Twin Peril (17 page)

The early-morning service didn’t have a strong showing, but there were more people than she’d expected in attendance. The members of the choir didn’t seem to mind—they sang the opening hymn with gusto and the rest of the church members quickly joined in.

Including Jonah.

His deep baritone was soothing and helped Mallory relax. If she had a decent voice she might have joined in, but she was content to read the words in an attempt to follow along. She shouldn’t have been surprised that Jonah knew every word of the song—after all, attending church wasn’t a foreign event to him the way it was to her.

Church music wasn’t normally her thing but she had to admit the song was more upbeat than she’d expected. Jonah belonged with the rest of the choir, she thought with a flash of pride—his voice was absolutely amazing. She was surprisingly disappointed when the last verse of the song ended. When he kept his hymnal in his hands, rather than putting it back into the holder, she followed suit, holding on to hers, too.

As the pastor started his sermon, Mallory thought she’d be bored out of her mind, expecting the usual fire-and-brimstone type of preaching she’d seen in movies. No doubt she’d hear about the perils of being a sinner, a situation she was all too familiar with. But surprisingly, her attention was snagged, almost immediately, by the pastor’s viewpoint on the topic of forgiveness. She had the uncanny feeling he was speaking directly to her. And when he quoted from the Bible, the words resonated deep within her.

“‘Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the Law of Moses. Take care that what the prophets have said does not happen to you.’”

For a moment Mallory sat in stunned silence, thinking about her own sins and whether or not God would really forgive them. Jonah had told her all along that God would forgive her, but hearing the words from him was one thing. Hearing them from the pastor was something different. She hadn’t been sure she could really, truly believe.

Until now.

When Jonah reached down to pick up the hymnal that had dropped from her nerveless fingers, she gave him a tight smile. “Thanks,” she whispered.

His brows were furrowed with concern. “Are you all right?” he asked in a hushed tone.

She swallowed hard, amazed at his perceptiveness. She nodded and glanced away. How could she explain her feelings? Jonah had told her about his partner’s death—had bared his soul—but she’d never confided her own deepest shame.

Yet maybe this was God’s way of telling her the time had come to do just that.

* * *

Jonah could feel how tense Mallory was beside him, and he prayed for strength and understanding so he might help her with whatever burden she carried.

When the church service ended, Mallory didn’t get up to leave like the rest of the parishioners. He sensed she wanted to talk but maybe didn’t know how to start.

“Mallory, why don’t you tell me what’s bothering you?” he asked gently. “I could tell the pastor’s sermon meant something to you but I’m not sure I understand. Why is it that you think you don’t deserve forgiveness?”

“Because deep down, I’ve always thought he was right,” she confided. “That what happened was really all my fault.”

His breath froze in his chest as he digested her words. Was she saying what he thought she was saying? “Who was right, Mallory? What do you mean?”

She toyed with the strap of her purse for several long seconds. “Garrett Mason, the quarterback and captain of our high-school football team.” Her voice was so low he had to strain to hear what she was saying. “During our senior year of high school, I had a huge crush on him, but he didn’t know I existed. One Friday night, I asked Alyssa if we could switch identities. I wanted to work her shift at the Burger Barn, because the team was planning to go there after the game.”

Jonah’s gut knotted with anger as he slowly began to understand where her story was going.

“I shamelessly flirted with Garrett, making it clear I wanted to go out with him. I even told him my real name and the joke I’d played on the manager, pretending to be Alyssa. He laughed and told me I obviously like to live dangerously. I blithely agreed. When he offered to wait for me after the end of my shift, I was
ecstatic. My plan had worked.”

She paused and as much as he didn’t want to hear the details, he knew she needed to tell him. To let go once and for all. “Then what happened?” he forced himself to ask.

“He drove me back out to the high-school stadium so we could sit under the bleachers. I was thrilled, especially when he kissed me, but then—” Her voice trailed off.

Red-hot anger surged, momentarily blinding him. It took all the control he possessed to keep his feelings from showing. The last thing he wanted to do was to scare her. “Whatever happened wasn’t your fault, Mallory. No matter what he said, he’s the one who broke the law, not you.”

