“I will,” Madeleine promised. “I didn’t come this far to get myself into pointless trouble.” Just trouble with a point.

“If you say so.” The doubt in Becca’s voice could have rivaled that of Saint Thomas as he questioned the wounds of the risen Christ. “Get something to eat and enjoy your look around.”

Madeleine bade her farewell and disconnected before looking around the room. The Merryweather Hotel hadn’t changed. Even the slightly musty smell was the same. Her suitcase rested on the luggage rack by an old chest of drawers and beneath a mirror that was barely big enough to show all of her face and shoulders. Next to the window sat a shabby armchair accompanied by a table with an electric kettle, mug, and two teabags.

The last time she’d been in a room like this, she’d worn a nun’s habit, with no idea what was about to hit her. Now she was a woman who still struggled to recognize herself in the mirror. She’d given up so much, almost everything, to be where she was right now. Would it, could it possibly be worth it?

Madeleine crossed herself and bowed her head in prayer. She murmured, “Thank you, Heavenly Father, for my safe arrival, and for opening my eyes five years ago to what I had to do. Please bless my endeavors here, guide my feet, and protect me from evil. Amen.”

She crossed herself again and waited hopefully for the sense of peace that had once filled her after prayer. As happened more often now, it didn’t come. In fact, the closer she’d gotten to this trip, the less serenity she felt with every amen.

Well, God wasn’t a teddy bear you hugged for comfort. He didn’t promise you an easy time; her life was proof of that. If Madeleine felt unsettled right now, then she ought to.

She went to the window. Condensation fogged the glass, but she could still see the rolling green landscape beneath a gray sky. No ocean view from here. The hotel was far enough from the shore that she wouldn’t be able to hear seductive voices calling to her from the waves.

Which was, Madeleine told herself, a good thing.

She took a deep breath against her squirming stomach. No point in further delay. She’d finally made it to Jorsay, and she wasn’t about to hide away in a hotel room. It was time to begin her investigations.

And to pray, with all her heart, that she’d be equal to whatever she finally found.