Page 17 of Countdown

He hugged her back. “Of course.”

She couldn’t help but notice how amazing it felt to have Vince’s arms around her. And the fact that she could be all right staying there for another couple of hours or so.

She cleared her throat and stepped back.

The family was safe from Kevin. That was all that mattered. But even as she thought that, a shiver danced up her spine and she shot a glance back over her shoulder. The sun was long gone below the horizon and the evening breeze blew like a frosty breath across the back of her neck. Trent’s paranoia had triggered her own.

A shudder rippled through her. A hand landed on her bicep, and she jumped, a gasp slipping from her. She met Vince’s concerned gaze.

“Raina?”

She shook her head. “I know. I know. I’ll admit I’m jumpy.”

“No kidding.” He led her into the restaurant and then to a table in the back.

“It’s stupid,” she murmured. “I don’tthinkthere’s any way for him to find me or even suspect I had anything to do with the family’s disappearance. Should he even be looking. But my paranoia is at an all-time high.”

“Well, it seems like that would be a natural response. I mean, just from what little you’ve told me...”

The waiter approached and Raina left the unfinished sentence unanswered.

Once they’d ordered, she pressed her palms to her eyes. “I just can’t help feeling like the other shoe is going to fall and it’s going to hit me in the head. Hard.”

Vince nodded, and she fell silent, wondering if she should just spill the whole thing. But while her brain formed the words, her mouth wouldn’t say them.

“You work tomorrow?” he asked after several minutes of quiet.

“Yes.”

He nodded. “Well, this is just my opinion, of course, which you’re welcome to ignore, but I think you should fill in Penny and Holly about the fact that something from your past may have caught up with you and they need to help you watch your back.”

Raina bit her lip, wanting to shoot down the idea. Instead, she hesitated. “I’ll think about it.”

“They’ll ask questions, but I doubt they’ll push the issue if you make it clear you don’t want to go into details.”

That was true. “Just like you’re not pushing?”

“I only want you to tell me what you want to tell me.” He paused. “No, that’s not true. I want you to trust me. To tell me everything so that I know how to help you best.”

“... how tohelp you best.”The words echoed as she studied him.Tell him.A flash from her past flickered through her mindand she closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, he was studying her. “I’ll consider talking to them.” But they’d want to help too.

Another brief flash from her past sent shudders up her spine.

Tell him.

The food arrived, and while Raina knew she needed to eat, her stomach wouldn’t unknot. She picked up a french fry, dipped it in ketchup, then put it back on her plate. “Okay,” she said, “fine.”

Vince paused, his burger held in his left hand while he sipped tea from the glass in his right. He lowered his drink. “Okay fine, what?”

“I’ll talk to Holly and Penny.” He raised a brow and she shrugged. “You’re right. They’re my friends. Although, just for the record, not telling them everything has nothing to do with not trusting them.” Not completely anyway.

“Okay.” But his gaze lingered on hers as though he were mentally trying to pull the information from her. “What does it have to do with?”

She opened her mouth, searched for the words, found none, and clamped her lips together.

“Right,” he said. “Trust.”

She tried not to grimace at his words. “Okay, yes,” she said, “but not in the way you’re thinking.”

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