Expired Hope by Lisa Phillips & Megan Besing

Author:Lisa Phillips & Megan Besing
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sunrise Publishing

18

Seeing Natalie curled up on the top bunk comforting Joey had proven what a dedicated counselor she was. And whether Macon should admit it or not, her concern did something to his heart too. Except Natalie wasn’t ready to know that.

Would she ever be?

Tonight wasn’t about Macon, which was why he’d stayed on Mrs. Cunningham’s porch and called Conroy three times before the police chief finally picked up.

Macon needed answers. The problem was, no one had any. Conroy had told him nothing had been posted showing her car explosion, despite other recent postings. Then he’d told Conroy about Angelina Ross’s name on Joey’s suitcase.

When he’d explained it was the woman who’d shown up the day of Natalie’s car explosion and the same person as the suicide driver this afternoon, Conroy had told him he’d get to work trying to figure out if there was a connection.

Now, back in his truck, Natalie’s head rested against the door.

“You okay?” Macon asked.

“I’m not worried about me.”

“Obviously, for Joey…but Natalie, I’m also worried about you. And before you tell me how wrong that is, Angelina is the registered owner of that red truck outside your house and outside the fire station. So she is connected to the man who has been watching you. She was there the day of your car explosion.”

“Was, Macon. Now she’s dead.” She shook her head. “I failed someone else.”

“Her death isn’t your fault. Was she even your client?”

“I still should have noticed—”

“You’re a great therapist. Period.” She had just spent an hour holding a boy when she could have allowed someone else to do the hard stuff.

Before either one of them could say anything else, her phone rang.

Hopefully, it was Conroy with actual news.

“Hey, Amelia.”

Macon gripped the steering wheel.

“Oh…” Natalie’s shoulders drooped. “No, I’ll take care of it. Thank you. Yeah, no kidding… You too. Bye.”

When she lowered the phone, Macon asked, “Everything okay?”

Natalie scrolled on her phone and sighed. “Looks like my rental has a flat. I have to call the rental company.”

“I can just change it—”

She waved him off. “I bought the full coverage.” Then said into her phone, “Yes, hi. I have one of your rentals and it has a flat. Can I just… Yes, I did. It’s under Natalie Atkinson.” She closed her eyes. “Yes, of course. It’s at the Eastside Fire Station. Okay. Thanks.”

After the call ended, Macon waited a moment, then said, “I could have easily fixed your tire.”

Natalie rubbed her forehead. “I was just following the instructions I was given. Plus, the rental doesn’t have a spare. And it’s also not your job to worry about my car, remember?”

Right.

“If you could just drop me off at my house, I’d appreciate it.”

Her phone rang again.

Finally, Conroy.

She blinked at the screen before swiping and saying, “Hello?”

A second later she sat up straight. “H-how did you get this number?”

His muscles tensed. Not Conroy.

“No, listen, Leon.”

Macon hit the brakes and whipped around to look at her.

“You can’t. We don’t—” She leaned forward and placed her palm on her forehead, displacing her bangs.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.