Hidden in Shadows

by Hope White

  “Sometimes. But mostly I try to inspire people, which is why I’m posting photos from my mission trip.” She typed in “proverbsbabe3.com” and clicked Go.

  “What’s the three for?”

  “My lucky number. It symbolizes the Trinity and there are three people in my family.”

  She waited for the blog to open. And waited. “I need a faster computer.”

  It finally popped open, but her page was blank. Then, suddenly, the image of a coffin floated across the screen.

  SEVEN

  “What the…?” Krista said.

  Luke nudged her out of the way. “Someone broke into your account.”

  “How can they do that? Why would they do that?”

  “Could be kids messing around.” But Luke knew that possibility was slim. “Let’s not assume anything until I check it out. Get me your Internet provider information and pass codes and I’ll have my people look into it.”

  “Okay, thanks.” She went upstairs to her office.

  Luke knew it was safe up there because he’d checked it out when he got the box of Christmas decorations. He eyed the screen with the floating coffin. What had this woman stepped into? Now they were coming after her online?

  Holiday music drifted through the shop from the corner speakers. She must have turned it on upstairs. Although it brightened most people’s lives, Christmas songs were just another reminder of the things Luke never had: thoughtful gifts of love, family gatherings, turkey with cranberry sauce and stuffing.

  His dad had died in a freak car accident when Luke was only five, leaving Mom to raise him by herself. Mom could barely pay the light bill much less buy unnecessary presents for her kid. She did the best she could on her secretary’s salary. For the first few years after Dad’s death, their local church had provided them with holiday meals and presents from strangers.

  Luke felt ashamed about needing handouts. At ten he told his mom he didn’t want anything from the church people. He’d rather go without than suffer the embarrassment of kids at school knowing what he got for Christmas because, well, their families footed the bill.

  He wondered if that’s what drove Krista to being so independent. He’d read her background, knew about her father’s murder and her mother moving to Wentworth when Krista was young.

  It seemed he and Krista had more in common than Luke wanted to admit, only, Luke never found comfort in a God who took both of his parents away.

  “Hey, is Natalie here?”

  Luke turned to the back door. Timothy, Natalie’s fiancé, stepped into the kitchen.

  “I haven’t seen her.”

  “Huh. I thought she said to meet her here at nine.”

  “We don’t open until eleven,” Luke said.

  “We?” the man chuckled.

  Luke didn’t answer. He didn’t have to explain himself to this guy.

  “So you’re the chief’s friend from New York?” Timothy strolled into the kitchen and leaned against the counter to face Luke.

  “I don’t remember saying I was from New York, but yes, I’m friends with the chief.”

  “What’s your interest in Krista?”

  Luke narrowed his eyes at the guy. “Who wants to know?”

  “My fiancée, actually. She can’t figure out why you’re always hanging around.”

  “The chief is worried about Krista and asked me to keep an eye on her.”

  “Yeah, well, there are lots of guys who would kill for that job. Why you?”

  “Maybe because I’m former military and the chief trusts me to follow orders?”

  Timothy nodded and glanced at the laptop. “Whoa, what happened there?”

  “Either the site is down or someone broke in. Not sure yet.”

  “Kinda strange, all this stuff that’s been happening. Someone breaks into Krista’s house, the shop and now her computer?”

  “A lot of action for a small town.”

  Timothy crossed his arms over his chest. “Yeah, ever since you showed up.”

  The guy was a few inches shorter than Luke but built like a wrestler. Still, Luke didn’t want to get into a shoving match in the shop.

  “You accusing me of something?” Luke said.

  “I just don’t like coincidences. And since my fiancée is best friends with Krista, I feel protective of both of them.”

  “It’s not me you have to worry about.”

  “Yeah, then who?”

  “How would I know?” Luke said.

