Alana Candler, Marked for Murder (23 page)

He plopped down on the stretch of plush green lawn. Dread filled his heart. How unfit he must be in God’s sight. He recalled the admonitions of his Christian friends in college. Everyone must die, and after death comes judgment. All men must give account for every sin.

He
must give account for
his
sin.

But according to Bible verses his friends had quoted, Jesus Christ satisfied God’s requirement for a pure sacrifice for sin when He died on the cross. Anyone could have a relationship with God if he believed in that sacrifice.

Jaydn looked up into the sky, trying to find the courage to talk to God.

God, I know I’ve broken Your commandments. I know it was because of my sins You died on the cross to save me from an eternity in hell. I ask forgiveness for my sins on the basis of what Jesus has done. Please accept me as Your child, and help me learn to trust in You, God. Help me learn to make You real in my life, like Alana does. Thank you, God.

Suddenly, Jaydn felt a load lift from his chest. It felt as if his heart suddenly developed wings. The many years of ridiculing his father and watching in disgust as he ranted and raved his religion seemed to float away on the clouds. The pain and uncertainty of a life full of doubt was washed away like the sands on the seashore in a storm. The storm clouds lifted from his heart, and he was genuinely happy.

He wanted so much to tell Alana, but his newfound faith felt so wobbly. What if he failed? What if he ended up like his father? Doubt clouded his decision. He didn’t want to tell her until he was positive his faith would stand up to any test. God would show him. God would let him know when the time was right to tell Alana.

FORTY-FIVE

WHEN ALANA ROLLED OVER IN
bed and stretched, her muscles screamed at her—
be still, and go back to sleep
! A tiny sliver of light penetrated the thick curtains, informing her the day was here. A thin ray of sunlight fell across the camera sitting on the nightstand.
That
made her want to jump into the day with both feet.

She sat up in bed and drank in her first impression of the room around her. Warm and harmonious, the colors of the decor blended to radiate an air of coziness and welcome. A faint smell of apples gave her the definite impression of scented candles or potpourri.

The huge four-poster bed was enveloped in a maroon and hunter green comforter with touches of color splashed over the silken surface. The carpet, dark green in color, was thick and plush with vacuum marks dispersed across the floor in random patterns. Dark maroon curtains on windows across from the bed reached from ceiling to floor with the smallest amount of sunlight peeking around the edges of the thick fabric.

Alana crawled out of bed and pulled the string on the right side of the windows to slide the curtains open. What she saw took her breath away. A short distance across the meticulously trimmed lawn was the lake she had seen from the sky—shimmering like a diamond in the morning sun.

She grabbed the camera, opened the sliding glass doors, and stepped out onto the wooden balcony. The brisk morning air tickled her senses and smelled of lake water and magnolia blossoms. Between the lake and the house were twenty or thirty white geese roaming around in circles, squawking and fluffing their wings.

Snapping pictures quickly, she took several shots of the geese flapping their wings and then photographed the geese in front of the light shimmering across the lake.

Two of the geese waddled off by themselves and rubbed necks together. Alana held her breath. She’d heard that geese mated for life—like humans. The camera shutter once again broke the silence as she photographed the pair that was oblivious of everything else but each other.

A wave of envy stole over her body. Would she ever find the perfect mate that God planned for her? A vision of Jaydn rose in her mind’s eye, and she wrapped her arms around her waist, contentment flowing through her veins.

As she sat down on the bench seat on the right of the balcony, she watched the white, billowy clouds overhead.

“Thank you, Lord for this beautiful day. This is definitely something to be thankful for. Thank you, also, for Jaydn—that he’s willing to let me come here. Please help me be the right kind of testimony to him. Help him feel Your love . . .”

Help him feel
my
love . . .

The Bible verses she’d read the day before pricked her memory like a bee sting.

She walked into the room and reached for the Bible on the nightstand. After sitting down on the edge of the bed, she turned to the verse she’d read the day before and found those convicting words.

“Be ye not unequally yoked with unbelievers.”

That means Jaydn, doesn’t it, Lord? Are you trying to tell me we can only be friends?

Alana’s heart felt wrenched in two. The attraction she felt for Jaydn had inched up on her when she wasn’t looking. To control the feelings she felt for him was going to be hard, if not impossible. When she looked into his eyes, her heart simply melted.

However, her relationship with the Lord was growing into something she depended on more each day. Now, when things were frightening and confusing, trusting God was more important than ever—more important even than a relationship with Jaydn or her desire for a husband. She wanted the Lord’s blessing on everything she did, and she needed to know He was watching over her. Becoming attached to Jaydn, an unbeliever, would not have the Lord’s blessing.

“Please, help me, Lord. Keep me from forming a strong attachment to Jaydn. Help me keep our relationship friendly, and please take away the strong . . .”

Her prayer was interrupted by a quiet knock on the door.

“Alana, are you awake?”

Alana grabbed her robe and opened the door enough to see Jaydn’s face.

“Good morning.” A smile radiated from his face.

The smile she gave him hung loosely on her face as if it could be snatched away at a moment’s notice. “Good morning.”

“Are you feeling okay?”

Alana had seen the ashy color of her face in the mirror and was sure that’s what prompted the worry in his tone.

“I’m fine. Just a little tired.”

Jaydn would understand her being tired, but he’d never understand the look of aloofness in her eyes.

“Sam’s making some eggs and toast, if you’d like to eat something.”

“I’ll be down soon. Thank you.”

