Читать книгу Shattered Trust - Sara K. Parker - Страница 14

It was closing in on midnight as Natalie finished sorting through her belongings. The police had taken photos and dusted for prints, and had been hovering with notepads ever since.

Luke didn’t hover.

He helped, lifting the heavier items, asking questions about what she’d brought and what she still had. So far, it appeared the thief had stolen her passport, her cell phone, the two-hundred dollars she had stored in the room’s safe and her small stash of jewelry. Everything else seemed to be accounted for, including her laptop, along with the barely-used bottle of Gucci perfume Kyle had given her for her birthday.

Natalie gave the room a final once-over. “I think that’s all.”

“Can you describe the missing jewelry?” Officer Perez asked. He’d been the first police officer on the scene, and his demeanor was empathetic and professional. His suit was a crisp clean tan, a contrast to the weathered lines on his face and his disheveled graying hair.

“Diamond studs.” Her dad had given them to her when she turned sixteen. “A few pieces of costume jewelry that aren’t worth much. A single strand pearl necklace.” Her great-grandmother’s. Aside from the earrings, it was the only thing she was really going to miss.

Natalie’s bottom lip trembled and she turned away, busying herself with collecting a few more articles of clothing from the floor.

“And the value of the items?”

“The earrings, under five-hundred dollars. We had the necklace appraised a few years ago for twelve hundred.”

“Everything else is accounted for?”

She remembered tucking a few pieces of jewelry into her makeup bag, and she walked into the bathroom to see if the thief had gotten to them, too.

“Yes,” she said, pulling out two silver-chained necklaces and a handful of beaded bracelets. Not valuable. “That’s everything.”

“We will need you both to come to the station for fingerprints in the morning.”

“How about we just drop by after we go to the hospital?” Luke suggested, looking to Natalie for agreement. “The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can deal with the missing passport and get you out of here.”

“Right.” Her passport. She’d need it to get home—and it went without saying that home was where she needed to be.

She grabbed a pair of sandals and snagged the first outfit she saw. “I need to change. Then we can go.”

The four officers in the room filed out the door and into the hallway. “We will wait outside,” Officer Perez said.

Luke didn’t follow.

Natalie 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 blame him. She imagined she may have been just like him if Liam had been her son and she’d had two little girls to protect as a single parent. But growing up with a parent who was obsessed with safety had set her up for all kinds of fears that she continued to battle as an adult. After tonight, she couldn’t help but consider that her father’s fears may not have been all that unfounded.

“How long have you been with Shield?” she asked Luke, curious.

“About five years.”

“Almost since the beginning.”

“Roman and I go way back.”

Natalie had met Roman DeHart and interacted with him a few times. She remembered him as a little intimidating, his eyes dark and intense, always serious and professional when she’d observed him. There’d never been any doubt in her mind that her dad had hired the best private security company around. Luke’s performance so far had only solidified her judgment.

“I’m surprised I’ve never met you.”

“Spent the first three years as a security engineer before training under Roman as a bodyguard. Now I just work for Shield on a contract basis. Trying to get a community center off the ground in my old neighborhood in Cherry Hill.”

“What kind of community center?” Natalie asked, her interest piqued.

Streetlights cast shadows through the cab, and Luke shifted in his seat to face her. “A place where kids can come after school for help with homework, pickup basketball games, a free meal. I’d like to get some small group Bible studies started, too. And eventually literacy and parenting classes. Things like that.”

She barely knew him, but she was immediately rooting for his success. The sincerity in his expression and the determined tone of his voice spoke to the immeasurable time he had likely poured into planning. “It sounds amazing. And like a lot of work.”

“It’ll be worth every dollar and every second I sink into it.”

There was a story there. She didn’t have a chance to ask about it because the cruiser was pulling up to the hospital entrance. Time to get her shoulder patched up and then head to the police station. Neither task appealed to her, but she wasn’t a complainer, and she’d do what needed to be done, like she always did.

* * *

Luke paced the floor, silently strategizing his next steps as Natalie’s shoulder got stitched up.

“Feel free to wait outside,” Natalie said wryly. “I’m sure I’ll be safe enough in here.”

“Trying to get rid of me?” He leaned against the wall, sending her a sympathetic grin. She seemed unfazed by the needle moving in and out of her skin, the clenched fists in her lap the only sign of her discomfort.

“Maybe,” she admitted. “I’m not keen on having a needle poked through my flesh. The thought of a stranger watching it happen thrills me even less.”

“I’m not watching the needle,” he said, his gaze never wavering from hers as the doctor shot more painkiller into the area around the knife wound. Come to think of it, her sun-kissed skin had paled, her breathing shallow.

