Page 12 of His to Protect

Deciding against calling a man who just fed me a meal and offered to help, I dug through my small purse to find the pay-as-you-go phone I’d picked up from a RadioShack just before the Ohio border. No one had the number and I hadn’t used it yet, but I knew it wasn’t smart for a woman to travel alone without an emergency phone.

I felt the cool plastic with my fingertips and pressed it into my palm, before my shoulders fell and I dropped it back inside my Michael Kors bag.

If Kevin or someone he sent was inside my room, getting the police involved would only create more trouble for me.

—

My heart thumped wildly and I could feel my pulse beating in my wrists and at the base of my throat. I had waited by my car for what felt like hours to see if I could detect any movement in the lit hotel room before making the trek up the metal outside stairs, careful to step slowly and not make a noise.

The person was either still as a statue or the room was empty.

As I reached for the door with one hand, the thought briefly flickered through my mind that perhaps I didn’t lock the door on the way out.

This hotel was so old it didn’t use plastic key cards, but regular locks. Yesterday, I went for ice and didn’t lock my door.

Perhaps I had done the same thing again.

Yanking my hand back from the door, I stayed out of sight and closed my eyes, trying to remember how I’d left it earlier.

But no, I vividly remembered turning back to lock the door. Boomer had caught sight of a pigeon at the end of the walkway and tugged so hard on his leash that I had to yank him back.

“Okay,” I whispered, wishing that Boomer had a mean streak to him. Something more akin to an angry rottweiler than a dopey boxer.

His tongue hung out of his mouth and he slobbered.

I shook my head. “Some guard dog you are,” I muttered and pushed against the door with my free hand. It creaked as it opened, and I stood against the outside wall waiting for any sign of life inside.

With my heart pounding in my chest, I took one large step and stood directly in the doorway, quickly surveying whatever I could see.

I gasped as I took in the room. It could have been declared a disaster area.

The mattress had been flipped over and all the bed coverings were thrown on the floor. My duffel bag, which had been at the side of the bed, was now emptied, and my clothes and meager belongings had been tossed all over the place.

Little hairs stood up on my arms and the back of my neck as I took a slow step inside the room.

“Hello?” I called out, glancing behind the door and then toward the bathroom. The door was open and the light was off.

Someone could still be hiding, so I left the door to my room wide open and took another step inside. If someone came out of the bathroom, I wanted to be able to escape quickly.

Dropping Boomer’s leash, I moved toward the small table at the side of the bed.

His ears perked up as he sat, back straight, and my lips twitched. The crazy dog must have sensed my tension because he was as alert as I’d ever seen him.

“It’s okay, Boom,” I whispered and watched his left ear twitch in acknowledgment.

With another look at the bathroom, I slid open the drawer.

My heart sank straight from my chest, down my body, and into the horribly worn shag carpet beneath my feet.

“Crap,” I muttered, feeling tears well in my eyes.

They spilled down my cheeks before I could wipe them away. My hands shook as I opened the cover of the Bible in the drawer. I already knew what I would find.

Or wouldn’t.

I never should have been so stupid as to leave my things inside the room.

Because where I had stored my passport and my remaining cash except for the twenty dollars I had in my wallet, there was nothing.

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