Storm Clouds

“How did you end up with Marcus’s sister?”

“That’s a story,” David said. He stood and paced to the window. His back and shoulders ached from going over that cliff. He still couldn’t believe he’d done that and laid that at God’s feet. It had just come to him in a small voice to do it—and they had survived. Of course, they were both sore—but alive and sore were better than the alternative. “I was out making my rounds when this woman came flying out a window of a passing vehicle. I honestly thought the little sheila had tried to kill herself until she jumped up and ran toward me. Bullets exploded about us so I started driving.” He turned and faced Steve. “How did an American—and not just any American, but Marcus’ sister—end up out there in the middle of nowhere?”

“God’s will,” Steve said simply.

“It must have been. I was the only vehicle for kilometers. They shot up the boot and filled the Jeep with holes. I had no petrol left.” He ran a hand through his short sandy hair and sighed. “And I have no idea if the people who were chasing her are still after us. I kept looking over my shoulder the entire time. All I could think was we had to get out of there and get here before something happened to Angelina.”

Why he’d felt that way, he wasn’t sure. But it had been his little wombat he’d worried about instead of himself. She was spirited. And when he’d touched her face in the cave…His blunt fingers had looked so large against her small delicate features. He’d wanted to fix all of her problems, even though he hadn’t known who she was. That was his purpose for being where he’d been.

Steve nodded. “Marcus would appreciate that. I know he’s never forgiven himself for not bringing Angelina with him.”

David nodded. Marcus rarely talked of his sister except to say they came from a bad background, and more was going on with Angelina than he’d understood at the time. David wasn’t sure what that meant, only that years later Marcus had regretted leaving Angelina in the States. He wondered how Marcus could have left such an innocent to fend for herself, though she was spunky and could handle a gun. “I need to call the authorities.”

Steve nodded and David went to the phone and rang up the nearest help. When he was off the phone, he turned back to Steve, who perused him and said, “You look a bit injured yourself.”

David glanced down. “I’m dirty, but the blood is from Angelina. What a sheila,” he said and shook his head. “I’m battered and bruised but I don’t think I have any other injuries.”

Steve nodded. “Still,” he said sipping his tea, “you should get checked out.”

David sank down to the couch. “After Angelina’s done, then. Tell me, why would they grab Marcus and not you, since you both run this mission?”

Steve shook his head and his features became inscrutable. “I don’t know. You know I do a lot of the tending and counseling, but Marcus is the more evangelistic of the two of us. Shari asked me the same thing,” he said referring to his wife who lived in their house about a kilometer away. “She was terrified for me to come to work today. But let me ask you something. Since you’re a millionaire, why didn’t they grab you?”

David shrugged. “It obviously doesn’t have anything to do with money. I don’t think they knew who I was.” He was glad Angelina didn’t pick up on Steve’s mention of him owning the land or ask him why he was working at such a job if he was so rich. It was a God thing. He needed this time to search and the job gave him joy—a break from his former life while he considered his future.

“Well, if Angelina is here and Marcus is missing and I’ve somehow been brought into this, I guess I’d better call my work and tell them I won’t be in for a while.”

Steve smiled softly. “Think maybe all this time off searching is finally leading you to your destiny?”

David scoffed, “I’m not called to the ministry and no, Marcus’s sister is definitely not my destiny. I do think, however, that maybe, since Marcus is like a brother to me, I should watch out for his sister until we can find him.” He knew he was contradicting what he’d said, but he wouldn’t admit to Steve that he felt protective of this strange woman.

Steve simply smiled and David found himself scowling much as Angelina had done only a short time before. No, his destination was still his own. He knew what God wanted him to do. Working alone in the reserve by himself was fine. Why Steve insisted that there was more he didn’t know. But he did know, as much as Marcus meant to him, he couldn’t let Angelina run around his country unattended—and he had a feeling if someone didn’t keep an eye on her that was exactly what would happen.

So God had sent her his way and he was going to make sure she was safe until they could find Marcus.

He only wondered if Angelina would comply. He doubted she was complying with whatever the nurse was doing right now, either.

Chapter Four

Idiots!

You don’t know who they are, do you? But nowyou know someone is after you as well.

It won’t be those same men, though. No, Angie,doll. One of them is being disposed of right nowbecause you made me lose my temper.

You won’t best me again. This isn’t just aboutmy plan now, but it’s about you as well.

