Page 64 of Deadly Charade

Her roommate spun on her heels before Kira could protest and slid back into her car. Had Bryce heard that exchange? Heat crept up her neck, and she appreciated the dark of night to cover the effects of what that man was doing to her heart.

“Meet you at the front door in ten minutes?” she asked him.

“Perfect.”

They headed inside, and once they were changed into more comfortable clothes, they climbed back in the car with Bryce at the wheel to head to West Virginia again.

“I’m not sure what we’ll find at Theo’s place,” he said, “but he was playing everyone.” He turned on his blinker to merge onto the interstate. “What if he’s the one who followed us and rammed us off the road? He could have taken the journals and then sold them.”

Kira pointed the heating vents toward herself and got comfortable for the ride to West Virginia. “What I don’t understand is how you knew when to stop bidding.”

Bryce checked the rearview mirror. “Call it a God thing. I saw the look on Ivan’s face and knew something was wrong. I hate to say gut reaction, but that’s what it was.”

“God’s protection?” Where was God when she’d needed him in the past? Silent and stoic. Definitely not guiding by inspirational feelings or whatever. “We had similar upbringings. I’m surprised you rely on faith so much.”

“Well, what do you rely on?”

The answer escaped her. It had always been her against the world. “I guess I trust myself. But after tonight and being so close to that bullet, it got me thinking that God did protect me.”

“We’re all fallible. Doesn’t it get tiring trying to do everything on your own? If you don’t have help, you risk having to work hard to keep up appearances. You’ll spend your life trying to please everyone else. At some point, something will break.”

The words pierced her heart. “I learned at an early age it was easier just to be what others wanted. I could get what I wanted by meeting expectations.”

“What happened?” He reached across the console and gave her hand a squeeze before returning his to the wheel.

The intensity of their kiss flashed before her eyes and heat seared up her neck. At least it was dark and he couldn’t see. Only the fact that he’d shared his own tragic upbringing loosened her tongue.

“I was ten, and still in the orphanage,” she said. “I told you about my friend who got adopted and left me there. But I overheard the orphanage staff talking about how hard it would be for me to be adopted. That’s the last thing a kid needs to hear.” Kira shifted in the seat, the memory scorching her like it had happened yesterday. “I happened to be outside the office door when someone was talking with the headmaster of the orphanage. They almost pitied me and said it would be highly unlikely I’d ever get adopted because I wasn’t a blond newborn. No one wanted a dark-haired ten-year-old. They’d given up hope of finding me a family. They weren’t even searching anymore.”

“Oh, Kira. That’s awful. I can’t imagine how that shaped your worldview after that. I’m so glad the Millers stepped in.”

Her heart skipped a beat at the mention of her adoptive parents. They’d never treated her as anything other than their daughter. But the damage had been done. Kira still fought the feelings that she wasn’t enough. She had to work hard to be accepted.

Love came with strings attached. Families only wanted a newborn. Her boyfriend wanted a young, perky blond cheerleader.

What did God expect her to be? “I just got used to being what everyone expected me to be. And it’s bleeding into my job. We need to solve this case so I can be the best Special Agent. Because everyone will walk away if I lose. I can’t let the team down.”

“I think you know that’s not true.”

“In my head. It’s my heart that’s having trouble with it.”

Bryce glanced her way. “That’s where the power of God’s love comes into play. We can’t earn it. And he meets us exactly where we are. No pretenses. God sees the real us.”

The theory sounded great. Too bad she’d spent her life living up to everyone else’s expectations. She didn’t think she knew how to stop performing.

Bryce’s heart wrenched for the woman sitting next to him. The beautiful woman who’d had her own heart stomped on so many times that she couldn’t fathom a love that would accept her as is. “Kira, there is nothing wrong with you. You are enough. You’ve just had bad experiences. But that doesn’t dictate your future or who you are.”

The words rang in his ears. Didn’t he want to make something of himself to show his hometown that they were wrong about him? That someone from some small backwoods Appalachian mountain town could turn his life around?

Kira didn’t say anything, and he didn’t want to push her. But part of him wanted to stop the car and wrap her in his arms to comfort her. Her silence communicated years of pain from being left behind, forgotten.

They drove in silence until they were close to Sawyer’s Peak. Kira navigated with the map on her phone and the address Everly had provided.

“It should be up here on the right,” she said. The map dinged, confirming their arrival.

Bryce pulled into the parking lot of the sketchiest motel he’d ever seen. It was definitely old and falling apart. “Yikes” was all he could say. “Power’s still on.” The sign in the front advertised color TVs in every room. The v in vacancy was missing.

“I’m surprised they didn’t murder Theo here.” Kira stood back and looked over the place. Then pointed to the second-floor row of rooms with the doors facing the parking lot. “There’s a light coming from that room. The only room that seems to have any light at all. Wanna check there first?”