Читать книгу Forgotten Past - Mary Alford - Страница 11

ONE

She’d made a dreadful mistake. The minute the headlights of her car swept over the house, Faith realized it deep down in her heart.

Truth be told, she had made a whole string of mistakes, including the one she prayed wouldn’t prove to be the most costly. When she’d left the house earlier, she had forgotten to turn any lights on. Now night had fallen and nothing but a dark silhouette loomed before her. Just the thought of what might be waiting outside the safety of the car made her heartbeat go ballistic.

Please, Lord...protect me.

Faith clutched the steering wheel tight in an attempt to steady her trembling hands as she peered out the windshield. Nothing seemed out of place, but then again, it was pitch-black out. There were no streetlights this far from town, and dense clouds obscured the moon and stars. While the car’s headlights illuminated most of the side of the house and a portion of the front, it didn’t quite reach the door.

Foolish, foolish, foolish. She couldn’t believe she’d acted so foolishly.

At the time, she hadn’t thought about anything but getting away for a little while. The walls had been closing in on her, and she knew if she didn’t find a way to clear her head, she would end up throwing everything she owned into the back of her car and running for her life once again.

Driving along the breathtaking stretch of Maine coastline while the setting sun painted the waters a kaleidoscope of colors helped put things into perspective. There was something about the never-ending cycle of the tide as it rolled against the rocky shoreline and then out to sea again that gave her a sense of peace. It reminded her that it didn’t matter what she went through in her life, or how scary or insurmountable her fears seemed, God was in control.

Most days, she could control the doubts. Today hadn’t been one of them. All because of the call. The reason she’d moved to Hope Island, a small town of a little more than ten thousand in population located at the southernmost tip of the Maine coastline. She had been running from him.

This move was supposed to be different. Faith had banked all her future happiness on it working this time. The call had proved her wrong. She had lost track of the number of times she’d uprooted her life just to get away from him. It had become second nature whenever she felt threatened. Today, when the call came in and the tiniest bit of hope she still clung to evaporated, she had definitely felt threatened.

At twenty-eight, Faith had given up two years of her life to this thing. She’d changed her name, her looks, shut herself off from the world as much as humanly possible, and yet each time he found her again.

She glanced up at the house and shivered at the possible dangers lying in wait inside.

Funny how something could appear so different when you were seeing it through the eyes of fear. Just a little more than a month earlier, she’d fallen in love with the old, two-story Cape Cod and rented it on the spot. Now, she could imagine him hiding in the enormous country kitchen, or lurking in the shadowy hallway.

Faith cracked the car’s window and listened. Above the surging ocean waves beyond the house, nothing sounded unusual.

Yet something wasn’t right. By now, Ollie would have recognized the sound of her vehicle and started barking like crazy.

She blew out a sigh. She couldn’t stay out here all night. Maybe the call had truly been a wrong number this time.

Faith killed the engine, got out and hurried up the steps. She barely had time to put the key into the door when she heard it. Footsteps coming quickly up the stairs behind her. A shaft of light from a flashlight bounced off the porch and up the side of the house. Utterly unnerved, the hand holding her keys jarred away from her and the keys flew from her fingers.

“No.” The word slipped from her tremulous lips.

She turned toward the light and the beam temporarily blinded her.

Faith had rehearsed this moment dozens of times in her head and yet the reality of it didn’t feel anything like what she’d practiced.

Without the keys, the car would be useless, which left only one option. She’d need to make it to the back of the house. There were a handful of houses scattered along the stretch of beach behind her place. If she could reach one of them, hopefully someone would help her.

Faith raced toward the steps located off the side of the porch and away from the figure with the light.

There were three—no, four—steps leading down to the grassy yard. The fence separating her small backyard from the beach would be some fifteen feet behind the house. She’d carefully counted off each step her first day here.

“Wait.”

She vaguely detected a deep male voice calling out to her when her right foot cleared the final step. She didn’t dare look back. Her breath came in labored gasps as she rushed in the direction that she gauged the gate to be. Just a few more feet. Almost there.

