Page 33 of Tracking Safety

“I almost didn’t come,” she continued. “I told myself I was being selfish. That you’d all built a life without me that I had no business walking back into. But I couldn’t make myself stay away.”

Luke studied her face, and she could see him turning her words over in his mind—everything she’d told him, everything her explanation meant, everything that came after it.

He hadn’t settled on anything yet. She could see that in his expression. He was somewhere in the middle of it all, trying to find solid ground.

“What do you want from me, Jenna?” His voice sounded quiet but not unkind.

She’d known the question was coming, but she didn’t have a clean answer.

“I don’t know exactly.” She shrugged. “I know I don’t deserve to walk back in and pick up where we left off. I know I have no right to ask you for anything. But I’m not here asking you to forgive me overnight. I just needed you to know the truth. After everything, you deserved that much.”

Luke looked at the cross at the front of the church. Jenna thought about all the things still unsaid. There were details that would take more than one conversation to get through. Then there was the question of what any of this meant going forward.

There was so much still to cover. They’d barely scratched the surface, and she still didn’t know what he was thinking or feeling or whether anything she’d said had landed the way she needed it to.

She opened her mouth to say something—she wasn’t sure what—and stopped.

A sound caught her ear.

Somewhere behind them, a floorboard shifted.

They both turned toward the noise.

An empty church stared back. The aisle stretched toward the entrance, pews silent on either side as the morning light fell through the stained glass.

She looked at Luke and knew he wasn’t willing to take any risks.

Something had caused that sound.

More than likely . . . someone.

CHAPTER 12

Luke was on his feet before the echo of the sound had fully faded.

He motioned for Jenna to stay before moving toward the back of the church, keeping close to the pews. His eyes adjusted to the dimmer light near the rear of the sanctuary.

The entrance doors were closed, the way they’d left them.

Nothing was disturbed. No one lingered near the back pews.

He listened.

Still nothing.

He moved through the vestibule at the back of the sanctuary, checking the small coatroom off to the side. It was empty. Then he pushed through the side door that opened onto the narrow parking area beside the building.

He stepped out and stopped.

The lot was small. Three cars were parked there, none of them running. A row of hedges stretched along the far edge, thick enough for someone to hide behind.

He crossed to the hedges and looked out. He spotted a teenager on a bicycle. An older man walking a small dog on the opposite sidewalk. No one who looked like they’d just slipped out of a church uninvited.

Whoever had been inside was gone.

He headed back to the building. Out of the utmost caution, he checked the remaining rooms at the church.

No one else was there.