Sara K. Parker - Shattered Trust

“It’s hard to come to terms with the idea that it was one-sided.”

He read confusion in her eyes, and it was clear that she had been blindsided by her fiancé’s wedding-day abandonment. He had the urge to tell her all the things he knew she wouldn’t want to hear—that she was better off without the jerk, that she had a lot going for her in life, that the right person for her would show up when she least expected him. But he had a feeling that any words he offered would come across as useless platitudes.

“All done,” the doctor said, drawing back. “Eight stitches.”

“Not bad.” Luke offered Natalie a hand as she sat up.

She straightened, but her grip on Luke’s hand felt weak. He slid an arm behind her back for more support as the doctor reviewed care instructions for the wound and then opened the door for them. As Natalie’s feet met the ground, Luke held her arm, steadying her.

“I’m okay,” she said, but leaned into the help he offered.

The doctor said goodbye and gestured down the hall to the exit.

“If you want to go back to the hotel, we can go to the station tomorrow,” Luke suggested as he led Natalie to the checkout desk. He recognized the exhaustion setting in, along with the shock from the night’s events, and didn’t want to keep pushing her.

But Natalie shook her head, determined. “Let’s just get it over with.”

* * *

More than an hour later, Luke and Natalie had finally been fingerprinted and then escorted to the lobby of the police station, where Officer Perez was waiting to transport them back to the hotel. A storm had set in, rain pouring in windy sheets outside the ancient building. The squad car was less than thirty yards from the station’s entrance, but they were all drenched by the time they reached it.

Officer Perez opened a back-passenger door and gestured for them to slide in just as someone called to him in Spanish from the far edge of the lot. Luke followed Natalie into the car, peering across the seat and out into the dark parking lot, where a car with flashing hazards was parked at an odd angle with its hood popped.

“A moment, please,” Officer Perez said, closing the door and jogging away from the cruiser. Luke watched the officer run through the downpour until he disappeared behind the open hood of the car. Normally, he’d get out and offer some help, but the safest place for Natalie was in this car, and he didn’t plan on leaving her alone.

Now was probably a good time to bring Roman up to speed. He wouldn’t be thrilled to start his Sunday with this news, but he’d be unhappier still if Luke delayed reporting it.

“I’m giving my boss a call,” he told Natalie, pulling up Roman’s number on his phone.

“Luke,” Roman answered on the second ring, his voice alert. “Everything okay? I was just about to call you.”

“I’ve got things under control,” Luke assured Roman, surprised at the edge in his boss’s voice. “Natalie’s safe. But we’ve run into a problem.” He proceeded to fill Roman in on all that had transpired that night and their plan moving forward. “As soon as we get her passport, we’ll reschedule our return flights,” he added.

“My crew’s already getting the jet ready,” Roman said. “I don’t want her traveling on a commercial flight when we don’t know who this guy is.”

Luke leaned forward, pressed the phone closer to his ear. The connection wasn’t great, but he was pretty sure he’d heard Roman correctly. “You’re already loading up? How did you know we—”

“There’ve been some developments here,” Roman cut in, his voice deadly serious. “Natalie’s ex, Kyle Paxton, is MIA. And the State police want to bring Natalie in for questioning.”

“Hold on a minute,” Luke said. “I’m putting you on speaker. Natalie’s here with me. It’s probably better if she hears the news firsthand.”

What news? she mouthed, her brow furrowed.

“Natalie, how are you holding up?” Roman asked.

“I’ve been better, but Luke’s taking good care of me,” she responded, her voice tense. “What’s going on, Roman?”

“Kyle is missing,” he said bluntly.

“What...?” She shook her head, disbelief in her expression.

“His parents were the last people to see him, the morning of the wedding,” Roman said. “When he didn’t show up at the church, his parents drove back to his town house. The place had been torn up.”

“Torn up?” she asked faintly.

“Ransacked. Car’s missing, too.”

Natalie was silent, bewilderment written all over her face.

“Have you heard from him?”

“Nothing but a text saying he couldn’t go through with the wedding. He was sorry. That was it. What are the police thinking?”

“They don’t have much information yet. They’re anxious to speak to you.”

“I’m not sure what I have to add to the conversation.”

“You’re the closest person to Kyle,” Roman pointed out. “Any information you can offer will help the investigation.”

“We’ll get the passport as soon as we can, and I’ll get her on the plane home,” Luke said.

“Keep me posted.”

Roman disconnected, and Luke shoved the phone back in his pocket.

Next to him, concern darkened Natalie’s eyes, her hands clenched together in her lap. Then she dropped her gaze, whether in grief or fear, Luke couldn’t tell. Her short blond waves hid her profile.

He was quiet for a moment, allowing her time to process the news. Meanwhile, his thoughts raced ahead. He didn’t believe for one minute that Kyle’s disappearance was random and unrelated to the attack on Natalie. But what was the connection? He didn’t have much background on Kyle—only that he was a public criminal defense lawyer. Could he have made a dangerous enemy? Or was Kyle the enemy? Could he have trashed his own apartment before pulling a disappearing act? Maybe, if he had something to hide. But how did Natalie fit into the equation?

“Kyle showed up for the rehearsal dinner, right?” Luke asked her finally.

“Yes,” she said without looking up, her voice tired.

“Did he seem like himself?”

She shrugged. “I guess. He was tired, but we both were. It’d been a long week with our jobs and the wedding prep.”

“Did he go straight home after the dinner?”

“There was a bachelor party. He said he’d rather go home and get a good night’s sleep before the wedding, but he didn’t want to let the guys down.”

“Do you know where they went? Who he was with?”

“A restaurant and bar in Fells Point. Just his groomsmen. It would have been a pretty tame group.”

Luke was skeptical about the idea of a tame group of young men at a bar in Fells Point on a Friday night, but decided to keep that thought to himself.

“What about the past few weeks leading up to the wedding? Was he acting differently at all?”

Natalie sighed and shifted in her seat, tugging the seat belt away from her injured shoulder. “Not that I noticed. But, like I said, we had a lot going on.”

She still hadn’t met his eyes, and Luke suspected she was withholding details she didn’t want to share.

“He certainly wasn’t acting strange enough for me to suspect he planned to call the wedding off,” she added.

“When did you get the text?”

“Yesterday morning. Fifteen minutes before the ceremony.”

Natalie rubbed the back of her neck with both hands. Frustration? Grief? She finally let her hands drop and turned to look Luke in the eyes. “It was bizarre,” she said, and there was fire in her eyes. “I mean, he had all the opportunity in the world to call things off the night before, and all morning, too—but to wait until just before the ceremony...”