Page 2 of Christmas Under Fire

The moon, a few twinkling stars, and the streetlights planted around the four corners of the parking lot provided the only light.

The area between her shoulder blades prickled. She shivered but couldn’t blame it on the cold. Her car sat near the edge of the parking lot.

Why had she parked so close to the trees? Anyone could jump out at her.

Jenna reached into her purse and grabbed her keys. Her car fob wouldn’t help her, but she could stab someone with a house key. If they got that close to her, though, her chances weren’t good.

Stop it! She was twenty-seven years old. No one had ever attacked her. Or anyone else in this area. It was the prank calls. No doubt some high school boys playing around. She shouldn’t let it get to her.

Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was out there watching her. Waiting.

Maybe she should have waited for Matt to leave.

She could text him. Or return inside the building.

No. Everyone had left for the day except for him. And he tended to stay late to finish all his paperwork rather than bringing it home with him. If she went back in, not only would she feel like a coward, but she’d also have to wait around for him.

And then what? She’d told him not to walk with her anymore. If she went back now, he’d insist on walking her out, rumors or not, until the day lengthened in the spring.

She straightened her shoulders and focused on the car directly ahead of her.

Her hearing aids picked up a loud sound behind her.

Whirling she searched the darkness. “Who’s there?”

No one answered. Her heart pounded in her chest. It hurt. Every instinct in her body told her to run.

She spun around and took off across the parking lot. Someone came out of the trees.

She was being hunted.

Private Investigator Brody Carson snapped his laptop shut and set it on the seat beside him. His SUV instantly plunged into darkness with only the dimmed lights from his dashboard illuminating the interior. He didn’t need the light anymore. He’d found what he wanted and now all he needed was to wait a few more minutes.

Brody excelled at waiting.

This had to be her. He’d been searching for Jordyn Ellis for nearly a year. It was tricky, with only a photo of an eighteen month old baby, some decent age progression software, and a biological history to assist him in his search.

He could see the image of how she’d look now in his mind. Had her pale blonde hair remained fair or had it darkened with age? Were her eyes the same crystalline blue they’d been at a year and a half? Had she needed braces?

If all went well, he’d finish this case tonight, collect his payment, and then hang up his shingle as a PI.

He’d only become a PI to have the freedom to spend time searching for Marilee, his little sister.

Now the chance to locate her and bring her home had slipped through his fingers, stealing the joy and accomplishment his occupation had once provided.

It was time to move on.

His phone buzzed. He glanced at it. His buddy Cameron, and sometimes partner, had sent him the photo he’d requested of a young woman named Jenna Stone. A woman who worked at the same building he’d just pulled up to. He frowned at the accountant’s office again. The website said it was open until five. But it was now four fifty-two, and the front of the building looked dark.

Maybe the firm was only open until four. Or maybe they closed during the week of Christmas.

He looked at his message.

“I found this image of Jenna Stone. I think she’s the one.”

Brody pulled out his zip printer and thirty seconds later, he used his flashlight app to stare at the image in front of him. The image was slightly grainy, and it was small, roughly the size of a playing card, but in his bones, he knew this was it.

Ash blonde hair fell to her shoulders. Her eyes were still blue but guarded. Oval face, high cheekbones, with a thin two-inch long slanted scar on the left side of her neck.