by Hope White
“Give me a few seconds to scan the property, okay?”
His blue eyes caught her in a way that made her fidget in her seat. She looked away. “Sure.”
He got out and glanced across the property, its leafless trees and tennis court, and pool that was packed with tourists during the summer season. Today a layer of snow blanketed the plastic covering.
Luke poked his head into the car. “Okay, let’s go.”
Krista went inside and got a few of the staff members to help bring in the boxes. The tea party was being held in a small room off the dining room with a picturesque view of Lake Michigan. Each table featured a vibrant centerpiece of alstroemerias, roses and carnations. It reminded her of the flowers she’d received from Alan last night.
Drat. In all the excitement she didn’t get a chance to appreciate them. Or Alan. Was she making the wrong decision by cooling off their relationship? Maybe she wasn’t seeing something in him, appreciating all his fine qualities.
Yet Mom always said Krista would know when she met the man who’d be her partner in Christ’s love. She’d feel it in her heart.
She felt nothing for Alan but regret. Regret at leading him on, regret she couldn’t care more about him, and regret that he couldn’t accept her decision.
“What’s wrong?” Luke asked, as he placed a saucer and teacup on a table.
“What do you mean?” she glanced at him.
“Something’s bothering you.”
“Just tired.” Which she was. Besides there was no reason to bare her heart to him. This was a professional partnership, not a personal one.
“Maybe you should call in reinforcements to help out today,” he suggested.
“Now you’re telling me my business?” she said.
“Boy, you are crabby.”
“Sorry.” That wasn’t like her, but she hadn’t been able to get grounded since she returned home from the mission trip.
Luke shot her a tender smile. “Hey, we’ll get these guys and put them away, and your life will get back to normal. This won’t last forever.”
For a split second, she wondered what forever would look like with Luke McIntyre. His smile faded, his blue eyes darkening.
“I should brew the tea,” she whispered.
“What do you want me to do?”
Kiss me.
As if he’d read her thoughts, he leaned forward and did just that. He placed a sweet, warm kiss on her lips that took the chill out of her chest and cast aside the worry from her mind.
It was the first time she’d experienced a kiss like this, a kiss that reached far deeper than her lips.
He broke the kiss and grabbed on to the back of a chair for support. Did the kiss affect him as much as it did Krista?
“Ankle’s weaker than I thought,” he said, glancing down at the floor.
“Goodness, sit down.” She pulled out a chair and held on to his arm as he sat. This time he didn’t pull away. He also wouldn’t look at her.
“Luke?” she whispered, searching his face.
Someone cleared his throat from the doorway and Krista looked up. Chief Cunningham started toward them.
“Chief?” she said. “Did my luggage turn up?”
“It’s not about your luggage.” He glanced at Luke, then back to Krista. “There was an accident last night. Your friend Natalie is in the hospital.”
ELEVEN
As they went into the hospital, Luke realized he’d never felt this helpless.
There seemed to be no words to comfort Krista. And he’d tried, talked more to her in the thirty-minute car ride to the hospital than he had all week. Talking, questioning, trying to get her to open up, share some of her worry so she wouldn’t let it bottle up inside and eat away at her.
He didn’t stop his attempts until they reached the hospital. With an arm around her shoulder, he escorted Krista down the corridor to Natalie’s room. Yet she didn’t seem comforted by his touch.
She seemed stunned, defeated.
Of course she was. They’d been on guard for a threat from Garcia’s men, but no one could see this coming, a random car accident.
In Krista’s car.
What if it wasn’t a random accident? It was Krista’s car that had been forced off the road. Krista should have been behind the wheel.
He’d focus on that later, when he wasn’t reassuring Krista, holding Krista.
They approached room 314 and Krista hesitated. She looked up at him with such fear in her eyes, fear of her friend’s condition.
“Do you want me to go in with you?” he offered, yet he wasn’t sure how he’d do it. It wasn’t the injured friend that scared him, but Krista’s reaction.
A nurse came out of the room.
“How’s she doing?” Krista asked.
“Stable,” the nurse offered. “She’s got some lacerations, a broken wrist, but otherwise, she’s a very lucky lady.”
“Can I see her, just for a minute? It might brighten her spirits,” Krista said.
“Only one of you.”
Luke nodded. “I’ll be right here.”
With a sigh, Krista went into the room and closed the door behind her.
He automatically put his hand to the door, wishing he could be there for her to ease some of the burden. Instead, he was an outsider again, looking on as someone he cared about was gutted by emotional pain.
He cared about her. He couldn’t deny it any longer.
He paced the hallway outside Natalie’s room and let himself have it for allowing that kiss to happen at the resort. What was he thinking? He wasn’t. He was acting on instinct, naturally leaning forward, making the connection that was sure to haunt him for the rest of his life.
“Get away from her room!” Natalie’s fiancé, Timothy, shouted coming down the hall.
A nurse chased after Timothy. “Sir, please keep your voice down.”
