Look for Me: Second Chance Christian Romance Novel with a Side of Suspense: Encounters in Key Largo (Vacation Sweethearts Book 4)

by Jan Thompson

  She could not see Martin again. By showing up at her workplace, he had already caused a lot of problems for her.

  Everyone there knew her as Dinah Miller, not Corinne Anderson. It had all happened before she became a Christian. However, after she accepted Jesus, she still needed the money to pay rent and could not tell her employer the whole truth.

  Besides, Dinah Miller was her legal name now, thanks to WITSEC.

  Corinne blinked away bitter tears. “Lord Jesus, why do I have so many problems?”

  And then this pregnancy…

  Why is my life so messed up?

  She stared at the saltwater around her feet. The ocean was loud, the wind was picking up.

  How easy it would be to walk into the ocean and never return to shore!

  Yet, Dahlia needed her. There was no way Wanda, with her arthritis and a host of other aging problems, would be able to raise a child not her own.

  Corinne backed away from the ocean, walked back across the sand and over the boardwalk. She found a public faucet, washed her feet there, and wiped them dry with a small hand towel she carried with her in her shopping tote.

  Then she crossed the two-way street and found the small beach road between a row of houses.

  Four more blocks and she’d be home.

  Home?

  This is not home. It’s only a temporary hiding place.

  The sidewalk was empty and quiet.

  Too quiet.

  Where were all the tourists and residents?

  The condominiums, beach, and ocean were all behind her now. She was heading toward a residential area, where Wanda lived.

  Her feet kept walking, but she regretted now that she hadn’t let Hardin drive her home. Couldn’t she have walked on the beach another day?

  Every now and then a vehicle passed by her. She felt safer already. Then she heard a car slow down.

  “You okay?”

  Corinne closed her eyes and drew a deep breath.

  I knew it.

  She turned toward the voice. Two men in a car. “Hi Slam, Slime.”

  They weren’t twins, but they were certainly brothers in arms. They had worked for Flavian for many years.

  “We’re changing our nicknames.” Slime laughed from the passenger side. “You need a ride home?”

  “How did you find me?” Corinne stood rooted at the sidewalk.

  Slime glanced at Slam, as if wondering whether to say anything.

  “You can tell me the truth.” Corinne tried to remain calm.

  Slime nodded. “When Flavian found out what happened to you two months ago, they sent us here.”

  “You still didn’t explain how you found me.”

  “The same way we knew that jerk—no rest of his soul—attacked you.”

  Slam leaned over from the driver’s side. “You don’t have to keep the baby, you know, on account that the father is deceased.”

  “Did you… Were you the ones…” Corinne’s jaw dropped.

  “We plead the fifth.” Slam looked mighty proud of himself.

  “We’ve been watching over you all this time,” the other said.

  “All this time? Like how?” Corinne’s legs wobbled.

  “WITSEC is overrated.” Slam laughed.

  “We’ve been watching over your house,” Slime added. “Flavian doesn’t want his baby girl hurt.”

  It hit Corinne like a rock. “You know where I live.”

  “Uh-huh. FBI is like a leaky sieve.” Slam laughed again.

  Now Corinne regretted contacting her FBI handler. Flavian knew where she was. Then again, why hadn’t he come after her? “Where’s Flavian?”

  Slime shrugged. “He doesn’t tell us. Our job is to keep you safe. So you want a ride home or not?”

  Corinne had told herself never to get into any vehicle owned or sent by Flavian. “No, thanks. I need to walk.”

  “Like I said, we know where you live,” Slime reminded her. “We’ve been taking turns sleeping in the car for two months.”

  “Thank you. That’s very kind of you.” What else could Corinne say. “I’ll still walk.”

  “You want us to follow you?” Slim asked.

  “We better,” Slime said. “Or we’ll never hear the end of it from Flavian if she’s attacked again.”

  Corinne winced. She did not want to recall the episode. Maybe she should let them escort her home. Then again, who was to say these two weren’t lying to her about knowing where she lived.