  Good thing Luke left his shoulder firearm in the glove box. He’d be too tempted to threaten idiot Tim with it. Luke had left it in the car out of respect for Krista; plus, it wasn’t easy hiding a firearm when you were only wearing a T-shirt and jeans.

  “I think you know a lot more than you’re saying.” Timothy leaned closer.

  Great. He really wanted a fistfight here, in the shop?

  “Hey, Timothy,” Krista said, breezing up to them with a file folder. “You looking for Nat?”

  Timothy kept his gaze focused on Luke. “She was supposed to meet me at nine for scones.”

  “Huh, she didn’t tell me. I usually wouldn’t be here this early, but we’ve got to get the Christmas decorations up.”

  “Yeah, well, she probably had problems with that old clunker of hers.”

  “Wouldn’t surprise me,” Krista said, setting down the file.

  A few seconds of silence passed. Timothy didn’t move to leave. Luke didn’t budge from his spot in front of the laptop. Krista glanced from Timothy to Luke and back to Timothy.

  “What’d I miss?”

  “Not a thing,” Luke said.

  “Great, then here’s the information you asked about.” She handed Luke the file and smiled at Timothy. “You want to help decorate?”

  “Maybe another time. Natalie and I would love to help out.”

  “Oh, okay.”

  Luke heard the question in her voice.

  “Take care, Krista.” Timothy kissed her on the cheek and left.

  Krista stood in the doorway for a minute and watched him leave. “What on earth was that about?”

  “He thinks I brought trouble to town.”

  She snapped around, blond strands of hair breaking free from her clip and trailing down the side of her face. “That’s ridiculous.”

  “He doesn’t know me, Krista. And everything started happening when I showed up. It’s logical.”

  “But untrue and unfair to accuse you.”

  “He’s being protective. Nothing wrong with that.”

  “I wish you could tell everyone who you really are.”

  “Bad idea. I have a better chance of finding the drug contact in Wentworth by being as nonthreatening as possible. I’m just a guy, passing through town to visit his friend.”

  She planted her hands on her hips as if gearing up for an argument. She looked adorable.

  He tapped the file folder to his palm. “I’m going to the car to call this in. I’ll be right back.”

  “Good, because we have holly to hang.”

  “Can hardly wait.”

  It was bad enough that Timothy stopped by and gave Luke a hard time, but an hour later Alan made his daily appearance.

  “Just checking in on my favorite girl,” he said, coming in for a kiss. Krista turned her cheek.

  This had to stop.

  “I’m fine, Alan, truly.” And she was getting really tired of people checking on her.

  She’d received a phone call earlier from Mom and Lenny asking if she wanted them to fly to Michigan because they’d heard someone had broken into the house. Then Timothy stopped by, Natalie made an appearance and now Alan was thrusting himself into her life. They needed to stop suffocating her.

  And she needed to focus on getting the shop ready to open for the lunch rush, which meant she had to get rid of Alan so she could finish decorating with Luke.

  “I called early this morning. Didn’t you get my message?” Alan asked.

  “I was tired. Look, Alan
, I have a lot of work to do this morning. Can we talk later?”

  “How about dinner?”

  Alan was a decent man and she didn’t feel right dumping him abruptly, although in her mind they were never together. Out of respect for his feelings, she’d agree to have dinner.

  “How about a sandwich at Ruby’s Pub?” she offered.

  “I was thinking we could drive into Grand Rapids for a more romantic setting.”

  Just then, Luke came downstairs with another box of decorations and nodded as he passed them on his way into the dining room.

  “What’s he doing here?” Alan scowled.

  “Ruby’s Pub,” Krista confirmed. “I’ll meet you there at seven.”

  “I could always stay and help decorate.” He spied around the corner at Luke.

  “We’re almost done. Thanks anyway.” She led Alan to the back door. “Go on. I’ll see you later.”

  He turned to hug her goodbye, and the shop’s phone rang, praise the Lord. “Gotta go.”

  She shut the door behind him and went to answer the phone. Luke came around the corner and grabbed it.

