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  85. 81
  86. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Stephen knew his best friend wanted him to be logical. His friend wanted to talk about sharks and riptides and the impossibility of surviving in the Pacific in a raging storm. His friend wanted to point out that Elladora would be talking to the police or the coast guard, and if Stephen survived this surgery, he would spend the next weeks in a prison ward.

But Zsóke understood duty and vengeance and what was owed to Stephen. “Right. If she’s alive, I’ll find her.”

“If she’s alive,” Stephen said as he shut his eyes, “kill her. Kill her slowly. Make her suffer.” That he would relinquish the right to murder Elladora Varela was an admission he believed he would not survive.

“Of course. You’ll go to surgery now?”

“Yes.” For the first time, Stephen gave in to the blast of pain. The doctor might be right. Stephen might not survive.

But he’d made sure that Elladora would die with him.

14

THE NIGHTMARE PULLED ELLE into the depths, below the waves, below the light... If only she could scream...but the weight of the ocean crushed the breath from her lungs. She struggled, fighting for freedom...and woke with a baby goat tap-dancing on her shoulder, its tiny pointy hooves finding every bruise in the vicinity. Before she could react, the goat was lifted away, and she opened her eyes to see it wiggling in Adam’s arms, stretching its skinny neck up to look into his eyes. He pressed its head to his chest, carried it to the pen and deposited it with the other kids. “It’s feeding time.” He indicated the schedule penned on the wall.

She sucked in oxygen—had she been holding her breath?—and with an aching difficulty, she rose to lean on her elbow. “Sorry. Did I sleep long?”

“An hour.”

Her mouth felt like she’d been eating cobwebs. “What happened to Dr. Brocklebank?”

“He’s got a colt up on Cabrillo’s Dude Ranch that’s not arriving as it should.” Adam offered his hand. “Come on. We’ve got things to do.”

“Go to the psychic?”

Adam didn’t look surprised, exactly. More puzzled that distracting her with a baby goat hadn’t deafened her to two men’s robust voices.

She let him hoist her up. “I need to eat first.” About that she was decisive. It wasn’t merely the kids who were impatient for their meal. “There’s that restaurant I saw on the way up here. The Oak?”

“The Live Oak.” He didn’t quite groan, but she got the impression he didn’t wish to be seen in the restaurant. Or not be seen in public with her. She did look pretty rough. Or maybe he was broke. After all, she didn’t know what chain metal, weapons and artwork earned. “We can go back to your house and make lunch,” she added hastily.