  I can’t take any chances.

  She made an about turn and walked back into town. She didn’t know who to call. Hardin was no match for these two guys. Martin would be, but she had no idea how to contact him.

  What about Erika? She seemed to know martial arts.

  A loud car honk startled her. She turned to look.

  An SUV pulled up at the curb. The passenger window rolled down.

  And out of the car, Corinne heard Erika's voice. “Sorry I’m late!”

  What a relief! Corinne nearly cried. She waved to the two men in the car nearby, and made a beeline for the passenger side.

  She climbed in and locked the door. “Thank you, Erika. I thought you were working.”

  “Hardin went back to work so I asked him how you were doing. When I found out he dropped you off by the side of the road, I nearly punched him.”

  “You didn’t.” Corinne laughed nervously.

  Erika glanced in her rearview mirror, and then eased into the light traffic. “So who are those two men back there?”

  “Old friends from the past.”

  “They giving you any trouble?”

  Corinne shook her head.

  Not yet.

  “You must be tired, but we need to drive around a bit so that those men don’t follow us,” Erika suggested.

  “Yeah? Okay. I’m not expected home for a few more hours anyway.”

  “Tell me about that man who was in the store earlier—the one who made you swoon.” Erika chuckled.

  “I didn’t swoon. I felt lightheaded, is all.”

  “Could’ve fooled me. Is he the boyfriend you left behind somewhere out there?”

  “Prying, aren’t you?” Corinne knew she could trust Erika, but now wasn’t the time to ask about Martin.

  She was referring to Martin, wasn’t she?

  The boyfriend I left behind.

  “Well, it seems that he has caught up to me.” Corinne looked out the window and said no more.

  Chapter Five

  “Mommy! Mommy!” Dahlia burst out of the front door of the small weather-worn house, ran down the stone path in her bare feet, and lifted her arms high in the air.

  Corinne closed the small gate behind her, and scooped up her daughter in her arms. “Sweetheart, have you been a good girl today?”

  Dahlia nodded. “I good.”

  Corinne glanced behind her, spotting Erika driving away.

  “Let’s see your arms.” Corinne inspected her daughter’s arms. Up and down her arms, the red welts and bite marks were subsiding.

  Thank God they look better now.

  “Itchy, Mommy.” Tears pooled in Dahlia’s eyes.

  “I know, baby. I know.” Corinne hugged her daughter tightly.

  “Aunt V helped me put mack-sin.”

  Medicine. “Good. Did you thank her?”

  “Yes, Mommy.”

  Corinne carried Dahlia to the door, where Wanda stood with her walking stick. “Thank you, Wanda.”

  “You’re early today.” Wanda hobbled to one side to let them in. “Did they fire you or did you quit?”

  Corinne chuckled. “Neither. I…uh…”

  She could not say it. Not in front of Dahlia. Not in front of anyone.

  However, someone was bound to find out eventually. She could hide her tummy under a baggy shirt for only so long. Winter was coming when she could cover up with a coat or jacket, but winter was mild in these parts. It would look weird if she bulked up.

  “You what?” Wanda didn’t
let up.

  “I didn’t feel well, so Sandra let me go. I will have to make up for the lost hours these two days one way or another.”

  Corinne could not say that she had seen a ghost from her past.

  Oh, the irony.

  She had ghosted Martin. And yet he had found her.

  “Are you sick again? You’ve been sick these past several weeks.”

  “Might be something I ate.”

  “Or you’re worn out.” Wanda frowned. “I’m sorry. Maybe you can get a job with better pay so that you don’t have to work as much. What happened to the restaurant job you had? You said the customers tipped a lot.”

  Corinne didn’t want to be reminded of that darkness in this life. Why was it that every time something good happened to her, it had to be counteracted with something bad?

  Strangely enough, she was not worried that Flavian had found her. Maybe she was two years removed from her past with Flavian, so she was able to look at the situation objectively. While Flavian was a violent man towards his enemies, at least he provided her with food and shelter. And he loved Dahlia.

