Sandra looked ready to spit. “That’s it. I’m calling Darrell.”

“No.” I grabbed hold of her wrist. “No, don’t do that. It’s fine. Really.”

“It’s not fine. You’re not fine.”

“This is my choice.”

“She just told you she’s fine, Sandra,” Ricky interjected. “It’s time for you to mind your own business for once in your life and leave my wife alone.”

“Rebecca is not your wife anymore,” Norm pointed out.

“That’s up to her, not some piece-of-shit lawyer like you.”

Norm shook his head. His eyes pleaded with me to take a different road. “Rebecca, this man has no control over you. You owe him nothing. He’s not your husband. All you have to do is say the word, and Darrell will take him to jail.”

“That’s not what I want.”

“Rebecca!” Norm went on, his frustration boiling over. I hadn’t seen him lose control like that very often. “Have you forgotten what this man did to you?”

Just for an instant, my eyes smoldered. “I haven’t forgotten.”

“Then why are you doing this?”

I wanted to say: For Shelby. That was the reason. That was the one and only reason. Everything in my whole life was about you. But there was no way for me to explain.

Instead, I looked at Ricky and said, “Let’s get out of here. I don’t care about the show. Take me away from here.”

“You heard her,” Ricky announced to the crowd. “My wife says we’re leaving.”

He took my hand in a tight grip. As we headed for the door of the 126, a path parted slowly, just wide enough for the two of us to get through. Sandra, Norm, and others followed right behind. When we reached the door and Ricky opened it, Sandra called after me.

“Rebecca, do not leave with him. Honey, please. Stay here.”

I froze in the doorway and looked over my shoulder at her. My face was stricken. A part of me wanted to stay, but it was too late for that. A part of me wanted to explain, but I couldn’t do that, either. I opened my mouth to say goodbye, but I didn’t have a chance to say anything at all.

Someone screamed. Not in the bar. On the television. The introduction to Ben’s new documentary began with the sound of a woman screaming, making my flesh ripple. Then we heard Ben’s dramatic voice filling the silence of the room.

“I’m Ben Malloy. Seven years ago, I brought you to a remote place called Black Wolf County, where a murderous beast known as the Ursulina had ripped apart the flesh of two men in a savage attack. Ever since that awful day, the people in this area have lived their lives in terror, wondering when the monster would return. Well, last December, they got their answer. The Ursulina came back . . . to kill again.”