Free Killer Love by Alicia Dean Page A

vulnerability, as if he’d suffered sorrow in his life but held his pain deep inside.
    “Mrs. DiMarco,” his voice was low and smooth with a slightly raspy quality like grains of sand softened by an ocean wave. His eyes also held sympathy but the look was tinged with reservation. “Please, have a seat.”
    He motioned toward the sofa and Jade gratefully sank into the cushions. Her nap in the van had been way too short. She felt as if she’d just completed a marathon. Connor and Miller stood silently next to the front door like faithful soldiers awaiting their next orders.
    Agent Jackson took a seat next to her while Agent Butler sat on the edge of the chair and rested his elbows on his knees. Butler was the first to speak.
    “I know what you’re doing can’t be easy and, as I’m sure you’ve been told countless times, the agency is very grateful that you’ve agreed to assist us in putting your husband behind bars. You’ll be here at the safe house for a while. There will be at least four agents with you at all times. You have my word we will do everything in our power to keep you safe.”
    “Is all of this really necessary?” Jade was dismayed to feel tears burning her eyes. She wanted to be strong but she was starting to feel overwhelmed.
    “Your husband is a very dangerous man with ties to even more dangerous men. There’s no telling what he is capable of and he won’t be happy to find out you’re testifying against him.”
    “Yes, but he’s in jail.”
    Butler looked down at his hands where they hung loosely between his knees. Jackson was the one to respond. “Not any longer, I’m afraid. He’s fled.”
    “Fled?” Her voice lowered, shock and the ache from her injury making it difficult to speak. “How did that happen? He was in custody.”
    “Yes. But he was granted bail,” Jackson said.
    She shook her head, looking from one agent to the other. “He tried to kill me. He’s been selling young girls into slavery and may have committed murder. How could he be granted bail?”
    “Bail is often granted in cases involving an upstanding citizen such as DiMarco,” Butler replied bitterly.
    “This is unbelievable.”
    “Yes, it is. After he was granted bail, we discovered the body of an FBI agent. We’re sure she’s the woman he referred to in the phone conversation you overheard.” He stopped for a moment, a shimmer in his eyes that looked suspiciously like tears. When he continued, the raspy tone of his voice was more pronounced. “We attempted to serve a warrant on him for the murder of Delia Grimes but he was gone when we arrived. We’ve had agents out looking for him since, but so far, we haven’t found him.”
    A bolt of anxiety shot through her, tightening in a hard band around her chest. Bryce was free. And very, very angry. “So what happens now? I mean, you obviously can’t bring him to trial until you find him. I have to stay here indefinitely?”
    “Actually, Mrs. DiMarco, we want to place you into WITSEC, the Witness Security Program,” Jackson told her.
    “Witness Protection? You’re kidding?”
    Jackson shook his head. “I’m afraid not. We can’t keep you here forever. It could take a while to apprehend your husband, then to bring him to trial. We’re filing an application with the US Marshals to place you into the program.”
    “What does that mean? Exactly what’s involved?”
    Butler spoke now. “You’ll be moved to a new location. With a completely new identity, driver’s license, social security card, the works.”
    Her scalp tingled as shock and apprehension whirled into a confused white noise in her brain. “A whole new life? In a strange place?”
    “Yes. And in the meantime, you’ll be safe here. There’s no way he can find you.”
    “How the hell do you know that? You don’t even know where he is.” Jade immediately regretted her words. She knew it wasn’t Agent Butler’s fault that Bryce had escaped. “I’m sorry. It’s just that I thought