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Chapters (86)
  1. Cover
  2. Praise
  3. Booklist
  4. Dedication
  5. 1
  6. 2
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  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. 10
  15. 11
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  32. 28
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  35. 31
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  38. 34
  39. 35
  40. 36
  41. 37
  42. 38
  43. 39
  44. 40
  45. 41
  46. 42
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  48. 44
  49. 45
  50. 46
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  52. 48
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  55. 51
  56. 52
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  61. 57
  62. 58
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  64. 60
  65. 61
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  70. 66
  71. 67
  72. 68
  73. 69
  74. 70
  75. 71
  76. 72
  77. 73
  78. 74
  79. 75
  80. 76
  81. 77
  82. 78
  83. 79
  84. 80
  85. 81
  86. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

He continued. “You’re petite, and you’re injured. You don’t want to get into his grip again. But he also probably has longer legs than you do. So you’d want to disable him somehow, then run.”

Her heartbeat kicked up again. “How would I do that?”

“Slam the heel of your hand upward into his nose. Pick up a pencil and stick it in his eye, in his ear. Stab his face with your keys. Scream as loud and as long as you can.”

“I know how to scream.” She put her hand on her throat and remembered the screams locked in by the monster’s grip. “Given the chance.”

“Yes, you do.” He flung his arm around her as if she were a pal. “You are an excellent screamer, and in the right circumstances, it’s a useful weapon.”

She was cheered about the running and screaming and depressed by his offhand friendly attitude. Sure, she didn’t remember her own name, but she was pretty sure guys liked her for more than her companionship.

He helped her up the stairs to the porch, unlocked his front door and gestured her inside.

Before he followed her, he stopped and scanned the area around the house, then scanned the larger horizon, up toward Gothic and down toward the Pacific.

He seemed obsessed with locks and making sure no one observed them unnoticed, and Elle was blinded by the memory of those hands tightening around her throat. “What is it?” She could barely speak. “Do you sense something? Someone?”

“The neighbors. It’s the neighbors.” Adam shrugged as if shedding a load off his shoulders.

In a hoarse voice, she asked, “Do you think the man who killed me is out there on a hill watching me?”

“I think the man who tried to kill you threw you into the ocean believing he had finished you. He has no reason to hunt you.”

Adam’s cool response made sense, but it didn’t explain why he remained vigilant. Except...today she had learned more about him. Adam Ramsdell hid dark secrets from his past. What menacing presence did he fear?

23

“YOU’RE RIGHT. Of course you’re right.” Yet the idea of someone making a corpse of her, tossing her into the Pacific Ocean and thinking he was done with her, hurt and disturbed her. It was her death they were talking about!

Adam followed Elle inside his home. He shut the door, he turned the lock at the top and bottom and slid a slender metal bar into a socket.

She stared at him, trying to shake off the leaden remembrance of sinking, drowning, dying.

But she didn’t really remember...did she? Breathing in the salty ocean, the bone-chilling cold of the Pacific waters, the knowledge that death swam with her and would claim her when she was done struggling...