His heavy footsteps echoed along the porch behind her. He was following her.

“Stop. I have your dog.”

At first, her mind didn’t register what he said. Every single thought focused on escaping. She bolted toward the beach, but she could hear her pursuer steadily gaining on her.

Faith reached for the latch on the gate when a strong hand clamped down on her shoulder. The momentum of his body slamming into hers sent them both sprawling along the dew-covered grass. It took a few seconds to drag air into her lungs and then she was kicking and punching him, fighting with everything she had, but her strength was no match for his.

“No!” she screamed as loud as she could, hoping someone would hear and come to her aid.

The stranger moved to a kneeling position, caught her flailing hands together in one of his, and brought them up over her head. “Stop that. I’m not going to hurt you.” When she finally stopped struggling, he let her go and got to his feet.

“See? I mean you no harm,” he said. Faith opened her eyes and stared at him for the first time. From her position lying flat on her back, he seemed incredibly tall.

She ignored the hand he held out to her. “Who are you? What do you want?”

“I told you, I have your dog.”

“What are you talking about? My dog is inside my house. How can you have him?” She sat up slowly, rubbing her wrists where he’d held them. In the darkness, she couldn’t tell much from his expression.

“Well, his name tag says he’s Ollie and that he lives here.”

He knew her dog’s name. While her brain struggled to make sense of it, barking coming from the front porch seemed to confirm his story. Yet Ollie was scared of his shadow. He would never willingly go to a stranger.

“Ollie, it’s okay, boy. Come here.” The little Pug bounded around the corner of the house and into her arms.

“Satisfied?” The stranger sounded amused. Faith got to her feet and put some distance between them, an impossible habit to break no matter how hard she tried. Another gift from him.

Although she couldn’t remember a single thing about the actual attack that had taken place in Austin, she knew it had been brutal. When the EMTs brought her to the hospital, the doctor who treated her told her it had been so violent her mind had simply wiped away all traces of the incident as a coping mechanism. In spite of all her doctor’s reassurances, her memory of the attack and what her life had been like before it remained locked away in her head.

She knew her attacker had murdered two people that night. Her friend Rachel Jennings and Rachel’s father, Carl, had paid the ultimate price with their lives. Faith had given up a lot to this nightmare as well. She had nothing left to give except for her life and he seemed determined to take that from her as well.

She brushed off her jeans while Ollie wriggled in her arms and licked her nose. She could only imagine what this man must be thinking after their hot-pursuit chase. “Yes. I’m sorry. I thought...” She stopped, realizing she couldn’t possibly tell him the truth. Most normal people would probably think she was the crazy one, and at this point, she was beginning to wonder if she was. She shook her head. “Never mind. Where did you find him?”

“Sitting on my back deck barking at the door and demanding to be let in. I guess he mistook my house for yours. He doesn’t appear to see too well at night. I stopped by earlier, but no one was home. I took the dog for a walk on the beach and saw your car lights.”

She smiled at his description of Ollie. At almost fourteen years old, a lot of things didn’t quite work the way they used to. Ollie’s poor eyesight was one of his latest ailments.

“Well, thank you for bringing him back. I don’t know how he got out.” Faith headed back toward her house with Ollie’s rescuer falling into step beside her, careful to keep some space between them. He’d caught the way she reacted when he got too close.

“I’ll help you find your keys. My name is JT Wyatt, by the way.” He held out his hand and she hesitated only a second before accepting it.

“Faith McKenzie.”

JT stepped up onto the porch and retrieved his flashlight from where he’d dropped it.

It took only a second to locate the keys beneath the porch swing. “Can you hold this for a second?” He handed her the light and got down on his knees to recover the keys. She caught a glimpse of faded jeans and a dark, long-sleeved turtleneck. The casual way he dressed didn’t quite fit with her first impression of him. She hadn’t pegged him as a local. More the corporate vacation type.

The light illuminated golden highlights scattered throughout his chestnut hair, which he wore swept back away from his face. A single strand fell across his forehead, dispelling the notion that he might have walked off the cover of some slick magazine.

