Page 15 of Hidden Ascent

“Does he have GPS on it?”

“I disabled it before coming here.”

“Despite the knock on your head, you seem to have all bases covered. And this all happened tonight?”

“Yeah.”

“You did well keeping yourself alive.”

“I don’t know how. I should be dead multiple times over within the last few hours.”

“I guess God’s not done with you yet.”

“I’m sure He’s got better things to do with his time than chase after me.”

“You’d be surprised. I’m just glad you came here. You can rest for as long as you need.”

“I’m not here to rest. I need your help.” She sat up, dropping her feet onto the floor, but the blood drained from her head, and she had to lie back down before she passed out again.

“Like it or not, you need the rest. You can’t do anything in the state you’re in. There’s not much you can do right now besides recover, so you may as well take advantage.”

“I can stop for a few hours, but I need to find out who’s responsible for the murder of my team, and I can’t do that on my own.”

“No. You’re right. But I know someone in the FBI who I think—”

“No. No law enforcement. I told you, I don’t know who I can trust.”

“You can trust this guy. I do. He’s helped me with some stuff before.”

“Maybe you can trust him, but what if he tells someone he shouldn’t? I won’t be responsible for anyone else being killed. I came here because I needyourhelp and no one else’s. You’ve always told me to come to you if I need anything. Here I am.”

Peter pressed his lips together and dropped his head. “I’m sorry, Isla. I can’t right now. I would if I could. You know that.”

“What’s stopping you?”

“It’s Jemi.”

“Since when doesn’t Jemi want you helping your friends? I’m surprised she’s not down here right now offering to help. Does she even know I’m here?”

“She’s sick. Very sick. I won’t leave her. I can do some small stuff for you, but I can’t leave her long.”

“I—I’m so sorry. Of course. You need to be with her. It’s okay. I’ll find a way. I can do this on my own.”

“Hang on. You just said you can’t do it alone, and you’re right. You need help.”

“I don’t have any other choice.”

“Have you tried praying about it? You still do that, right?”

“Of course I do, but God’s got better things to do with his time than find me a partner I can trust.”

“So, you really do still hold that line? I would have thought you’d have grown out of that by now.”

“Grown out of it? It’s called growing up. I’m a speck on this earth. I don’t have delusions of grandeur that God’s focused on me all the time.”

“And you don’t think He wants this thing to be resolved? You don’t think he wants justice for your team?”

“Sure, but it’s my team. It’s my responsibility. God gave me a brain. Now, I have to use it.”

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