The elevator doors opened. She darted in, punched the button for her floor, then held her finger on the Close button. As the elevator doors slowly closed, she saw Austin race into her line of sight. Their eyes met for an instant before the doors shut.

Damn it! Now he would be able to trace what floor she got off on.

Quickly she punched several other buttons. Then, with a shaking hand, she pinched the back of her neck.

Even if he managed to narrow down which floor she was on, there were a lot of suites and rooms on each level. He couldn’t know which room she was in. He could knock on every door, but if he did, she didn’t have to answer. And the suite had a strong security door. He wouldn’t get into her space unless she let him. And she wasn’t going to let him.

When she reached her floor, she jogged to her suite and let herself in. Then she threw the latch and double-checked to make sure the door was locked.

Triple-checked.

Unable to help herself, she went over the same motions again and again. Latch, door, lock. Latch, door, lock. Latch, door, lock. I have to stop this, she thought, watching her hands as though they belonged to a stranger.

Her phone rang.

The phone that she had turned off.

Feeling hot and numb at once, she reached into her purse and pulled out her cell phone. She remembered turning it off. She distinctly remembered it.

Josiah’s name appeared on the screen.

She hadn’t entered his contact information into her phone. It should have shown up as an unknown number.

Moving on unsteady legs, she walked into the kitchenette, opened the microwave, and threw the phone inside. After slamming the door shut, she walked into the bathroom, braced her hands on the sink. Then she looked in the mirror.

She couldn’t see herself clearly. Tears were streaming down her face, and the lightning flashes had appeared at the edge of her vision again. She didn’t trust herself, and she really didn’t want to hurt anybody.

Wiping her cheeks, she told the woman in the mirror, “You’re going to be all right. I don’t know how, but you are. It’s going to be okay.”

Because someone needed to say that to her even if she couldn’t feel it.

Somehow everything was going to be okay.

*     *     *

Josiah’s phone rang as he sped toward Molly’s hotel. Glancing at the dashboard of his Audi TT coupe, he saw the caller was Anson, so he punched the button to answer.

Anson’s voice came over the speaker system. “Do you feel that?”

“Of course I do,” he said grimly as he gunned around a street corner at a yellow light.

“Maria’s picking up on it all the way from Birmingham, which is over two hours away. Is that Molly Sullivan?”