“Here you go,” JT said as he got to his feet. She realized her first assessment of him had been correct. He was tall—well over six feet. She had to tip her head back just to look him in the eyes. They were a magnificent shade of blue that reminded her of the sky on a summer day.

Faith tamped down her wayward thoughts. “Thank you.”

He grinned at her. “No problem. I’m just glad I was home when Ollie showed up. I’d hate to think of him roaming around the beach on his own. October nights here can get pretty cold.”

When JT handed her the keys, his fingers brushed against hers, sending an unwelcome jolt of awareness surging through her, and she instinctively took a step back. His gaze narrowed just a fraction as he watched her, no doubt witnessing all her anxiety. Faith turned away and unlocked the door while praying he wouldn’t ask the questions she’d seen in his eyes.

“Looks like you have a secret admirer.”

Immediately her heart leaped to her throat and she turned back to him. “Excuse me?”

JT pointed the flashlight at something just beyond the door. “Someone left you flowers.”

A dozen red roses had been deliberately placed on the porch railing.

Faith struggled not to fall apart. In spite of what she’d hoped, she realized the call earlier hadn’t been an accident. He wanted her to find the roses when she returned, but she had been too scared and intent on escaping her would-be attacker to see them right away.

This was his subtle little reminder he could find her wherever she went. He enjoyed toying with her. The way a cat toyed with a mouse before devouring it.

“I take it you weren’t expecting those.” JT continued to watch her expression carefully.

“No.”

He took the flashlight and went over to examine the flowers. Nothing unusual about the dozen red roses in a cut-glass vase except for their purpose. They were part of his deadly game.

“They were purchased at the local florist here on the island. There’s a card attached.” JT held it out to her.

She closed her eyes and tried to capture the faintest memory. There had once been a time when she’d loved red roses. Something had changed. The memory disappeared before she could grasp it. Had it been real?

When she opened her eyes, she realized JT still held the note. She couldn’t bring herself to take it from him. Read the words aloud. Relive the terror again. When she shook her head, he placed the note back in its holder. “You should probably get them inside anyway. They’ll be ruined by morning.”

She shook off her uneasiness with difficulty. “Yes, you’re right. Thank you.” Faith took the roses from him even though she couldn’t bear the sight of them. She’d throw them in the trash as soon as JT left.

“If you’d like, I could come inside and take a look around. Just to ease your mind.”

Her hand stilled on the door. She hesitated. She didn’t know what to trust anymore, including her own judgment. She should refuse JT’s offer outright. Thank him for his kindness and send him on his way.

“That’s very kind of you, but I don’t think so.”

When he stepped closer, her back hit the door and he stopped. “You’re obviously frightened. I can check things out to make sure nothing’s out of place and then I’ll be on my way. If you want, you can wait out here until I’m finished. I promise I don’t have any ulterior motives,” JT added with a hint of a smile.

She knew she was being ridiculous. He only wanted to help. After all, he’d taken the time to bring Ollie home when the dog had wandered onto his back deck. JT seemed genuinely concerned about her well-being, and at some point in her life she needed to learn to trust someone if she wanted to live long enough to discover her attacker’s identity.

Through every single one of the moves, she’d prayed for God’s help. At times, it seemed as if He wasn’t in the answering mood when it came to her prayers. At one of the church services she’d attended once, she remembered the pastor saying that God didn’t always choose to answer prayers in the way we would like Him to, but He always answered them in the best way for us. Had God sent a total stranger into her life as an answer to her prayer?

Trust Me. The words echoed through her thoughts. Trust was a hard thing for Faith to give freely, but she needed to try.

“Okay,” she said at last. “Thank you. I’d really like that.” She stepped aside and let JT pass through.

Faith flipped on the lights. She set the roses on the table by the door and waited with Ollie while JT searched through each room of her house.

“Here’s your problem,” he called out from the kitchen. When she followed him to the room, he pointed to Ollie’s pet door. “You forgot to lock it in place. The little guy probably figured out how to open it.”

An unbelievable sense of relief soaked into every fiber of her body. “Oh, I’m so relieved. For a second, I thought...”