“Get out of here before I beat you senseless!” Timothy threatened.
“Call security!” the nurse ordered.
Timothy charged. Luke grabbed the guy’s arm, swung it around his back and slammed him against the wall.
“Calm down,” Luke said.
“It’s your fault! You brought this here!” Timothy squirmed against Luke’s hold.
“Take it easy. You don’t want them to kick you out of the hospital.”
“Don’t tell me what I want.”
“You want to see her, don’t you?”
“Stupid question.”
“Then behave like a sane human being.”
Timothy stopped struggling and Luke released him. The guy turned around and rubbed his shoulder. “I know it’s your fault. I know you’re not what you pretend to be. I heard you threatened Brent with a gun.”
A security guard sprinted up to them and Luke waved him off.
“They should be kicking you out of the hospital and locking you up,” Timothy said.
Chief Cunningham approached the three of them. “Timothy, take it easy.”
“I don’t care if he is your friend, Chief. This guy shows up in town and all kinds of violent stuff starts happening.” He narrowed his eyes at Luke. “It followed him here.”
“Back off, son. You’re upset,” the chief said.
“You bet I’m upset. Natalie is…she’s…” His voice caught in his throat.
“She’s going to be okay.” The chief put a firm hand on Timothy’s shoulder. “Why don’t you go see her?”
Timothy turned and went into the hospital room. The chief glanced at the security officer. “Thanks. I’ve got this.”
With a nod, the guard left.
Luke took a calming breath, easing the tension in his shoulders from being in the defensive position. He didn’t want to hurt Timothy. Luke understood why the guy was so upset, but he didn’t want Timothy drawing unwanted attention to Luke, either.
“It’s an emotional time when a loved one is hurt,” Chief Cunningham said.
Luke pushed back the memory of Karl dying
in front of him. “Yep. Tell me about the car accident.”
“Sounds like a pickup was passing Natalie and clipped her, sending the car into a ditch. Maybe a DUI—”
“Or not.” Luke eyed the chief. “It was Krista’s car. Maybe someone thought Krista was behind the wheel.”
“Let’s not jump to conclusions until we talk to Natalie. She’s been in and out of it all night.”
“All night? And her fiancé just got here?”
“They had a hard time with identification. Natalie was unconscious when they got to her, and her purse was missing from the scene.”
“You mean someone hit her, then stopped to swipe her purse?”
That could have been Krista, unconscious and vulnerable behind the wheel of the car, waiting for someone to help and instead being stalked and having her purse stolen.
Luke fisted his hand. “Then this was not a random hit and run.”
Resting his hand on his firearm, the chief didn’t argue. “Maybe Krista should take a vacation, leave town.”
A pit grew in Luke’s stomach at the thought of sending her away. But he knew better than anyone you could run from trouble, but that didn’t mean you’d escape its reach.
“If they want her badly enough, they’ll find her.”
“What, then?”
“They stole Natalie’s purse thinking it was Krista’s. That’s taking a big chance in public like that. We need to figure out what Krista’s got that they want so badly.”
“The luggage is still missing.”
“Which means they got it, but didn’t find what they were looking for. They thought she had it on her and sent someone to get it.” Luke leaned against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest.
“She doesn’t even know what they want,” the chief said.
“Yeah, but by putting her in the hospital they gain access to her house.”
“We should do a full search.”
“I agree. And it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have Officer West move in with Krista until this thing is over.”
“I’ll speak with her.”
The door to Natalie’s hospital room opened and Krista wandered out. She turned to Luke wearing a pale, distant expression.
“How is she?” the chief asked.
“Bruised. Tired. I offered to bring her some things from home but…” Her voice trailed off and she glanced over her shoulder at Natalie’s room.
“But what?” Luke pushed.
“Timothy said he’d handle it.”
“What else did Timothy say?” Luke asked.
She shook her head. “It’s not important.”
Maybe not, but it had upset her. Luke guessed the jerk must have been trash-talking him.
“I don’t know if I should go or stay,” she said, fiddling with her silver charm.
“We can hang around if you’d like,” Luke said.
She shrugged. “Timothy made it pretty clear that he’s got this covered. I guess we should head back.”
The devastation in her voice caused an ache in Luke’s chest. She felt so utterly helpless. He knew that feeling.
And he wanted to fix it, but hadn’t a clue how.
“Krista, I’d like to search your house, if that’s okay,” the chief said.
“Sure. Whatever. I’m going to hit the ladies’ room first.” Krista nodded and walked down the hall.
“I’ll get started on the search,” the chief said. “You have any idea what we’re looking for?”
“Wish I did.”
“You’ll be at the tea shop?”
“I’ll be wherever she is.”
Krista said silent prayers all the way back to Wentworth, prayers for Natalie’s recovery and thanks to God that she wasn’t injured more severely.
Krista simply couldn’t imagine visiting her friend in worse condition than she’d seen her today. Bruises were forming around Natalie’s eyes, her arms were scratched and her eyes bloodshot. She looked like she’d been beaten up.
