A burst of lightning startled her. Another came on its heels, lighting up the sky like the fire that had been burning her dreams and waking hours, and sent her thoughts skittering back in time.

Fighting with Joe.

Running up the stairs.

Screaming for her father.

Hearing his hoarse cries for help.

Standing in the doorway, stunned by the smoke and flames…

And seeing a shadow. The shadow of another person as they ran past the window just outside the main floor of the warehouse.

Oh, God. She whipped to the side of the highway and set her head to the steering wheel, shaking. Had that been a real memory? Heart pounding, she sat there and struggled to pull more from her brain, but nothing else came. After a long while she lifted her head.

The rain had stopped. It wasn’t dark yet, not for at least an hour, and unnerved, she drove up through the winding roads into the hills for the trails she knew would soothe her.

She kept her running shoes in the back of the Bug so she was able to park at the trailhead and go for it. She ran for several miles through a deep foggy mist before sinking to a rock on an overhang where on a clear day she’d have been able to look down on much of San Diego County, and the green hills lining the brilliant shiny azure blue of the ocean. God, she loved the smell after a rain. The wet gravel, the thriving wildlife, the sounds of small animals scurrying around chirping at one another. Gradually her pulse slowed and her head stopped throbbing with the memories.

When she left here, the memories would ease back to leave her alone, she knew that.

But her mom needed her. And maybe she needed her family as well. Getting to her feet she began the jog back. The soggy ground squished beneath her shoes. The trees dripped down on her damp, heated skin, soothing, cooling her down. By the time she got back to her car, she thought maybe she could function as a human without having a breakdown. Sliding into the driver’s seat, she picked up her cell phone, with some ridiculous little hope running through her that maybe she’d have a message from Joe.

She did have a message, but not from Joe. The ID display read out of area. The text message was simple.

Go Away. Please, go away.

“Not funny, Diana,” she muttered. “Or Madeline. Or…”

Or who? Who else would do this? She nearly deleted the message, but at the last minute didn’t, instead tossing her cell to the backseat.

No she wouldn’t go away, thank you very much.

Instead she drove without a particular destination in mind, trying not to think. That was her new objective for the rest of the night, no thinking allowed.