Read Online Key Witness by Christy Barritt - Free Book Online

radiation. Nothing helped. They were all just temporary fixes, I suppose. The last couple weeks before she died were the worst.”
    Elle’s throat burned still. “I can’t imagine what that would have been like. I’m so sorry.”
    “Being married makes you grow up fast. But having a spouse with a terminal illness really shows you what you’re made of. I’m glad I was able to be there with her. It was another reason why I wanted to work for Eyes. The flexibility of my schedule let me stay home with her when she needed me.”
    “How long were you married?”
    “Five years. Not long enough.” He leaned forward. “You ever been married?”
    She shook her head, probably a little too hard. “No. I came close, but thankfully I saw the light, so to speak.”
    “About your fiancé or about marriage in general?”
    She shrugged. “Maybe both.” Her cell beeped and she picked it up, saw that Bentley was calling. “Saved by the cell.” She smiled before answering. Her smile quickly faded as her father’s chief-of-staff came on the line.
    “Elle, we have a problem. A big problem.”
    Her back muscles instantly tightened. “What’s going on?”
    “Someone hacked into our server again. This time they sent out a letter to everyone on our donation list.”
    “What did it say?”
    “Nothing. It was a picture of your father.”
    “What kind of picture?” She held her breath as she waited for his response.
    “A picture of your father with another woman.”
    Elle closed her eyes. “What do you mean exactly?”
    “You’re going to want to see it for yourself. The press is going to have a field day with this.”
    Elle stood, ignoring how she jarred the table and made everything rattle with the action. She grabbed her purse and began scrambling through her wallet for cash. “I’ve got to get back to the house and start doing some damage control.”
    Denton appeared at her side, back in bodyguard mode. “What was that phone call about?”
    Where was all of her cash? “Someone sent out an email to our campaign subscriber list of my father with another woman.”
    Denton’s hand went over hers. She couldn’t deny that jolt that rushed through her at his touch. “I’ve got the meal covered. Tell me about the email. You think it’s the same person who sent you the threatening email yesterday?”
    She paused long enough to close her purse and pull it over her shoulder. “Makes sense to me. I thought our IT guys had fixed whatever problem that allowed them to do it in the first place. Apparently not.”
    Denton threw some bills on the table while still keeping in stride with Elle. She reached the front door and swung it open.
    Denton stepped in front of her. “Wait. I know you’re upset, but we still need to take precautions.”
    She looked up, noticing his close proximity, and her heart seemed to stutter out an extra beat. She quickly looked away and stepped back. “Of course.”
    Denton scanned their surroundings—fairly simple since it was mostly cornfields and patches of trees—and then motioned toward the driver of the SUV. A moment later, the vehicle pulled up to the door and Denton ushered her inside.
    As soon as they started down the road, Denton turned toward her. “Tell me about the photos.”
    Elle pulled up her email on her phone and blanched when the picture popped onto her screen. The image was of her father seated on a park bench next to a pretty blonde woman not much older than Elle. They were both laughing, sitting close enough that people would ask questions, but far enough away that they’d be able to deny anything. Elle handed her phone to Denton.
    He studied the picture a moment, his expression unchanging. “Who is she?”
    “I have no idea.” Elle had never seen the woman before. But her dad had a separate apartment up in Washington, D.C., where he stayed when the senate was in session. She tried to stay as far away from that life as she could.
    “Is your dad...?”
    Elle swallowed, her