Turn Back Time (The Full Circle Series Book 1) Annette Anders (shoe dog free ebook TXT) 📖

call them as soon as we’re on the train to ask if they have something for us. What are your plans?”

“I have reservations at a hotel in Versailles. But if you don’t mind, would you ask your hotel if they have a room for me until Saturday? It would help make things easier if we’re staying together.”

“No problem. It’s the least I can do!”

“But we don’t want you to give up your plans to visit Versailles,” Stella said. “You must’ve looked forward to it.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ve been there before. This is more important.” Julia opened an app on her phone and chuckled. “Let’s get to work, girls. I’m the queen of to-do lists. Thank goodness for the Notes app.”

Stella stared at the phone in her hand. “I have to call David. It’s been over an hour since he texted me while we talked to Luca.”

“Quite frankly, I don’t care what he wants,” Naomi said. “I’m worried about Revan right now. Period.”

Then she looked out the window for a moment, and said, “Sorry, I’m acting like an ass and it’s not fair to you. If you feel you need to call him back, do it.” Naomi reached for her hand and squeezed it.

“I really do. He must have a good reason if he wants me to call him. What if something happened to him, too?”

She pulled up his contact and looked at the image she had assigned to it.

For more than a year she’d been wanting to call him, or write back to him, asking for an explanation. But she was hurting so much, she’d preferred to live in a cocoon and have no connection to anything related to David—not even his sister, who had tried to stay in touch.

Never in a million years did she imagine they’d meet again under such bizarre circumstances. Yet here they were…

She typed a message.

I got your message. Can I call you later? Stella

Within seconds, her phone rang. She had no choice. She needed to pick up. Her hands shook when she touched the green button.

CHAPTER 23

David—July 2018

D

avid stood in front of the open window of his hotel room. He tuned out the noises on the streets below him and focused on the trees in the park. He didn’t care about the climate-controlled air escaping into the summer heat. Since he left Stella the message to call him an hour ago, he debated how to tell her what he’d seen on the morning news.

David clutched his phone and waited for her to accept his call. It only rang a few times before she said, “David?”

Hearing her voice caused a sensation in him he could only describe as free-fall. Like a roller-coaster going over the highest point and barreling toward the bottom at the speed of light. The heart-in-your-throat, adrenaline-rushing-through-your-veins experience.

His mouth was dry.

“David?” she asked again. Her voice was quiet, and she sounded defeated. No, not defeated. Scared.

Two pigeons flew up and perched on the small ledge outside his window. Their cooing irritated him, and he shut the window.

“Hi, Stella…umm…where…what…” He leaned his forehead against the glass. Focus, Danvers!

“Stop it, David.” Her voice sounded stronger, and he grinned. There she is! Coming out of her shell.

“Let me try again,” he managed a strangled laugh. “I’m so glad to hear your voice. Where are you?”

“On my way to Rennes. Why? What’s going on?”

“Have you been following the news?”

“A little…I assume you’re talking about the hostage situation?”

“Yes. I don’t know how to tell you... Revan is involved.” He held his breath. “I didn’t want to believe it, but they showed photos of him and the women.”

“What, in the catacombs?”

“No. The women’s pictures looked like their work IDs, and Revan’s must’ve been from a media kit. I texted you as soon as I saw it. I didn’t want you to hear it on the news.”

“Luca called us at the same moment you texted. But we didn’t know they announced Rev’s identity.” David heard Naomi’s voice in the background. Stella made an affirmative sound to Naomi, then said to him, “Naomi and I are on our way back to Paris.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?” he asked.

“To tell you the truth, I don’t know yet what we’ll do, or what we even can do. We haven’t had time to digest any of this.” He noticed how she emphasized the word can. “We should be in Paris in about three hours. One of the women in our group has connections to the American Embassy, and she’s trying to help us get in touch with someone there, but who knows how much they’ll tell us.”

“Call me when you’re at your hotel. I’m not going anywhere until I talk to you again,” he said, then added, “Please, let me help you.”

“Okay, I’ll be in touch later.”

“Promise me!” David said.

“Yes, I promise I’ll be in touch this afternoon. I’ve got to go, David. The connection is breaking up.”

“Until later, bye, Stella.”

David tossed the phone on his bed. He had no clue what he could do, but he knew he’d do his best to support Stella and Naomi while they waited for news and Revan’s rescue.

He needed to be ready and have his wits about him when they arrived, which wasn’t for another few hours. He couldn’t sit here, he had to move. Maybe he should go for a walk.

Without paying attention to where he was going, he let his feet take him away. When he reached a busy intersection, David wasn’t surprised to find himself in front of the Opera House. Talk about coming full circle… No, the circle would only be closed if he were here with Stella.

Instead of going inside, as he had for the past three days, he sat on the steps and looked down the straight avenue leading back to his hotel.

His conversation with Jerome two days ago came to mind. David apologized and told him the naked truth before they began the auditions. “As soon as we entered the