She closed the door but frowned at the look on his face. He would question her withdrawal, but her decision to follow God’s will in her life mattered too much. She had to hold on to the fact that God was in charge, or she’d go crazy.

Help me balance both the relationship I have with Jaydn and Your will, Father.

She dressed quickly, grabbed the camera, then opened the door and ventured into the wide, open hallway. The hall of the upstairs section of the house was just as plush and tastefully decorated as her bedroom, and she turned toward the stairs while inspecting the décor around her.

The top half of the hall walls were painted with a sky blue color and ended with a hand-painted ivy border around the top of the wall next to the ceiling. The bottom section of the wall was painted in a dark green, the same color as the shadows in the ivy border that ran across the top of the wall. Another border of ivy ran around the bottom of the wall, just above the trim molding. The carpet was a tan color with flakes of gray mingled here and there to match the gray lines of the border.

When her foot touched the first step on the winding staircase, a cell phone downstairs on the hall table rang and continued its ringing until she reached the bottom.

It might be Brad. Should she answer?

Alana expected the housekeeper or Jaydn to hear the incessant ringing, but when no one appeared, she picked up the phone.

“Hello.”

“Who is this?” The shrill voice on the other end of the line caused Alana to step back.

“This is . . . uh, who are you trying to call?” The reason she was hiding in this house hit her between the eyes again, and she was afraid to give her name.

“I’m trying to get in touch with Jaydn Holbrook. Do I have the right number or not?” The irritation evident in the angry voice grated on Alana’s already frazzled nerves.

“Yes, you have the right number, but he doesn’t seem to be around at the moment. Could I take a message?”

“No, you
cannot
take a message. I insist on talking to him at once.”

“Well . . .” Alana glanced around. Uncertainty flowed through her like a chill from a frosty wind. “I told you, I’m not sure where he is at the moment, and—”

“Are you one of the help?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“I said are you one of the maids, or the housekeeper or something?”

“Um . . . no. Not exactly.” She fought to make her voice sound pleasing and unemotional. “Could I take a number and have him call you when he returns?”

Her question was met with silence. Alana could feel the tension traveling across the phone line, and she shivered.

“If you’re not one of his employees, then what are you doing with Jaydn’s phone? Who are you?”

Alana’s mouth felt like cotton. She didn’t know what to say. Maybe she should just hang up. Her gaze fell on the wooden planks in the hallway as she wrestled with handling that explosive question.

Jaydn appeared in a back doorway. He took one look at her face and the phone in her hands, and his lips parted in a question.

Alana didn’t say a word, just shook her head and handed him the phone.

“Hello?”

“Jaydn? Is that you?”

Patricia!

FORTY-SIX

NOW JAYDN KNEW WHY ALANA’S
face was so pale. Patricia must have unleashed an angry tirade on her.

“Jaydn, I’m furious! Do you know what you’ve done? Since you didn’t have the
decency
to call and say you weren’t coming to pick me up last night, I was forced to catch a ride with Johnson. I was
late
! I had to accept my award after most of the crowd was already
gone
. Do you know how
embarrassing
that was?”

Jaydn frowned at the rage in her tone. He glanced up to see Alana disappearing through the living room doorway.

“Patricia, I’m sorry. It couldn’t be helped.” He spoke quietly so that Alana would not overhear.

“You’re sorry! You’re sorry!? You’ve got to be kidding! Is that all you can say? I must say, Jaydn, I expected more than that. After what you did to me, you could at lea—”

“Patricia, please. I can’t explain right now.”

“I will
not
wait for an explanation. You will give me one right now, or you’ll be sorry.”

Jaydn turned quickly stepped into the powder room. Anger seething in the back of his mind pushed its way to the surface, and he spoke with authority.

“Patricia, if you want an explanation, you’re going to have to wait. If you can’t trust me enough to believe that I have a good explanation, then maybe we shouldn’t see each other again. Relationships are built on trust, not accusations.”

Silence.

“All right, Jaydn. I’ll wait, but not for long. You know I have other friends who are willing to step in and take your place if I so desire to let them.”

That threat didn’t dent Jaydn’s resolve. He spoke quietly. “Goodbye, Patricia. I’ll call you later.”

He headed for the living room, where he found Alana standing beside the window. What should he tell her? She sensed Patricia was someone who was more than a friend. Should he explain? Should he treat the whole thing lightly? For some reason, he didn’t want Alana to know about Patricia. His indecision made him pause long enough for Alana to cut the silence with the first words.

“I’m sorry, Jaydn. I guess I shouldn’t have answered the phone.”

“No, that’s all right. There was no reason why you shouldn’t.”

Alana’s gaze wavered between the floor and his face.

Jaydn could read indecision there, and shame. He decided to change the subject. “Are you ready to eat? I’m starving.”

She blew out a relieved breath and nodded.

Jaydn summoned the biggest smile he could manage, bowed, and waved toward a door at the end of the hallway beside the stairs. “Your breakfast awaits, my lady.”

She managed a shaky smile and preceded him through the doorway.

Jaydn fell into step behind her, consumed with a sense of failure. She might make his heart flip-flop when she was near, but being open and honest with her about his relationship with Patricia only made his heart heavier than a two-ton weight.

FORTY-SEVEN

ALANA SAT ON THE CONCRETE
bench under the drooping weeping willow in peaceful silence, gazing out over the lake. A slight breeze caused ripples on the water’s surface. Her hair tickled her nose as the wind blew strands around her face.