Free The Choice by Lorhainne Eckhart

which pounded self-scorn deeper into every cell of her body. Except he was right, even she had to admit none of this boded well. But, whatever happened to diplomacy? She glanced at Sam, but his eyes remained glued to the replayed image on screen. “Whoa baby, look at that right there.” Sam rose out of his chair pointing at the frozen footage. “He was waiting for you.”

Chapter Ten
    “Marcie, you okay babe?” Sam squatted in front of her. His strong comforting hands smoothed over her shoulders. Maybe he thought she’d pass out. Maybe she would. The bile rose in her throat, and the room swayed as if she were now sailing over rough seas.
    “Lean over, head between your knees.” He pushed her head down, his fingers sinking deeper into the firm flesh of her back.
    “What just happened? I’m okay now.” She gripped the chair arms and sat up. None of this made sense. And both men studied her as if she were some weak hysterical woman. That set her blood to boil—because she wasn’t. And for some reason she couldn’t stand to be viewed that way.
    “What happened? You turned as green as the moss on a live oak.” Dev hovered behind Sam, and Sam stayed right in front of her.
    “If either one of you looks at me one more time like that, I swear I’ll…” She didn’t know what she’d do. Those were hurt words spouted in anger because she doubted herself. And to top it off, she felt violated in a way she couldn’t explain.
    “You’ll what? Come on Marcie, we’re not your enemies here. We’re the ones here trying to get some answers.”
    She wanted to cry and wished she could, except something inside of her wouldn’t allow that pathetic despair to surface.
    “Can we watch this again? I want to show you what I saw.” Sam snapped, and Dev shuffled his awkward stance, pretending to ignore them in the tiny space they found themselves crammed.
    Marcie swallowed the lump jammed in her throat, peering awkwardly at Sam. “Yeah, sure.”
    Sam returned to the high back leather chair and Marcie scooted beside him, leaning closer to the monitor.
    Dev replayed the video. “Okay freeze, start right here and look at the guy in the ball cap by the gift shop.” Sam traced the tall, lanky kid’s movement with his finger across the screen. “See there. Now watch how he sees Marcie and follows in behind that other older couple. Whoa, wait a second, did you see that?” Sam shot a swift glance at Dev.
    “Yeah man, that’s Reggie; he’s a baggage claim supervisor.”
    Stunned, Marcie was afraid to breathe as she watched Reggie, an overweight white haired middle-aged man dressed in dark blue pants and a white shirt, walk past the dark sure-footed kid and pass something with his left hand. Delivered with such smooth control, it’d be easy to miss. Next, dark kid stuffed what he was handed into his baggy pants pocket and sidled up behind Marcie. One hand grabbed the strap of her knapsack; the other flicked open a switchblade and sliced through the black strap. He shoved Marcie hard, and she fell forward onto her knees before smacking her head on the unforgiving tile.
    Her head stung just watching the recap. Sam and Dev faced her again. Were they worried she’d pass out? Or maybe it’s her reaction. Was she a victim or somehow involved with her attacker? No one could say for sure. Even she wasn’t naïve enough to deny something wasn’t at play.
    “You okay, babe?” Even with his gruff scratchy appearance, this sexy gentleman destroyed all doubts she had of his credibility. He wouldn’t toss her to the wolves—he wouldn’t abandon her, and he wouldn’t sneak away. And that meant more to her than she could explain. Instead of being comforted by this revelation, she was rattled.
    “Marcie, you okay?”
    She tried to force a smile past the rising lump stuck in her throat. She failed miserably. “Yeah sure, just peachy.”
    “Is that the beginning of some attitude I’m sensing? Under the circumstances Marcie, I’ll