Wanted (FBI Heat Book 3) Read Online Free Page A

altar.
    Craig ushered them into one of the church offices where Mrs. MacKenzie sat ramrod straight on a small couch. Her severe posture belied the tears streaming down her cheeks.
    “Where’s Kat? Is she okay? What’s wrong?” The words tumbled from Dillon’s mouth.
    The priest laid a warm hand on his shoulder and guided him into a chair. “I suspect you should sit down, my son.”
    He collapsed onto a chair, his heart pounding like it was trying to beat its way out of his chest. “Well? Talk to me, goddamnit.” No one reacted to his swearing.
    As Craig sat down beside Aileen, they exchanged an anguished glance. Kat’s father clutched his wife’s trembling hands between his massive callused ones as though holding her together. She definitely appeared to be on the verge of coming apart.
    Craig cleared his throat and met Dillon’s panicked gaze head-on. “We have…uh…some bad news.”
    “For Christ’s sake, tell me,” he pleaded.
    “Katie has decided…she can’t go through with the wedding.”
    The announcement sucked all the air from the room. No one spoke.
    Dillon’s head spun, incomprehension swirling, his ears ringing. He gripped the arms of the chair like they were a life preserver. “What the hell does that mean?”
    Standing behind him, Father John rested both hands on his shoulders and squeezed gently. “Patience, my son.”
    “No way. Someone had better start explaining what the hell’s going on.”
    Mr. MacKenzie exhaled loudly. “Katie doesn’t believe this marriage can work. So instead of going through with the wedding and then committing the sin of divorce, she…refuses to be part of a marriage doomed to failure from the start.”
    His head jerked back. “Doomed to failure? That’s impossible. We love each other. We’re mature, responsible adults, not flaky teenagers. We’ve talked about all sorts of plans for the future.”
    “We understand…you feel differently.”
    “I want to talk to her. She just has cold feet, a case of wedding-day nerves. Where is she?” His gaze darted around the room as if she were hiding in a corner.
    Eyes brimming with tears, lips quivering, Aileen spoke softly. “Craig and I had gone to the bride’s room to spend the last few minutes with her before the ceremony started. We found she’d changed out of the wedding gown and back into her regular clothes. Katie told us what Craig just told you. She asked us to apologize to you, to everyone, and then she grabbed her purse and just…just ran out.”
    His jaw clenched. This couldn’t be happening. “Where’s she going?”
    “We don’t know,” Craig said.
    “I don’t believe you.”
    Katie’s dad shrugged. “We’re as baffled and disappointed as you are, Dillon.”
    “I doubt it.” He pulled his cell phone from his pants pocket.
    “We already tried—”
    Dillon cut him off with a blistering glare. But Kat’s phone just rang and rang. He left a message, but a dark foreboding warned him that his call wouldn’t be returned. Ever. Disbelief drilled into his heart and left a deep hole.
    As Dillon’s thoughts returned to the present, a tsunami of emotion crashed over him, and he gasped like a drowning man, felt like one. Again. Two years ago, Katriona had betrayed him. Like everyone else in his life. And as much as he pretended otherwise, he still hadn’t recovered.
    *  *  *
    Kat buried her face in the pillow and sobbed. Just hearing Dillon’s voice had ripped her emotions to shreds. What a fool I am. How could I have been so stupid? She had asked herself that question a million times since fleeing from the church. And still, she had no good answer.
    What in the world had made her think she had the nerve to ask for Dillon’s help? He’d said barely a dozen words after realizing who was calling, but she’d heard the pain in his voice anyway. Obviously, he’d been shocked, but he hadn’t reacted negatively. On the contrary, Dillon had sounded more stunned than angry and had put up a