’t understand. Why didn’t you ever say anything?” Ellie stood there with her feet rooted to the floor and her breaths coming in hard puffs.
    Courtney shook her head. “I never talk about…”
    “You don’t want to relive it,” he said.
    “People called my dad a family annihilator, a guy who wipes out his wife and kids.” She gulped in a huge breath. “I still can’t believe it happens often enough for there to be a term for it.”
    Jonas knew all about the definition and the type of man who would commit such a heinous crime. On the outside, he appeared dedicated to his family but doubts and frustrations festered. Possessive, controlling and narcissistic. The idea of Courtney being a victim of such a man, even a dead one, made Jonas want to punch something.
    Despite his rising anger over the situation, Jonas had to tread carefully. One wrong word and Courtney would get it into her head he didn’t believe her and close down.
    “Your father was found guilty?” Jonas knew with enough time and a little information he could find the answer, but he wanted to hear it from her. He sensed she needed to say it, to let some of the poison out.
    Her fingers curled tighter on the folder. “He was found dead at the scene. Gunshot wound to the head.”
    “I’m so sorry.” Ellie reached out a hand but stopped short of touching Courtney.
    “Where were you when it happened?” Jonas asked, trying to stay all business so she could get the information out without crumbling, though she didn’t strike him as the crumbling type.
    Ellie put her body in front of her friend’s. “What are you saying?”
    He shifted until he faced Courtney head-on again. “Courtney?”
    She didn’t need sympathy now. Determination radiated off of her. What she needed, what he read from the tone of her voice and the sadness in her eyes, was to be heard.
    He’d been trained to listen, no matter how painful the facts. Usually he had the small comfort of distance. He didn’t know the victims and could build an emotional barrier. After only a few hours, he felt an attachment to Courtney. That would make everything harder.
    “I’d snuck out to be with my boyfriend.” The words sounded as if they were ripped out of her one by one.
    The pieces shifted and fell together for Jonas. A young girl having fun and missing a massacre. Many would term it as fate, but he suspected there was something deeper going on—survivor’s guilt.
    “So, you lived,” he said in the softest voice he could manage.
    She never broke eye contact. “Yes.”
    Her answers brought more questions, but Jonas knew one thing for certain. He had to get her out of there. He didn’t know how what was happening now was related to the killings then, but the invisible ties existed. He’d bet everything he had on it.
    “It’s time to move.” He glanced around the room. “Gather everything you need—”
    Courtney lifted the folder to just under her chin. “This is it.”
    “Wrong. Get some clothes and your glasses. Enough with the vanity. You need to see what’s going on.”
    “What are you two talking about?” Ellie asked. Her gaze shifted between Courtney and Jonas.
    “I’m taking her somewhere safe until I know who broke in here and why.” A memory hit him. “If you each had to use a key to open a door, how did the person get in?”
    Ellie hitched a thumb over her shoulder. “There’s a window open in the bedroom.”
    “No.” Courtney shook her head. “I never leave anything open or unlocked when I leave.”
    He knew that before she said it. Someone with her past would guard her safety. “You’ll pack a bag and come with me. We’ll close up and Ellie will go home.”
    “How does any of that help Courtney?” Ellie asked.
    “I’m going to be by her side until we figure this out.”
    Courtney’s head tilted to the side as she shot him an unreadable expression. “And if you