“Some vacation, huh?” Luke asked, hoping to get her mind off the procedure.

“Not exactly what I had in mind.”

“What did you have in mind?”

“I’m sure my father filled you in—a romantic honeymoon with the man who was supposed to love me. You know, until death do us part and all that.” She pressed her lips together as if regretting the words. “I’m sure you don’t want to hear all the sordid details.”

He wouldn’t mind hearing the sordid details, but he wouldn’t press her for more. “I’m sorry,” he offered quietly. “One-sided love hurts.”

He knew that all too well. Had learned it first as a young kid, desperately trying to convince his mom to get help, to change, to love him and his siblings more than she loved her addictions and her dysfunctional romantic relationships. And the theme had repeated itself in his life more than once.

“It’s hard to come to terms with the idea that it was one-sided.”

He read confusion in her eyes, and it was clear that she had been blindsided by her fiancé’s wedding-day abandonment. He had the urge to tell her all the things he knew she wouldn’t want to hear—that she was better off without the jerk, that she had a lot going for her in life, that the right person for her would show up when she least expected him. But he had a feeling that any words he offered would come across as useless platitudes.

“All done,” the doctor said, drawing back. “Eight stitches.”

“Not bad.” Luke offered Natalie a hand as she sat up.

She straightened, but her grip on Luke’s hand felt weak. He slid an arm behind her back for more support as the doctor reviewed care instructions for the wound and then opened the door for them. As Natalie’s feet met the ground, Luke held her arm, steadying her.

“I’m okay,” she said, but leaned into the help he offered.

The doctor said goodbye and gestured down the hall to the exit.

“If you want to go back to the hotel, we can go to the station tomorrow,” Luke suggested as he led Natalie to the checkout desk. He recognized the exhaustion setting in, along with the shock from the night’s events, and didn’t want to keep pushing her.

But Natalie shook her head, determined. “Let’s just get it over with.”

* * *

More than an hour later, Luke and Natalie had finally been fingerprinted and then escorted to the lobby of the police station, where Officer Perez was waiting to transport them back to the hotel. A storm had set in, rain pouring in windy sheets outside the ancient building. The squad car was less than thirty yards from the station’s entrance, but they were all drenched by the time they reached it.

Officer Perez opened a back-passenger door and gestured for them to slide in just as someone called to him in Spanish from the far edge of the lot. Luke followed Natalie into the car, peering across the seat and out into the dark parking lot, where a car with flashing hazards was parked at an odd angle with its hood popped.

“A moment, please,” Officer Perez said, closing the door and jogging away from the cruiser. Luke watched the officer run through the downpour until he disappeared behind the open hood of the car. Normally, he’d get out and offer some help, but the safest place for Natalie was in this car, and he didn’t plan on leaving her alone.

Now was probably a good time to bring Roman up to speed. He wouldn’t be thrilled to start his Sunday with this news, but he’d be unhappier still if Luke delayed reporting it.

“I’m giving my boss a call,” he told Natalie, pulling up Roman’s number on his phone.

“Luke,” Roman answered on the second ring, his voice alert. “Everything okay? I was just about to call you.”

“I’ve got things under control,” Luke assured Roman, surprised at the edge in his boss’s voice. “Natalie’s safe. But we’ve run into a problem.” He proceeded to fill Roman in on all that had transpired that night and their plan moving forward. “As soon as we get her passport, we’ll reschedule our return flights,” he added.

“My crew’s already getting the jet ready,” Roman said. “I don’t want her traveling on a commercial flight when we don’t know who this guy is.”

Luke leaned forward, pressed the phone closer to his ear. The connection wasn’t great, but he was pretty sure he’d heard Roman correctly. “You’re already loading up? How did you know we—”

“There’ve been some developments here,” Roman cut in, his voice deadly serious. “Natalie’s ex, Kyle Paxton, is MIA. And the State police want to bring Natalie in for questioning.”

“Hold on a minute,” Luke said. “I’m putting you on speaker. Natalie’s here with me. It’s probably better if she hears the news firsthand.”

What news? she mouthed, her brow furrowed.

“Natalie, how are you holding up?” Roman asked.

“I’ve been better, but Luke’s taking good care of me,” she responded, her voice tense. “What’s going on, Roman?”

“Kyle is missing,” he said bluntly.

“What...?” She shook her head, disbelief in her expression.

“His parents were the last people to see him, the morning of the wedding,” Roman said. “When he didn’t show up at the church, his parents drove back to his town house. The place had been torn up.”

“Torn up?” she asked faintly.

“Ransacked. Car’s missing, too.”

Natalie was silent, bewilderment written all over her face.

“Have you heard from him?”

