Page 15 of Finding Amanda

"She was sitting in a chair in the lobby, sort of trapped by this giant man."

"Giant? How big is he?"

"Gosh, six-four, six-five."

Mark stopped again. "She told me he was big, but I didn't realize . . ." He let his voice trail off while a visual of the scene filled his mind. "What do you mean she was trapped?"

Mark made his way into the living room and dropped onto the sofa, imagining the situation as Alan described it. Amanda's biggest fear was that Gabriel Sheppard would find her one day. She'd always said she didn't know what she was afraid of exactly, swearing the man would never hurt her. But Mark's gut feelings had saved him often enough in Afghanistan. If her gut was telling her to be afraid, there must be a reason.

"So then we got out of there," Alan finished.

"Where are you now?"

"Conference room on the third floor. It's deserted up here, and she needed to calm down."

"I see. And he followed you?"

"Apparently."

Mark didn't like Alan's snooty tone, but this stranger was all the help he had to protect his wife. "What do you think, Alan? Is he aggressive? Should she be afraid of him?"

"Gosh, I don't know."

Mark stifled a sigh. He was wasting his time.

Alan continued. "He said he just wanted to talk. He didn't seem angry or anything, at least not until I told him I wouldn't let him talk to her."

"Thank you for doing that."

"Of course."

Smarmy. That's how he sounded. Mark definitely didn't like this guy. "So, you're not really sure if Sheppard's a threat or not."

"How would I know that?"

The defensive tone prodded Mark's suspicions. "And what exactly are you doing there?"

"I'm an editor.” Mark could hear the irritation in the man's voice. “It's a writers conference."

"Are you there with my wife?"

"Like I said, we just met."

Mark ran his fingers through his hair. He needed to stay calm. He lifted a quick prayer and changed his tone. "Sorry. I should be thanking you, not questioning you."

Three heartbeats later, Alan said, "You're welcome."

"Can I speak with Amanda again?"

"Here she is."

The sound was muffled, and Mark couldn't make out what they were saying to each other. His adrenaline pumped as if he were in a firefight. Unfortunately, the target was two hundred miles away.

First, Amanda had kicked him out, and then she'd run into Sheppard. And now she'd been rescued by another man. Could things get any worse?

"Was that really necessary?" she asked.

"I wanted to get as much information as possible. Your friend wasn't very helpful. You started to say something about the memoir?"

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