rubbed a hand across his jaw. He had enough on his plate figuring out his own life, so the last thing he needed right now was the kind of trouble Faith represented.
Lord, You help her. I can’t. His prayer sounded about as empty as he felt inside. Truth be told, he had stopped looking to God for help after his wife’s death. He wasn’t even sure he believed anymore. After all, if God was so all-powerful and loving, why had He let someone good like Emily die in such a brutal way? JT himself should have been the one to walk into that convenience store and confront the robber. He should have died that night. Not her. Yet for his sister’s sake, he still attended the small church they’d grown up in each week and pretended. But the pastor’s message, the scriptures he read—they didn’t reach into his heart the way they had in the past.
The house JT had been restoring here on the island for the past three years had become his only real source of contentment.
His father had been a local Hope Island police officer for more than twenty years and had taught JT how to find comfort in the simple things of life. After Edward Wyatt retired from the force, he’d begun restoring houses up and down the Maine coast. JT loved working with his father. He’d never felt closer to him than when they were working side by side to bring something on the brink of ruin back to its former glory.
JT reached the edge of his property and turned toward the house he’d just left.
Who exactly had been on the other end of that call to bring such terror to Faith McKenzie’s eyes? The way she reacted to his sudden appearance, even after she realized he posed no threat, pointed to someone who didn’t know her stalker’s identity. If so, then every stranger she met would represent a possible risk.
The detective in him wanted to know what she was hiding in her past. A woman so young didn’t move to an isolated town like Hope Island without just cause.
Whatever it was, it has nothing to do with you, he said to himself. He had offered his help. If she didn’t accept it, there wasn’t much else he could do.
Still, out of curiosity, JT grabbed his cell phone and called Derek Thomas, his good friend and one of the founding members of Wyatt Securities.
“Hey, I need you to do me a favor,” JT said without bothering to return Derek’s hello. “Can you do a background check on someone?”
It wasn’t unusual for JT to ask for Derek’s help in this manner. After all, he was a computer genius and could uncover anyone’s secrets no matter how deeply hidden. “Sure, pal, whatever you need. Who do you want me to check on?”
“Her name is Faith McKenzie. She rented the old Fitzgerald house down the beach from me.”
“I see. What’s your concern with her?” He could tell from Derek’s tone that he thought it odd JT wanted a background check done on his neighbor.
“I’m not sure.” He briefly filled in his friend on the chase that ensued after he stopped by Faith’s place to return her dog to her. “From her over-the-top reaction, I think someone is stalking her and my gut tells me this isn’t the first time it’s happened, either.”
Six months after his wife’s death, JT had left the police force because he couldn’t bear the constant reminder of how he’d let Emily down. He’d founded Wyatt Securities along with Derek and another close friend, Teddy Warren. He hadn’t been able to help Emily, but he was determined not to let such a tragedy befall another innocent person on this island.
“I want to know what she’s hiding. If it’s any help, she has a very distinctive Texas accent. She’s obviously lived there at some time in her past.”
After a slight hesitation, Derek said, “I’ll get started on it right away.”
“Good. What were you up to before I interrupted your evening?” JT could hear the TV in the background.
“Listening to the Weather Channel mostly. There’s a tropical storm building strength in the Atlantic.”
JT blew out a sigh. “Yeah, I heard.” The storm in question was all over the radio lately. Every time the Weather Bureau issued a warning, people up and down the coast went on full alert. With everything going on at work, this was the last thing JT needed. If the storm kept gaining strength, he’d have to stockpile necessities and weatherproof the house just in case.
“If it keeps on the path it’s on now, the entire East Coast is within its strike zone. Who knows where it’ll hit. I’m still praying it will lose strength before it gets close.” Derek paused. “Well, I’d better get a move on. I’ll give you a call as soon as I have something on your neighbor.”
“Thanks, buddy. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” JT disconnected the call and unlocked the back door. As he stepped inside the house, his cell phone rang again. Liz’s number popped up on the caller ID. She worried about him; that’s what big sisters did. He touched the ignore button. He would call her back tomorrow. Right now, he couldn’t get his mind off the terrified woman down the beach.
Was he simply trying to find redemption for failing Emily by helping a stranger in need? Possibly, yet there was something different about Faith McKenzie.
Get her out of your mind, Wyatt. You have plenty of real concerns in your life to be worried about. He grabbed his laptop and cleared off enough space at the kitchen table to set up shop, while ignoring the reminders scattered around the house of things he should be doing. Like finishing the drywall in the great room, not to mention getting the cabinets hung in the kitchen so he could finally put dishes away.
Instead, he started brewing a pot of coffee and dove into work. In the security world, business was booming. On average, over the past year, the company had a couple of new clients sign on every month. If things kept growing at this rate, he would need to hire additional staff just to keep up.
JT was halfway through writing a proposal for the global energy firm when Derek called back.
“That was fast.”
As usual, his friend didn’t mince words. “It took some doing, but I was able to find a copy of her lease agreement for the house. Since the Fitzgeralds didn’t have any living relatives, the county commissioned a real estate agency to sell the house. In the current market, selling a house that size is next to impossible so the agency agreed to put it up for rent, which meant the agreement was on file at county records.” Derek cleared his throat. “Apparently, the leasing agent didn’t do a credit check, because the name McKenzie didn’t match up with the social security number on the application. That social corresponds to a Faith Davenport who was originally from Oklahoma City, but moved to Austin, Texas when she was a teenager.”
This bit of news wasn’t a surprise. “Figures. She changed her name because she’s running from someone.”
“Probably,” Derek confirmed. “Her past is sketchy. Parents died when she was ten and she ended up in foster care. She ran away to Texas when she was a teenager. It appears she turned her life around. Finished school and got an accounting degree from the University of Texas—all online. She doesn’t appear to have much of a presence online now. I’m still digging. I’ll know more soon.”
“Good.”
“So what are you thinking about doing?” Derek asked the expected question. He knew JT well enough to know he hadn’t wanted the information just to satisfy his curiosity.
JT
