Chapter 21

Dakota awoke with the feeling that something was missing. She turned over and reached out a hand, expecting to touch Jonah's body but her hand met only empty space. She opened her eyes and blinked.

"Jonah?"

There was no answer. Frowning, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and turned on the little bedside lamp. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and looked carefully in every corner. Maybe he was in the bathroom. But when she rapped on the door there was no answer and it opened easily to her touch.

Did he just decide to leave in the middle of the night?

No. His clothes were on the chair where he'd tossed them in his frenzy to strip them off. His duffel was still on the floor beside the chair and his satellite phone on the table next to it. Would he have gone outside in the middle of the night stark naked?