The salon was quiet when she preferred busy days. They kept her mind from the fact Bolton hadn’t talked to her in weeks. Not really. When it was quiet her thoughts drifted back to that small town hospital. The sheriff’s uncomfortable questions, and disappearing from town in the middle of the night in a stolen car. Hiding for weeks, no phones, using only cash from odd jobs. No record of who they were, no licenses. A nasty apartment, but one they could lease under false names from a man who accepted cash rent and didn’t ask questions.
She’d been Marie since the helicopter exploded. A semblance of who she was that she’d been able to retain even through all this. Though Bolton had bought awful box color and made her cut her hair to disguise her appearance, while he wheeled around in a ball cap to hide his face. Two weeks after the helicopter, they’d driven into Seattle. The first thing Nate had done when they’d met was fix her hair for free. Nadia had been so happy she’d nearly cried—she’d felt like herself again. Almost.
Dante will find us, and he’ll make us beg for death before he kills us.
Both of them had diminished in the weeks since, always looking over their shoulders. She would wake in the middle of the night to hear Bolton moaning on the floor across the room from her. In the midst of his own bad dream. Still, he wouldn’t open up. The man she had thought she’d had feelings for was gone, and Nadia didn’t know how to get him back.
We have to do this. It’s not for much longer, and then I’ll be back on my feet.
But what would come after that?
Shadrach had to be crazy with worry. Who knew what Ben or his brother thought about her disappearance? Or the sheriff. Andra. Nadia’s heart ached for her friends. Her town. Her church.
Part of her didn’t want to believe her life in Sanctuary was over, but the rules stated that once a person left they could never go back. Children who grew up in Sanctuary could leave for college but could never return. Anyone who left the safety of the ring of mountains that protected their town from the rest of the world opened themselves up to danger. Stepping outside was hard enough, given no roads led into town. The only way out was by helicopter or small plane, like the ones the military used to deliver the mail once a week. Now she was out. But not by choice. Nadia hurt—the ache to go back was so strong.
Melanie walked in, shut the door, and sat down at Nadia’s table.
“Melanie.” Nadia swiped crumbs into her hand and discarded them in the trash with her balled up plastic wrap.
“Marie. How are you doing?”
Nadia sighed and sat back at the table. Melanie wasn’t going to let her go back to work if she thought something was wrong. The woman understood the nuances of people’s moods, but she was also a shrewd business woman when she needed to be. Nadia had seen her diffuse a trophy wife’s claim her hair had been ruined, to such an extent the woman had left smiling ten minutes later. Nadia knew she was Melanie’s good deed for the year. The pity-hire. But she wouldn’t be there unless she could also do great work.
“I’m fine, thank you.”
Melanie sat straight in her chair, her posture that of a career model or dancer. “I don’t believe you.”
Nadia opened her mouth.
“I’ve been wondering for a while now how to say this, and I’ve decided to just come out and tell you.” Melanie leaned forward. “I know.”
“You…know?”
“I figured it out a couple of days after you started working here.”
“You know I’ll always be so grateful to you for taking a chance on me.”
Melanie patted Nadia’s hand. “I know, dear. Do you remember me commenting on the painting above the front desk? It’s my favorite. I’ve redecorated the salon four times and never once changed that painting for a newer one.”
Nadia swallowed. Melanie did know.
“I like to keep abreast of what’s happening in the art world, and so I was astounded to hear that the painter of that very piece had been involved in dealings of forgery and murder.”
Melanie didn’t blink.
“A young woman, very young at the time. Flamboyant, a woman of the world who adored style. I would have given my fortune for her to walk in my shop and allow me to work on her hair.”
Nadia felt the smile curl the edges of her mouth.
Melanie lifted her phone so that Nadia could see the screen. The picture was from years ago, right after her first gallery showing. She’d been impulsive, idealistic, and ecstatic at the sudden influx of money. A starving artist no more, only her brother had been able to pull her back from total indulgence.
But it wasn’t the picture that arrested her. Nadia had wanted to get her hands on a phone for weeks. There were no payphones, not anymore. She wasn’t allowed to tie up the desk phone with personal calls, and she had yet to ask someone if she could borrow their cell. If she could get on a computer, she could find the number for the Marshals’ office in D.C.
With access to a phone, she could reach out to someone who knew who she was. Someone who could help her.
Melanie set the phone down. “I refuse to believe that woman—you—are satisfied with this life you lead now. You were a true artist, and you do great work here. Don’t get me wrong.” She leaned forward. “But, whoever you are now. It isn’t you.”
Nadia nodded. That was the only concession she gave the woman, and it was purely out of respect.
“Is it this man of yours?”
Nadia nodded.
“Is he hurting you?”
“No.”
