Page 77 of Trail to Trouble
Behind the larger photo, a photobook lay flat. He reached around, grabbed it, and flipped it open. An electric shock zinged straight into his heart as he stared at a photo of him and Katrina standing atop Lover’s Leap Falls. Her smile lit up the sky. He recalled that she hadn’t smiled much at the start of the trip, but she did that day. Before all hell broke loose, anyway. Within seconds, the exhilarating shock of their photo turned dismal, as the reality of that day set in. Still, he flipped the pages to see the rest of the photos. There were so many. He remembered Alyssa constantly snapping photos. It was her thing. Obviously, Katrina had gotten hold of Alyssa’s camera and printed everything.
There were single photos of Bianca, Katrina, and him. There were photos of combinations of all of them. But what he quickly realized was that the photos of him and Katrina outnumbered the other photos. They were smitten. Alyssa must have realized that and felt the need to document it for her friend. What he also realized was the way Bianca looked at him and Katrina. Sideways glances with her eyes slit and brows furrowed. Recalling the way Bianaca tended to touch him possessively, and now, seeing the look on her face when she watched him and Katrina, she was jealous.
“I see you found my treasure.”
He flinched at the sound of Katrina’s voice. So engrossed in the trip down memory lane, he hadn’t heard her walk up to him.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to snoop. The picture of your family caught my attention, and then I saw this book behind it.”
Katrina edged closer to him and placed her fingertips on a picture of Alyssa. The expression of sadness Katrina wore broke his heart.
“I miss her. She was such a good friend.”
He slung his arm over her shoulders and pulled her to his side while still holding the photo album in his other hand.
“She was a talented photographer, and she captured so much of that trip.”
“Yeah. I was happy to see that when I viewed her camera chip. I look at this book often, though it is bittersweet.”
He nodded, imagining how it was for her.
He pulled his arm away from her, shut the book, and put it back on the shelf.
“And nothing from Bianca?” he asked.
“Nope. It’s like she fell off the face of the earth. Well, and then I assumed a new identity. There is that.”
She shrugged. “Maybe she tried to reach out to me at some point after I disappeared, but I doubt it.”
Katrina was probably right about that.
Hunter looked at his watch. “Are you sure I can’t bring you to work and then pick you up later? I’d feel better. At least until we learn more information about the disappearance of the assistant district attorney.”
He liked that she at least appeared to consider his offer.
“No,” she said as she shook her head.
“I vowed to never let him impact my life more than what he already has. I’ve been careful. There’s no way he should know where I am.”
He felt defeated, but he knew not to pressure her. The last thing he wanted was to show any signs of similarity to Sebastián, starting with being controlling or pressuring her.
“Okay, still, since I’m here, I’d like to follow you to work. Then, I’ll be on my way. Can I see you tonight, though?”
The smile on her face gave him the answer.
“Yes,” she confirmed.
He followed Katrina out of the apartment.
She looked professional in her navy suit, made-up face, and hair fastened high on the back of her head in a tightly wound bun. A much different look than the outdoorsy Han...Katrina, he’d first met.
He trailed her as she drove to work and even followed her into the parking lot. She slid out of the car and headed for the front doors of her office building. His heart skipped a beat when she glanced back, smiled, and nodded before slipping through the entrance.
He couldn’t wait to see her again and wished it was tonight already.
After parking in his usual stall, he slipped out of the truck and practically skipped into the building.
He’d been in the office for a couple of hours before he succumbed to the urge to call Katrina. He didn’t care if she thought of him as a love-crazed teenager. He needed to hear her voice.
