The Lost Tycoon Read Online Free PDF Page B

into his arms — to comfort her. Focus on the freaking job.
    “I agree, Mr. Winchester,” she said rigidly. “I’m very tired now, though. Would you mind if we continued tomorrow?”
    He wasn’t going to get anything else from her tonight. She was finished with talking, and to push it now would probably be pointless.
    “Axel will be back at any time with dinner.”
    “I’m not hungry, but thank you.”
    She stood up and moved toward the door to her room.
    “Ms. Elton,” he called out, and though her back stiffened, she turned her head and looked back at him. “I’ll be right next door, in the morning.”
    His last remark was meant to reassure her that she wouldn’t be alone, but it was also a warning so she wouldn’t try to run.
    He was a good guy — he took pride in that. But it would be a mistake to think that made him weak. Bryson had an edge of pure danger running through his veins. He thrived on it. And that’s probably what made him one hell of an agent.

Chapter Four

    “Do you think that Jesse Marcus constitutes a threat to your life?”
    Misty looked up at the two agents and wondered if they were mentally unstable. How many times and in how many ways had she already told them that Jesse would kill her the first chance he got?
    “I know this seems repetitive, Misty, but if we are to put you in the witness protection program, there has to be a direct threat against you. We need this on record that you are in danger,” Bryson said, his tone gentle.
    “I don’t think Jesse will try to kill me. I know he will, Agent Winchester. Jesse told me that when he was through with me, he’d make sure I was never able to divulge his secrets. He told me he’d killed former girlfriends. He won’t hesitate to take my life. I don’t want to testify, but if you are going to force me to do this, then I won’t agree unless you can guarantee my safety. I think that’s a fair trade-off,” she said, her arms crossed as she looked at both men.
    “We agree. There have been witnesses not in protection who have come up missing. I’m not telling you this to frighten you; I’m telling you because Jesse is not locked up at this point, and you need to be aware of that. You’ve done an excellent job so far of keeping away from him, but he knows we’re closing in. He knows it won’t be much longer until we issue the arrest warrant.”
    “I understand that. But is there any way for me to just continue to hide out until this is all over? Can’t you get him behind bars without my testimony?” This would be ideal for her.
    “I wish I could, but from what we’ve found on you so far, we believe that you’re a valuable asset to this case. We don’t need the whole story right now. We encourage you to speak to your lawyer, look at your options. This process isn’t short. It takes months, even years sometimes, but if you want our help, we need you to sign notarized statements that you will testify if you are called upon to do so.”
    Bryson wasn’t being cruel as he sat across the table from her in the local FBI offices. She’d absolutely refused to go to the police station. There was no way Jesse wouldn’t hear about exactly where she was if that happened.
    She didn’t trust the cops, and she barely trusted the FBI. She’d rather this entire mess were behind her, that she was on the other side of it, finally living a somewhat normal life.
    “Then what happens if I sign the document?”
    “We get you set up in a new location. You use an alias, get a job, go on living your life. We will check in on you, make sure you’re fine, and that’s where you’ll stay until the hearing. When it’s over, you can either keep the name, stay in the location, and resume your life as the new person, or you can go back to who you were,” Axel said.
    “I don’t get any time to think about this?”
    “I’m sorry, but you need to decide now.” They’d already told her this several times.
    If she didn’t do what they wanted,