Read Online Liam's Witness Protection (Man On A Mission 4) by Amelia Autin - Free Book Online Page B

associated years ago with a domestic terrorist organization called the New World Militia, founded and run by a man named David Pennington. Ever heard of him?” Cate shook her head. “Pennington was briefly married to Vishenko’s sister, Mariella. They had one child, who they named Michael...born with a birth defect that left one leg shorter than the other. Not crippled. Just not perfect. And Pennington was a perfectionist.”
    His brows twitched together. “Mariella subsequently divorced Pennington, resumed her maiden name—Vishenko—and changed her son’s last name at the same time. Then tried her best to forget she’d ever been married to Pennington. But apparently her brother didn’t share her aversion to her ex-husband. Either that, or Vishenko didn’t care about the personal aspect so long as his relationship with his ex-brother-in-law remained profitable. Which it did. Very profitable, for both men. Arms dealing, including the theft of military grade weapons. And drugs, of course—Vishenko was an up-and-coming member of one of the most powerful drug cartels in the country. He was young, but completely amoral even then.”
    Amoral.
A word Cate knew firsthand in relation to Vishenko. She managed to suppress a shiver at the memories, but she couldn’t do anything about her eyes. Couldn’t hide the sudden flash of revulsion the memories evoked.
    D’Arcy had seen her reaction, she knew—his eyes betrayed him—but thankfully he didn’t comment on it. He went on with his story. “The
Bratva
bought themselves an FBI agent, the best their money could buy—a man who eventually became the special agent in charge of the FBI’s New York Field Office Criminal Division. At roughly the same time, the New World Militia infiltrated the US Marshals Service when I was still working there.”
    He smiled grimly. “That brings us to where I come in. Five years earlier the FBI had approached a New York City cop named Ryan Callahan, recruiting him to go undercover with the New World Militia. To gather evidence against Pennington and bring down his organization. Callahan did that, all right. Then testified against Pennington and a host of others in the New World Militia. I was assigned to guard him. Not just until the trials, but afterward, to give him a new identity through the Witness Security Program.”
    “Some people refer to it as the Witness Protection Program, Cate,” Liam threw in. “That’s one of the things US Marshals do—protect witnesses who need protection, like they were protecting you. And in some cases provide them with new identities, new lives.”
    “Like me,” Cate said, remembering all at once what Alec had promised her—that after she testified against Vishenko and the other members of the conspiracy, a new life would be created for her in some little backwater town in some out-of-the-way place. Where she would be safe from reprisals. Where she could live without always looking over her shoulder. Even if she chose to return to Zakhar, the plan was for her to disappear.
    “Right,” D’Arcy agreed. “I created a new identity for Callahan—Reilly O’Neill. I stashed him in a little town in the middle of nowhere—Black Rock, Wyoming—for reasons you don’t need to know. To make a long story short, three people died when the New World Militia tried to torture Callahan’s whereabouts out of his partner, something Josh Thurman—the partner—couldn’t tell them because he didn’t know. But when he and his family were murdered we knew the militia was getting close, so we faked Callahan’s death as Reilly O’Neill, and I moved him to another location.”
    His eyes narrowed and his expression sharpened. “When Pennington’s conviction was overturned, I was forced to reveal Callahan was still alive and still able to testify to the prosecutors in the case, and I sent two men to retrieve him—Larry Brooks and Trace McKinnon.”
    Cate’s eyes grew big. “I’ve met him... I’ve met Mr.