Chapter Thirty-Three

A light rain fell from thick clouds as they stood around the open grave. Mya hadn’t known Traci well, but there were a lot of people from the community there to pay their respects. Once news broke about her murder, it was almost like the whole town became distrustful. One of them was a killer. Tensions were high, and tempers seemed to flare at the littlest thing.

As the preacher talked about the person Traci was and quoted Bible verses, Mya looked around at the people gathered there. Could one of them be the killer? In television shows they always said the killer liked to be close to the investigation: it fed the thrill in them. Most people here she didn’t know, but the ones she did looked devastated.

As they lowered the casket into the ground, Mya could feel the muscles in Nate’s arm tense. He wasn’t handling this well. He’d spent most of the day working on systems to keep not only her and Karina safe, but the other women. He felt personally responsible that the video surveillance in his building wasn’t functioning properly. In fact, Nate had gone back for the past two months and seen how at random times it looked like it would skip recording. There was no rhyme or reason to when it would happen. Both of them were trying to fix that, her house, and keep everyone safe. She worried he was going to run himself into the ground, since he was barely sleeping.

Nate and Karina left her side to talk with the preacher and say goodbye to people, and she was left alone to observe people. She wanted to do anything she could to help, but knew she didn’t have much to offer. Feeling helpless, she gave James a small smile as he walked up to her.

“I can’t believe she was taken from us,” he said. “It’s been hard going in to work and not seeing her there.” Tears filled his eyes, waiting to fall. Taking a deep breath, he blinked hard and they fell. “This should not have happened to her. The person who did this needs to pay.”

“I’m sorry for your loss. They said you were friends.”

James stared at the coffin. “She had this incredible, almost childlike exuberance for life. She was one of those people who took pleasure in the little things in life. It was refreshing.”

“I think a lot of people are going to miss her.”

“I feel sorry for him.” He nodded toward Brent, who was standing, alone, against a tree. “They go way back. In fact, they used to date.” Clearing his throat, he turned and gave her a small smile. “If you’ll excuse me, I really need to leave now.”

“Sure, I completely understand. Please let me know if you need anything.”

Mya watched him weave his way through the people standing around before he made his way to the parking lot. Turning back to the crowd, she searched for Brent. She wanted to offer her condolences to him, but he was nowhere to be found. Frowning, she stood on her tiptoes trying to find him. When her eyes found Nate, she slowly lowered herself to the ground. She could feel his grief from where she stood, and see the pain with every breath he took. It was evident that he blamed himself for her murder. He should have been able to protect her; his security systems should have been better. But she knew he thought he had failed.

As he walked over to her, she wanted to take the pain away from him.

“Hey,” Nate said. “Want to go for a ride with me?”

“Sure, that’d be great.”

Grabbing her hand, he brought it up to his chest and rested it over his heart. “Thank you, Mya. I know you’ve been helping out, to make things easier on Karina and myself, and you have no idea what that means to me.”

“It’s no problem. I wanted you to know I’m here for you. That I’ll always be here for you.”

“I know. Come on.” He nodded toward the parking lot. “Let’s go.”

They walked over to his truck and he opened her door, helping her inside. As he walked around the hood, she could tell by the droop of his shoulders that he was exhausted.

They drove all the way up to the top of the mountain, to where they could look down over Roslyn. There was a natural rock formation that was perfect to sit on and enjoy the view. After they sat down together, he put his arm around her.

“Whenever I need to think, I come up here.” Nate played with a lock of her hair. “It’s so peaceful, and away from people. All the noise just disappears up here.”

“It’s stunning.” She rested her head against his shoulder. “I like being here with you.”

“I like being anywhere with you.” Shifting, he moved to look at her. “Seriously. I love being anywhere with you. I love spending time with you. I love our history together. I love learning about what you did when we were apart. Looking into the future, I cannot fathom my life without you. Everyone knows life is too short. Hell, we were just at a funeral for a twenty-six-year-old woman today. She’s not going to have a future. Hers is over. I already regret losing touch with you for fifteen years. I don’t want to miss a minute more. Mya, I love you. Will you marry me?”