“Are you safe?”
Nadia shook her head. “No.”
Melanie sighed. “What can I do for you?”
“You’re already doing it.”
“I don’t believe that. It’s like he has this hold on you, and you can’t escape, but you can. Gather your things and walk away from him.”
“We’re safer together than we would be apart.” They were his words, but Nadia believed them more than anything else he’d said to her. “Part of it is that he needs my help with mobility, and part of it is…”
“You love him?”
Nadia wanted to cry, she’d held her feelings in so long. “I have for years, and it hasn’t turned out the way I’d hoped but I don’t believe that what I should be doing is walking away. He…he needs me now, maybe more than ever.”
“Oh, hon.”
“He needs me, but he doesn’t love me.” It was fine. It had to be fine. Now that he’d found a surgeon, the clock was ticking. Then they would be over for good.
Melanie touched her hand.
“I didn’t know who he was, not really.” She still didn’t, but there were some big clues. Bolton Farrera had never been a DEA agent, despite the rumor that had been so prevalent in Sanctuary. Nadia was almost convinced that, if anything, he’d actually been the one the DEA was hunting. “I know more now. Enough. He doesn’t do anything a person in love does.”
“That isn’t what your life should have been, Nadia.”
The sound of her own name brought tears to her eyes. Nadia Marie squeezed them shut. “I can’t tell you what happened between that picture and when I showed up here. Please don’t ask me about it.”
The part of her that created masterpieces on canvas was dead. She had been allowed to paint in Sanctuary, she’d just never done it. She’d lost faith in herself and in her ability to craft anything more than an attractive haircut. In a lot of ways, it felt like Bolton was also losing faith. In himself. In the world. Maybe even in her as well. All he ever talked about—when he did speak—was Dante, and how he was so sure the man was coming for them. One step behind. Forever at their backs.
“What do you need?”
Nadia Marie thought about Melanie’s question. Was it the time now for her to make a move, to try and get her life back?
She looked at the clock. There was time before she got off, before Bolton showed up in the van to pick her up. He was keeping the broken-down vehicle going when by all rights it should have been scrapped ye
ars ago. The man had mechanical skills—maybe that was what he was doing for work. But how could he work on cars when he could barely move?
“Can I use your computer and the phone in your office?”
“Yes, hon. Of course.” Perhaps she saw the hope in Nadia’s eyes, but whatever it was it convinced her to allow Nadia to do something no other employee was allowed to do. Nadia followed her boss into the manager’s office. Melanie logged the computer on and then walked to the door. “I’ll close this, but come and get me if you need anything.”
Nadia sat at the desk, opened the search engine and found the website for the US Marshals. She snapped up the phone and dialed the number. When a receptionist answered, Nadia said, “Grant Mason, please. It’s very important.”
The director would be able to help her. He was the one who offered witnesses the opportunity to start over in Sanctuary, and his brother was the sheriff of the town.
“I’m sorry. Grant Mason retired. He no longer works here.”
Grant wasn’t the director of the marshals anymore? The phone fell from her hand and dropped on the desk.
She typed in the website for her email provider, the one assigned to her by the US Marshals.
Page Not Found.
She tried again and got the same message. Nadia ran her hands down her face. What was going on? She didn’t know her brother’s cell phone number—she’d had no reason to have it, given she couldn’t call from Sanctuary. Only email. She’d been cut off living there, and now that she lived in the real world she was still cut off from any semblance of help.
Bolton knew how to stay under the radar. It was how they’d stayed alive this long. But she wasn’t going to rely on him to protect her—that was up to Nadia.
The only other person she knew of that might be able to help somehow was the one person she never thought she’d speak to ever again. Her mom. Nadia lifted the phone, dialed her childhood phone number, and prayed it would work.
It rang.
The door swung open, and Bolton wheeled in, his eyes dark. “Time to go.”
Sanctuary Deceived is available at your ebook retailer now!
Also By Lisa Phillips
Love Inspired Suspense
Double Agent
Star Witness
Manhunt
Easy Prey
Sudden Recall
Dead End
Security Detail
Coming soon in 2017 – Homefront Defenders, Yuletide Suspect
Denver FBI
Target (A prequel story)
Bait
Coming soon in 2017 - Prey
WITSEC Town Series
Sanctuary Lost (Bk 1)
Sanctuary Buried (Bk 2)
Sanctuary Hidden (Bk 2.5, part of the Team Love on the Run anthology #1)
Sanctuary Breached (Bk 3)
A Sanctuary Christmas Tale
Sanctuary Deceived (Bk 4)
Sanctuary Forever (Bk 5)
Find out more at
www.authorlisaphillips.com
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Sanctuary Breached WITSEC Town Series Book 3 Page 35