Shadowed by Grace by Cara Putman Read Free Book Online Page A

Rachel reached for her camera. The lighting failed to reach far enough, but she had to try. She hesitated, then snapped the shot.
    “Where could the altarpiece be?” The father’s soft words filtered to Rachel.
    Scott shook his head. “I don’t know. Are you certain no one else knew it was here?”
    “Yes.” The priest’s shoulders slumped, and he seemed to age before Rachel’s eyes. “I am at a loss.”
    “Was anything else here?”
    The father paused for a moment. “Our village held little of value, just the altarpiece. You must find it.”
    “I can’t make any promises, Father.”
    The man of the cloth pulled himself straight. “Then you may leave and I will search. Now back to the village.”
    With sure steps the priest led the way from the cave. The sky darkened as they rode back to the village in silence, the jeep jerking and sputtering. Scott stopped on the square and turned to the father. “Thank you for trusting us with the altarpiece’s hiding place. I will do all I can to find it.”
    The man studied him in the gloom. “I believe you. Grazie.” The man paused, almost invisible in his black cassock. The men clasped hands, the man’s trust causing Scott to stand taller, then the priest turned to Rachel. “Signorina.” He climbed out and disappeared into the parsonage behind the church.
    Rachel slipped into the front seat, settling in as Scott popped the jeep into gear. The vehicle jerked then shimmied across the road and out of the village. After several minutes of silence, searching the area along the road for signs of anything, Rachel swallowed when she saw a flicker.
    “Do you see that?”
    “What?” Scott’s voice had a strangled edge.
    “There was a flicker of light in that field.” Rachel’s gaze roved across the darkness. “We should have left earlier.”
    Keep us safe, Lord! The jeep felt like a tiny island in the midst of a hostile world. They’d been behind enemy lines since they left Naples, and that reality hadn’t changed while they explored the cave with the father. The jeep launched into a hole and then jarred to a stop.
    “Come on, come on.” Scott muttered in low tones as he pushed against the gas. The wheels spun, but the vehicle remained trapped. “Can you drive?”
    Rachel shook her head. “I’m from the city. Never learned.”
    “You get to now. Unless you’d like to spend the night out here.”
    As a distant drone of planes rumbled across the cloud-covered sky, Rachel shuddered. “I’ll try anything.”
    He gave her a quick primer, but the levers and pedals blurred in her mind. Right for gas, left for brakes? But which one for shifting gears? “I can’t do this.”
    “I’ve got to push.”
    “Can’t we both do that?”
    “Not if you want to keep the vehicle on the road.”
    “Okay.” Rachel closed her eyes. She had to do this. “Tell me when you’re ready.”
    “Whatever you do, don’t go in reverse.”
    “Great.” She gritted her teeth. “You didn’t tell me how to find it anyway.”
    Scott disappeared behind the vehicle. A deep breath. She could do this or they’d be stuck. Out here. She couldn’t spend the night on an isolated Italian road with a stranger. “Now.”
    At the terse word Rachel shoved the stick forward and put her left foot on one lever and her right foot on the other. The engine ground and chugged as it tried to rock forward. “What should I do?”
    Scott groaned.
    “Are you okay?”
    “As fine as I can be shoving this monstrosity out of a crater. Keep revving the gas.”
    Right pedal. At least she hoped that was the correct one. She pushed it to the floor, and the vehicle squealed as it launched from the hole. “What do I do?”
    “Push on the middle pedal.”
    She shoved it down and the vehicle stopped, throwing her forward like a rag doll. Her chest slammed into the steering wheel, and she moaned. “I don’t want to drive.”
    Scott hurried toward her. “You okay?”
    Should she tell him it felt like the