  “Hello?” he said, then eyed the phone and hung up. “Wrong number.”

  “More like you scared them off.”

  “How do ya figure?”

  “They call Grace’s Tea Shop and a deep male voice answers ‘hello’,” she imitated.

  “I don’t really sound like that, do I?” He smiled.

  In the flash of a second she realized she shared a comfortable connection with Luke that she’d never felt with other men, especially not Alan.

  “What?” he said, studying her.

  “Nothing, just an aha moment.”

  “Want to share?”

  “Nope. Like to keep you guessing.” She strolled into the dining room. The tree filled the corner of the shop, the holly garland was strung from the windows and photographs in holiday frames lined the mantel over the fireplace. “Looking good, handyman.”

  “One more box and we’re done with inside work. The other two boxes are outside lights.” He turned to her. “You ready for customers?”

  “Yep, food prep is done. We’ve only got two reservations, which is good because Tatum can’t get here until one.”

  “So you’re on your own,” he said.

  “Unless you want to strap on an apron and help me out up front.”

  “Uh, I’d probably break your dainty cups.”

  “They’re stronger than they look.”

  “I’ll bet they are.”

  His blue eyes captivated her, and for a second she forgot why this man had come to Wentworth. More like, she wished it wasn’t because he was a federal officer out to get a drug-dealing killer. She wished…

  With a forced smile, she turned her back to him and dug into the box of decorations. She pulled out the first thing she touched: a ball of mistletoe.

  Oh, boy.

  “What is it?” he said.

  “You’ve never seen mistletoe?”

  “Not like that I haven’t.” He fingered it like a kid fascinated by a new toy. Then his eyes caught hers. “What do you want me to do with it?”

  She couldn’t help but glance at his lips. Talk about awkward.

  “Hang it in the doorway.” She shoved it at him and turned back to the contents of the box. Focus, she coached herself.

  Why couldn’t she feel this kind of attraction to a solid, safe man like Alan? Why did a guarded man in a violent career be the one who drew her in?

  Shaking off her thoughts, she pulled out a box of ornaments and opened the top. She smiled as her eyes caught on the nativity scene ornament she’d made in the fifth grade. This was possibly her favorite: the birth of baby Jesus with the star sparkling above.

  “What else did you find there?” Luke said, walking up to her.

  “Ornaments for the tree.” She placed the nativity scene ornament on the tree front and center.

  “You make that?”

  “Yep. I made most of these. They’re dated on the back.” She pulled out another ornament, this one of a cross with the word Faith running vertically down the center. “Dive in.”

  She and Luke hung ornaments for the next few minutes as soft holiday music filled the shop.

  Krista hung the Kitten in a Box ornament. “I love this time of year.”

  Luke kept pulling out ornaments, putting some down and looking at others.

  “There’s nothing here dated before 1988. Guess you weren’t much of an artist before then?”

  “Actually, we had to leave those ornaments behind.”

  “Behind? Oh, right.” He placed a lighthouse ornament on the tree.

  “You know, don’t you?” She eyed him.

  “About?”

  “Me and my mom fleeing California after my dad was killed.”

  “I read your background file.” He placed his hands on his hips. “I’m sorry I brought it up.”

  She shrugged. “It was a long time ago.”

  But they both knew it still haunted her, especially considering recent events.

  “I guess you were lucky to find a home here in Wentworth,” he said.

  “Yep, in a safe, quiet town. At least it was until this week.”

  Luke stepped closer and placed his hands on her shoulders. “Things will be safe again, I promise.”

  “I don’t even know you, yet I totally believe you. How do you do that?”

  He smiled. “Charisma?”

  “I guess. Okay, you know all about me. When do I get to read your background file?”

  He dropped his hands to his sides. “It would put you to sleep.”

  “I doubt that.” She bent down for another ornament. “Come on, tell me about your family.”

