Sealed with a Kiss, Leeanna Morgan [black authors fiction .txt] 📗
- Author: Leeanna Morgan
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John reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out an old soft toy. It looked as though the stuffing had been squeezed out of it years ago. “Here she is.”
Bella’s chin wobbled as she cuddled her small blue cat.
One of the paramedics glanced at John. “Would you like to travel in the ambulance with us? We’re taking Bella to the hospital as a precautionary measure.”
John nodded and followed the paramedics out of the bedroom.
Rachel moved out of their way, stepping straight into the path of a police officer. He waited until Bella and John were at the back door before talking to her.
“I’ll take your statements at the police station. Are you and Mrs. Allen ready to come with me?”
John stopped in the doorway. He looked at the police officer standing beside Rachel, then down at her. “Will you be okay?”
Rachel couldn’t look John in the eye. She’d let him down, and she’d let Bella down. She doubted she’d ever be okay again. “Can I visit Bella after Tess and I have spoken to the police?”
“Of course you can. I’ll text you if we leave the hospital before you get there. Tanner will stay with you.”
“I don’t need Tanner. I can look after myself.”
“It wasn’t a question. Tanner stays.”
The paramedics wheeled Bella onto the landing. Two police officers helped lift her stretcher down the stairs. John looked at her once more before disappearing from sight.
Rachel took a tissue out of her pocket and blew her nose.
Tess wrapped her arm around Rachel’s shoulders. “Are you really going to be okay?”
She shook her head and glanced at Tanner. He was leaning against the kitchen counter with his arms crossed, staring straight at her. “Bella could have died, John hates me, and Tank will never trust me again. My life is a mess.”
“It could have been a lot worse.”
“I don’t see how.”
Tess held both of Rachel’s hands in hers. “We don’t know why Bella hid in my apartment, but we do know she’s alive. No one got hurt.”
“I don’t think John agrees with you.”
The police officer stepped forward. “Ma’am, we need to go.”
Rachel pushed a lock of hair behind her ear and wiped her eyes. “Okay. I just need to get my—”
“Jacket?” Tanner had moved silently across the room. He held her jacket toward her.
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet,” he said with a grim smile. “We don’t know why Bella ran from the café. Until we do, you’re not going anywhere without me.”
Rachel followed Tess and the police officer out of the apartment. Tanner followed her down the stairs. He was so close that he could have been mistaken for her shadow. “Where’s Tank?”
“He’s working on some information we received.”
Rachel was halfway across the parking lot before a horrible thought crossed her mind. “He hasn’t been fired, has he? It wasn’t Tank’s fault that Bella left the car. It was mine. I should have locked the door and kept her beside me.”
“With all due respect, you’re not employed as a security guard. It’s not your responsibility to look after Bella.”
Tess opened the rear door of the police car. “Come on, Rachel. The sooner we give our statements to the police, the sooner we can get to the hospital. Tank will be all right.”
Rachel wasn’t so sure. Just like she wasn’t sure she’d still have a job in the morning.
They drove down Main Street, passing vehicles with red noses attached to their front grills and reindeer ears attached to their windows. The boutique stores and restaurants were still open, happy to indulge the last minute shoppers. It all seemed so normal, so much part of what Rachel knew Christmas in Bozeman always was.
Except this year was different.
She leaned her head against the cool glass of the police car’s window. Thanks to Tess’ quick thinking, Bella was safe. But if they hadn’t found her when they did, today could have ended in tragedy.
John heard Rachel walking along the corridor outside the hospital’s family room before he saw her. The heels of her boots clicked against the vinyl floor with the same speed that she lived her life. Fast.
Up until today, he’d enjoyed the challenge of not knowing what she’d say or do from one minute to the next. Today was different. Today, her impulsiveness could have killed Bella. His daughter meant the world to him and he wouldn’t tolerate anything that could cost Bella her life.
Rachel slowed down when she entered the family room. He wondered if she had any idea what she’d done by convincing Tank to visit a different store.
“You wanted to see me?” Her hands twisted her knitted hat. She looked nervous, worried, and so unsure about what was happening that it made him forget what he wanted to say.
“John? Is Bella okay?” A panicked look replaced the worry.
“Bella’s fine. She’ll probably be going home in the next couple of hours.”
Rachel sat down in the chair beside him. “I’m glad.”
“So am I.”
“I’m sorry. I never thought it would turn out like this.”
He almost missed the softly spoken words, the apology he hadn’t expected. “Did you think I asked Tank to go with you because he didn’t have anything better to do?”
She shook her head.
“I received multiple death threats. Oracom threatened my family. I wasn’t happy about you going into town in the first place, but Tank said you’d be safe. He had security staff in Walmart and a getaway car in the parking lot. When he was told it was too dangerous, you drove to another store that had no guards, no cameras, and no security clearance. Crafty Crafts was not an option.”
“I realize that now. I shouldn’t have pressured Tank into taking us to Kelly’s store. It won’t happen again.”
John swallowed deeply. “You’re right. It won’t happen again because you won’t be working with Bella anymore. I trusted you with my daughter’s life and you let me down.”
Rachel’s mouth dropped open. “But it was one mistake. Tess and I found her and she’ll be okay.”
John’s fingers tightened on the armrest of his chair. “Do you have any idea why Bella ran to Tess’ old apartment?”
“No. Tess and I have just arrived. Tanner won’t tell us anything.”
“A man followed her down the street. The craft store was closed, so she went into the café. She thought she could hide in there. She took off her jacket and tried to look as though she belonged to another family.”
John had to stop talking. The terror that Bella must have felt was eating away at him. Part of that terror was of his own making. He’d never imagined that starting his own company would put his daughter’s life in danger.
He took a deep breath. “Bella heard Tess talk about her apartment when she went with you to look at the bridesmaids’ dresses. When she went into the café today, she couldn’t see Tess to tell her about the man. Instead of telling someone else, she ran into the alley and up the back stairs to Tess’ apartment. She found the key and hid inside.”
“Has she seen the man before?”
“No, but she did identify him from images on the security camera in the café. The police, the FBI, and the CIA are looking for him now.”
“Why didn’t she call out when the police searched the apartment?”
“Bella doesn’t remember hearing them. Her doctor thinks she may have fallen asleep. Because she was so cold, she would have been unresponsive to any noise or movement going on around her.”
Rachel didn’t move from the seat beside him. He’d expected her to leave, to say goodbye to Bella, then get on with her own life. But she didn’t do any of those things.
She turned to him and put her hand on the arm of his sweater. “I know how upset you must be, but telling me to leave now isn’t going to help Bella. I could stay another week, wait until she’s feeling better. I don’t want you to pay me. I could stay in my own apartment and drive to your home each day.”
He didn’t have to think hard about his answer. Rachel was already more than Bella’s teacher. He couldn’t risk her getting any closer. “Bella will be okay without you. Tanner will take you home after you’ve seen her. He’ll check that your apartment is safe and continue as your bodyguard during the day. When the death threats have been resolved, he’ll no longer be needed. If you want him to stay with you tonight, he’ll be happy to do that.”
Rachel took her hand off his arm and dropped her chin to her chest. “I don’t need Tanner tonight. I’m staying with Tess and Logan until this is over. Logan installed an expensive security system when he moved into his home, so I’ll be safe.”
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