“Logically I understand that. I knew what the term
date rape
meant. But when I remember how I acted back then, I can’t deny my actions started the chain of events. And I have to own up to them. I’m the one who switched places with Alyssa, just so I could see him and talk to him. I’m the one who flirted with him. Maybe I did give him the wrong impression, but I didn’t mean to.”

“I know, Mallory. I know. It’s his fault, not yours.”

She shook her head as if still unable to believe that. “Afterward, I was—shattered.”

He could only imagine what she must have gone through. He placed his arm around her and hugged her close, wishing he could go back and change the past. No woman should have to suffer like she had. His heart ached for her lost innocence. “I’m sorry, Mallory. I’m so sorry,” he murmured.

“I didn’t tell anyone, except Alyssa.” Her voice was muffled against his chest. “She tried to convince me to go to the police, but I couldn’t. I was afraid everyone would believe what Garrett said, that I asked for it.”

“You didn’t,” Jonah repeated, fighting to keep the rage from his tone.

“That’s when I signed up for Tae Kwon Do. And as I became stronger, I grew angry and bitter. I turned my back on God. I also decided that I’d never let any man get the upper hand, that relationships would be on my terms. That I’d never let myself get emotionally involved.” She shifted in her seat and looked up at him with tearful eyes. “Except I ended up doing the same thing all over again, by dating Caruso. Maybe he didn’t assault me like Garrett did, but he wants to do something worse.”

“You couldn’t possibly know Caruso was involved in criminal activity,” Jonah protested, brushing away a damp strand of hair from her cheek. “Cut yourself a little slack, Mallory. Everyone makes mistakes.”

She let out a harsh laugh. “Not the kind of mistakes I’ve made. And besides, that’s not the worst of it.” Now that she’d started talking, it seemed as if she couldn’t stop. “Listening to the pastor today, I finally believed God would really forgive my sins. Except as we were saying the Lord’s Prayer at the end of the service, I realized it wasn’t good enough. I have to forgive Garrett for what he did to me, don’t I? Not only Garrett, but Anthony, too.” There was a long pause before she whispered in a low, agonized tone, “Honestly, I’m not sure I can do that, Jonah.”

He didn’t know what to say because he wasn’t so sure he could forgive the two men, either, even though he knew he should. God expected him to forgive them and anyone else who trespassed against him.

He pulled her close and held her for a long time, offering what meager comfort he could. And he wondered humbly if God had sent him Mallory, not just so that he could help her believe, but so that she could help him become a better Christian.

* * *

“Your note said you were attending church, but you were gone so long, we were starting to worry something had happened to you,” Logan drawled, his eyes glittering with a pent-up anger that wasn’t reflected in his laconic tone.

“Why didn’t you invite me?” Kate asked from where she sat curled up on the sofa.

“Sorry,” Mallory murmured. Jonah hoped the two of them wouldn’t notice Mallory’s reddened and puffy eyes. “We stayed longer than we anticipated.”

“I take full responsibility,” Jonah quickly interjected. “We talked for a while afterward. I should have called to let you know we were on our way.”

“Next time, I’d like to go with you,” Kate said.

Logan lifted his eyebrows as he glanced at Kate, as if surprised to know she’d have wanted to go along, but he didn’t say anything other than, “I ordered breakfast if y’all are hungry.”

Jonah glanced over at the array of breakfast items Logan had ordered from room service, in quantities that would support a small army, realizing his appetite had returned. He glanced at Mallory, relieved to see she appeared anxious to eat something, too.

Neither of them had said much on the walk back, mostly because he couldn’t think of a way to tell her how much he admired her strength. He took solace in the knowledge that Mallory looked better, as if finally telling him the truth had given her some peace.

Knowing what he did now, he understood Mallory’s actions better than ever. All along, he’d suspected that she’d hidden her real self from the world behind a facade, but now he knew for certain.

He somewhat understood the choices she’d made and knew she’d learned from her mistakes. And most of all, he was thankful she’d come into his life when she had.

Dangerous thoughts, he warned himself as he headed over to the table Logan had cleared for their meal. He could admire Mallory from afar, but he’d already crossed the line once by kissing her. He couldn’t allow a lapse like that to happen again.

