What am I going to do?

Move. I have to move.

I shifted against the wall, and my body came alive with sensations. None of them were pleasant. My head swam and pounded, my scalp hurt, and my right hand ached where I must’ve slammed it against the wall. Plus, I was cold and wet. I’d pissed myself.

This is the worst moment of my life.

I had no idea what to do. He’d said someone would come for me. Someone like him? Who was he? Some sort of religious vigilante? What was going to happen to me?

A single thought formed: get away. I had to get far away and never be found. Not by him or anyone like him. Once I realized it, I was completely clear on this point. It was essential.

But no … is that really right?

He’d said I’d die if I told anyone about him or if I tried to leave. I believed he meant it. He would do it himself. It didn’t matter what his motives were. It didn’t matter that I hadn’t done anything wrong. Dead is dead, even if you’re killed by a crazy person for a crazy reason.

But he’d also said someone would come for me. I couldn’t sit here and wait for that to come again. I could not. It was a terrible struggle not to run screaming from the house that very moment.

It occurred to me that I probably wasn’t being rational. I tried to take a step back.

What if I sleep on it and decide in the morning?

The very room reacted to the thought, closing in on me, crushing me. My breath came in gasps, and all the strength left my muscles. Black spots rushed at my eyes from the far wall. I flopped forward, trying to claw my way to the stairs. I didn’t make it.

I woke up on the basement floor, not sure how long I’d been there. There was no more question of staying in Dorf. All I needed was a head start. I needed time to pack some things, get my money out of the bank, and put gas in my car. Then I was out of there.

I would call the police. I’d say I’d walked in and found Callie McCallister’s boyfriend rifling through my stuff. He’d assaulted me, then run off.

I could make it believable. Billy and Doyle had heard Callie accuse me of photographing “hellspawn” in Pete’s earlier. He’d been with her and had shown an interest in my pictures.