Hassler stokes the flames up into a roaring blaze, the sap boiling and popping inside the wood.

Every light in the living room is out.

Firelight colors the walls.

She can hear the steady rain hammering the tin roof above her head, ready to put her under.

Hassler scoots back from the fire, sits on the sofa’s edge.

He looks down at her with a kindness in his eyes that she hasn’t seen in days.

“Is there anything I can get for you?” he asks. “Water? More blankets?”

“I’m okay. Well, not okay, but . . .”

He smiles. “I know what you mean.”

She stares up at him. “These have been the weirdest, worst days of my life.”

“I know.”

“What’s happening to me?”

“I can’t explain it to you.”

“Can’t or won’t?”

“You disappeared from Seattle the night of Ethan’s celebration-of-life party. You and Ben.”

“Right.”

“I figured you had gone to Wayward Pines looking for Ethan, so I went looking for you.”

“Shit. You’re here because of me.”

“I drove into town two days before Christmas. All I remember is a Mack truck coming out of nowhere, sideswiping my car. I woke up in the hospital, just like you did. No phone, no wallet. Have you tried to call out to Seattle?”

“I phoned my sister, Darla, I don’t know how many times from that pay phone beside the bank, but it’s always either a wrong number or there’s no dial tone.”

“Same thing happened to me.”

“So how do you have a house here now?”

“I have a job too.”

“What?”

“You’re looking at the sous-chef in training at the Aspen House, nicest restaurant in Wayward Pines.”

Theresa searches his face for signs of bullshit, but he looks absolutely sincere.

She says, “You’re the special agent in charge of the Secret Service field office in Seattle. You—”

“Things have changed.”

“Adam—”

“Just listen to me.” He puts his hand on her shoulder. She can feel its weight through the blanket. “All the questions, all the fears you have, I had them too. I still have them. That doesn’t change. But there are no answers to be had in this valley. There’s only a right way to live and all the other ways that get you killed. As your friend, Theresa, I hope you can hear me. If you don’t stop running, this town will murder you.”

She looks away from Hassler, into the flames.

The firelight blurring through a sheet of tears.

The scary thing, the truly scary thing, is that she believes him.

One hundred percent. There’s something wrong, something evil about this place.

“I feel so lost,” she says.

“I know.” He squeezes her shoulder. “I’ve been there, and I’m going to help you in every way I possibly can.”

ETHAN

ETHAN