“That you had an intruder?” JT finished for her.

He obviously thought she’d overreacted. He had no way of knowing what she’d been through in her life to warrant such a response.

“Yes,” she admitted and felt foolish. “I’ve only been here on the island a month. I guess I’m still getting used to living out here. Especially so far away from town.”

“I see. Well, you don’t have anything to worry about living here alone. This is one of the safest places to live in Maine. We rarely have anything more than the occasional high school prank.”

So he was a local. This surprised her. “You live here?”

JT nodded. “Yes. I’m restoring the house down the beach from you.” He was a carpenter. That explained the healthy tan. Still, it didn’t quite fit her first impression of him.

JT had a funny little grin on his face and she realized she’d been staring again. “Well, thank you for rescuing Ollie,” she said to cover up her embarrassment.

“No problem. I kind of admire the little guy’s spunk.” He reached down and scratched Ollie’s ears, and the dog rewarded him with a lick on his hand.

Faith laughed warmly. “I think you’ve made a new friend. Ollie loves having his ears scratched.”

When JT straightened, he looked right into her eyes and her heart did a little flip. He was an incredibly attractive man, yet she wondered if he even realized it.

He glanced away and she could breathe normally once more.

“You know, I remember this house. I came here a lot as a kid. My mom and the previous owners were friends. As I recall, Mom brought my sister and me over a couple of times a week for a visit. Liz and I used to explore the house while my mom and Evie Fitzgerald talked.” He sighed fondly. “I remember Mrs. Fitzgerald used to make this mean chocolate cake and she’d give my sister and me each a huge slice. We would end up with a sugar rush for hours after. It drove our mom crazy.”

She smiled as she listened to him reminisce about his family. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had such a simple conversation with anyone without looking for ulterior motives. It felt nice. “I can imagine. Are you and your sister still close?” Ollie scratched at her leg, his little signal he wanted her to hold him. She scooped the dog up in her arms.

“Oh, yes.” He sounded amused. “Sometimes a little too close. Liz is happily married and determined that everyone around her should be as well. She’s constantly trying to set me up on blind dates,” he added with a shake of his head.

Faith found herself unexpectedly drawn to him. She liked the way his eyes lit up when he talked about his sister. It must be an incredible blessing to have someone to care about you in such a way. She’d been on her own for a long time and she’d never really known the love of a family. Since moving to Hope Island, her interactions with others had been limited to the cashier at the local grocery store and the occasional hello from the postal employee who sorted the mail.

“Actually, that sounds pretty nice.” She stole a sideways glance at him and found him watching her with a sympathetic look on his face. When had she gotten so bad at covering up her feelings?

“Yes, I guess it is. As much as I tease my sister about being a mother hen, it’s nice having her close. She and her husband, Sam, and my niece Ellie live here on the island as well, so I get to see them a lot.” He hesitated. “I take it you don’t have any family close by?”

Faith struggled against feelings of loneliness. She hated being completely alone with no one to talk to about her problems and terrified of something she couldn’t remember.

Before she could come up with an answer, JT held up his hands. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked and it’s none of my business. Here I am talking about Liz being nosy.” He chuckled. “Blame it on the detective in me. I guess we’re always searching for answers.”

Faith did her best not to react to the news that he was a cop. After what happened in Austin and the way the detectives had treated her, she had stopped trusting in the police for help.

“You know, we can keep doing this all night,” he said softly, interrupting her troubled thoughts.

She swallowed hard. “Doing what?” But she knew.

His expression gave nothing away. “Making polite conversation while we ignore what we should be talking about. Like who you really thought was following you tonight.”

Faith couldn’t hold his gaze.

“I know you’re scared of someone. Who’s following you, Faith?”

He had no idea the dark secrets her mind had locked away because they were just too ghastly for her to remember. “I can’t. I’m sorry, you don’t understand.”

A single muscle worked along his jawline. Evidence enough he didn’t like her answer. “Then help me understand. I take it this isn’t the first time this has happened?”

She took her time answering. “No, it isn’t. But it’s my problem and I know what I’m doing.”

