Once the elevator doors closed, she turned to Knox. "What happened?"
A steady tension hummed behind his features, but a softness infused his gaze when he looked at her. "Well, you weren't wrong," he said. "That guy was definitely up to something, and he knew where the blind spots were on the cameras. But he's not our bomber."
Jason leaned against the far wall. "He had drugs in his pocket. He sells drugs to guests."
"Oh." Allie's chest felt heavy. "I'm sorry," she said.
"Don't be," said Jason. "You caught a drug dealer. We flushed all the drugs he had on him. But we need to concentrate on the bomber now."
"I wasted our time," she said.
"You couldn't have known," said Knox. "It's fine. Just keep working. We'll find the bomber."
Jason and Knox filled her in on their conversation with Kendall.
"Five o'clock? That gives us barely an hour and a half."
"It will be enough," Knox stated with absolute certainty. Certainty she wished she felt.
Walking down the hall to Room 336, she stayed a couple of steps behind Jason. Knox walked next to her. She felt his gaze flick toward her several times, but she tried to ignore him. Her confidence was plummeting. The familiar self-doubt washed over her in waves.
Jason and Knox were both being nice about it, but she really did waste time they didn't have by going after the drug dealer. She would try to look for the bomber, but what if she kept making the same mistake? There were probably plenty of other people at the hotel acting nervous for a myriad of reasons. There could be someone else doing drugs, having an affair, maybe stealing something from the hotel. What if that's all she did for the next hour and a half? Find people who looked nervous that had nothing to do with the bombs?
Byron wanted to make a point. If the bombs go off, people could die, and it would be her fault.
They slowed at Room 336. Jason opened it, and she started to follow him in, but Knox tugged her arm.
"We'll be there in a minute," Knox called to Jason.
Jason bounced his gaze from Knox to Allie, then back to Knox. He gave a curt nod. "Be quick."
Knox responded with a chin lift and let the door shut, leaving Allie and himself alone in the hallway.
"What is it?" she asked.
He nodded toward the door of his hotel room. "Give me one minute."
She wasn't sure what was going on, but the intensity in his gaze compelled her to nod and follow him into his room. The second the door shut, he took both her hands in his.
"We don't have much time, but I need to talk to you alone. I know what you're thinking. I can see it all over your face."Tender concern rolled through his words. "You can't let a few minutes lost on that drug dealer trigger you. We've got to focus. You've got to keep working. You can do this."
She'd known she was spiraling in the hallway, but she didn't know Knox saw through her so easily. "I'm going to try."
She heard a voice yelling in her head that trying wasn't good enough. That she was incompetent. That people might die. And it would be her fault.
Anxiety exploded in her stomach. Claws of self-doubt tore through the last of her confidence. She'd been a fool to think she could do this. Maybe she'd accepted this mission out of stubbornness. Or pride. She should have learned from her mistake three months ago—she wasn't as talented as she'd let herself believe. She couldn't read people that well. She'd made a huge mistake in letting WhiteRock trust her again.
Knox gripped her upper arms. "Allie, listen to me. I see the fear in your eyes. I get it, but I need you to push through it. You can do this."
"I . . . I don't know. If I'm wrong . . ." Icy dread flooded her body. Her arms trembled. Was this a panic attack?
Knox gently cupped her face. "Oh, Allie. Please listen to me." His voice dropped an octave. Deep, husky, and infused with worry. "Focus on me, baby, please. Don't let your mind go wherever it's trying to go right now. Don't listen to those lies. That's the enemy. God put you here for a reason. He's got you. If God didn't want you here, you wouldn't be here."
She sensed a whisper of truth in his words, but emotion constricted her throat.
His thumbs stroked her cheeks. "You gave me an incredible, heartfelt speech earlier about how much you trusted me. Was that true?"
She gripped his muscular forearms while he cradled her face, wishing she could absorb some of his strength. "What?" It cameout more like a croak. She swallowed and tried again. "Yes, yes, that was completely true. I meant every word and I still do, but that doesn't—"
