She rubbed her temples as her head pounded. “You’re wondering why they let me go? I know the answer. They’re watching me now. They want to see if they can catch me in the act. That whole bit about my security detail being released since I’m at a safe house? That was just them trying to make me think I have some freedom of movement, when really, I bet they’re going to be watching me closely.”

“That’s a good point. And I know we’ve been down this road before, but we have to revisit it. Do you think Bryce could have anything to do with this?”

“He seemed sincere when we met, but he’s also a trained liar.”

“How’re his tech skills?”

“Good. I doubt he personally would’ve been able to doctor the photos, but he knows people who could. He has extensive contacts.”

“I’m going to talk to him solo,” Hunter said.

“Do you really think that’s a good idea?”

“Yeah. I’ll get more answers without you there.”

She flopped back into her seat. “Whatever you want to do on that front is fine with me.”

“How’re you holding up?”

She sighed. “I’m all right, I guess. You didn’t actually think for a minute that I could’ve done those things, did you?”

He shook his head. “Of course not. I know you better than that. And even if you were trying to turn an asset, you wouldn’t have gone to his hotel room.”

“I could’ve changed a lot since we were together,” she suggested.

He glanced over at her. “You’re solid to the core, Layla. You can’t be shaken. Especially when it comes to your beliefs.”

If only he knew how much she had gone through since they’d been together. “Thank you for saying that, but there have been a lot of times when I’ve wondered how I was going to make it through. I’ve made some mistakes and gone through some really dark spots. The doubts have piled up.”

He raised an eyebrow. “You? Have doubts? No way. That’s not the Layla I remember.”

“I hurt so badly after what happened with us that I truly wondered if God was there. I asked why He’d chosen to abandon me. What had happened to us? We were both people of faith. I never understood, and now I see I was wrong about all of it.”

He sighed loudly. “The whole God-working-all-things-together-for-good thing doesn’t always pan out, does it?”

“Do you really believe that?” she asked softly.

“Honestly, Layla, I’m not sure what I believe anymore.”

She couldn’t help herself as she placed her hand on his forearm. “God hasn’t left you, Hunter. I promise.”

He shot her a glance. “Can you really make that promise?”