That look on his face said that he didn’t believe her, and she couldn’t blame him. After all, the way she’d reacted tonight wasn’t the normal behavior of someone who had things completely under control.

“I suppose you’re right. It’s not my place to—” Before he could finish the sentence, her cell phone chirped to life on the kitchen counter where she’d left it earlier. Suddenly, she couldn’t move. “Don’t you think you should answer it?” JT asked when she made no attempt to do so. “It might be important.” She read every single one of the questions in his eyes. She knew them all by heart.

After the third unanswered ring, JT picked up her cell phone and handed it to her, forcing her hand.

The caller ID registered “Unknown,” just as it always did. Faith wanted to throw the phone as far away as she could, but if it were truly him, it wouldn’t matter if she didn’t answer. He would just keep calling...or worse.

It took everything inside her to accept JT’s challenge without falling apart. “Yes. Yes, of course you’re right.” Her hands shook as she hit the talk button and listened to the familiar stanza of the old love song, “I’ll Be Seeing You.”

She murmured something to JT—some excuse—she wasn’t sure what. Somehow, Faith managed to draw air into her lungs. Put one foot in front of the other. She needed distance between herself and the man watching her every move, seeing too much. If she wanted to stay alive, she couldn’t fall apart. If she stayed in the same room with JT, she would.

Faith closed the door to the great room and leaned against it. “Please, please, just leave me alone,” she whispered frantically. “I don’t remember anything. I can’t hurt you.” The sound of a receiver slammed into its cradle was her only answer. She pushed away from the door and sank down to the sofa. Tears sprang easily to her eyes and she rubbed her hand over them.

She was so tired of fighting this battle alone.

“Is something wrong?” JT asked quietly from the doorway. She hadn’t even heard him come in.

Faith rose to her feet and moved away before he could spot the tears. “No, I’m fine. It’s...nothing.”

“Then why are you crying?”

“I’m not—” She couldn’t go on when he came over to where she stood and stopped inches away. JT touched his finger gently to her cheek and held up the proof for her to see.

“Who was that on the phone just now? What’s really going on here, Faith?” The gentleness in his tone made it next to impossible to remain strong. It would be so nice to be able to lean on someone besides herself for a change. Remember Austin. Remember how the police treated you there.

She shook her head. “It was just a wrong number.”

“That’s not the truth, is it? Tell me what’s going on in your life. I promise you can trust me.”

She’d give anything to believe him, but she couldn’t. Two people were dead already because of her, and she was no closer to learning the name of the person responsible for their murders now than on the night of the attack. Even if she did trust JT, she’d be putting his life in jeopardy by doing so. “I’m sorry, I can’t.”

JT glanced around the great room at the unpacked moving boxes scattered around the room. “You said you’ve been here a month and yet you’re prepared to pick up and leave at a moment’s notice. What are you running from, Faith McKenzie?” he said, a challenge in his voice.

She drew in a shaky breath and did her best to answer without giving anything else away. “Nothing.”

Just the tiniest of smiles lifted the corners of his mouth. “I spent way too many years as a detective not to know when someone isn’t telling me the truth. Whatever this is, it won’t go away on its own.”

When she didn’t answer, he added, “Okay, I understand. You’re not ready, but when you are, you can talk to me.” He glanced at his watch. “It’s late and I should go, but if you need anything, anything at all, you can call me. I live just down the beach from you.” He reached inside his wallet and pulled out a business card. “Here are my numbers. The one at the bottom is for the house here but you can reach me on my cell at any time, day or night.”

“Wyatt Securities” jumped out at her in bold black lettering.

“I mean it, Faith. If you need anything, you call. Even if it’s just to talk.”

He walked over to the door before adding, “I’m going to give you a piece of free advice. Living on the island, especially out here along the beach, can be isolated. We are all neighbors here. We take care of and rely on each other. I don’t know what’s going on in your life, but if he’s bad enough to make you as scared as you clearly are, I hope he doesn’t follow you here to Hope Island for everyone’s sake.” JT lifted a finger in a final farewell then strode out her door and she could breathe again.

