His only withness

Kerri Nelson never heard the glass she dropped shatter

in the sink. As the series of explosions ripped through

the quiet August afternoon, the dish towel slipped from

her fingrs, her heart catching in her chest.

Her mind raced through the possibilitiesnot of

what had happened, but of where her son was. Where

was Thomas? He'd taken his skateboard when he'd left

an hour ago.

Where had he gone?

Fear danced along her spine, sending the small hairs

at the back of her neck to attention.

Black smoke billowed into the crystal blue sky above

the line of trees behind her home, and she sucked in a

sharp breath. Close. Too close to home.

She hit the floor in an all-out sprint, slowing only

long enough to yank open the kitchen door, focused on

one thing onlyThomas.

As she raced through the woods and into the clearing,fames licked at all but one of the six huge houses in the

area's newest development. Pine Ridge Estates.

Anxiety pooled deep inside her. Tom had a fixation

with construction sites, always had, ever since his daddy

had taken him to work and gotten him his own tiny hard

hat as a toddler.

She'd forbidden him from coming anywhere near

this site. Had he defied her? Could he have been playing

inside one of the partially constructed homes when

something went horribly wrong?

Her gaze landed on a township truck parked at the

edge of the diri road, yet she saw no one. An inspector

probably. She sent up a silent prayer that whoever had

driven that truck onto the site was far from yhere the

fires originated.

Sirens wailed in the distance, drawing nearer. Kerri's

fear morphed into panic as she scanned the construction,

site and the surrounding woods for any sign of her son.

Her heart twisted in her chest.

Thomas ?" Her first attempt at calling her son's

name was strangled, tight. "Thomas!" Her second

wasn't much better.

The sound of his voice teased her through the smoke-

Mom."

filled air, but she couldn't locate the source, Couldn't

see her son.

The blaring sirens were muffled beyond the pound-

Thomas!"

ing of her heart, the rush of her pulse in her ears. When

her son emerged from behind a stand of trees, she Saw

him as if he were in slow motion, his face pale, but ap-

parently without a scratch.

She ran as fast as her feet would carry her, gather-

ing the nine-year-old who'd grown too old for hugs

into her arms, hanging on for dear life. His arms locked

around her waist and squeezed. When Kerri finally put

enough space between them to tip his face to hers, she

saw terTor in his eyes.

"Are you hurt?"

He shook his head.

"Did you see what happened?"

Tom nodded.*Everything blew up. I'm sorry."

Sorry? Surely he didn't have a thing to do with what

had happened.

A horn blared and Kerri realized the emergency

vehicles were crossing Red Lion Road, getting ready to-

turn into the dirt path that gave access to the neW Community.

She linked her arm through her son's and

rushed him back toward the trees.

"Quickly" she said, fear palpable in her voice. "Did

anyone see you here?"

"No," he answered, and relief surged through her.

They reached the cover of the woods just as a sea of

vehicles and flashing lights careened onto the cul-de-

sac, once lined with multimillion-dollar homes, now

fringed by flames and smoke.

"Hurry." She urgedTom forward, away from the fire

and destruction, back toward the safety of their home.

Sorenson Construction no doubt had insurance that

would cover whatever accident had caused the explosion.

Lord knew it wasn't the first accident on a Sorenson site.

Her stomach twisted and bile threatened to climb

into her throat at the memory of another accident three

years earlier. She shoved away the unwanted images-

the hospital waiting room, the casket, friends and family

gathered in her home.

Right now, Kerri needed to focus on her son's safety.

Nothing else.

She locked the door behind them as they entered the

kitchen, as if the brass bolt could keep them safe from

whatever threat might lurk at the Sorenson site.

*Tm sorry." Tom dropped his gaze to the ceramic tile

floor. "I wasn't supposed to go there."

"Ever:" The sharpness of her tone startled Kerri and

she read the surprise in her son's face as he lifted his

focus to her.

They put in new curbs," he said flatly. "Frankie said

they were awesome for skateboarding."

Awesome for skateboarding.

Kerri clOsed her eyes and focused on her breathing.

Her son was fine. He was unhurt. She needed to focus

on that. But the reality was he could have been killed.

I saw someone."

If possible, Tom's voice had grown even fainter and

more frightened.

"From the towaship?"" She snapped her eyes opll

and studied his expression. "The man from the truck?

Tom nodded his head-slowly-as if he were afraid

of what he'd seen, "I saw him, too, But he never came

out again,"

Never came out again.

There was somebody else?" Countless thoughts

My God.

batled for position inside Kerri's brain. Had the explo-

sion been set on purpose? Had Tom witnessed a crime?

"He was running, Mom. The other man."

