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

steering wheel was imbedded in her? There wasn’t anything he could do about it. “Umhmm.”
    “Slide on over, and let’s get back to Naples.”
    Rachel nodded and eased across the seat. Her neck felt like she’d spun around a ride at a fair too many times. If she kept her head steady and didn’t turn, maybe she’d be okay. Then she’d crawl in her bed and not move until her ribs quit aching and her head stopped throbbing.

    Captain Justice didn’t look good. He hadn’t expected the vehicle to lurch from the pit with her foot pressed against the gas. She’d been game to learn something new, and now she shifted like an eighty-year-old woman who’d experienced a beating. What else could he have done? Asked her to push?
    He didn’t like being this far from other soldiers. At this time of night, there was no guarantee their own guys would welcome them if they stumbled across a patrol. He hadn’t meant to spend so much time searching for the missing altarpiece. Now he didn’t know the safest course of action. Find a place to hide along the road and risk running into partisans or Germans? Or push back without headlights to Naples?
    The road was littered with craters left from bombs and possible mines. If he wasn’t careful, they’d get stuck again or worse. On the open road they were the perfect target for some flyboy who couldn’t tell if they were friend or foe in the dark of night.
    He edged the vehicle forward, trying to spot the deeper darkness of the craters. At this rate it would be daybreak before they returned to Naples. The front left tire sagged into a pit, then bounced ahead. Rachel gasped.
    “How bad are you hurt?”
    “I’m fine.” The words were tight, as if pushed through a straw.
    “Not buying it.”
    “Too bad.” Rachel looked away and he waited. “There’s nothing you can do. Just get us back to Naples.”
    “That’s the problem.”
    “I don’t like the sound of that.”
    “We can’t return in the dark. The best option is to find a place to pull off and wait for dawn when we can see the road.”
    “No.”
    “This isn’t a debate.”
    “I can’t spend the night out here with you.” She shrank away from him on the seat.
    “Ma’am, I want to return you in one piece.” He inched the car forward as she gazed out, her body angled away from him. They inched along. Had the Germans seeded the road with mines as they retreated? He hadn’t seen any earlier, so it should be safe. Still, should he risk it when he had company?
    Nothing the army had given him laid out a procedure for situations like this. By himself he’d find a place to hole up. Today he had a passenger. A beautiful one. One he needed to protect in body and reputation. He needed someplace she’d know she was safe.
    He’d heard stories of reporters and soldiers becoming more than friends. That wasn’t his plan. She was his assignment for a few days. Nothing more. Elaine had made it clear when she broke their engagement the day he boarded the Queen Mary that military life and love didn’t mix. He had no reason to think Rachel, no Captain Justice, felt any different. And with the nature of war, chances were strong he’d never see her again.
    It felt like the road inched beneath them as he scoured for danger. “Help me find a place to pull over.”
    Rachel shifted but didn’t look at him. “What do you think I’m doing?”
    Scott bit down to keep from snapping back. He could imagine what cycled through her mind. How could he make her feel safe instead of stuck between unknown armies and him? Returning to the village wasn’t safe now. It sat behind them, and the road to Naples lay in front, both lost in darkness.

Chapter 6
    May 17
    SHE COULDN’T ALTER THE fact she’d spent the night with the handsome Lieutenant Lindstrom without anyone to verify nothing happened. Who would believe searching for an altarpiece in an isolated cave had made it impossible to return? It sounded weak even to her, and she’d