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murmured the childhood prayer her parents had taught her, but saying the words as an adult felt silly, so she simply recited the Lord’s Prayer.
    Sleep continued to elude her. Her stomach was painfully empty and she sat up, reaching for her purse. She had a couple dollars, and she remembered there’d been a vending machine just outside the small office.
    Jonah wouldn’t like knowing she’d left the room, but the vending machine wasn’t that far and she’d never get any sleep if she didn’t eat something.
    She pulled on her clothes, grabbed her room key and her money, and eased out the door. The area was only partially lit, as a few of the bulbs in the overhead lights were burned out.
    She padded silently down the sidewalk and stood in front of the vending machine, trying to decide between the chocolate-chip cookies or the peanut-butter crackers. Finally, she bought both, smoothing the wrinkles from her dollar bills before feeding them into the slot of the machine.
    “Well, now, looky here,” a deep, nasally voice drawled. She froze as the cigar-chewing desk clerk came up close, invading her personal space so that she shrank back against the vending machine, the unyielding metal frame hard against her back. “If it isn’t the pretty little preacher’s sister. ”
    The cigar stench lacing his breath made her gag and for a moment she couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move as horrible memories of her past crowded into her mind. She opened her mouth but couldn’t seem to make a sound.
    “Let’s say we have a little fun, huh?” He reached out to grab her and a flash of anger helped fuel her fighting instincts.
    She swept her arm up to block his hand, knocking his arm upward as she kicked the lower part of his stomach, her aim true.
    Stunned by her attack, he doubled over, his eyes bulging and grunts of pain gurgling from his lips. When he didn’t move, she grabbed her cookies and crackers from the bin of the vending machine and ran straight to her room.
    There were several long seconds as she struggled to fit the key into the lock, but she managed to slip inside, locking the door securely behind her before she sank against the door frame, her whole body shaking with fear.
    The entire incident had taken place with hardly any noise, since she hadn’t managed to yell the way her Tae Kwon Do instructor had trained her to do. But at least she’d gotten away.
    She couldn’t believe cigar guy had come after her like that. She’d done nothing, nothing to provoke him.
    For the first time in years, she was forced to consider the possibility that maybe she hadn’t done anything to provoke the sexual assault she’d suffered back when she was seventeen, either. After he’d assaulted her, Garrett Mason, the captain of the football team, had accused her of flirting with him. Of coming on to him. He’d told her that everything was her fault. And that no one would believe otherwise.
    But now she wasn’t so sure. Maybe some men, like Garrett and cigar man, were just evil, no matter how a woman looked or acted.
    Right now, she was grateful she’d escaped. She closed her eyes and prayed. Thank You, Lord, for keeping me safe.
    Opening her eyes, she was startled to feel a sense of peace. And she couldn’t help but wonder if God had brought Jonah into her life to prove there were good men out there.

SIX
    J onah didn’t sleep well, mostly because he kept thinking about Finley’s betrayal. There was no doubt in his mind that his boss was working with Anthony Caruso. Why hadn’t he figured it out sooner? No doubt Finley’s plan all along was to send Jonah to find Mallory, and then once he had, send someone else to kill them both.
    A plan that had almost succeeded.
    The only issue was the timing of the ski-mask guy’s arrival on the scene. Ski-mask guy had shown up at the cabin before Jonah had arrived so how could Finley have known where Mallory was hiding? Jonah thought back, piecing together a timeline of events. He’d