It galled her to admit the need tying them together, binding her to Gabriel. More than attractive, he spoke to the woman she wished desperately to become. He saw in her, in a glance, what it had taken her years to see. What she still only half believed.

He made her want in ways she never thought she could.

When the phone rang, she rushed to answer.

“Hello?”

“Dr. Abbott? It’s Jessica Dawson.” On the other end, Jessica tugged the sheet higher. Behind her, attentive hands tried to distract her from the call. She slapped at him. “I wanted to know if we were still on for today.”

Erin took a quick look at the clock. It was already nine in the morning. In the midst of everything else, she’d forgotten to cancel her meeting with Dr. Bernard and Jessica. It was too late to cancel, she decided, annoyed with herself. “We said nine thirty?”

“I booked the media room for this morning. See you soon.”

Too soon. Her mind was whirling with thoughts of murder and unfamiliar feelings. She was scared and confused, in no shape to advise a grad student on a project when she could barely help herself.

With sluggish motions, she turned the taps on in the shower, bundled her hair atop her head. As steam billowed, a glimpse in the mirror revealed what she expected. Bleary-eyed, she looked exhausted and anxious. How was she supposed to function when every person she touched could be in danger?

It hit her then and she gasped with the comprehension. The fear that crept into her dreams at night, the answer to the puzzling dream with Nathan and Gabriel and the killer.

“Why didn’t I see it sooner?” She braced herself in the stall, the tiles slick against her skin.

Nathan was the life she’d fled. Gabriel was the promise of what she could have. But turning to Gabriel meant the killer would follow. Her only choice was to run again.

No doubt, it was what he wanted from her. To chase her so deep inside herself, she would be easy prey.

“He won’t win, Analise,” she murmured. “We won’t let him.”

“BY CROSSING DISCIPLINES, psychologists can better evaluate the data and advance new theories of criminal behavior.” Jessica dimmed the slide on the screen and signaled for the lights to come up.

“Good work,” Erin commended as she forced her thoughts back to the presentation. “I like your interdisciplinary approach. You have a great command of the intersections of social theory and criminology. I thought I heard threads of cognitive science in there.”

“I have a number of friends in the field, Jessica. I mean, Ms. Dawson,” Kenneth said. “Please stop by my office and I will give you contact information.”

Jessica nodded. “Do you have any other suggestions, Dr. Bernard?”