Fifteen minutes later, Sadie was parked outside the downtown office building listed on Nash’s business card. She sat for a moment, gathering her courage, trying to formulate what she would say to him.
Someone threatened me. I’m scared. I need your help.
Simple. Direct. Terrifying.
Sadie took a deep breath, checked her mirror one last time, then climbed out. As she limped toward the imposing glass entrance, she felt oddly vulnerable in her casual clothes amid the stream of well-dressed professionals entering the building.
At the reception desk in the lobby, she smoothed her hair self-consciously. “I need to see Nash Cross, please. It’s urgent.”
The receptionist eyed her disheveled appearance with barely concealed judgment. “Do you have an appointment?”
“No, but he’ll want to see me. It’s about …” She trailed off. “Please, just ask him.”
The receptionist’s perfectly shaped eyebrows rose slightly. “I’ll see if Mr. Cross is available. Your name?”
“Sa—” She caught herself. “Amanda. Amanda Levitt.” If Nash had mentioned her to anyone in the office, he would have used her high school name. It felt strange on her tongue after so many years as Sadie Blair, like trying on clothes that no longer fit.
The receptionist made a brief call, spoke quietly, then looked up with obvious surprise. “Mr. Cross will see you immediately. Fifteenth floor, suite 1520.”
In the elevator, Sadie caught her reflection in the polished brass doors. She looked exactly like what she was—a woman who’d thrown on the first clothes she’d found, hadn’t bothered with makeup, and was running on fear and adrenaline. Not the impression she’d wanted to make in a professional setting.
But none of that mattered now. All that mattered was the threat, the breathing on the phone, the awful knowledge that whoever killed Bill now had her in their sights.
The elevator doors opened, and she stepped into a sleek reception area with the law firm’s name emblazoned on the wall in understated silver lettering. Before she could approach the desk, Nash appeared. He was dressed in a tailored gray suit that accentuated his broad shoulders, a crisp white shirt, and a blue tie that matched his eyes. The professional image was somewhat undermined by the concern etched across his features as he caught sight of her.
“Amanda.” He covered the distance between them in quick strides. “What’s wrong?”
Something in his tone—the genuine worry, the lack of judgment—broke through her carefully constructed composure. Her eyes filled with tears. “Someone called me. They know about the gold. They know about Bill. They said they’d deal with me like they dealt with him if I don’t stop investigating.” She swallowed hard. “I think they’re watching me.”
Nash’s expression hardened. Without hesitation, he placed his hand gently on her arm. “Come with me.”
CHAPTER 5
Nash couldn’t believe that she was actually in his office. Usually, when someone came for a consultation, he would shut the door, direct them to a seat, and take his position behind his desk—maintaining that professional distance his legal training had instilled in him. But this time, he shut the door, took the other client chair, and sat right beside her. “Tell me everything that happened.”
Her hands shook as she clasped them in her lap. Even though this woman was wildly beautiful, there was a lot of wild in her at the moment. She looked upset, far from the fierce, stubborn woman he’d encountered yesterday.
“I …” She fumbled out the words. “I got up, made coffee, and I was reading my Bible, I was praying, and the phone rang.”
Even though this wasn’t the time for it, Nash felt a surge of happiness hearing that she read her Bible and prayed. The previous evening, after he’d gone home, he’d been stewing in memories of her—her glorious blonde hair, her green eyes, prom night with her, and all of those angsty teenage feelings he’d felt.
It was interesting that when the loop wasn’t closed on a piece of information, the mind always created something to fill it. His mind had created Amanda—or Sadie, whoever she was—asthis woman who had gotten away, probably partly because she was the first girl he’d ever had real feelings for. She’d been his first kiss, and everything between them had been so tender and beautiful. And then she’d gone, just disappeared.
He wouldn’t tell her that he had read police reports, combed over hospital records, and done all the things that made him feel insane afterward. He was just grateful that his family had met her, that he had at least a prom picture to prove that he wasn’t crazy or making it up. But none of that had mattered, and he’d eventually tried to forget about her.
Now that she was alive in his memory again, now that he knew a little bit more about her, those feelings had all come slamming back into him. He had a million questions that weren’t at all connected to the gold—questions about her, about what she was like. Some of those questions had just gotten an answer. Did she read the Bible? Did she pray? Did she have the Lord in her life? That stuff mattered to him.
Would he say he was as devoted as he should be? No, probably not. A couple of months ago, he’d actually opened up his heart to Porter’s wife, Sadie, and explained that he never felt good enough for God, never felt like he could do enough. Sadie, being the wonderful woman she was, had gently put her hand on his cheek and said softly, “If we were good enough for God, well, why would we need a Savior? Isn’t that the whole point?”
It was funny because he’d never thought about it that way.
Now, as he sat by this woman and heard her talk about the Bible and praying, a deep part inside of him was touched and very attracted to her. He wanted a godly woman as his wife, and he was definitely still physically attracted to her. That was for sure.
Wait. Wife? He couldn’t be thinking about a wife.
“Nash, come back to me. What’s going on?” Sadie frowned at him.
He didn’t know what look he had on his face, but he shook his head and tried to clear his mind and focus. “Nothing. Keep going.”
