Silent Run

down to the gallery to check out a shipment began to make sense. I knew deep in my heart that I’d been so caught up in my fairy tale that I’d denied what I’d seen with my own eyes. I was so afraid that night that I was going to make a mistake and Victor would know that I was considering turning against him. I thought I might just run away, not work with anyone, but then I remembered the woman and figured she’d probably tried to run, too.
    â€œSo the next day I went back to the agents and I agreed to help. I still wasn’t sure that what I was doing was right or smart, and the next two days were really tense as I waited for them to set up the sting. They wanted to raid the art gallery just after a shipment was received. In the end they arrested Victor and his partner, Rick Adams, for drug smuggling and murder. After Victor was arrested, the U.S. Marshals whisked me away, keeping me in a safe house until I could testify. They convinced me that since Victor was in jail, I would be safe. After the trial I would be given a new identity and moved to a new location."
    â€œBut something went wrong. Didn’t it?"
    She nodded, meeting his gaze. “Victor had a lot of connections. He was very rich. He found out where I was. Somebody leaked the information. The man I saw in my dream with the tiger tattoo on his wrist was Shane Hollis. He shot one of the guards. But there was another guard in the back room. He got into a fight with Shane, and while they were battling it out, I ran like hell. I climbed out the bedroom window and I never looked back. I knew I was on my own from then on. I couldn’t trust the police or the government or anyone. I later read in the paper that both agents had been killed. Shane had gotten away."
    â€œYou didn’t go back to testify?” Jake asked, glancing over at her. “You didn’t tell them what you’d seen at the safe house?"
    â€œNo,” she said, shaking her head. “I was too scared to go near anyone in a uniform. In the end they didn’t need my testimony. They had enough evidence without me. Another one of Victor’s Harvard buddies, Timothy Fontaine, pled out to a lesser charge in exchange for his testimony against Victor and Rick. In case you were wondering, Timothy Fontaine ended up dead six months after the trial. Apparently he wasn’t safe in Witness Protection either. I knew that Victor would keep trying to get me. I had betrayed him. And he would get his revenge. So I lived on the run, moving from town to town, state to state, changing my name, my hair color, my background. Sometimes I lost track of who I really was."
    â€œBut you got some help."
    â€œFrom Andy Hart. He was the only one I confided in. He swore that he would never tell anyone, and I trusted him."
    â€œWhat about your other friends, Catherine and Teresa? Catherine said you never contacted her after you disappeared from Chicago."
    â€œI sent her a note. I didn’t want her to worry, but I guess she still did. I didn’t contact Teresa at all. It was bad enough that Andy knew where I was. I couldn’t risk any leaks, and I couldn’t put anyone else in danger. After a while, as the years passed, I started to relax. Victor was sentenced to twenty-five years in prison. Nothing bad had happened in a long time. I thought maybe they’d given up on me. I was lonely and tired of running, so after about five years I went to San Francisco. Andy was there, and I thought it would be nice to live near someone I knew. That’s when I met you."
    â€œAnd lied to me, too,” Jake said grimly. “It was just another game, wasn’t it?"
    â€œNo, it was never a game,” she denied. “I was a lot older when I met you. I had suffered for the lies I told Victor. I didn’t lie to you on a lark. I was just used to being someone else."
    â€œYou should have told me after we moved in together, after we had a baby together."
    â€œI couldn’t. You were so great. I didn’t want to lose you."
    â€œStop right there,” he said sharply. “I don’t want to talk about us."
    â€œWe have to get it out."
    â€œNot now."
    â€œOkay,” she said warily. “What else do you want to know then?"
    â€œWhen did Victor get out of jail?"
    â€œEight months ago, he got out on parole. I had no idea it could happen that fast or that he would have to serve only a third of his sentence. I’m sure his family was