My ribs tightened in a vise grip around my lungs. Breath clawed at my throat, trying to get out. Everything about this was wrong. She should be here, walking the streets of Wolf Gap and studiously ignoring me. I’d take a million more of those moments where she looked at me as if I were a stranger, just to have her here.
“Laiken?” A hand closed around my elbow.
My vision swung in the direction of the voice. My eyes met deep brown ones. “Isaac.”
Worry lined his face. “Are you okay?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Come on.” He guided me out of the pew, past the stream of people, to a quiet corner of the lobby. “Just breathe.”
I nodded, trying to get my lungs to cooperate. It took a few tries, but they finally obeyed. Jerky spasms of muscles, but it at least moved the air in and out.
“Sorry,” I croaked.
“You don’t have to apologize.”
I searched the face I used to know so well. “I wasn’t sure if you’d be here.”
His brows pulled together. “Where else would I be?”
“I don’t know. Hayes said you were out of town.”
Isaac nodded, glancing away towards the people still coming in from the cold. “Work trip. He got ahold of me once I was back.”
“He told you about what he thinks is happening?”
Isaac’s gaze swung back to me. “This is fucked, Laik.”
I winced at the nickname no one used anymore. The one that had been retired all those years ago because it had belonged to someone else. “He doesn’t know for sure. They could be accidents.”
Anger flashed in the dark eyes staring back at me. “Three of us within a year? Either God hates us, or someone is taking us out one by one.”
A shiver skated down my spine, and I couldn’t help but scan the room for any eyes focused on us. Nothing seemed out of place. “Hayes is doing everything he can to figure out what’s going on. We just have to be careful in the meantime.”
Isaac scoffed. “Hayes is a good man, but this town doesn’t have the resources for this kind of thing. I’m thinking about getting out of dodge for a while. You should do the same.”
“I can’t. My life is here. My business. My friends.”
“None of that matters if you get dead.”
My stomach roiled. “I need to find a restroom. I’ll see you back inside.”
I hurried for the stairs before he could say another word. I remembered from my Sunday school days that there was a bathroom upstairs. It was a single room instead of a row of stalls. I jerked open the door and then slammed it behind me, barely throwing the lock and making it to the toilet before my stomach emptied itself. I heaved and heaved, even after nothing remained.
The cool tile seeped in through my tights, and I fought the urge to let myself sink down onto it. Instead, I pushed to my feet and flushed away the evidence of my sickness. I ran the water as cold as it would go, washing my hands and rinsing out my mouth. I breathed a sigh of relief at the mouthwash and tiny cups on the counter. Swirling the minty liquid around in my mouth, I breathed through my nose.
I spat out the mouthwash and straightened. My reflection might as well have been that of a ghost. I was so pale it was a miracle there was any blood in my head at all. I tried pinching my cheeks, but it only had a minimal effect.
“Get it together,” I whispered to the woman in the mirror. “This is not about you.”
I squeezed my eyes closed, thinking about Lisbeth’s parents. How much they must be hurting. How they needed to know that she was loved and would be missed.
It was enough to have me unlocking the door and stepping out into the hall. The voices were quieter now, and I knew people were likely finding their seats for the start of the service. I hurried down the stairs and rounded the corner, colliding with a wall of muscle.
I immediately stepped back. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t see—”
My words cut off as a different set of dark eyes glared back at me. “Never have any consideration for the ramifications of your actions, do you?”