Page 46 of Broken Promises
I was stunned by the revelation, and worried how Hannah would react, even though she hated Kelly for leaving her. Granny took good care of Hannah, but the deep-seated issues caused by her absent mother were things we were going to deal with for years to come.
“I don’t believe so, and that’s why I need you to go.”
“Explain,” I demanded as I turned off the monitor to Hannah’s house and used the GPS I’d installed on her vehicle to track her to work.
Some may think it’s stalking to want to know where she was every second of the day, but it was revelations like the one Lucian just made that kept everything off-kilter, resulting in my need to monitor Hannah.
“The name and date of birth are for Kelly Johnson, but height, eye color, and locations of known childhood scars don’t match.” He paused then added, “Something’s not right about it, and I thought you’d want to be the one to investigate. There’s a plane waiting for you at the airstrip, and you’ll be back before Hannah gets off work.”
Although we’d grown apart over the years, Lucian knew me well. He knew I wouldn’t trust something so important to anyone else, even though Skid is a good friend and a trusted member of the family.
“I’ll let Devlin know what I find. Please tell Rylee I’m so proud of her and we’ll be there in a few weeks to visit.”
“Safe travels,” he remarked and disconnected the call.
I fell back into the chair and scrubbed my hands down the front of my face. If Kelly was dead, Hannah would struggle. Ifthis was a ruse, then we needed to figure out where the real Kelly Johnson was before something else happened.
Picking up my phone, I dialed Hannah’s number and listened to the ringing as I packed a few things into a bag.
“Good morning,” she sang as she answered, and I smiled at her cheerful demeanor.
“Good morning, beautiful. Did you sleep well?”
“I slept like a baby,” she returned. “Are you having a good morning?”
“I am, but I wanted to call you before you got to work. I’ve got to fly to north Texas for a quick meeting, but I’ll be home by the time you get off work.”
“It’s not a . . .”
Chuckling, I answered, “I’m not going hunting, baby. It’s just something that popped up this morning, but I promise, I’ll see you tonight,” I said before adding, “I love you.”
“I love you too. Safe travels, and I’ll see you tonight,” Hannah replied.
We disconnected the call, and I watched her GPS until I saw she was at work, then I turned it off and gathered the information I needed to take with me. The picture Hannah had given us of Kelly was clipped into a file with all the information on her that we could dig up, which wasn’t much.
After I let Regan and my security know I was leaving for the day, I got into my car and pulled away from my house. Stopping at the gate, I left instructions with the guard before turning onto the road. Playing music always helped me focus, so I started my playlist and maneuvered through traffic until I arrived at the airstrip.
After speaking with the pilot, I boarded the plane and got comfortable. Leaving Hannah was harder than I expected, but I would do whatever I had to do to ensure her safety. Little did Iknow, getting on that plane was what set us down the road to a showdown.
I just prayed we were still standing when the smoke cleared.
Chapter 20
Hannah
When I got to work, I waited for Samuel like I always did, only to see a text that he was taking the day off. Sad I wouldn’t have my work buddy today, I sighed and walked inside. Waylon was already sitting at the computer, working slowly on something when I approached. He looked over his shoulder and his hair, once again, was covering his eyes. I wanted to grab a pair of scissors and cut it off so he could see, but I refrained.
“Samuel is out today, so I’m going to work on a few things at his desk and I’ll be right here if you have questions. Just keep working one step at a time and you’ll do fine.”
He nodded and turned back to the computer without a word. I wasn’t sure how old he was, but his appearance and lack of basic societal interactions made him seem like a teenager. I shrugged and got to work, wanting to finish up as much as possible today. I only had four days left to work, and I refused to leave anything I’d started unfinished.
When I glanced at the little clock on Samuel’s desk, I saw less than an hour had passed. Time was dragging on, and there was nothing I could do to stop my mind from running a hundred miles an hour. When I woke up this morning, I had a deep feeling of dread in my stomach. It wasn’t something I experienced often, but when I did, it caused me to be distracted.
I wouldn’t call myself religious, but I was spiritual, so when my gut warned me of something, I paid attention. And I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. Then, hearing Rhyshad to fly to a meeting caused my anxiety and worry to grow until every minute seemed like an hour.
Trying to push the worry aside, I attempted to take my own advice and started working on the long list of tasks. There weren’t too many major assignments to complete, but if I got a jump-start on what was left, maybe I could leave on time today.
As the minutes ticked by, I thought of everything Rhys and I did last night and felt my face grow flush. I clenched my thighs together, feeling the delicious soreness from our lovemaking. It was more than I could’ve ever dreamed of, and I wanted more. The boys I’d been with in the past weren’t even in the same league as a man like Rhys, and I was the lucky girl who got to call him mine.
