Say Goodbye (Romantic Suspense #25) - Karen Rose Page 0,40

to stay warm.

Hayley had grown up in San Francisco, so the damp cold wasn’t anything new. Still, this was a miserable way to live. Pastor had promised it wouldn’t be much longer, that they were waiting for the roads to clear of snow so that they could move to an actual settlement site.

Snow. In freaking May. It was crazy, but it was their reality. She’d had a vague notion of areas in California where the snow lingered this late in the year, but that was up in Lassen National Park. Her class had been forced to cancel an end-of-year field trip to Lassen’s volcanic fields because the roads hadn’t been cleared in June.

She assumed they were somewhere near that now because of the snow and the caves, but she had no way to be certain. Especially since Graham had been unable to find the computer. He’d even risked being sentenced to the box by leaving the caves to search the surrounding area.

Fortunately, he hadn’t been caught. Graham was good at not getting caught. Except for the shoplifting arrest, of course, but he’d informed her that he hadn’t been caught at least a hundred other times. He’d also met some colorful characters in juvie and learned “ever so much.”

Hayley would have to do something about that when they got out. Graham would not become a criminal. Or at least a worse criminal, she thought with a wince. But first, they had to actually get out of Eden.

Unfortunately, even if Graham found the computer, it was useless without an Internet connection. Graham figured there had to be a satellite dish of some kind, but he hadn’t been able to find that, either. They couldn’t send out another message for help or use Google Maps to figure out where the hell they were.

Cameron had not come to help her. She didn’t even know if he’d received the e-mail she’d sent. Part of her mind taunted that he’d found someone new, that he didn’t love her anymore. But Cameron did love her. Of this she was certain, just as she knew that he wanted their baby.

We’re running out of time. Little Jellybean kicked, both a welcome sensation and one that filled Hayley with dread. This baby was coming soon.

She’d feared giving birth at the last Eden settlement, but at least the clinic there had been warm and somewhat clean. The thought of going into labor here was terrifying.

The fact that Brother Joshua had promised her baby to that awful Rebecca . . . The knowledge nearly brought her to her knees, every single time.

Graham stalled her anxiety attack by tightening his grip on her shoulders, leaning close to mutter in her ear. “Stick with me here, Hayley. I did find something else.”

The room was beginning to fill with worshippers, so their little bubble of privacy was coming to an end.

“So tell me,” Hayley said, speaking through her teeth while keeping her lips still.

“Drugs,” Graham whispered. “A lot. Some pot and what looked like coke. And shrooms.”

Hayley opened her mouth in surprise, forgetting the danger for a moment. She snapped her mouth closed when Sister Tamar slid onto the pew beside her.

“People are watching you,” Tamar said, also speaking through her teeth. Her lips curved up in a placid smile and she folded her hands on her lap. She was the picture of serenity, resembling a painting of the Madonna that Hayley had seen in one of her textbooks.

Hayley had been trying to corner Sister Tamar for weeks. She needed to know why this woman had helped her when Rebecca had nearly caught her breaking into the clinic the night they’d moved. But Sister Tamar always managed to be somewhere that Hayley was not. Hayley hadn’t taken it personally at first, but it had become apparent that Tamar was avoiding her.

And now, here she was. Smiling like absolutely nothing was wrong.

Graham leaned forward, digging his thumbs into the stiff muscles inside Hayley’s shoulder blades. Again she bit back a moan as Graham whispered, “Meaning?”

“Meaning you need to stop wandering around the caves,” Tamar replied sweetly, her smile never faltering. “They’ve been watching you both.”

“Why do you care?” Graham asked in a near-silent growl.

“Because you’re trying to get out,” Tamar said, still speaking through her teeth. Her gaze was fixed on the pulpit, where Pastor was arranging a stack of hymnals. “I want to go with you.”

Hayley stiffened. Should she deny it? Refuse to allow Tamar entry into their club of two?

“It’s all right,” Tamar said,