Read Online The Innocent Witness by Terri Reed - Free Book Online Page B

necessary supplies didn’t take long and he hustled back to the van. Easily finding the motel the store clerk suggested, Anthony checked them into connecting rooms on the second floor. Vivian had become more fully awake while he was in the motel’s small office. He handed her a card key.
    He parked in front of the staircase, noting the othervehicles in the parking lot—a sedan, another minivan, two pick-up trucks and a big rig taking up the back half of the lot. Anthony carried a sleeping Mikey to the room while his mom carried their few belongings and the bag from the store. Viv used the key card to open the door and quickly turned down one of the double beds.
    He gently laid Mikey down. Viv immediately went to work on removing his shoes. For a moment Anthony watched the loving way she so carefully untied each shoe and slipped them from the sleeping boy. Her love was so evident and constant.
    Inexplicably, his throat tightened. He hadn’t given much thought to having a family of his own. Sure, he’d wanted to marry Becca, but she’d had her career and he’d had his. Having kids hadn’t been part of their conversations. Kids had been something to think about far into the future. A future that no longer existed.
    Pushing away the unwanted memory of his former fiancée, Anthony forced himself to turn away from the appealing mother and son moment and focused on the here and now. He moved to open the two connecting doors. “I’ll be right back.”
    Going out the door in his room, he hurried down to the parking lot. Not wanting to advertise their whereabouts, he hid the van behind a metal garage bin, just in case anyone traced them to the rental agency.
    When he returned to the hotel rooms, Viv sat at the foot of one of the double beds with the bag from the grocery store in her lap.
    â€œSunglasses? Ball caps?” she asked, taking out the three pairs of shades he’d bought. Two adult-size,one child-size. The baseball caps had the Boise State University Broncos’ logo on the front.
    â€œThere are security cameras everywhere. There’s no way to avoid them, but if we wear the sunglasses and caps, and keep our heads tilted down, facial recognition won’t have enough markers to make a match.”
    She pulled more items from the bag.
    â€œHair dye? Scissors?”
    â€œWe need to change your look. Your hair is too identifiable.”
    She held up the box of hair coloring he’d purchased and gave him a lopsided smile that made him forget his name. “I’ve always wondered what it would be like to be a brunette. I was named after Vivien Leigh from Gone with the Wind . Which always seemed odd to me since I look nothing like her.”
    She gave a delicate shrug. “But my mom’s obsessed with the movie. I think she secretly wanted to be Scarlett O’Hara. She tried to talk daddy into naming me Scarlett. The only reason he agreed to Vivian Leigh is because his great-grandmother was named Vivian. Though Mom had a fit when she realized he’d filled out my birth certificate and spelled Vivian with an A like his grandmother’s name, rather than Vivien with an E like the actress.” A flush of color rose up her neck. “I’m sorry I’m babbling. Nerves, I guess.”
    Respect for how well she was taking the situation constricted his chest. “You’re doing fine.”
    He pulled her to her feet; her hand, delicate and yet solid at the same time, fit neatly within his.
    â€œCan we use the bathroom in your room so we don’t wake Mikey?”
    â€œAbsolutely.” He led her back to his room. Taking the grocery bag from her he set it aside. “We’ll change Mikey’s hair color in the morning.”
    Meeting his gaze, she said, “It’ll be challenging.”
    â€œI know.” If he’d learned anything in the past day, it was that Vivian was a good mother and Mikey was a handful. Admiration for