“What a nightmare,” Lainie muttered.
The hotel phone rang, startling her. Everyone she knew would call her on her cell. This could only be Isaacs. More bad news?
After taking a second to gather her thoughts, Lainie answered. “Yeah?”
“It’s Ben. How are you holding up? You were quite shell-shocked when you left.”
Lainie sat on the bed, waiting a beat before answering. “I feel like I fell into an alternate universe. What is real and what is fake? Since you’re here and you’ve discovered this fraud, what will the Bureau do about it?”
“First and foremost, try to find Crystal Benton. I don’t think she’s still here. I’m flying to California in the morning. I’ll know more when I’m back in the office and I’m briefed on the latest updates.”
“Is Benton likely to give you any answers?”
“I doubt it. Only if we have some leverage. It would be nice if...” He stopped and it took Lainie a second to realize why.
“You were going to say,‘if we had a body.’”
“I was, I’m sorry. But I could also be speaking about my partner. I have no idea where Efren is or what happened to him.”
Lainie pinched the bridge of her nose. “I want to know where Evie is as well. I never liked Stan, but I always thought he was harmless, kind of a doofus. I never imagined he would be so evil and cold.”
“Hmm, how long will you be staying in Hawaii?”
“I guess I should go back tomorrow as well. There is nothing left for me to do here.”
“Would you like to meet early for coffee? Maybe share a ride to the airport?”
Lainie thought for a moment. Right now she was exhausted, all played out. All she wanted to do was sleep. She hoped she’d feel better in the morning, and she did want to know more about the FBI investigation into Vine as well as the search for Benton. But her heart was so very heavy. “What time is your flight?”
“I have to be to the airport at ten.”
She’d have to get up early and think about the day. “I’m too tiredto think about the morning. And I don’t have a flight yet. Maybe I’ll touch base with you in Long Beach.”
“I understand. Take care, Detective Jensen. I’m very sorry for your loss.”
Lainie placed the phone back in its cradle and sat on the bed. She opened the drawer by the bedside, hoping there was a Bible inside. She knew hotels were moving away from keeping Bibles in the rooms, but she hoped one had survived here. Her hope was rewarded.
Lainie took the book out and opened it to the Psalms. She rubbed her forehead with her fingertips and tried to remember the verses that used to provide her the most comfort. Psalm 23 came to mind, and she turned there.
I need to move back to God. I want to feel the peace that I once did.
“‘The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want...’” The words rolled over her, not providing the comfort she needed. Snatches of a verse about God being with you in fire and water came to mind, but for the life of her she couldn’t remember where in Psalms it was, or if it was even a psalm.
Frowning and squinting tired eyes, she searched the back of the book for words related to what she remembered. After thumbing through several references tofireandwater, she found the verse. It was in Isaiah.
“‘When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God.’”
Lainie read the verse over and over as tears filled her eyes again.
“Oh, Lord,” she prayed. “The river is overflowing me, and the fire is scorching my heels. Please forgive my backsliding, my lack of faith. I have no strength of my own to get through this. I am broken and weak, please keep this from overwhelming me.”
She lay back on the bed, tears rolling down her cheeks. The Bible fell from her hands, and she drifted off to sleep.
CHAPTER 20
When Lainie woke up, she felt a tad better. At least she could think about booking a flight home. Online, the earliest flight she could find didn’t leave until three thirty in the afternoon. She had to check out by eleven. Halfway through her shower, she made the decision to head to the airport and see if there were any earlier flights she could maybe get on as a standby passenger.
She called her parents to tell them she was on the way home but said nothing about the new developments in the case. She couldn’t tell them everything. Dread still shredded her soul when she thought about telling them what she could; intuition said it was better to do that in person.
