Shattered Trust. Sara K. Parker
Читать онлайн книгу.
waited.
He still didn’t leave.
“You can wait with them,” she nudged.
“No. I can’t.”
“But—”
“Natalie, I’m not leaving you in the room alone. There’s no exterior entrance to the bathroom. You can change there.”
That was it. Just a pronouncement, which in normal circumstances would have made her bristle. But tonight the words were a comfort, a source of security. Since getting on the airplane this morning, Natalie had never felt so alone in her life. But Luke wasn’t about to leave her alone for a minute.
She walked into the bathroom and shut the door, her hands shaking as she changed out of her beach clothes, her shoulder throbbing under the bandages the hotel staff had rounded up. Sand scattered from her clothes onto the cool tile floor, and she changed quickly into a clean pair of jeans and a white tank top, splashed water on her face and then patted her skin dry with a towel. Her hair was a wreck, but there wasn’t much she could do about the now-limp curls her hairdresser had carefully styled early that morning. She plucked the pearl hair pin out of her hair and ran her fingers through the tangles, noticing the deep pink along her nose and cheeks. Reapplying sunscreen had been the furthest thing from her mind earlier. She’d just been relieved to have snagged a flight out early that afternoon, and happy to have some time alone. Otherwise, she would have been stuck in a hotel room back in Maryland until her scheduled Sunday-morning flight, with no excuse not to answer her phone or open her door to concerned friends and family.
Luke knocked. “You okay?”
“Yes, I’ll be right there.” Leaving her hair for later, she scooped up her discarded clothing from the floor, reaching for the door. But the distinct clink of metal on tile stopped her, and she glanced at the ground to see her engagement ring rolling to a stop near the shower. She bent down to retrieve it, light flashing off the stones, the gaudiness of it reminding her of the lavish wedding Kyle had insisted they plan. The bigger, the better. That’s what he’d said, and she’d agreed because it had seemed easier than arguing.
She glanced at the trash can, but knew she couldn’t just discard the band. She might not like it, but throwing it away would be a selfish waste.
She grabbed a silver necklace chain from her makeup bag, replacing its heart pendant with the ugly ring before clasping the necklace behind her neck—for safekeeping rather than sentiment. Letting the heavy weight of the ring drop beneath her shirt, she opened the door and found Luke standing right at the threshold. He stepped back to let her pass, his dark brown eyes searching hers.
“Ready to go?”
Something about the way he looked at her, genuine concern in his gaze, made Natalie look away. “Almost,” she said, sidling past him and shoving her beach clothes and toiletry bag into her suitcase.
It was a lie. She wasn’t ready. She could handle the sympathetic looks from her family and friends. She could handle returning all the gifts and packing away her gown. But seeing Kyle again?
Her face burned at the thought as she and Luke grabbed her strewn belongings and packed them away. She never would have thought Kyle could be so heartless. So selfish. How dare he go through the motions of the elaborate rehearsal dinner, enjoy a night on the town with his buddies and then send her a text to cancel the wedding?
She zipped the suitcase and then her backpack carry-on.
“Is that everything?” Luke asked, slinging the carry-on over his shoulder and grabbing the suitcase by the handle.
She nodded.
“We’ll ask at the front desk to have your luggage transferred to the new room.” He reached with his free hand and opened the door for her.
Officer Perez stood just outside the door, the others having already dispersed. He nodded in greeting and led them down the hall toward the hotel lobby. The corridor was silent, the only sounds the tap of their shoes and the rolling of the suitcase along the tile. Natalie shivered, fear crawling up her neck as the entryway came into view. Her attacker was out there somewhere. Had he stuck around? Was he following them? Watching?
Luke paused at the reception desk to hand over the luggage, and Natalie turned back, peering down the hall.
“He’d be a fool to hang around,” Luke said, drawing close. “But if he does, he won’t get anywhere near you.”
His hand came to her back, surprising her with its warmth and familiarity as he guided her toward the glass doors that led to the parking lot. He smelled like sunshine and salt water and something indefinably masculine. For a fraction of a second, she was tempted to slide her arm around his back and lean into his side.
Obviously, exhaustion was making her mind do funny things. As the hotel doors slid open in front of them, she folded her arms at her middle and away from Luke and the unwanted feelings threatening to surface.
Darkness edged the parking lot. A gentle wind rippled over her shoulders, leaving a chill in its wake, despite the warmth of the evening. She shivered, and Luke draped his jacket over her shoulders, careful of the wound.
“Thank you,” she murmured.
Luke opened the rear-passenger door, waiting for her to slide into the back seat before he did the same. She should have been disappointed to leave as the cruiser pulled away from the hotel, but she wanted to get as far away as possible, as quickly as possible.
“How hard do you think it’ll be to get a new passport?” she asked Luke.
“Not sure. We’ll need to go to the consulate’s office. It’s closed on Sundays.”
Natalie bit back her disappointment and the car fell silent as the ocean view disappeared and the car sped along a narrow tree-lined road toward the hospital. Darkness shrouded the area, stars disappearing behind gathering clouds. A storm was coming. Even so, the clouds weren’t yet thick enough to mask the glimmer of moonlight along the treetops ahead. And with the car windows cracked to the sea-scented breeze, the quiet beauty of the scene soothed some of Natalie’s nerves. God is here, even on roads filled with shadows and pathways shrouded in darkness. That’s what the world seemed to whisper, what the distant crash of the ocean surf seemed to say.
But for years, Natalie had struggled to believe it was true.
Had God been there on that beach with her tonight? Without a doubt. But what about everything else? The lost relationship she’d thought was a sure thing, her uncertain plans for the future? What about her brother’s murder? Her mother’s slow decline into a depression that would eventually take her life? Where was God in those dark hours? Those were questions with no easy answers, questions that made her faith seem hollow, her prayers feel empty. She blinked back the sudden sting of tears, pushed the questions away like she always did and took a steadying breath. But as the streetlights appeared farther and farther apart and the ocean disappeared from view, a suffocating sense of fear took hold. Somewhere, her attacker was out there. Would she make it home before he found her again?
“You have a security system back at your place?”
Luke’s question yanked her out of her thoughts, and she glanced his way. “I do. But I never use it. Do you really think trouble will follow me there?”
“Doesn’t seem likely,” Luke said, but he didn’t look convinced. “It’s always safest to plan for the worst.”
Natalie preferred to plan for the best, but she had to admit that Luke’s strategy was wiser. She’d been impressed with Shield Protection Services since her father started contracting with them a few years ago, but she’d never personally worked with anyone from the company. He’d used another company for years before he’d realized that it was time to downsize his security measures. Natalie and her sister, Kristin, had been out of the house for quite some time, and he’d started to realize that he’d gone a little overboard while they were growing up.
Natalie couldn’t