Page 75 of Burning Justice

Rio nodded. “We need to find Maria’s father, the weapon, and Elias.”

Kane patted his pockets but couldn’t find his phone.

“Lose something?”

He looked at Saxon, not answering Rio’s question.

“Come on.” Saxon ran for the car.

Kane followed after him, pushing the pace, but it was too late. In the line of cars up the winding road…there was a space. She had his phone—and the location for her father. And she’d pulled out and driven back down.

Maria was gone.

Fifteen

Maria drove south for two hours, grateful she had enough gas, even if it seemed weird to thank God for that. Did Christians do that? It seemed trivial, but maybe it was all about the simple everyday things and remembering God was in all of it.

She threaded through Anchorage to the port and a small boat launch on the jetty, where she parked before she even looked at Kane’s phone.

He hadn’t moved. Her father was still here, on a boat of some kind.

She didn’t look at how many missed calls or texts she had.

Enough she’d nearly answered, because so many times when she’d been following directions, another notification had popped up. And another. Requests for her to stop and wait for them. Pleas. Explanations that the guy who’d tortured her was dead, but not before Hammer had preached the gospel to him and their enemy had repented and accepted Christ.

She was going to need some time, and a lot of explanations from them, before she accepted that. But if one person didn’t deserve a second chance, then who could claim they did? She hadn’t done anything in her life that meant she could claim she did deserve redemption.

Maria got out of the car, pushing her hair behind her ear when the cool breeze wanted to blow it across her face. She scanned the skyline of Anchorage and the high-rise buildings. So much like a big city compared to where she’d been living. And yet for some, it was barely bigger than a town.

This was it. Her father was here.

She would finally get closure—or at least some kind of answer. Kane didn’t need to be here. In fact, she wanted to do this alone. That was why she’d left, not really thinking too much about his reaction or what he’d say about her doing this.

Maria wandered down the pier, scanning the boats.

A white yacht at the end of the row caught her attention. Not because of the long bow or the level above the rear, where a person could watch the water in front and pilot the boat. Or the Alaska state flag.

It was the name painted on the side.

Valentina.

She stopped to stare at her mother’s name. Had to swallow against the lump in her throat. “Mom.”

The phone vibrated in her pocket.

Kane could find her. She knew he would. The man had been by her side all this time. And when he got here, she would have what she’d come for.

She grabbed the rail and climbed on board, going to the hatch under the second level and descending the stairs.

“You aren’t going to change my mind.”

She stepped off the bottom stair and saw him across the room, sitting at a table with a case in front of him. “Hi, Papa.”

He flinched.

She hadn’t called him that in a long time.

“I’m about to go, so you need to leave. You aren’t coming.” His face twisted with grief. “I didn’t want to see you.”

---