Closing her eyes, Krista took a deep breath. Please God, give me strength to help my friend, to know what to say to comfort her.
Timothy had certainly said enough. He’d scolded Krista for bringing Luke with her to the hospital. Luke was the stranger who Timothy had decided was the cause of all the trouble in Wentworth over the past few days.
If only Timothy knew the truth. But he couldn’t. No one could.
“She’ll be okay,” Luke offered, pulling into the parking lot of a family restaurant outside of Wentworth.
Again, it was like he’d read her thoughts.
“What are we doing here?” she asked.
“Lunch,” he said.
“But—”
“Look.” He parked and turned to her. “It’s been a rough morning. Let’s relax for a few minutes, have a cup of soup and regain some strength.”
For once, Krista didn’t mind being handled and told what to do. She didn’t want to make any decisions or think for a little while. She just wanted to be.
They went inside Earl’s Pancake House and took a booth in the corner. Luke ordered coffee and handed her a menu. She stared at the words, the block print swimming across the laminated beige page.
“Krista?” he said.
She glanced up and struggled to smile. “Sorry. I can’t get the image of Natalie’s bruised face out of my mind.”
“I know.” He reached over and placed his hand over hers. “She was actually very lucky.”
“To think someone would bump into your car and drive off like that, without stopping to help or calling the paramedics.” She sighed and welcomed the warmth coming from Luke’s palm. “To think that could have been me.”
He glanced down at their hands.
Reality struck her smack in the face. “Wait a second, do you think the accident was intentional? That someone ran the car off the road thinking I was inside?”
Luke slipped his hand from hers and searched the restaurant. “Where’s our waitress?”
She knew by his reaction that her suspicions were true. The collision was meant for Krista. It should be Krista lying in the hospital bed with bruises and bumps.
It should have been Krista who was almost killed, but instead it was Natalie.
And it was Krista’s fault.
The buried pain of a five-year-old clawed its way up her chest, as flashes of memory assaulted her.
A tall man towering over her at the front door.
Krista telling him Dad was still at work.
Policemen standing on her front porch.
Mom collapsing when they told her…
Krista bolted from the booth and sprinted for the door. She needed fresh, cold air to shock her back to the present and snap the images from her mind.
“Krista!” Luke called after her.
She barely heard him. All she heard were her mother’s cries and the policeman’s questions. She remembered the look on her mother’s face, a horrified look that haunted Krista to this day.
Krista thought it was the look of blame, because it was Krista’s fault the bad man found her dad. In reality it was Mom’s fear that the killer would come back to hurt Krista because she could identify him.
And then Krista and Mom ran. Just like Krista was doing right now.
Luke grabbed her arm. “Where are you going?”
Glancing around, she realized she’d made it into the parking lot, her instinct driving her to run, to escape.
Coward.
She’d never quite forgiven herself for uprooting Mom from friends and her church community in California to hide out in Michigan with Gran.
“Krista, talk to me,” Luke demanded.
She shook off the chill of a cold November day and looked into his blue eyes. “It’s my fault. I should have been in the car instead of Natalie. Someone was after me, right?”
“We don’t know that.”
She pulled away from him. “It’s true. Just like before.”
“Before?”
&nb
sp; “I can’t go through that again, Luke. I won’t let the people I love get hurt because of me.”
“Listen, sweetheart.” He cupped her shoulders with firm, gentle hands.
She wondered if he even knew he’d used the endearment.
“This is not your fault,” he said.
It wasn’t your fault, pumpkin. Mom’s words. Krista never quite believed her. Just like she didn’t believe Luke right now.
“Krista, do not blame yourself for this. You didn’t put Natalie in the hospital.”
“Sure I did. I loaned her my car.”
“Because you’re a good friend. Don’t beat yourself up for that.”
“You don’t understand.”
“Then come inside and explain it to me.”
Krista glanced at the cars passing by. Her friend was nearly killed, but life went on as usual, just like it did when her father was killed. She never understood how life could go on as normal when her world had been blown apart.
With his forefinger to her chin, Luke guided her eyes to meet his. “Please, come inside.”
When she looked into his concerned eyes, she felt grounded again. Her heart still raced, only not with anger at whoever rammed into Natalie. Her heart raced for a completely different reason.
With a comforting smile, he took her hand and led her into the restaurant. They went to their booth and hot coffee was waiting for them.
For once, she welcomed the bitter brew. She sipped the coffee and glanced out the window.
“I thought I’d left all that behind,” she whispered.
“Your father?”
She nodded.
“Maybe you should take a break, a vacation.”
She snapped her attention to him. “I won’t run again.”
“It’s not running. It’s…evading.”
“I have a better idea. I’m going to help you catch them.”
Luke leaned back in the booth. “Not a good idea.”
“This whole time I’ve been taking things as they come, letting you and the chief figure out why these guys are in Wentworth. Well, no more. They’ve hurt my friend and I want to put an end to it.”