  She grabbed a foam ornament covered with sequins and started to place it on the tree. She paused at the odd expression on Luke’s face.

  “It’s not a hard question,” she prompted. “Where did you grow up? Do you have brothers and sisters? What made you become an federal agent?”

  “What, you writing an article for the local paper?” He pulled an ornament from the box and casually placed it on the tree.

  Krista sensed the tension in his body. She could see it in the way he held his shoulders.

  “Hey, if you’re going to be my shadow until this is over I’d like to know something about you,” Krista said.

  Luke hung the ornament and stared her down. “All you need to know is I’m going to keep you alive.”

  He turned and left the dining room.

  Did she hit a nerve or what? Was it possible that Luke had an even darker history than Krista?

  Fine, she wouldn’t push him. She felt sure that given enough time he’d open up to her. Why is it so important to you?

  “It shouldn’t be,” she muttered.

  But it was. Probably because of the angst she read in his eyes when he wasn’t covering with bravado or humor.

  Krista finished with the last of the ornaments and carried the box into the back. Luke was nowhere to be seen. Yeah, he was probably hiding in his car. Whatever. She had to respect his need to keep his life private.

  He came downstairs carrying another box. “I’m goin’ outside to do the lights.”

  She grabbed her coat and followed him out the back door.

  “Don’t you have scones or something to bake?” he said, as if he didn’t want her around.

  Whenever his curt side popped out, she couldn’t decide if she should turn and walk away, point her finger in his face and give him a lecture or shower him with compassion.

  She chose compassion, because that was the most Christian thing to do. She grabbed the ladder and followed him to the front of the shop.

  “I’m very particular about my lights,” she said.

  “I’ll bet you are,” he joked.

  So he was covering with humor again. Interesting. She leaned the ladder up against the house and shook it to make sure it was secure.

  He started up the ladd
er with the box in his hands.

  “Careful,” she warned.

  “You’re making me nervous.”

  “Sorry.” She gripped the ladder so it wouldn’t budge.

  Luke slid the box onto the asphalt shingles and climbed onto the roof. “Okay, boss, where do I start?” he asked with a smile.

  “String the bigger lights along the roof line. The clips should be there from last year.”

  Luke kneeled down and fingered the edge of the roof. “Okay. You want them to go all around the roof or just in the front?”

  “All around, please.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  A car pulled into the lot with three ladies inside.

  “Looks like you’ve got customers. I can handle this.” She hesitated.

  “Go on. I won’t mess up, too badly.” He disappeared to the other side of the roof and she headed inside to prepare for the first customers of the day.

  Shucking her coat, she tossed it on the stairs going up to the office and grabbed a few menus. She took a deep breath and greeted the three middle-aged women.

  “Good morning, ladies,” she said. “You have your choice of tables.”

  The short blonde woman with a round face pointed to the corner table by the tree and her friends followed.

  “Have you ever been to Grace’s Tea Shop before?” Krista asked.

  “I came last year with my mom while staying at the Lake-side Resort. I’m back for a girls’ weekend.” She smiled at her friends.

  “Sounds great. We specialize in high tea, offering three different versions.”

  The ladies sat down and Krista handed them menus. “We also have salads, soups and sandwiches. I’ll give you a few minutes to—”

  A loud bang echoed from outside, followed by pounding from the ceiling. Krista instinctively ducked and glanced out the window…

  …just as Luke dropped off the roof.

  EIGHT

  Stunned, Luke struggled to breathe as he stared up at the gray November sky. What on earth just happened? He heard a loud crack, like a gunshot, lost his footing and tumbled off the roof.

  Which meant someone was shooting at him? He had to get up, protect Krista.

  He pinched his eyes shut against the frustrating paralysis of his lungs. That was the only thing he could feel right now, not the pain of a possible broken limb or concussion. He couldn’t even tell where he’d been hurt. He just knew he had to have done some kind of damage in the fall. “Luke?”