“Nothing but a text saying he couldn’t go through with the wedding. He was sorry. That was it. What are the police thinking?”

“They don’t have much information yet. They’re anxious to speak to you.”

“I’m not sure what I have to add to the conversation.”

“You’re the closest person to Kyle,” Roman pointed out. “Any information you can offer will help the investigation.”

“We’ll get the passport as soon as we can, and I’ll get her on the plane home,” Luke said.

“Keep me posted.”

Roman disconnected, and Luke shoved the phone back in his pocket.

Next to him, concern darkened Natalie’s eyes, her hands clenched together in her lap. Then she dropped her gaze, whether in grief or fear, Luke couldn’t tell. Her short blond waves hid her profile.

He was quiet for a moment, allowing her time to process the news. Meanwhile, his thoughts raced ahead. He didn’t believe for one minute that Kyle’s disappearance was random and unrelated to the attack on Natalie. But what was the connection? He didn’t have much background on Kyle—only that he was a public criminal defense lawyer. Could he have made a dangerous enemy? Or was Kyle the enemy? Could he have trashed his own apartment before pulling a disappearing act? Maybe, if he had something to hide. But how did Natalie fit into the equation?

“Kyle showed up for the rehearsal dinner, right?” Luke asked her finally.

“Yes,” she said without looking up, her voice tired.

“Did he seem like himself?”

She shrugged. “I guess. He was tired, but we both were. It’d been a long week with our jobs and the wedding prep.”

“Did he go straight home after the dinner?”

“There was a bachelor party. He said he’d rather go home and get a good night’s sleep before the wedding, but he didn’t want to let the guys down.”

“Do you know where they went? Who he was with?”

“A restaurant and bar in Fells Point. Just his groomsmen. It would have been a pretty tame group.”

Luke was skeptical about the idea of a tame group of young men at a bar in Fells Point on a Friday night, but decided to keep that thought to himself.

“What about the past few weeks leading up to the wedding? Was he acting differently at all?”

Natalie sighed and shifted in her seat, tugging the seat belt away from her injured shoulder. “Not that I noticed. But, like I said, we had a lot going on.”

She still hadn’t met his eyes, and Luke suspected she was withholding details she didn’t want to share.

“He certainly wasn’t acting strange enough for me to suspect he planned to call the wedding off,” she added.

“When did you get the text?”

“Yesterday morning. Fifteen minutes before the ceremony.”

Natalie rubbed the back of her neck with both hands. Frustration? Grief? She finally let her hands drop and turned to look Luke in the eyes. “It was bizarre,” she said, and there was fire in her eyes. “I mean, he had all the opportunity in the world to call things off the night before, and all morning, too—but to wait until just before the ceremony...”

Her thoughts echoed Luke’s, but they couldn’t do much in the way of investigating until they got back stateside.

“Did anyone else see him that morning?”

“I don’t know. He was supposed to meet up with his groomsmen and drive to the church together. They showed up without him, and no one mentioned to me he wouldn’t be coming.”

“How many groomsmen? And how well do you know them?”

“Three, and not that well. His college buddy, Trent. A cousin named Lee. And you probably know his friend Jordan—he works at Shield?”

“He could be a good source when we get back.”

A form finally emerged from behind the car across the lot, and Officer Perez jogged back in their direction, his head down as he slogged through the heavy rain.

The driver’s door opened and the officer climbed in without a glance back, his hair dripping, his tan uniform soaked to a dark brown. He started up the car and pulled out of the lot in a hurry, wheels skidding along wet pavement.

Next to Luke, Natalie grabbed on to the side of the door to keep herself from sliding across the seat into him, and sudden alarm fired up his adrenaline.

The interior of the vehicle was all dark shadows, the man’s face indistinguishable in the rearview, but when they passed under a lone street lamp, Luke knew they were in trouble. Officer Perez wasn’t driving the cruiser.

The driver was young and clean-shaven—and clearly on some sort of mission. Luke considered the possibility that Perez had traded out with another officer—maybe a rookie with a chip on his shoulder? He did appear to be wearing the uniform...

But something wasn’t right, and as the vehicle climbed a winding hill, wipers slashing against sheets of rain, he tried to take stock of the situation. Luke didn’t know the terrain, but he did know they hadn’t even once traveled downhill, and the route wasn’t familiar.

“Excuse me, Officer,” he said, as if he hadn’t realized what had happened.

The driver glanced in the rearview mirror, but said nothing.

“I think we might have missed a turn back there,” Luke said. “We’re staying at the Riu de Sueños.”