He had no way of knowing how much she desperately hoped for the same thing.

* * *

JT had seen the expression in Faith McKenzie’s eyes a hundred times before while working domestic violence cases. It never got easier and it always promised a bad ending. Faith McKenzie was scared to death. God only knew what kind of trouble lurked in her past.

He’d encountered a lot of desperate victims on the job, but the type of fear he’d seen in her tonight seemed fused to every part of her being. He couldn’t imagine what had happened in her life to bring her to this point.

JT tried to dismiss the unfamiliar stirring in his heart as he walked along the beach to his house. There was something about Faith that made him want to help her. No one deserved to live in such turmoil, and although she was clearly scared out of her mind, he couldn’t deny he found himself attracted to her. He hadn’t thought of another woman as beautiful since Emily’s death.

Even without a trace of makeup, Faith was a strikingly lovely woman. She’d twisted her raven hair up into a makeshift knot on top of her head. Several strands had worked loose and framed her oval face. She hadn’t been trying to impress anyone and yet she possessed the type of beauty that didn’t need enhancing. But it was her eyes that tore at his heart the most. They were the color of midnight blue and haunted by fear.

Without a doubt, she was one troubled soul and he didn’t know what to do about it.

You can’t help someone who doesn’t want your help, he could almost hear his sister saying. It was certainly true enough and it wasn’t as if he didn’t have his own set of concerns to worry about.

This had been the most stressful week in a long time and the upcoming one promised even more issues. One of Wyatt Securities’ potential clients, a global energy firm, had recently detected a major security breach in their servers and had come to Wyatt for advice on how to overhaul their systems and to ferret out any additional breaches. If Wyatt landed the contract, it would mean a huge amount of business for the company. With their already heavy workload, the additional business added up to a lot of overtime for the staff and for JT. While part of him welcomed the challenge, lately he was feeling a little overwhelmed and unfulfilled. There had to be more to life than work. Even for someone like him.

JT rubbed a hand across his jaw. He had enough on his plate figuring out his own life, so the last thing he needed right now was the kind of trouble Faith represented.

Lord, You help her. I can’t. His prayer sounded about as empty as he felt inside. Truth be told, he had stopped looking to God for help after his wife’s death. He wasn’t even sure he believed anymore. After all, if God was so all-powerful and loving, why had He let someone good like Emily die in such a brutal way? JT himself should have been the one to walk into that convenience store and confront the robber. He should have died that night. Not her. Yet for his sister’s sake, he still attended the small church they’d grown up in each week and pretended. But the pastor’s message, the scriptures he read—they didn’t reach into his heart the way they had in the past.

The house JT had been restoring here on the island for the past three years had become his only real source of contentment.

His father had been a local Hope Island police officer for more than twenty years and had taught JT how to find comfort in the simple things of life. After Edward Wyatt retired from the force, he’d begun restoring houses up and down the Maine coast. JT loved working with his father. He’d never felt closer to him than when they were working side by side to bring something on the brink of ruin back to its former glory.

JT reached the edge of his property and turned toward the house he’d just left.

Who exactly had been on the other end of that call to bring such terror to Faith McKenzie’s eyes? The way she reacted to his sudden appearance, even after she realized he posed no threat, pointed to someone who didn’t know her stalker’s identity. If so, then every stranger she met would represent a possible risk.

The detective in him wanted to know what she was hiding in her past. A woman so young didn’t move to an isolated town like Hope Island without just cause.

Whatever it was, it has nothing to do with you, he said to himself. He had offered his help. If she didn’t accept it, there wasn’t much else he could do.

Still, out of curiosity, JT grabbed his cell phone and called Derek Thomas, his good friend and one of the founding members of Wyatt Securities.

“Hey, I need you to do me a favor,” JT said without bothering to return Derek’s hello. “Can you do a background check on someone?”

It wasn’t unusual for JT to ask for Derek’s help in this manner. After all, he was a computer genius and could uncover anyone’s secrets no matter how deeply hidden. “Sure, pal, whatever you need. Who do you want me to check on?”

