Page 83 of Glimmer in the Darkness

After peering at gas stations and grocery stores and finding no payphones, he finally gave up and bought a no-contract phone in a Rite Aid, got it going, and dialed the number.

It rang twice before it connected. The person on the other end said nothing.

“It’s me,” he said.

He heard an exhale, then, “You found it.”

Obviously, but he didn’t say that. “Smart place to leave it.”

“Smart place to look for it.”

Before that week, he’d gone a decade without hearing her voice. He’d told himself over and over that he didn’t miss her, didn’t ever want to see her again. What a liar he’d been.

“You’re okay?” he asked.

“Still alive. Still not in custody.”

Her voice sounded strong enough. “I guess that’s all we can ask right now. Can I come get you?”

“I’m worried someone’s following you.”

He glanced around the parking lot. Didn’t see anybody suspicious, not that he would. “What do you want to do?”

“We’ll meet. I’ll drive. I found something I think belonged to Ella. Right before the gunshot.”

“What is it?”

“Just a little hair tie, but it proves she was there. You have a plan?”

Not a plan, but an idea. An idea that, if he was right, could lead them to Ella. He warred between the desire to save Ella and the desire to protect Cassidy. Unfortunately, to do the first, he might not be able to do the second.

But Ella was five years old. And Reid… Reid needed his daughter home.

Father, lead us. Forgive me for… for all of it. I need You now. We need You now.

No flash of light. No writing on the wall or windshield. But James felt a sense of peace that defied the situation.

“We’ll figure it out,” he said. “Where are you?”

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Cassidy waited at the end of the narrow dirt road. Finally, James’s Jeep bounced up and turned into the woods, where he’d parked the last time they’d been here. She drove down to meet him, and, after he laid a rifle across the backseat and tossed a small backpack in behind it, he opened her door.

“You planning an assassination?”

A muscle ticked in his jaw. “If I find the guy who killed my sister…”

She squeezed her eyes closed, let the words roll over her. One thing at a time.

James took her hand and tugged. “Can you get out, just for a second?”

When she did, he swept her into his arms and held her tight. “Thank God you’re here. Thank God you’re all right.”

Oh. She savored the feel of him. He’d supported her the day before, gotten her safely off the mountain, tended her wounds. But not like this. Not like… like he cared. Like he felt something for her. Even if it was just friendship.

She couldn’t speak for the lump in her throat.

He leaned back enough to study her face, then turned her head to look at the wound. “How does it feel?”