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“Kristi, thank goodness you’re here. I was afraid you wouldn’t make it in time to eat.”
She laughed. “You’re not fooling me. You were afraid your wedding dress wouldn’t make it.”
Her friend blushed. “Well, do you blame me? Everything that could go wrong has blown up in my face. My maid of honor had a huge fight with her boyfriend who is Adrian’s best man. Now, Candy and Jared won’t talk to each other and refuse to walk together tomorrow. My divorced parents can’t be in the same room together without throwing verbal jabs at each other, and the florist couldn’t locate the flowers I wanted for the tables tomorrow. It’s been one disaster after another.”
Kristi hugged her friend. “Don’t be such a drama queen. Everything will work out. That’s why you hired a wedding planner. She can deal with the problems. Your job is to be a beautiful bride. Let your wedding planner deal with the rest.”
“I should have chosen you as my maid of honor.”
“Candy is your sister. She’d never forgive you for leaving her out of the big day.”
Abby sighed. “You could have at least agreed to be one of the wedding party.”
“Being a bridesmaid in ten weddings is more than enough for me.” She’d put in her time wearing hideous bridesmaid dresses. Kristi would happily stay in the audience from now on until she wore her own wedding dress. “Besides, you already have nine bridesmaids. You don’t need another one. Don’t worry. I’ll be in the audience, admiring my handiwork.”
Her friend smiled. “You should. My dress is a work of art.”
“Honey, is everything all right?” Darlene Lawrence walked toward her daughter and Kristi. “Oh, Kristi, you made it. Thank goodness. Abigail was so worried about you.”
“I have the dress right here.”
“Perfect. Abigail, go back to your rehearsal dinner, dear. I’ll take your dress to the suite. We don’t want anyone to see it until tomorrow.”
“All right. Thanks, Mom.” Abby took the dress and handed it to her mother, then hugged Kristi. “Thank you, Kristi. You’re the best. How can I ever thank you?”
“Tell people who designed your breath-taking dress.”
“Count on it. I’ll plaster your name all over my social media pages with pictures.” Abby released her. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Thank you, Kristi.” Darlene smiled. “Please, join us for dinner. We have extra place settings.”
“Thanks for the offer, but I’m not dressed for it and dinner is waiting for me in my suite. Enjoy the rehearsal dinner. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Minutes later, Kristi stepped into the owner’s suite and closed the door with a sigh. Thank goodness. Maybe now the invisible spiders crawling along her nape would go away.
Her suitcase and overnight bag stood near the serving cart with her meal. Perfect. Kristi made a beeline for the serving cart.
She lifted the dome from the plate. A spinach quiche and a salad. Besides her plate, the kitchen staff had included two bottles of water. They knew her preferences and catered to them every time she stayed here. You couldn’t beat the Sandoval for service.
She carried the food and water to the living area, and set them on the glass-topped coffee table. Kristi watched a news program while she ate and polished off one bottle of water.
After placing the dishes on the cart, Kristi wheeled it to the hallway. As she turned to go back inside the suite, a whisper of movement sounded behind her. Kristi heard a snap, and a second later, horrible pain traveled along her nerve endings, locking her muscles and preventing her from screaming for help.
She fell to the floor and into darkness.
CHAPTER TWO
Rafe Torres scowled when his satellite phone rang. His boss at Fortress Security and his Wolf Pack teammates had promised him space, something he desperately needed to heal. Although tempted to ignore the strident summons, he couldn’t. Blowing off a plea for help wasn’t in his nature. Plus, Maddox or Wolf Pack wouldn’t call except for an emergency. Something was wrong.
Stopping to take a breather on the trail, he dug his phone from his cargo pocket and glanced at his screen. “Torres,” he snapped, his voice just over a growl. “This better be important, boss.”
Brent Maddox, CEO of Fortress Security, said, “You’re back on active duty as of now.”
Rafe stepped off the trail and further into the darkness of the trees, cheeks burning. “Sir, you gave me two weeks off. You owe me twelve days of leave time. Whatever the mission is, send someone else.”
“Can’t. This op is time sensitive.”
“Aren’t they always?”