You now know your brother is missing. Yes, Isaw you pull up to the compound. And you didn’teven recognize me. I thought I was going to haveto kill you immediately. Amazing. You’re slippingup. Just how much are you still with the game?Will you find the clues left behind? Clues that willlead you far from your brother? Come on, Angie,look hard. Find the little crumbs of bread I’ve laidout for you to follow…Right into my trap.

Chapter Five

She’d endured the nurse’s ministrations. She’d needed two small stitches in her hairline—not the first time she’d had that happen. She’d actually had to sew herself up a couple of times when she’d been out in the field. And once her partner had needed stitches.

She’d had little time for the nurse—especially as she’d prattled on and on about God.

Her boss and her friends mentioned religion but never pushed. But that was all they talked about here. She didn’t remember it being like this ten years before—but then she’d been running and scared, so anything would have been better than where she’d come from. And back then, she might have actually been interested—before her brother had turned her away, before she’d gone back and faced her uncle.

She forced her mind away from the past. She’d gotten over that. She’d gone through therapy and knew it wasn’t her fault. She could handle herself fine.

“Find anything?”

She heard the voice behind her and jumped. How had he sneaked up on her? Turning, she lifted an eyebrow. “What are you doing here?”

David smiled that gentle smile that unnerved her. “I brought you here remember?”

She scowled. “You know what I meant.”

His smile turned crooked. “I called my boss. He’s quite upset about the Jeep.”

He was trying to make her feel guilty, she realized, and it was working. Turning back to her brother’s room, she went back to searching his dresser.

“But don’t worry, I explained everything,” David continued. He hadn’t moved from by the doorway. “My boss thinks I’m suffering hallucinations so he’s given me some time off.”

She whirled back around.

He chuckled. “Not really. I did take some vacation, however.”

Her eyes widened. “Why?”

“You need help.”

“I do not need assistance,” she informed him. “I used to work in security.” She didn’t want to tell him Secret Service. “I can handle myself.”

She returned to searching and heard his soft tread as his feet crossed the tiled floor and hit the carpet.

“Are all Americans this stubborn?”

His voice was deep and melodic. He could be an announcer for a radio. She looked up in the mirror at his reflection. “That’s so cliché.”

He shrugged. “I’ve never been to America.”

“And all Australians live in dusty wastelands and have kangaroos as pets, I assume?” she replied.

He chuckled. “As a matter of fact, we do have a few kangaroos on the property here, but sorry, back at my flat in Fleting, I have no kangaroos.”

“Fleting?”

“Not too far from Wallabee actually,” he informed her.

Realizing she had been distracted, she focused back on the dresser.

“Where have you searched?” he asked and backed off.

“All of the usual places. I haven’t found anything.” She jerked open the top drawer where she remembered her brother’s cuff links being stored and blinked.

“What have we here?” David asked, curiously and moved forward.

“Looks like an address book. But why wouldn’t the police have found this?” She pulled it out and opened it. It wasn’t an address book, but had notes jotted in it. People’s names, descriptions of places and such.

“Perhaps because they wouldn’t expect something to be stored in there—other than men’s tie tacks?”

“Sloppy police work,” Angelina muttered.

She went over to a bench that ran under the window and sat down. David followed. Slowly she flipped through page after page. “There’s a lot in here I don’t understand.”

David reached for the book. She allowed him to take it; the professional part of her understood that as a local, he might see something she didn’t.

And he did. “Cowboy lingo.”

She blinked. “What do you mean by that?”

“That’s what you call it isn’t it? Ranchers?”

“I know what the word means.” She shook her head. “What do you see?”

“This is how we measure off kilometers. And this means Fleting actually and here is an abbreviation for a street in Wallabee. Fleting is a bigger town. I think this might be a nightclub.”

“My brother wouldn’t go to nightclubs,” she argued.

David stopped flipping the pages and looked up at Angelina. “You really don’t know much about your brother do you?”

Coolly she replied, “We don’t get along.”

He started to comment, shook his head and then said, “Let me explain how I met your brother.”

“I don’t see—”

“It has to do with the nightclub.”

She hesitated. Time was ticking away. Her brother was missing, and this man wanted to share stories with her. But she’d learned in her business it was better to be thorough than to go off half-cocked. If she wanted to find her brother, she was going to have to step back and act professionally instead of like a family member.

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