Touch Me by Melissa Schroeder

secret you told someone you knew casually. He hoped that she would tell him later, as their relationship progressed.
    "But now she thought she was going to move away, change her name? No fucking way."
    Hercules rose to his feet as Jack stormed out of the room. If Hannah thought she was going to disappear on him, she just better change that way of thinking.
     
    *  *  *  *
     
    Hannah felt her heart beating in her throat. It as almost like that night she saw the murder, knew that look in a person's eyes. Agent Caulfield had come to kill her.
    "Why are you here?"
    He shrugged. "It all started simply enough. Do me a favor here, do me a favor there. Then, I was stuck."
    "You've sworn to protect people."
    "Yeah, well, I have a debt that I can't pay."
    "Debt?" she said thinking if she kept him talking she could devise a way to get far away from this man.
    "Yeah. See, I like Vegas. I lived there for a really long time and I liked playing the tables."
    "But apparently you suck at it."
    "Just a string of bad luck, that's all. But, one thing led to another...and I owe people big." He waved his gun. "And stop moving toward the call button. It won't work anyway, because I disarmed it and gave the code to the company. You have no way to call out."
     
    *  *  *  *
     
    Jack heard the man’s voice as soon as he reached the porch. Normally, he wouldn’t have noticed, but it was particularly quiet tonight. Plus, Hercules’ had growled. He shushed the dog and moved closer to the door.
    Trying to be as quiet as possible, he peeked inside the kitchen window. He could see Hannah and his gut clenched with anger. Fear stamped her features. Someone was in there with her. He inched closer to the door, devising a plan that might work. He looked back at the dog he had considered a nemesis for months now and hoped Hercules understood the situation. If not, all three of them could end up dead. First, though, he would call the authorities. If it went bad, he knew at least the bastard would get arrested.
     
    *  *  *  *
     
    Dammit. She could make noise, but that might bring people who would get hurt in the process.
    "So, you sold out people. People who trusted you."
    He nodded. "It wasn't that hard to begin with. A little compromise here and a little compromise there. I never thought they would go for you, though."
    "Why is that?"
    He laughed. "Lord, you always were naive." He spat out the words. "He's dead. Walters has been dead for over two years."
    She blinked. "What?"
    "Walters, the gunman, he's been dead for two years. It wasn't that hard to have him killed. I know people on the inside. People who will do anything to get out."
    "Why?"
    "Don't you get it? You were no longer in danger at the time because Walters was going to sing. He was going to give out all the information he had about the Capanos and their organization."
    "Then why am I still in hiding? Why didn't the agency tell me?"
    "Because, you idiot, they thought you had run off. I told them you broke protocol."
    Every revelation left her reeling. She had been so damned stupid. Of course, no one moved that much. "The last two times you moved me, it was because of that. You wanted me to disappear off the scope from the agency."
    "Yeah. See, when you arrange the murder of a hit man, the agency frowns upon that. And I was just fine."
    "What changed?"
    "Seems that our man Walters isn't as stupid as I thought. He had already given a deposition. Of course, none of that mattered without your testimony. So, they started digging, and they have been digging for years. A few weeks ago, well, I noticed someone was sniffing through your file."
    "My file?" Then the pieces all fell into place. "They were about to uncover the entire thing. You were going to end up in prison because of what you did."
    "There, finally. God, help me you are stupid. It took you long enough to figure that one out."
    "And now you came to kill me, why? If they thought I was missing, why would they even worry about this