Free Dangerous Melody by Dana Mentink Page A

life echoed in his ears. He’d driven to see her, mind fogged on painkillers. Even in that altered state, his heart craved her, the need overriding common sense. After an incoherent ramble about how sorry he was, she’d begged him not to drive, pulling at his arm, trying to snatch the keys. He hadto get away, to keep from shaming himself any further.
    He’d wrenched free, floored the gas pedal, and then somehow she’d been there, in front of him and he couldn’t stop in time. He remembered the soft thump of her body hitting the front fender, the blood oozing from her cheek. He’d managed one word, one agonizing plea. Help. And then it had all gone mercifully black.
    He swallowed thenausea that came with the memory. God saved her from him, he was sure. Was He systematically removing all the people in Tate’s life? His father, Stephanie, his sister? Where was the compassionate, loving guardian his mother always told him about? Once you accepted Christ, as he’d done as a teen, wasn’t He supposed to help you, no matter what? Bring people into your life to mentor and guide you?When the addiction took hold of him with stunning ferocity, it seemed to drive away everyone close to him.
    Now he was alone, and that’s the way it would stay.
    The miles unrolled in front of them. Stephanie remained busy on her laptop, and he dutifully tailed Luca. It was more comfortable for them both to be immersed in their own worlds.
    “Guarneri made several instruments beforehe died in 1741, but the one that may or may not have burned at Hans’s shop, the Quinto Guarneri, was unique. It was almost lost in a building collapse in the early 1800s, but amazingly it survived with only a slight scar on the scroll.” She checked her messages again. Only one from Brooke, which she listened to attentively. “Victor’s coming around,” she relayed, relief shining on her face until ashadow of disappointment followed. “He can’t remember what happened.” She bit her lip. “He keeps asking for Dad.”
    Tate put a hand on her arm. “We’ll get him back. Both of them.”
    She didn’t look at him, but clasped his hand with hers. For a moment, hands twined together, it felt like old times. He was her rock, the rebellious love that would give his life for hers in a heartbeat. Herstomach let out a loud rumble, and her cheeks pinked. “I never did get to eat any of that pie.”
    “Under your seat there’s a box of food. Take what you want.”
    She raised an eyebrow. “You never used to plan ahead much for road trips.”
    “Still don’t. It’s Gilly’s truck. He doesn’t leave home without a week’s supply. He got trapped in an elevator during the Loma Prieta quake, and he vowednever to be without food again.”
    She slid open the compartment under the seat and grabbed a couple granola bars and a box of Oreos. “I’m going to give Gilly a kiss when I see him,” she said, taking a big bite of the granola bar.
    Tate chuckled. “I’m sure that will make his decade. He’s had the hots for my sister for years, and she’s never given him a second look. Too bad. He’s geeky,but he’d treat her much better than the other guys.”
    He avoided looking at her.
    “Tate, I know Luca would never take advantage of a woman. He didn’t touch Maria, and he certainly didn’t try to force himself on her.”
    Tate’s jaw clenched. “She says he did.”
    Stephanie tried to tread lightly. “She is...volatile. A week after she said that about Luca, she was involved with Bittman.”
    “I know she’s made mistakes, but past is passed, just like you said. And we’re supposed to be forgiven, right? That Christian thing?”
    His tone was suddenly earnest, and something in his gray eyes was soft and tender. “Yes, that’s right.” She wondered again why it was harder to forgive someone you loved than a complete stranger. Her heart sped up a tic, and she realized she was actuallypleased to have Tate sitting here next to her, clean of the