When the Smoke Clears (Deadly Reunions) (36 page)

It sounded like it. “Has anyone located my father?”

Hunter shook his head. “We tracked him to a homeless shelter not too far from your mother’s house. I’ve got a couple of guys watching the place. I’ve also got a guy on the inside who’ll call me if your dad shows up.”

“My father. He’s not a dad.”

Hunter reached over and squeezed her hand.

Swallowing hard, her heart hurt. How she longed for a loving dad.

“If God loves me, why is he letting this happen to me?”

Hunter glanced at her, then back at the road. She saw his throat work. Then he said, “Lex, bad stuff happens. It’s a fallen world. Like I told you back at the hospital, God’s not picking on you and letting bad stuff happen. But he wants to be there for you to get you through it.”

She blinked and looked out the windshield.

Could that be true?

He thought so. Serena thought so. And, wonder of wonders, Dominic even spoke of God as though he were a friend. A companion. Someone he revered.

And her mother was a changed person. Or so she claimed.

The conversation from the morning echoed through her mind. She claimed she was tired of being a spoiled brat. That she wanted peace in her life.

Maybe the only way to do that was to forgive her mother. Like Dominic seemed to have forgiven her.

The thought hit her hard. She didn’t have any trouble accepting Dominic’s forgiveness, but wasn’t so gracious in extending forgiveness to her mother.

That seemed wrong.

It was wrong.

Being on the receiving end of forgiveness was an amazing thing. Did God forgive like Dominic? If so, could she forgive like God?

She wanted to. And the fact that she wanted to made it seem like it might not be the impossible task she’d once thought it was.

God, I believe in you. I believe you’re there. I just never really believed you cared. But I’m starting to think you do. Thank you for putting Hunter in my life right when I needed him.

When Hunter pulled into his parents’ drive, for the first time since she’d left Washington, her heart felt lighter. Freer.

Once again, she had the human shield escort her to the front door. Christine opened the door and gave them a welcoming smile. There was no surprise on her face, so Hunter must have filled her in beforehand.

“Hey, come on in.”

Guilt pierced her. Did she have the right to infringe on people this way? What if she was putting them in danger in spite of Hunter’s reassurances? And yet, if she tried to leave town or steal away, how would she protect herself?

She knew fires, not killers.

Christine looped her arm through Alexia’s. “I gave you the room you had before. I hope that’s okay.”

Alexia smiled. “Sure. Thanks for letting me invade your space again.” As they walked to the back room, Hunter following behind, Alexia couldn’t help notice how tall Christine was.

Taller than Alexia, but not quite as tall as Hunter. Isn’t that how she’d described her attacker this morning in the hospital?

Chilled by the thought, she shoved it aside. If Christine wanted to get to her, she could have done it the night before last when Alexia lay vulnerable under her roof.

Now, back in the room, she forced herself to focus on getting ready, not worrying about who might be after her. Tonight, she wanted to enjoy her time with Hunter—and maybe prove to his parents that she wasn’t the loser they thought she was.

Part of her wondered if she should tell Hunter’s father what she remembered. Then decided against it. Why stir it all up? What was in the past was in the past. She was going forward.

Taking a deep breath, she hung her dress on the closet door, then turned and looked at the bed. Fatigue tugged at her. She’d had a crazy, impossible-to-believe week. Other than the drug-induced sleep of last night and into the morning, she’d had very little rest.

Alexia decided she had time for a nap. She had a feeling she was going to need it.

40

Saturday, 6:04 p.m.

The senator tugged on the tie and made sure it was perfect. There’d been no more letters, but he didn’t kid himself—he felt sure more were coming. His lips tightened. Fortunately, Serena was out of the country for the time being. One less thing to worry about. But Alexia was still walking around. Available for Jillian to spill her guts to.

Frank was almost convinced that Alexia didn’t know where Jillian was. Unfortunately, he’d come to that conclusion too late to help Alexia. She knew someone was after her. After all the things that had happened to her in the past week, she wasn’t just going to go away.

“Are you ready?”

Elizabeth’s question jerked him from his thoughts. “Almost. Has Ian brought the car around?”

“Waiting on you. As usual, dear.”

Frank tried to figure out if there was something in the undertone of her words. If there was, he couldn’t put his finger on it.

Then she smiled and turned to leave.

“Elizabeth . . .”

She stopped and looked back, one brow arched. “Yes?”

“Is . . . everything all right?”

She tilted her head. “Of course. Is everything all right with you?”

Frank forced a smile. “Yes, I was just checking. We haven’t had much of a chance to talk lately with all of the campaigning going on.”

Her face softened. “It’s all right. You know I understand this life. After the election, maybe we can go somewhere for a few days. Just the two of us.”

Relief relaxed his tense shoulders. “That sounds wonderful.”

“Now come on, we’re going to be late.”

This time she left without looking back.

Unfortunately, the senator couldn’t look forward without looking back. “I’m going to find you, Jillian. Wherever you are, I’ll find you.”

His phone rang. When he saw the number on the screen, his gut tightened. “Hello?”

“I got the phone records for Serena Hopkins and have been cross-checking the calls from the last month. One was really interesting.”

“Which one was that?” Ever since the first letter, he’d made the call to keep tabs on Serena’s phone. They pulled her records twice a week. He wished they’d tapped it.

