she rubbed the ends between her fingers thinking about everything she’d done to disguise herself. The short hair, which she’d promptly dyed a deep chestnut color after leaving Portland. The colored contacts to cover her uniquely golden eyes. She’d even dropped about fifteen pounds.
That had been by accident, of course. Too much stress and she couldn’t eat.
She was barely recognizable as Nora Marie James—even to herself.
So why am I afraid that someone else will recognize me?
Deep in her heart she heard a voice telling her that she didn’t have to be afraid. She knew that voice, trusted it, but still… “God, if You want me to do this for Andy, You’ll have to give me the strength.”
As she fell silent, an inexplicable peace filled her heart, and she knew that she could do this for Andy—no matter the cost.
As Nate strolled the ten short blocks from his apartment to downtown Crescent City, brightly colored posters adorned the window of every barber shop and country store. He stopped to read one. Immediately a middle-aged man in an apron walked to the open door of his woodworking business.
Nodding to the vibrant poster, he asked, “You in a band? I hear they’re still looking for groups for the battle of the bands at the college.”
The other man’s eyes traveled up the road, and Nate’s gaze immediately followed. “Nope. Just curious about what’s going on.”
“There’s a big bulletin board up at the quad at the college. They post just about everything happening in town there.”
“Do you know if they’re still accepting students?”
The little man pointed a stubby finger at another flyer, which announced that college registration was still open, and community members were welcome to sign up for two more days.
If he weren’t consumed with the task before him, he would have liked to see what some of the other posters offered—theater, concerts and martial arts classes—but he didn’t have time for any of that. Crescent City wasn’t a vacation destination. Nora James was his sole reason for being here. He had to find her—and the Shadow.
Doubt flickered through his mind for a split second. What if Nora wasn’t here? What if this entire mission was a wild-goose chase?
He shook his head and tried to clear away his misgivings. He’d done exactly what he was supposed to. He’d followed the only tip they had. Better to send someone after the girl than let the Shadow have her without a fight.
“Thanks,” he said, waving to the man, as he headed farther into town.
As the special agent in charge of the Portland bureau office, Nate didn’t get much field time anymore, and he missed it. Most days overflowed with paperwork and bureaucratic meetings. The wind blowing in his face and the sound of his shoes clapping along the cement sidewalk built excitement in his soul as he picked up speed.
Nate shot up a quick prayer of thankfulness that he hadn’t had another field agent to send on the assignment. Myles Borden was on his honeymoon. Heather Sloan was stuck in the office following hip surgery. And Jack Spitz was stuck in a car on stakeout for another case he was working.
He lifted his face to the warm sun. Man, this felt good.
Torn from his thoughts by an annoying ring from his cell phone, he pulled it from the back pocket of his jeans. The display told him that it was coming from Heather’s cell phone. “What’s up?”
“Have you talked to Mitch yet?”
“We talked yesterday.”
She sighed audibly. “Okay. I just remembered that he called the office and wanted me to have you call him. I forgot to tell you.” She sounded a little sheepish.
“No problem.”
Silence reigned for several long seconds. What was making her so hesitant to speak?
“Heather, what going on?”
She sighed. “It’s Jack. He’s driving me nuts every time he’s in the office. When are you coming back?”
He laughed. Why did adults—moreover, adults with law degrees—insist on acting like kids? “I won’t be gone long. I figure I’ve got two weeks at the most. Longer than that, and I’ve lost her to the Shadow. And I’ve lost Parker, too.” But failure wasn’t an option in this case. “I’ll be home in ten days. Twelve, tops.”
The college buildings loomed large a couple blocks ahead. The big gray buildings seemed out of place among the quaint shops of downtown, but it was still the hub of the community. He needed to get connected and figure out what the Shadow knew that he didn’t.
“Hang in there, Sloan,” he offered in his best special-agent-in-charge voice. “I’m almost to the community college, and registration for classes is still open. I might as well see what courses are still open and get plugged in.”
“Sure thing.”
More than twenty students formed a line leading up to the window in the registrar’s office as Nate stepped into the line. Most of them fanned themselves with white and green forms.
“I can’t believe this crowd,” the teen girl in front of him complained to her friend, an equally young and blonde student.
“Seriously. The add/drop deadline isn’t until tomorrow. You’d think more people would wait ’til the last minute.”
Starting to get antsy after thirty minutes in line, he finally put his mind on the case and thought through the articles in the case file. It held exactly two pictures of Nora. One was a chubby ten-year-old with long blond hair and brilliant, golden hazel eyes. He bet she didn’t look a whole lot like that picture anymore. The other picture was from her driver’s license, taken at least ten years before. She had a round face and the same blond hair, just with slightly older features.
But the eyes were the same. He’d never seen that color before—like churning, molten gold with flecks of brown. Stunning.
The team had collected two pictures of her. That was all that were left after a house fire, or so he’d been told. Friends and extended family had been no help. Apparently Nora wasn’t a fan of being caught on film.
“Next.”
Nate looked in front of him, expecting the next person to step forward, but there was no one there. “Oh,” he jumped, hurrying toward the frowning woman behind the counter. “Good morning.” He smiled widely, but she refused to return it.
“Add or drop?”
“Excuse me?” Obviously there was a language to college that he didn’t remember. He’d lost a lot in the seven years since he was in law school.
The bushy-haired woman rolled her eyes at him. “Do you want to add a class or drop one?”
“Add one. What do you have open?”
She glared hard at him, the wrinkles around her eyes deepening. He smiled apologetically, but it didn’t seem to help, her voice gruff as she read
