“Ah,” the other man said. “This is even more perfect than I could have planned.”

He leaned into the car and clicked on the ignition, then stood back and faced Timothy. “In one of your books, you wrote about a woman drowning. Now you get to see what it looks like in real life.”

He moved behind the trunk and leaned hard against the bumper.

As the car began to roll forward down the ramp toward the river, Tessa realized that he must have stuck it in neutral.

As fast as she could, she darted toward the car to try to somehow stop it before it took her mom into the East River.

++++

Thick, wandering tendrils of smoke were filling the room, making it hard to breathe. Images from earlier in the week returned to me: Mist. Our lives are only a vapor, and then they’re gone. A brief moment, and then they’re over.

I didn’t see Blake, but I did recognize this as the room where Sasha had died.

Braids of fire were snaking up the wall and across the ceiling. More flames crept toward me on the floor. The heat, in sharp contrast to the weather outside, singed my skin and forced me to stay back by the doorway.

“Blake? Are you here?”

No reply.

The room was empty.

Though he might’ve gotten away, four more doors lined the hallway.

Clear the rooms. Make sure no one else is in the building.

++++

At first, Tessa thought she might be able to get in front of the car, but it was moving too fast.

That would be stupid. They’d both die.

She went for the backseat door, but it was locked.

They were halfway down the boat ramp on that icy pavement, slick with snow. Barely keeping her balance, she snagged the driver’s door, threw it open, and scrambled inside.

“Tessa, get out of the car!” her mom shouted. “Now! Hurry!”

“I can do this.”

Tessa punched the brake with her foot, and as she did, the car began to skid sideways, sliding to the right.

Steer where you veer, she thought, something Patrick had taught her: “It won’t seem to make sense, but steer into the skid.”

She cranked the wheel to the right and then slammed the car into park, but on the frozen ramp and with its forward momentum, the car continued to plummet—now sideways—toward the water.

“Unlock the back door,” her mom said, “so you can get me out!”

Tessa searched for the unlock button, but it was some sort of cop car, and she was missing something. “I don’t know how,” she yelled. “I can’t find it!”

“It’s okay. You just need to go.”

“I’m not leaving you.”

The car hit the water, and the current, fueled by the furious wind, grabbed hold of it.

“Get out, Tessa!”

“Wait.” She had an idea. “Hang on, I’ve got a gun.”