Caleb shook his head. “Not necessarily. Sapphire Bay is a small town. He would have to keep a reasonable distance away in case some of the locals saw him.”
“He made a mistake.” Natalie’s softly spoken words made Gabe frown.
She moved away from the table and looked through the living room window. “What if he finds us?”
Gabe took a deep breath and tried to think logically. But logic had nothing to do with his pounding heart or wanting to wrap Natalie in his arms and tell her everything would be all right.
Instead of doing any of that, he stood beside her, trying to at least offer her the reassurance of who he was. “I wish I could tell you everything will be okay, but I can’t. The only thing I can promise is that I’ll do everything I can to keep you safe.”
Caleb closed his laptop. “If it’s any consolation, I’ve got my trusty Glock.”
Natalie’s eyes widened. “You own a gun?”
“I live in a house in the middle of the forest. If someone broke in, a bow and arrow wouldn’t have the same effect.”
She lifted the edge of Gabe’s jacket.
He knew what she was looking for, and he knew how she felt about guns.
“You brought it with you.” It was said as a statement of fact, devoid of the emotion he could see in her eyes.
“I was a detective. I’ll only use it in extreme circumstances.”
Natalie sighed.
“It’s not too late to stay with your mom.” Gabe waited while she thought about what he’d said.
“It wouldn’t do any good. He knows who I am.” Her mouth dropped open. “I need to call mom. If he saw us at the festival, he might have seen her leave. He could easily find her.”
Caleb turned away from the window. “I’ll get the satellite phone.”
Natalie rushed after him.
Gabe didn’t know when this would end, but he hoped it was soon. One way or another, Leith Chapman needed to be found.
* * *
Natalie saton the top stair of the veranda, staring into the sky. It was the kind of night that made her homesick for her family and everything that had gone before.
When she was little, her granddad had told her stories of Greek kings and queens, dolphins, birds, and lightning bolts—myths about the constellations that seemed as real as the world she lived in. She’d always wondered if granddad’s stories had opened the door to her imagination. Instead of words to create magic, she’d used paint and crayons, anything to bring what was in her mind to life.
Five twinkling stars shaped like a big W shone above her. She tried to remember their name. Her granddad’s voice whispered through the trees, telling her about the queen who thought she was more beautiful than anyone else. It was Cassius…no…Cassiopeia. And there, behind the Greek queen, was the Milky Way.
“That’s a happy smile.”
Natalie’s hand flew to her chest. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw who was behind her. “Thank goodness it’s you.”
Gabe stepped onto the veranda with two mugs in his hands. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to give you a fright.”
“It’s okay. I was a million miles away.”
“Would a hot chocolate bring you back to earth?”
“That would be great.” She took one of the mugs and pulled her jacket closer. “Have you finished writing for the night?”
“I have. It’s nearly midnight.”
Natalie’s eyes widened. “I didn’t realize it was so late.”
