Nowhere to Run by Valerie Hansen Page A

work.”
    â€œI get an afternoon break,” Seth said. “Bob’s an understanding boss. He won’t care if I take it a little early today.”
    It seemed to Marie that Seth’s gaze was boring right into her, as if he were expecting her to say something earth-shattering. She wasn’t particularly eager to meet any more new people, but now that he’d mentioned it, she couldn’t think of a better place to hide from whoever was pursuing her. It might be nice to be among believers again, too. She didn’t miss the city of Baton Rouge, with its chemical plants and oil refineries and traffic jams, but she certainly did miss the Christian friends she’d left behind there.
    â€œWell, all right,” she said with a sigh. “I guess we could go see the preschool. Actually, I used to…” Realizing that she was about to reveal one of the jobs she’d held in the past, she stopped herself.
    Seth’s eyebrow arched. “Yes?”
    â€œNothing. Nothing. If you take me to the church, at least I won’t be stuck staring at the four walls of that little motel room all day.”
    And I’ll be safer than I am on the street, she added to herself. Every time she poked her head outside, she knew she was taking a terrible chance. It would be comforting to visit the church, even if she was going to have to fib to those people, too. There were scriptural precedents that allowed deception, such as Rahab’s hiding of the spies Joshua sent into Jerico. Surely the Lord wouldn’t hold it against her if she was less than truthful now, especially since she’d be doing it solely to protect an innocent little girl.
    Â 
    Seth knew he hadn’t spent enough time on his computer to find out everything there was to learn about Marie. He was, however, certain she was in trouble. And if it turned out that she really was a guilty fugitive, he knew he’d eventually have to turn her in to the law.
    How he might do that while still protecting his own anonymity was a concern. If he went to the local law enforcement folks with his suspicions, they’d ask him how he’d gotten his information and he wouldn’t dare explain. If he notified the Louisiana authorities anonymously, they’d be swarming all over Serenity, along with the FBI because Marie had crossed state lines, and he’d be in jeopardy from that investigation, too.
    As it stood, he figured he was better off just letting Marie drive away. If his conscience hadn’t kept getting in his way, that’s exactly what he’d have done.
    It seemed to Seth that the wisest course of action was the stalling tactic he was already employing. There was something about the Parnell woman that had gotten under his skin. His mind told him she was guilty, as the computer files had claimed, while his gut insisted she could not have committed any crime, let alone a felony as heinous as kidnapping.
    His instincts had been nearly infallible in the past. Now he wasn’t sure he could trust them. The more he got to know Marie, the less she looked like Alice, yet there was still that lingering resemblance. Plus, there was the presence of the child, who was the spitting image of her mother. If he and his late wife had ever had a child…
    â€œThank God we didn’t,” Seth concluded prayerfully. With Alice dead, there was no way he could have fled and lost himself in rural Arkansas, not if he’d had a young son or daughter to look after. Successfully hiding himself had been hard enough.
    Which brought him back to Marie’s obvious dilemma. She did have a child. And she was clearly on the run, whether from the law or for another reason. He couldn’t help feeling empathetic. He just wished she’d confide in him so he could be certain what course to take.
    Marie was waiting when he returned from the office. As before, she had tucked her silky, cinnamon-colored hair up under the Serenity Repair