Back Before Now Save as PDF
Chapters (123)
  1. PLAYLIST
  2. CONTENT NOTE
  3. Dedication
  4. 1
  5. REMI
  6. 2
  7. FOSTER
  8. 3
  9. REMI
  10. 4
  11. REMI
  12. Before…
  13. 5
  14. REMI
  15. Now…
  16. 6
  17. FOSTER
  18. 7
  19. FOSTER
  20. Before…
  21. 8
  22. REMI
  23. Now…
  24. 9
  25. FOSTER
  26. 10
  27. REMI
  28. Before…
  29. 11
  30. FOSTER
  31. 12
  32. REMI
  33. Now…
  34. 13
  35. FOSTER
  36. 14
  37. FOSTER
  38. Before…
  39. 15
  40. REMI
  41. 16
  42. REMI
  43. 17
  44. REMI
  45. Now…
  46. 18
  47. FOSTER
  48. 19
  49. FOSTER
  50. Before…
  51. 20
  52. REMI
  53. 21
  54. FOSTER
  55. 22
  56. REMI
  57. Now…
  58. 23
  59. REMI
  60. Before…
  61. 24
  62. FOSTER
  63. Now…
  64. 25
  65. FOSTER
  66. Before…
  67. 26
  68. REMI
  69. Now…
  70. 27
  71. FOSTER
  72. Before…
  73. 28
  74. FOSTER
  75. Now…
  76. 29
  77. REMI
  78. Before…
  79. 30
  80. REMI
  81. Now…
  82. 31
  83. FOSTER
  84. 32
  85. REMI
  86. 33
  87. FOSTER
  88. 34
  89. REMI
  90. 35
  91. FOSTER
  92. 36
  93. REMI
  94. 37
  95. FOSTER
  96. 38
  97. FOSTER
  98. Before…
  99. 39
  100. FOSTER
  101. Now…
  102. 40
  103. REMI
  104. 41
  105. FOSTER
  106. 42
  107. REMI
  108. 43
  109. FOSTER
  110. 44
  111. REMI
  112. 45
  113. FOSTER
  114. 46
  115. REMI
  116. 47
  117. FOSTER
  118. EPILOGUE
  119. FOSTER
  120. Later…
  121. ALSO BY C.G. BLAINE
  122. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  123. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

The screen shows a statue of a man on a horse, and when I look up, the same bronze catches my eye, only I’m seeing the opposite side. My pulse spikes, my feet once again moving before I’ve decided what to do. But I’ve come this far, and all he’d have to do is look at my profile to see I’m in Prague.

I scan the faces as I move through the room, trying to pick him out. But I’ve only seen him in pieces—never all of him at once. A glimpse of eyes in a reflection. His lips, turning up in a smile when he’d talk about a new song. The stubble of his jaw when he’d tell me all the things he’d do to me if we ever truly met.

After moving to where he was before, with the bronze horse and man in front of me, I look down, and I suck in a breath.

It’s me. On the screen.

My head jerks up, and I search the opposite side of the room before referencing the screen again. He’s watching my profile now, catching the fountain in the center of the room in his shot. When I lift my gaze, it lands on a guy in a bomber jacket with a phone in his hand. A cap is pulled down, low on his face, and sunglasses cover his eyes, but my gut tells me I’m looking straight at Foster West.

He starts moving, and the shot drifts to another piece of artwork. It’s of a dog and a picnic, sunny sky and green, green grass, but the image shifts within seconds, showing me a new angle of myself. This time, he’s behind me. I close my eyes, my heart threatening to rip out of my chest.

I wander away from him, to the hallway and the painting of the little girl. After a minute, the frames he passes on screen look familiar. He’s following me. My limbs tingle as I climb the grand stairway to the second floor.

The slight crowd from downstairs thins the deeper into the building I go. When I glance down, I see the carved wooden banister stretching to the second level, a flash of his shoe, and then another shot of me by a sculpture of the female form.

I slowly make my way into a large, empty hall with nothing but baroque-style art. Foster’s entering the room as I pass the directory signs against the far wall. I check over my shoulder, making sure he’s watching and no one else is around before I turn down a narrow corridor. Then, I slip through the door halfway down, letting it swing shut behind me.