He was a cop and would always be a cop. He knew, better than anyone, the type of stress his career had on families.

But he was glad when she took a seat next to him at the table, leaving Kate to sit beside Logan. Jonah bowed his head and asked for God’s blessing, thanking Him for the food they had to eat and for keeping them safe from harm. The way Mallory and Kate both murmured, “Amen,” warmed his heart.

Logan didn’t add to the prayer, but he waited for Jonah to finish before digging in. There were several long moments of silence as everyone concentrated on eating. Jonah was tempted to tease Logan about the way he dug into his food, as if he had a stomach the size of Texas. But he refrained, since he was doing his part in putting a large dent in the meal.

When Logan finished, he pushed back from the table, picked up a mug of coffee and eyed Jonah over the rim. “Do you want the good news? Or the bad news?”

Mallory froze at his words, her fork halfway to her mouth. The quick flash of fear in her eyes seared his soul.

“Don’t play games, Logan.” Jonah knew he was overreacting, but after everything Mallory revealed less than an hour ago, he wasn’t in the mood for Logan’s teasing.

“The good news is that I heard from one of the guys on my task force. He confirmed Alyssa and Gage do have FBI agents keeping an eye on them. The bad news is that the two agents are probably going to be pulled off by tomorrow. Apparently they’re convinced Mallory isn’t going to return, as that would put her sister in danger.”

“No!” Mallory jumped to her feet. “They can’t leave them alone. Caruso will find them!”

Jonah’s heart went out to Mallory. “Take it easy. We’re not going to let that happen. Remember, we still have twenty-four hours before they’re in any danger.”

“Jonah’s right, but we need to decide on a plan and move forward today,” Logan said. “Kate knows the names of two guys who are for sure working for Salvatore.”

“James Kiefer and Kevin Graves,” Kate said. “They both come in a lot to talk to Salvatore when he’s there.”

Jonah’s eyes brightened. It was exactly the opening he’d been looking for. “Then let’s use them to lure Caruso to the warehouse. I’ll place a call to Caruso pretending to be one of Salvatore’s men, claiming I caught Mallory sniffing around Salvatore’s restaurant, and say I’m holding her at one of the abandoned warehouses.”

“Except he knows you and Mallory were at the restaurant together. It’s why he killed Abby,” Logan argued.

“But maybe he’ll believe I went back later and saw something I shouldn’t have,” Mallory agreed slowly. “I think we can make this work.”

Logan scowled. “But that was forty-eight hours ago. Why would the guy wait?”

“Maybe we could make Caruso believe I escaped and he just got me back,” Mallory said, her eyes betraying her inner fear.

Jonah reached out to take Mallory’s hand. “Don’t worry. We can make this work without putting you in any danger.”

He turned toward Logan. “We need backup if we’re actually going to trap Caruso.”

It was Logan’s turn to be silent. “Well, now, I’m not so sure about that idea,” he drawled.

Jonah’s gaze narrowed suspiciously. “Why not?”

“Because Salvatore himself is the main target of the FBI task force, which means my boss isn’t going to go along with this plan, especially if there’s any possibility it will risk our chance to nail Salvatore.” When Jonah kept glaring at him, he added, “You asked for this to be kept off-grid, and I agreed. I knew all along that helping you and Mallory trap Caruso would ultimately blow my cover, putting my career in jeopardy. Rafe is a good friend, and you sounded like you were in trouble, so I decided to take the risk.”

* * *

Mallory pushed away from the table and began stacking up the dirty dishes, hoping neither Jonah nor Logan would notice her shaking hands. She’d thought for sure Logan’s plan would work.

But now she was plagued with doubt. And fear.

“You told me you have a team,” Jonah insisted hotly, not bothering to hide his anger.

“I have some guys who will help us off-grid,” Logan insisted. “I told you I had backup.”

Jonah still looked tense, as if he wasn’t reassured. “You’re sure these guys are trustworthy? It’s not just our lives, but Mallory’s and Kate’s on the line.”

“You don’t have to remind me,” Logan said testily. He let out a heavy sigh. “I don’t know them that well,” he finally admitted.