Chapter 12
Luke was on his feet before the echo of the sound had fully faded.
He motioned for Jenna to stay before moving toward the back of the church, keeping close to the pews. His eyes adjusted to the dimmer light near the rear of the sanctuary.
The entrance doors were closed, the way they’d left them.
Nothing was disturbed. No one lingered near the back pews.
He listened.
Still nothing.
He moved through the vestibule at the back of the sanctuary, checking the small coatroom off to the side. It was empty. Then he pushed through the side door that opened onto the narrow parking area beside the building.
He stepped out and stopped.
The lot was small. Three cars were parked there, none of them running. A row of hedges stretched along the far edge, thick enough for someone to hide behind.
He crossed to the hedges and looked out. He spotted a teenager on a bicycle. An older man walking a small dog on the opposite sidewalk. No one who looked like they’d just slipped out of a church uninvited.
Whoever had been inside was gone.
He headed back to the building. Out of the utmost caution, he checked the remaining rooms at the church.
No one else was there.
Someone had quietly come into the church, moved to the back of the sanctuary, and slipped out before he could reach them.
The question that had been sitting at the edges of his mind since the shot on Main Street that morning pressed in again.
Was this about Jenna?
Roderick was dead. The threat that had driven her away was supposed to be gone. So who had taken that shot, and who had just been standing in the back of this church listening to her tell him things she’d kept hidden for years?
Or was this about him?
The Hardings had been after them for months, and the legal threats kept coming. The Hendersons were angrier and less careful, and Travis Henderson had never needed much of a reason to escalate.
Luke didn’t have an answer.
He walked back through the vestibule, pushed open the sanctuary door, and stopped.
The pew where he’d left Jenna was empty.
He studied the length of the sanctuary—the rows of empty pews, the candle still burning at the front, the colorful light falling through the stained glass onto nothing.
Jenna was gone.
Had she been taken? Or had she run . . . again?
Jenna had heard the footstep, and instinct had taken over.
She’d dropped down low between the pews.
Her heart slammed against her ribs as she forced herself to breathe through her nose.
Someone else was in this church.
Someone who knew where she was.
She thought about the sedan she’d noticed yesterday. She remembered this morning’s gunfire. The flat tire at the hardware store.
She’d convinced herself that the threat against her was gone, and she was safe to come back. She’d told herself that so many times in the past month that she’d almost believed it.
Maybe she’d been wrong. Maybe the threat would never really be over—not while Roderick still had colleagues out there. What if the marshals were wrong and the crime syndicate hadn’t fallen apart?
A door opened.
Footsteps crossed the vestibule.
Nausea rose in her.
She pressed herself flatter against the pew.
Whoever it was, they’d find her soon.
And what would they do when they did?
Would they shoot her right here in the church?
Her heart pounded harder in her ears.
The footsteps slowed.
Then she heard, “Jenna?”
Luke. It was just Luke.
She pressed her eyes closed as relief swept through her.
It wasn’t a killer.
It was her husband.
She looked up and saw Luke staring at her, his expression raw and unguarded.
In an instant, she recognized his grief. She’d put that look there.
How would she ever forgive herself for that?
She stood. “I’m sorry. I panicked and hid. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
His jaw tightened and then released. “Are you all right?”
“Yes.” She stood and stepped out from the pew, smoothing her jacket with trembling hands. “I just—I reacted. I didn’t think.”
He nodded but said nothing.
Her thoughts scrambled ahead. “Did you see anyone?”
“No. Whoever it was is gone now.”
She nodded slowly, her jaw tight, and looked at the empty sanctuary around them.
Nowhere felt safe for long. That was the thing she kept relearning.
Luke was about to say something when his phone buzzed in his pocket.
He pulled it out. “It’s the sheriff. Give me a minute.”