The litle color that had been left in Tom's cheeks

was gone now, making the blue of his eyes shocking

next to his fair cheeks and sandy browa hair.

"Running where?" Kerri narrowed her gaze, her

brain racing to keep up, to put the pieces of her Son's

story together.

"Away from the last house. Into the woods."

"From the fire?"

"Before the fire. Just before the fire. He came out of

the last house after the inspector went into the first."

*Like he knew what was going to happen?"

Tom nodded, his gaze dropping back to the floor.

Fear squeezed at Kerri's throat, threatening to

strangle her. What if the fire wasn't an accident, but

something far more sinister? What if the man her son

had seen had set the blaze? What if he'd seen her son?

She worked to steady her breathing, wanting to avoid

panicking Tom any more than he already was.

Did he see you?" She spoke the words slowly, dis-

tinctly, punctuating the importance of the question.

He winced. I dropped it when I ran."

Where?" Where investigators could

Keri swallowed.

find it? Where the man Tom had seen could find it?

She drew in a deep breath and held it. picturing the

words she'd written on the bottom of the board with a

permanent marker. Thomas Nelson. 122 Holly Drive.

She might as well have drawn a map.

She had to find that board before anyone else did.

Keri pushed her son out to arm's length. "Where

were you when you dropped it?"

He described a location not far from where she'd first

seen him, and Kerri nodded her hed, praying his

memory hadn't been altered by shock or fear.

Lock the door behind me and don't answer it for

anyone."

Her son's pale eyes grew wide.

I have to go find it. I don't want anyone to know you

were there."

"Why?"

"Because," she answered, knowing her reply was

unsatisfactory even for a nine-year-old. "Just because,"

she repeated.

A long while later, Kerri continued to pick her way

through the foliage behind the houses, choking on the

stench of burning lumber. The billowing smoke had

shifted from black to white and she knew the operation

would soon switch from fire fighting to investigation.

She had to move quickly.

Relief surged through her when she spotted the wild

swirls of cobalt-blue and

lime-green paint that Covered

the board. She knew her sense of urgency was partly

rational. If questioned, she could easily say Tom had

lost the board on another day, at another time, but she

wasn't taking chances.

Kerri had no sooner wrapped her fingers around the

edge of the board and tucked it under one arnm when she

heard deep voices. Two unfamiliar, but one as familia

as a long lost friend.

Wade Sorenson.

The deep timbre reached into her heart and

Squeezed. Tears blurred her vision, but she blinked them

back. She had no time to relive the pan she'd felt tuie

years earlier, when Wade had betrayed her hụsband

his best friend.

She dropped into a men to

squat and waited for the

move farther away. The two strangers

the one unburned home, and Wade turned back toward

where a dark car had been parked.

Without looking back, Kerri took off in a sprint,

praying she reached the deep cover of the pines

Wade spotted her.

Whatever mess Wade Sorenson had gotten himself

into this time was no business of her son'

's. No business

of hers. Sorenson care of himself.

could take

All Kerri had to worry was taking care of Thomas,

She wasn't going to let the man she'd

heartache on her family than he already had.

Two words had been spray painted in black. No Sprawl.

I've read about this." Wade uttered the words on the

heels of a frustrated breath. I didn't know they'd developed an interest in the Pine Barrens."

"Apparently, they have," Forbes answered.

"Can I go inside?" Wade jerked a thumb toward the

only unscathed home.

Forbes shook his head. "Can't do that. We need to keep

the specifics quiet.Chain of evidence. That sort of thing."

Wade frowned. "Surely you don't think I had

anything to do with this?"

The other man shrugged. Don't takethis personally,

but one of the first things we look at is possible

insurance fraud"

Wade pointed to the spray-painted graffiti. "Even

with this ?"

"Anyone can buy a can of spray paint."

Forbes's attention was pulled away as a dark sedan

eased to a stop behind a ladder truck, its tires sinking

into the now thick mud. Task force is here" he said as

he walked away from Wade, making it clear their discussion was Over.

Wade. Long time no see." The driver of the car

raised his hand in greeting. "Forbes."

"McCann." Wade and Forbes spoke simultaneously.

Detective Adam McCann was one of Wade's oldest

friends. He was also the newly appointed head of the

county task force on Homeland Security.

What have we got?"" McCann asked as he stopped Reluctant Witness

18

next to Wade, momentarily clasping a hand on his

shoulder. "You doing all right?"

Wade nodded and Forbes jerked a thumb toward the

smoldering houses behind them. "Clean evidence in

the sixth house. Matches the devices in the other five"

Liberation?" McCann asked.

"Signature's there." Forbes nodded.

"Any word on the inspector?"" Wade asked.

McCann pursed his lips and gave a quick shake of

his head. Not yet. I called in on the way over here.