“Road is blocked,” the guy answered gruffly, his accent thick. The road ahead curved sharply left, but the man barely slowed, taking the corner hard. Natalie slid into Luke’s side, her hand bracing against the seat in front of her.

“Hey, we’re not in a hurry. Take it easy,” Luke said, forcing his voice to sound relaxed even as their reality became alarmingly clear: the cruiser had been carjacked.

The man let up on the gas, the whites of his eyes flashing in the rearview mirror.

“Right, right,” he said.

Visibility was low, the dim glow of the car’s headlights fighting with the heavy rain. It was an older model cruiser, with thick cage wiring separating the back seat from the driver. No way to get to the driver, and it would be too dangerous to try to stop the car, anyway.

They didn’t have many options out here, but if he waited too much longer, getting back down the mountain would be difficult. If they escaped now, they could take cover in the trees, call for help.

He tapped Natalie’s finger to get her attention. “Follow my lead,” he whispered. Then loud enough for the driver to hear, “Natalie, are you okay? You don’t look so good.”

Her brow furrowed, but she caught on. “No,” she said, her hands coming to her abdomen. “I...feel sick.”

“We need to pull over for a minute,” Luke said to the driver.

“Okay. Next place I find.”

Natalie moaned next to Luke, clutching her stomach.

“We can’t wait,” Luke insisted. “Pull over now!”

But the car didn’t slow, confirming Luke’s suspicions that their driver was on a mission—and it wasn’t to get them safely back to the hotel.

Natalie glanced at him, her expression giving way to fear. Then she put her hand to her mouth. “I think I’m about to be sick!” she said, and doubled over.

“Pull over!” Luke yelled to the driver. “She needs to get out!”

Natalie moaned loudly, and the driver finally swerved to the right and slammed on the brakes. They pitched forward, both throwing out their arms to keep from hitting the seats in front of them. The driver unlocked the car, glancing at them in the mirror, but not turning back.

Maybe he thought he’d fooled them. That they hadn’t noticed he’d switched places with Perez. Luke would use that to his advantage if he could.

Luke nodded to Natalie, and she didn’t hesitate.

She yanked on the handle and jumped out of the car, running behind a thick copse of trees, out of sight. Luke scooted to the door, planting his feet on the wet ground and waiting for the driver to make a move. With Natalie safely out of harm’s way, he’d have a better shot at taking the guy down. He watched the driver in his periphery, saw him shift in his seat. Getting a weapon? Luke didn’t have any weapons, but he would be ready. He shifted to the edge of the seat, keeping his peripheral vision on the driver.

But the driver didn’t make a move.

Luke considered his options. If the driver thought he still had them fooled, that could buy them some time. Making a run for it may be a safer option than confronting a potentially armed criminal in the middle of nowhere. If Luke got taken down, Natalie would be on her own.

“I’ll just go check on her,” Luke said, making his decision and emerging from the vehicle into the pouring rain.

He quickly covered the ground between the car and the foliage Natalie had disappeared behind and found her crouched by a thick tree trunk. “Let’s move,” Luke whispered, grasping her hand and leading her deeper into the thick forest. They treaded quietly, low to the ground, the echo of rain eating up any sound they made.

Luke figured they had about a minute or two before the guy came looking, but he overestimated. They’d barely covered twenty yards when a voice echoed too close.

“Hey!”

Natalie’s hand tightened on Luke’s and they picked up their pace. Luke didn’t think they’d been seen, but he couldn’t be sure.

A thin beam of light shone into the forest, just missing them as Luke pulled Natalie behind a massive fallen tree.

“Stay here.”

He started to leave, but she grabbed his arm. “What are you doing?” she whispered.

“My job.” He pried her hand off his arm. “Stay low and don’t move from this spot.”

Leaving her there, Luke circled back toward the road. If he could stay out of the guy’s view, he could take him by surprise, turn the tables on him.

It didn’t take him long to spot the man, his dark figure plunging forward into the woods, his flashlight moving in an organized search pattern. Luke ducked behind a thick patch of shrubs, watching the beam of light track for them. What was this guy’s game? And what had happened to Officer Perez? Were the police somehow involved in the crimes against Natalie? That seemed far-fetched, but he couldn’t discount the idea. He waited for the flashlight beam to pass by him again before continuing. His approach would have to be timed perfectly. He wouldn’t do Natalie any good lying dead in the middle of the woods.

The beam of light stopped, backtracked.

Homed in on the heavy fallen tree Natalie was hiding behind.

Luke’s hands clenched into fists, praying Natalie’s cover hadn’t been blown.

But footsteps sloshed closer, louder, faster. He peered around the edge of the shrubs, saw the man heading straight for Natalie’s location—flashlight in one hand, gun in the other.

She’d been seen.