  Only he didn’t love Dahlia’s mother.

  Used her, he did, for his own personal gains. Flavian’s treatment of Corinne might be why his business partner had no respect for her either.

  It was just as well that we left Flavian.

  She corrected herself. She left Flavian. Dahlia had no say in it.

  Wanda was muttering something that Corinne didn’t hear. She didn’t bother to ask Wanda to repeat. Let her mumble.

  Frail and elderly, Wanda needed a tenant after her husband passed away. Corinne found two jobs in the thick of summer tourist season to help her pay for the room rental.

  Wanda also threw in some perks, such as free childcare for Dahlia. In return, Corinne cleaned her house and provided company for the lonely widow.

  Wanda also took Corinne and Dahlia to church. The preschool friends that Dahlia made in Sunday school were precious.

  And then Corinne got saved. Once again, it was Wanda who had led her to the Lord.

  How could she leave Wanda when she had been so kind to her?

  Corinne locked the front and back doors. The wood looked flimsy. Anyone could break down these doors. Yet, Corinne still double-checked it, praying that God would protect them.

  She glanced out the front windows. No cars there.

  She wondered what Slam and Slime meant by keeping watch over her house. Where would they hide their car where she could not see them?

  She sighed and prayed for God to keep her family safe.

  When she turned around to check on Dahlia, she saw Wanda winced as she walked toward the small kitchen, where dishes had piled in the sink.

  They didn’t have a dishwasher any more, but Corinne preferred to hand-wash the dishes while she pondered life and prayed about her string of bad misfortunes.

  Wanda made hissing sounds as she leaned on her wobbly cane.

  “Your hips okay?” Corinne asked.

  Several months ago, Wanda was complaining that her hips hurt.

  “It’s my knees this time. I might need to replace them.”

  “Is that what the doctor said—knee surgery?” Corinne made a beeline for the kitchen sink. She put on one of Wanda’s old aprons, and began to sort the dishes.

  “I want to put it off as long as possible.”

  “And suffer the whole way there?” Corinne filled a basin with soap and water.

  Wanda laughed.

  No, I cannot leave her. Corinne’s eyes stung. She knew that if she and Dahlia left Key Largo, they’d have to take Wanda with them.

  A life on the run wouldn’t suit the eighty-nine-year-old.

  Still, Flavian had found her. If he did, then Nikos wasn’t too far behind.

  Corinne knew she needed a champion.

  Well, anyone but Martin.

  Corinne didn’t know how she got herself into such a mess. As she scrubbed the pots and pans in the sink, she prayed. At first, she rambled. Then her prayer became more desperate.

  Please, God of heaven, I beg You to get me out of this mess.

  Tears dripped into the sink, mixing in with the dishwater.

  Forgive me, Lord. Help me. Protect my daughter. She’s innocent. She did nothing wrong. Don’t let my past mistakes harm her.

  She prayed the same prayer on repeat the rest of the afternoon and into the evening, when she made them sandwiches for dinner and washed the plates again.

  After watching some cartoons with Dahlia, Corinne heated up some canned soup for the three of them. They shared some crackers. Then each had a banana and slices of peaches.

  After Dahlia changed into her thrift-shop pajamas, Wanda read the Bible to both of them in the living room. The ceiling light was dim because one of the two lightbulbs had gone out.

  There was no money to replace the bulbs until Corinne got paid. Then she could pay Wanda the rent. And Wanda could buy a lightbulb.

  When they all said “Amen!” together, Corinne thanked God again in her heart for bringing Wanda into their lives.

  God had sent Wanda for such a time as this.

  If not for Wanda, both Corinne and her daughter would still be unchurched. No Bible studies for kids. No salvation in Christ.

  Of course, it wasn’t the church that had saved Corinne. However, it was in church that she had heard the Gospel message of how Jesus paid for all her sins—past, present, and future.

  Jesus Christ was her rescuer.

