“Since my favorite Christian singer has a full-page feature spread.” His face fairly glowed. “Do you realize what this kind of publicity will do for your career?”
James was so pumped up that Sara couldn’t help but share in his excitement.
She smiled, knowing what seeing this article in print meant to him. It had been a real coup, getting the newspaper to select her as the first local celebrity in their series on “hometown heroes.” And he’d worked long and hard with the feature editors on the article, consulting on everything from the copy to the pictures selected.
“You deserve all the credit, James,” she said, giving him a hug.
“I did it for you, Sara.” His gaze met hers and the depth of emotion reflected there told her that his feelings for her went deeper than hers for him.
“James, I…” She put her hand on his arm, not wanting to ruin the moment but not wanting to lead him on, either.
“We can talk later.” He blanketed her hand with his and gave it a squeeze before releasing it. “Right now, I can’t wait to see how this article turned out.”
“You haven’t looked at it yet?” Sara couldn’t believe her ears. If she’d spent all these months working on this project, she’d have been reading it on her phone, before even thinking about grabbing a print copy.
“I wanted us to read it together.” He gave an embarrassed laugh and shifted his eyes from her searching gaze. “Sounds sort of corny when you say it out loud.”
Her heart melted. James had always been her staunchest supporter. “I don’t think it sounds corny,” she said. “I think it sounds sweet.”
James fumbled with the paper. “Let’s see what we have here.”
Sara scooted even closer and took one side of the open paper, peering with interest at the splashy article, her gaze drawn immediately to the pictures. There was one of her on stage at a recent concert, another showing her accepting the Sheldon Award and one…with her and Crow in church.
Her breath caught in her throat and she looked twice to be sure.
James gasped.
“Where did that come from?” His gray eyes flashed, and for a second she thought he was accusing her of giving it to the paper rather than speaking rhetorically. “This was supposed to be a picture of you and me at that fund-raiser. How could this have happened?”
Though Sara couldn’t be sure, she had an inkling of what might have occurred. Ken’s cousin worked at the Post-Dispatch. He must have shown him the picture he’d taken for the church newsletter and the cousin evidently decided to include it in the feature.
Even to her untrained eye, she could tell the photo was something special. The late-morning light filtering in through the stained-glass windows cast a warm glow around her and Crow. It was an intimate portrait. She vaguely remembered turning toward him to say something right before Ken had snapped the picture. But she didn’t recall how close his mouth was to hers. Or how his eyes glowed like dark coals. He looked incredible.
“How did they get this picture, Sara?” James asked again, more insistent this time.
Sara frowned, not appreciating his tone. Her first instinct had been correct. He did think she had something to do with this. “How would I know?”
“That’s you in the picture, isn’t it?” he said. “You had to have been there when it was taken.”
“Of course I was there. It was taken last Sunday right after the church service.” Sara tried to keep her mounting anger under control. She told herself that James didn’t realize he was acting like a jerk. “It was taken for the church newsletter. How it made the paper, I don’t know.”
James glanced down at the page and his mouth tightened into a thin line. She wondered what upset him more—the fact that they’d changed the layout at the last minute without checking with him, or that it was Crow in the picture with her instead of him.
If she knew James, it was probably a little of both.
“Let’s see what they have to say about the two of you,” he muttered. He studied the print below the picture.
“What could they say?” Sara said lightly. “They don’t even know who I’m with.”
“On the contrary,” James said. “It seems they know everything about your bodyguard.” James shifted his gaze to her. “You never told me that he’s a cop on leave from the St. Louis PD.”
“He’s not a cop. That has to be a mistake.” Sara snatched the paper from James’s hand. “Let me see that.”
She read quickly, a tight band gripping her chest at the words. According to the paper, Crow was really Salvadore Tucci, a detective with SLPD.
Sal. She could hear his voice. Nobody really calls me that anymore. And suddenly Sara knew there was no mistake.
The article went on to intimate that he and Sara had recently been seen out together and speculated that wedding bells might not be too far off.
A cop. Crow was a cop. Why would a cop take a position as a bodyguard?
I really think the police need to be involved. Meg’s dogged insistence followed by her sudden acquiescence now made sense.
Sara pulled out her phone.
“Who are you calling?” James asked.
“Meg.” Anger warred with disappointment. “She’s got some explaining to do.”
“I’m sorry, Sara,” Meg said for what had to be the tenth time. “If I’d realized you’d be so upset about this, I might not have done it.”
“Might not have done it?” James jumped on Meg’s words. “You blatantly lied to Sara, and now all you can say is you’re sorry and that you might not do it again?”
“James.” Sara cast him a quelling glance. “Not that I don’t appreciate your support, but this is between Meg and me.”
His face tightened as if he’d been slapped. “In that case—” he rose and his gaze shifted from Meg to Sara “—I have work to do.”
Sara waited until he’d left the room before she turned back to Meg. At any other time, she would have smiled at her manager’s appearance. Meg’s hair was flat against her head and her only makeup was lipstick and powder. She’d obviously heard the anger in Sara’s voice and had pulled on her clothes and come right over.
Meg had been more of a mother to her than her own had ever been and Sara had to steel her heart against the wave of sympathy that washed over her. She had to remember what the woman standing before her had done.
“Why did you do it, Meg?” Sara’s voice broke. “I trusted you.”
Meg’s eyes searched Sara’s. “Because I care about you. I don’t want anything to happen to you. You refused to take the threat seriously. I thought…”
“You hired a cop.” Sara kept her gaze firm and direct. “When I specifically said no police.”
What if Crow had found out about Gary? Her heart clenched. It would have been all over.
“What now?” Meg dropped into a chair and ran her hand through her hair like a comb.
“I’m going to get rid of Crow and get on with my life,” Sara said, ignoring the ache arising from deep within that told her that although it had to be done, it wasn’t going to be easy. Still, she had too much to lose to let the investigation continue.