He looked around. The room was slowly regaining its pre-skirmish merriment.
But no Tayla.
Had she gone to the bathroom? No, she would have said something before leaving the ballroom.
He took out his phone and called Rowan, who answered on the first ring.
“Yes?”
“Where’s Tayla?”
“What?”
He ran into the hallway, searching in both directions. “Tayla.Where did she go? Check the cameras. She left the ballroom.”
“Um, yeah, hang on . . .”
Knox’s voice boomed through the phone.“Employee exit. West side. Now! They’re moving toward the west parking lot. On our way.”
Jason didn’t bother responding. He bolted for the nearest exit and exploded out of the hotel.
Running full-out down the path leading to the west parking lot, he prayed.Please God, keep her safe. Make me faster. Keep her safe. Please.
Chapter 10
The scuffle between Frederick and his intoxicated companions was outright comical. Tayla almost felt guilty for feeling entertained by the spectacle. Two men swung meaty fists, but connected with nothing. Two others, red-faced and yelling something about cricket, pounced on—or more accurately, fell on—Frederick.
Jason planted himself in the center of the chaos and lifted the inebriated men off of Frederick.
He was strong. A calm in the midst of a storm. And, sweet mercy, he was handsome.
Deciding it was pointless to lie to herself about feeling attracted to him, she admitted it—only to herself—and debated what to do about it. Yesterday, she’d felt so drawn to him when he’d shared that scripture and talked about God being faithful. But she knew she needed to step with caution. She’d known other men who quoted scripture,only to find out later it was a facade. Their true motivations, the heart of who they were, didn’t reflect God’s love.
She didn’t expect anyone to be perfect. No one’s perfect—she was a shining example of that fact. But she’d been royally hoodwinked in the past, and she was never going to let that happen again.
“Ma’am?”
A slim, young woman in a hotel uniform pulled her thoughts back to the ballroom.
“Yes?”
The woman looked concerned. “Are you Leland Faraday’s niece?”
“Yes. Why?”
She pointed to the doors leading to the hallway. “He’s just outside. He said to come get you. He said it was an emergency.”
What? Tayla’s eyes darted to Jason. He was still wrestling with the drunken guests. She couldn’t get his attention. She didn’t know what was happening, but apparently, she needed to get to Leland.
“Okay,” she told the young hotel employee. “Show me. Where is my uncle?”
She followed the young woman’s quick steps out of the ballroom and down the hallway a short distance. Then she opened an ‘Employees Only’ exit. “Out here, to the parking lot. This is the quickest way.”
What in the world? Why did Leland want her to leave the hotel?
They rounded a corner and faced the parking lot.
“Tayla! Thank goodness you’re here!”