  Corinne wondered what her future would look like now that she was a believer.

  And what could have happened if she hadn’t left Savannah four years ago. Would she still have gotten saved at some point?

  She had been saving up her salary from Tina’s Turn to go to a four-year college. Maybe get an accounting degree or something substantial. She had a certificate from a community college, but had always wanted to go to university. Maybe even go to graduate school.

  All those hopes and dreams shattered when Martin had something else in mind. His newfound faith caused him to make the rash decision of forcing her to move out of their apartment and then offering her marriage to absolve his guilt.

  I wasn’t ready for any of that.

  They had sinned together, but Martin had cast her away.

  Ironically, four years later, Corinne herself was also a Christian now. She had asked God to forgive her for sleeping with Martin—albeit before either one of them became believers of Jesus Christ.

  According to the pastor at Wanda’s church, when she sincerely asked God to forgive her, He would.

  Psalm 103:12 drove the point home for Corinne.

  As she carried the sleepy Dahlia down the hallway to their small bedroom, Corinne remembered the verse, and whispered it in her daughter’s ear. “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.”

  So. Is there hope left for Martin and me?

  Why else would he come to town?

  Chapter Six

  It was too hot outside. Instead of walking off the fudge he ate, Martin took a nap, waking up long after the sun had set and the moon had risen over the ocean—to a text message from his sister Tina.

  Martin washed his face and called her back. She was resting in her sunroom, she said, with her two-year-old, while Byron Moss was down the hall in his home office, preparing for his Bible Study lessons at church.

  Martin was happy for his sister’s joyous marriage four years ago—one day after he became a Christian and one day before Corinne walked out on him.

  “How did it go?” Tina asked. “I waited all afternoon for you to call.”

  “I took a nap and just got up.”

  “How long is the nap?”

  “I don’t know.” Martin checked his phone. “Wow. It’s nine o’clock. I can’t believe I slept so much. Six hours.”

  “You must be tired from all that driving.”

  “Yeah. Must be. Now I could be up all night.” He yawned.
“Or not.”

  Martin could hear his niece laughing in the background. He padded to the couch by the sliding glass door that led to a small balcony facing the ocean.

  Slowly, he explained what had transpired at the Key Largo Chocolate Shop, how Corinne took one look at him entering the shop and passed out in front of everybody.

  “Don’t give yourself too much credit,” Tina said.

  “Okay, let me add that she had been sitting outside in the hot sun eating lunch just before I entered the store. Maybe the sun was too hot and made her pass out. I think she needs to see a doctor to sort it out.”

  “That’s not your job, is it?” Tina asked. “It’s her problem if she needs to see a doctor.”

  Martin wondered if he should make it his problem.

  Tina didn’t give him time to think. She had already moved on to the next question. “What are you going to do?”

  “I’ll go back to the shop tomorrow.” Martin wondered about the futility of such an action.

  “What if she doesn’t want to see you?”

  “That happened today.”

  “Will tomorrow make any difference?”

  “Maybe I scared her.” Martin sighed. “I don’t want to cause her trouble. I just want to talk.”

  “The Corinne I knew was pretty tough—except for that time when she passed out in your hospital room.”

  “You told me.”

  “I’m glad you’re not riding motorcycles anymore, little brother. I hated to see her in such a state when we had no idea if you were going to live or die after that stupid wreck.”

  Martin shifted on the couch. “I’m into muscle cars now. Besides, I can carry more people in a car.”

  “Like an ex-girlfriend?”

  “Truth be told, I don’t know what I want anymore, Tina.”

  “You want a happy family. You told me that.”

  “What is happiness? What is joy?”

  “You know, those are two different things.”

  “According to your dear husband.”

  “Right. He preached on that a few Sunday nights ago,” Tina said. “You can still stream the sermon online from the church audio archives.”

  “I might do that.” Martin drew a deep breath. “I felt nervous when I saw Corinne. I was neither happy nor sad. I didn’t know what to think.”