Page 9 of Deadly Threat
Going back inside wouldn’t hurt. There was a room full of people, and she’d be safe. Standing out here, in the open with him, wasn’t.
She released the weapon and removed her hand. “You don’t have to leave.” She adjusted her grips on Ladybug’s leash and the phone, and started for the church entrance. He could either follow or go on his merry way. “Sounds like we both need this tonight.”
The vestibule was bright and welcoming and she breathed a sigh of relief being back inside its hallowed walls. A heartbeat later, the man entered behind her, the softsnickof the door alerting her.
She tried to keep the smile off her lips, but simply averted her face so he didn’t see it. Why did she feel better that he’d returned?
“I didn’t get your name,” he said as he followed her down the hall to the classroom used for the meeting.
He didn’t invade her space, which was nice. The passage wasn’t exactly narrow, but he filled it anyway. “I didn’t offer it.”
He fell silent and nodded, then replied, “Fair enough.”
They reentered the room and drew a few looks. The previous speaker had given the podium over to a woman at the platform. She paused in her story, allowing them to take their seats before continuing.
Sitting next to Malachi felt comfortable. The room was warm and a bit stuffy, but Mia allowed herself to relax over the next half hour. Neither of them volunteered to share their reason for coming, and after the others finished their stories, the crowd lingered, milling around. Most headed for the table with coffee and store-bought cookies.
Mia avoided Malachi’s eyes as she texted her sister. She’d barely listened to the volunteers talking about their problems, or Father Delacroix praying over them, her mind going back and forth on whether or not to tell him her name.
She could give him her fake identity, the one she’d lived under for the past seventeen months, but something about that didn’t feel right either. Could she trust him with her real name?Look at me, making all these positive strides. The name thing might be too much though.
“Coffee?” he offered, facing the rear of the room where the snacks were set up and indicating the selection.
“God, no. That stuff will rot your insides. The cookies aren’t bad, though.”
“There’s a coffee shop two blocks over.”
He looked so hopeful, she felt guilty for turning him down. Staring up into his pretty blue eyes, all that dark hair around his face, made her want to run her fingers through it. “I have another commitment.”
“Oh, sure. No problem.” He moved to the end of the row, appearing awkward. “Maybe another time.”
Amber texted back, letting Mia know she was a block down from the church, as planned.
Ladybug trailed after Malachi and he gave her a parting pet. “It was nice meeting you. Again.”
He started for the door and Mia’s heart flip-flopped. She couldn’t decide whether to rush after him or let him go.
Let him go, her heart warned.You aren’t ready for this.
Would she ever be? How did you tell even a casual coffee date that you were a whacked out mess? When was the right moment to say, “Oh, hey, by the way, I’m the mayor’s sister who was abducted, and I’m living under an assumed identity, scared of my own shadow, these days”?
And that was if he didn’t figure it out before she had the chance to come clean. Malachi already believed she seemed familiar.
It was easier to let him go. Smarter, too.
Better for both of them.
Wasn’t it?
She stared after him as he slipped out and the door shut.
Ladybug whimpered and Mia bit her bottom lip.
Stupid. What harm would it do to give him her name? Just her first would do. Plenty of folks who attended these meetings kept their full identities a secret.
But now he was gone.
Malachi.
