Christmas Haven Read Online Free Page B

Julie about her situation, but under no uncertain terms would he discuss their past. This was business. He was the police chief sworn to protect the people of Port Whisper.
    As long as Jules was here, she was under his protection just like everyone else.
     
    A vibrating sound awakened her from a deep sleep. She opened her eyes and spotted her cell phone dancing across the nightstand. The bedside clock read four-thirty. She flipped on the lamp and grabbed her phone, recognizing the caller ID as William’s work number. William and Julie had consulted with one another on unusually complicated cases. But why call at such an odd time?
    “William?” she answered.
    Silence.
    “William?”
    “You can run, Blondie,” a gravelly voice said. “But we’re always right behind you.”
    She jackknifed in bed. “Who is this?”
    The line went dead and a surge of panic ripped through her. Fearing for William’s safety, she called his cell. She paced her room as it rang. Two, three times.
    “Hello?” he answered groggily.
    She sighed and shifted onto the bed.
    “You’re okay,” she said.

    “Julie? It’s—” he hesitated “—four in the morning.”
    “I know, I’m sorry.”
    “Why wouldn’t I be okay?”
    “I just got a threatening phone call from your work number.”
    “A threatening call? I don’t understand.”
    “I’m in trouble, William. Ever since I witnessed Dane’s kidnapping, strange things have been happening: hang-ups, the office break-in, and I think someone’s been following me.”
    “Call the police.”
    “What can they do? Put a twenty-four-hour watch on my apartment? No, I have to disappear for a while.”
    “Where are you going?”
    “I don’t know yet. I’ll be in touch.”
    “Julie—”
    She ended the call, and nervously paced to the window.
    We’re always right behind you.
    Which meant they were trailing her to Port Whisper? How? She’d taken her personal files with her mom’s contact information from the office. Morgan said no one had followed them from the ferry. She glanced at her phone. Were they tracking her through a GPS chip? Had they already found her?
    She had no choice. She had to run. And destroy her phone along the way.
    Julie packed up her things. There was a commuter bus that stopped in town around six. She’d catch it and head west to a larger town, like Port Angeles, where she could blend in.
    She flipped off her bedroom light and padded across the hall to Mom’s room. As she peered inside, she realized if she woke Mom she’d only talk her out of leaving. But Julie had made up her mind. She didn’t want to risk bringing trouble to Port Whisper and put the townspeople in danger.
    She tiptoed downstairs, glancing across the warm and welcoming living room. Sadness welled up in her chest as she remembered the many Christmases she’d enjoyed in this very room. She’d had a wonderful childhood, safe and happy, unlike the kids she counseled. Julie thought she’d been doingthe honorable thing when she’d left for the city. She had the solid upbringing and faith in God that grounded her and gave her strength to help the kids at Teen Life. Faith that had been tested, ripped apart and destroyed as she watched one kid after another fail.
    It was on those days that Julie missed the comfort and innocence of Port Whisper.
    Innocence that would be destroyed if her stalker tracked her here. Andy Trotter was missing. She’d seen Dane Simms being shoved into a van. She didn’t know what was going on, but she knew witnessing the abduction had put her life at risk.
    She placed a note on the hall table, opened the front door and slipped outside. The cool morning chill slapped her cheeks as she started down the porch steps. She’d catch the commuter bus and head to Port Angeles, find a safe place to hide and…
    What? Get a job in a burger joint? Take a nanny job? She hadn’t thought past getting away and escaping the threat.
    As she headed down Oak Street she thought about