“She got a call from Los Angeles, California. I’ve never seen that number before. My sources tracked it back to a guy who sold his phone to an investigative reporter by the name of Julie Carson.”

“Julie Carson, Jillian Carter. She’s been living under an assumed name?”

“Looks that way. I’m still looking into it, but yes, I think we’ve found her.”

“Then we don’t need Alexia or Serena anymore, do we?”

“No. I’ve already got plans to take care of Alexia tonight. But I don’t know what Jillian and Serena have talked about. I think it best that Serena have an accident before she gets home from China.”

Frank felt satisfaction flow. Finally. “Make it work.”

He hung up the phone.

Now, he could go enjoy the party.

Alexia felt the butterflies awaken in the pit of her stomach. Again. The first time was when she emerged from her bedroom, ready for the dinner.

She knew she looked good, but when Hunter’s eyes went wide and his mouth dropped, she decided all the extra effort and time spent putting herself together had been well worth it.

Now, they were here. In the ballroom of the Grand Hyatt Hotel.

In just a few minutes, she’d come face-to-face with the man who thought she’d burned down her parents’ house.

And in a sense he was right.

As she fit her hand in the crook of Hunter’s arm, she lifted her chin. Hunter had asked her to be here. She wouldn’t embarrass or disappoint him by acting like an insecure teenager.

“You look awesome tonight. Did I tell you that?” Hunter whispered in her ear.

She felt her face heat. “Yes, you did. Several times. And thank you.”

“I’m glad you came with me. I don’t feel so awkward with you beside me.”

Her heart stuttered and warmed, even though she almost laughed. Hunter would feel comfortable anywhere. But his comment was sweet and she appreciated his attentiveness.

A band played in the background, a low jazzy tune that Alexia recognized but couldn’t name.

Then Christine entered the room with the man Alexia had met at the lab, Rick Shelton. He’d picked up Christine about thirty minutes before Alexia and Hunter had left.

Alexia refused to have Christine ride with them in case the person decided to come after her on the way to the dinner. The threatening words the caller had said still echoed in her mind. “You’ll never make it to that dinner.”

Well, she’d made it, she just had to make sure she didn’t turn her back on the wrong person.

“Hey, isn’t that Lori Tabor over there? I’m going to go speak to her.”

“Sure,” Hunter said. “I see Katie talking to Chad. I’m going to go see if she’s heard anything more about Jillian.”

Alexia felt a pang of fear for her old friend. When Jillian was ready to be found, she’d make an appearance. She made her way over to Lori and the tall man at her side. “Hi, Lori, good to see you again.”

Lori smiled, revealing her toothpaste-ad teeth. “Alexia! I didn’t expect to see you here tonight.” She gestured to the man beside her. “I don’t know if you’ve met my brother, Avery, or not. He’s a big supporter of Harper Graham.”

Alexia shook the man’s hand and suppressed a shiver. He stood about six feet tall, slightly taller than his sister, had blue eyes and sandy blond hair. He smiled. “So glad to meet you.” Then his eyes narrowed. “Had a bit of trouble lately, haven’t you?”

“A bit.” Alexia shivered at the look in his eyes. He gave her the creepies, but she couldn’t put her finger on the reason why.

Lori said, “Avery decided I needed the night off. Our mother came into town just in time to watch the kids.”

Hunter came up behind her. “Everyone’s sitting down. Are you ready?”

“Sure.” She looked back to Lori and Avery. “Nice to see you.”

Hunter led her to the table where he held the chair for her. She slid in and took note of her dining companions. Hunter’s parents sat across the table from her. His father had the stunned look of a deer caught in the headlights. And with dread, she realized Hunter hadn’t told them she was coming.

She shot him an incredulous look before pasting a smile on her face. “Hello, Mr. Graham. Mrs. Graham.”

Alexia had to give the man credit. He recovered pretty quickly and his lips spread into a credible smile. “Hello, Alexia, glad you could join us.”

Alexia was impressed. He almost didn’t even flinch when he said that. Mrs. Graham simply smiled and sipped her wine. Alexia wondered if this was going to be a long night.

Senator Hoffman paused in the door to the grand ballroom. He glanced around, only vaguely aware of his wife on his arm. All that mattered were those who voted. He’d been invited to this dinner by Harper Graham, a well-liked, highly respected member of this community. Being seen in his presence might influence a few voters still on the fence. It was worth coming.

“Darling, there’s Betty Ann. I’m going to go speak to her.”

Frank patted his wife’s hand and said, “All right. I’m going to make my way around the room and speak to those I know.”

“And introduce yourself to those you don’t,” she murmured with a smile to the couple on her left.

“Exactly.”

“See you soon.”

She walked away, and Frank pulled in the first deep breath of the evening. Then nearly choked on it. He blinked, sure that his eyes deceived him.

Alexia Allen? Surely not. It was probably someone who looked a lot like her.

Then the woman turned and smiled at the man seated next to her, giving the senator a full look at her face.

It was her.

Her eyes caught his and the smile wavered, then firmed back into place as she held his gaze.

She knows.
That was his first thought.

But how? No. It was just his guilty conscience talking. There was no way she could know.

A hand slapped on his shoulder and he turned to find Elliot Darwin, his campaign manager. Keeping his smile as natural as possible, Frank shook the man’s hand. “Glad you could make it.”