Page 2 of Fate's Unseen Shadow

He was the only one she trusted at this point. He helped find runaway children free of charge. That must mean he’s a good man. Or at least she hoped it did.

Ella pulled out the cheap red lipstick. It was a strange purchase when she was down to her last dollar, but it was necessary. With her picture on the front page of every news company, she had to disguise herself.

Leaning toward the car’s center, her reflection in the rearview mirror made her pause. She’d chopped off her long brown hair. Now it sat above her shoulders, bleached blond. Between the hair and the red lips, no one would recognize her.

“Elizabeth Cassin” had died the same day as Teddy did.

Ella ate the protein bar she’d bought for lunch as she drove across town. She had a plan. Once she’d arrived in Charleston, South Carolina, to confront Mr. Vargas, willing to beg him for help, she’d discovered he owned a bar. It sat on the backside of Charleston, four hours away from where she’d disappeared. If he wouldn’t help her with her case, maybe he’d give her a job to wait it out until the police got their heads out of their asses and started searching for the real killer.

Before the killer found her.

It wasn’t the best plan in the world, but it should get her some immediate cashifthe person hiring at Mr. Vargas’s bar didn’t ask too many questions.

Ella pulled into the bar’s parking lot, which was empty except for a black sports car parked to one side. She’d hoped to catch the manager during the day and convince them to give her a chance behind the bar. Then, when Mr. Vargas happened to come to his bar, she’d beg for help.

With a deep breath, she walked across the parking lot. Gravel crunched under her sneakers, and she had the odd urge to kick a stone as hard as possible. Her stomach rumbled again, despite the protein bar.

Her jeans were her own, now a little baggy and sitting low on her hips. The T-shirt was plain black, which she’d picked up at a thrift store yesterday for three dollars, along with a slightly used bra. The lack of food for a month had resulted in unplanned weight loss. And without her next meal in sight, it would get worse.

The bar was a long cinderblock building with a porch that ran the length of it. Signs posted along the front of the porch read, “Motorcycle Parking Only.” She stepped up the wooden steps, glad the place looked clean, and strolled with confidence through the front door.

As the air-conditioning hit her so did a new emotion: doubt.

Doubt didn’t belong in her vocabulary. Her father had molded her into a woman who didn’t accept anything less than what she wanted from any business transaction. That’s all this was, and she’d get what she wanted. A job and help.

A male voice shouted, “We’re closed!”

She jumped at the intrusion into her thoughts.

Pulling her shoulders back, Ella moved farther into the dim atmosphere. It smelled faintly of cleaning chemicals. Better than what her imagination had conjured up over the past twenty-four hours about a bar on this side of town.

“I know,” she replied, before clearing her throat and speaking with authority. “I need to speak with the manager.” She lifted her chin, pretending to belong in a bar like this and pushing back that doubt. Walking into boardrooms and making million-dollar deals had never caused an ounce of self-doubt before. And ever since her father had died, it was like he stood beside her in every deal she made or negotiation she won. A familiar presence, right behind her, reminding her who she was: his daughter, owner of Cassin Systems.

But she couldn’t feel her father right now.

She swallowed over the lump in her throat. Right now, she was alone.

Ella hooked her thumbs in the loops on her jeans and kept advancing into the building. “I’m here to apply for the bartender position.” She searched the room, spotting one solitary man typing on a laptop. He sat in an oversized semicircle booth, the only one in the bar, with a direct line of sight to the front door.

Her body hesitated on its own, but she forced it to take another step. As she drew closer, the man glanced up from his laptop before lifting his head fully.

His eyes skittered down to her feet and then back up. “Hi.”

Ella smiled to cover up the worry she’d dressed wrong. “Hi. Are you the manager?”

“Yes.” He leaned back and shut the top of his laptop, resting his hands on it. “You’re here for the job? What kind of experience do you have?”

And here’s where she decided to stick with the truth. “None.”

“None.”

She shook her head.

A small smile appeared on his lips, and it suddenly hit her.

This might be the single most attractive man she’d ever come face-to-face with in her thirty-one years. After flying all over the world, working with wealthy businessmen, and meeting men here and there at a bar or restaurant, she realized that none of them stacked up against this guy.

His neat brown hair seamlessly merged with a full, short-trimmed beard. His brown eyes, framed by dark lashes, reflected an unexpected intensity when studying her this way. However, her gaze faltered, and her mouth ran dry as she took in his strong neck, broad shoulders, and slightly tanned, muscular forearms.

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