Doesn't look good, though."

Damn." Wade dropped his gaze to the ground.

"We'll get them." McCann stepped towards one of the

burned-out shells. Let's take a look before the Feds get

here and screw everything up."

"Follow me" Forbes answered. He stopped in his

tracks when Wade moved to follow. This won't take

long"

Wade stood silently as he watched the two disappear

into the skeleton of a five-thousand-square-foot estate

home. He moved toward McCann's car and rested one

hip on the fender.

Project Liberation.

Chances were if he rebuilt. they'd strike again. Du

But

maybe McCann and his task force could

down. He didn't know much about the ecoterrorism

take them

group, but he knew they were very careful, and very

clean. They left their Signature, but nothing else.

Nothing that would point to any one individual.

Their organization prided itself on the lack of any

sort of paper trail. One suspected bomber had been

arrested out in Montana, but Wade couldn't remember

hearing anything else.

A sudden movement in the woods beyond the homes

captured his attention, sending all thoughts of Project

Liberation far from his mind.

The flash of long, auburn hair was unmistakable.

Even after all these years, he knew the owner's identity

immediately. He'd been admiring that particular head

of hair since high school.

Kerri Nelson.

She and her son lived just on the other side of the

dense foliage. But why would she shoW up at the crime

scene? Morbid curiosity? Not her style.

Even more importantly, why had she run? The

familiar old guilt twisted at his insides. She'd obviously

seen him and wanted to get as far away as she could, as

quickly as possible.

Adam McCann emerged from the house alone, and

Wade pulled his focus out of the past and into the present.

"Hop in. We'll talk" Adamn said as he pulled open

the car's front door.

When they'd both settled into their seats, Adam

handed an unopened cup of coffee to Wade, then took

a sip from a second one.

"Anything you want to tell me?"

Wade shot his friend a sharp glare. had nothing to

do with this."

Reluctant Witness

Good," MeCann answered. "I still have to question you."

"When? Wade drew in a deep breath and took a hit

of the bitter coffee.

Later's good. Now's better."

I Can follow you to the station." Wade met his friend's

visual scutiny head-on. "I've got nothing to hide."

Hell ofa thing." McCann turned his gaze back to

the smoldering rubble, "Insured?"

"Always," Wade answered.

We're not going to get anywhere without a witness,

you know that right?" The skin between McCann's

eyes puckered into a crease. "These people are ike

ghosts. Just about impossible to catch."

Wade nodded, disappointment balling inside him. They figured as much. What about the inspector?"

It'll be a miracle if he recovers, but right now he's

our only hope. "The scene is clean. They knew what they were doing".

He put down his coffee and pinned Wade with a glare

. "No one else scheduled to be out here today"

Wade shook his head. We were waiting On the inspection.

"Well" McCann breath e

pulled in a sharp

breath."we'll question surrounding residents. Make sure no one was

out here at the time the blast started. I'll get that The image of Kerri's retreating back flashed hardened on Wade's mind.

Should he tell McCann she'd been at the scene? After all, how long could she have been there?

Certainly not long enough to be responsible in any way.

The investigator had walked the entire scene and the

surrounding woods. If Forbes had seen her, they would

Wade reached for the door handle, suddenly needing

have heard about it.

to get out of the cramped space Tl be right behind you."

"See if you can come up with a list of anyone who

might hold a grudge against you."

McCann's words stopped Wade cold. He hesitated,

half-in and half-out of the car.

"I thought the signature was consistent with Project

Liberation?"

McCann nodded, narrowing his gaze. "True. But" they've hit enough targets for their signature to be

known. Can't rule out a copycat."

He twisted on the ignition, and Wade pushed himself

out of the car.

See you in a few" McCann called out just as Wade slammed the door.

Wade slapped his palm against the glass and stepped

clear of the car's tires as McCann pulled away.

Anyone who might hold a grudge against you.

McCann's words echoed in his brain as he headed for his truck.

There was one person who definitely held a grudge,

but she wasn't capable of something like this. Yet she had been at the scene, Wade had no idea how long, or

why, but she'd been here.

Kerri had made it very clear after John's funeral that she wanted nothing to do with Wade ever again. He'd

respected her wishes. Until now.

Now an innocent man had been critically injured

and Pine Ridge Estates had suffered millions of dollars

worth of damage. Wade had every intention of finding

out exactly why he'd been targeted and by whom.

Even though he knew McCann and his team would leave no stone unturned, he had to talk to Kerri. Maybe

she'd seen something seen someone. Then again,maybe she hadn't. No matter. If she knew anything at

all, Wade had to know.

He and Kerri Nelson were about te have their first

reunion after three long years.

Whether she wanted to, or not.