“Her name is Faith McKenzie. She rented the old Fitzgerald house down the beach from me.”

“I see. What’s your concern with her?” He could tell from Derek’s tone that he thought it odd JT wanted a background check done on his neighbor.

“I’m not sure.” He briefly filled in his friend on the chase that ensued after he stopped by Faith’s place to return her dog to her. “From her over-the-top reaction, I think someone is stalking her and my gut tells me this isn’t the first time it’s happened, either.”

Six months after his wife’s death, JT had left the police force because he couldn’t bear the constant reminder of how he’d let Emily down. He’d founded Wyatt Securities along with Derek and another close friend, Teddy Warren. He hadn’t been able to help Emily, but he was determined not to let such a tragedy befall another innocent person on this island.

“I want to know what she’s hiding. If it’s any help, she has a very distinctive Texas accent. She’s obviously lived there at some time in her past.”

After a slight hesitation, Derek said, “I’ll get started on it right away.”

“Good. What were you up to before I interrupted your evening?” JT could hear the TV in the background.

“Listening to the Weather Channel mostly. There’s a tropical storm building strength in the Atlantic.”

JT blew out a sigh. “Yeah, I heard.” The storm in question was all over the radio lately. Every time the Weather Bureau issued a warning, people up and down the coast went on full alert. With everything going on at work, this was the last thing JT needed. If the storm kept gaining strength, he’d have to stockpile necessities and weatherproof the house just in case.

“If it keeps on the path it’s on now, the entire East Coast is within its strike zone. Who knows where it’ll hit. I’m still praying it will lose strength before it gets close.” Derek paused. “Well, I’d better get a move on. I’ll give you a call as soon as I have something on your neighbor.”

“Thanks, buddy. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” JT disconnected the call and unlocked the back door. As he stepped inside the house, his cell phone rang again. Liz’s number popped up on the caller ID. She worried about him; that’s what big sisters did. He touched the ignore button. He would call her back tomorrow. Right now, he couldn’t get his mind off the terrified woman down the beach.

Was he simply trying to find redemption for failing Emily by helping a stranger in need? Possibly, yet there was something different about Faith McKenzie.

Get her out of your mind, Wyatt. You have plenty of real concerns in your life to be worried about. He grabbed his laptop and cleared off enough space at the kitchen table to set up shop, while ignoring the reminders scattered around the house of things he should be doing. Like finishing the drywall in the great room, not to mention getting the cabinets hung in the kitchen so he could finally put dishes away.

Instead, he started brewing a pot of coffee and dove into work. In the security world, business was booming. On average, over the past year, the company had a couple of new clients sign on every month. If things kept growing at this rate, he would need to hire additional staff just to keep up.

JT was halfway through writing a proposal for the global energy firm when Derek called back.

“That was fast.”

As usual, his friend didn’t mince words. “It took some doing, but I was able to find a copy of her lease agreement for the house. Since the Fitzgeralds didn’t have any living relatives, the county commissioned a real estate agency to sell the house. In the current market, selling a house that size is next to impossible so the agency agreed to put it up for rent, which meant the agreement was on file at county records.” Derek cleared his throat. “Apparently, the leasing agent didn’t do a credit check, because the name McKenzie didn’t match up with the social security number on the application. That social corresponds to a Faith Davenport who was originally from Oklahoma City, but moved to Austin, Texas when she was a teenager.”

This bit of news wasn’t a surprise. “Figures. She changed her name because she’s running from someone.”

“Probably,” Derek confirmed. “Her past is sketchy. Parents died when she was ten and she ended up in foster care. She ran away to Texas when she was a teenager. It appears she turned her life around. Finished school and got an accounting degree from the University of Texas—all online. She doesn’t appear to have much of a presence online now. I’m still digging. I’ll know more soon.”

“Good.”

“So what are you thinking about doing?” Derek asked the expected question. He knew JT well enough to know he hadn’t wanted the information just to satisfy his curiosity.

JT stared out the kitchen window. In the darkness, all he could see was his own troubled reflection. “I’m not sure, but if anyone needs our help it’s Faith McKenzie.”