soft female voice was speaking.
“I’ve got a steak on the barbecue with your name on it, Big Guy,” that female voice said.
Big guy?
Dell’s dark eyes warmed at the sight of Jade. “Sorry, Kel. I have work.” His hair was even more disheveled than usual. He’d shoved his fingers through it. He did that a lot when he was tired or frustrated, and today he’d been both. He’d lost a very ill cancer-ridden cat on the table, not entirely unexpected but never easy.
I’m going , Jade mouthed, and waved to indicate she was heading out.
“Wait,” he said.
“I’ll wait as long as you need,” the woman said.
“Sorry,” Dell said, putting his feet down and setting his laptop on the desk. “I meant Jade.”
“Who’s Jade?”
Jade rolled her eyes at Dell and left his office. The man was gorgeous as sin, and incredible at what he did for a living, but if he couldn’t see that he went through women like other men went through socks because he insisted on choosing the wrong women, it was really none of her business.
Not that she was one to talk. She hadn’t exactly been successful in the relationship area herself, especially lately. “People in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones,” she murmured to Beans as they stepped outside.
It was a relatively mild night, but she could hear the rustle of the dry leaves on the trees. They were getting ready to fall. The ground crunched beneath her heels as she walked across the parking lot. She was halfway to her car when it happened.
A figure darted between her car and Dell’s truck. He was tall, lean, and had a face chalk white with hollow, sightless black eyes and a black mouth, gaping wide open in a soundless scream.
Four
T error gripped Jade by the throat and between one heartbeat and the next, she was transported back to another time and another place.
To the night of her attack. And this time it was worse because she knew she was weak. She was supposed to be getting better and she wasn’t. She was hiding behind the same routines, different place, and she was no better than she’d been before the first attack.
Run .
She told this to her feet. Run . But like the last time, her feet didn’t obey. And also like last time, she froze.
That long ago night she’d been snagged up in hard, gripping hands, and dragged away by gunpoint. Knowing she couldn’t survive that again, she opened her mouth to scream but only a whimper escaped.
The dark figure stopped short and tilted its head. The white face wavered in her vision, then floated disembodied as it was torn away. A mask. A zombie, she thought dimly. A cheap zombie Halloween mask.
And the figure? Just a teenager, and a young one at that. But it was too late for logic. Panic had stolen her breath, stopped her heart, and she couldn’t breathe.
Couldn’t move.
From a great distance she heard the second horrifyingly pathetic whimper that came from her throat. Her legs wobbled and gave, and she hit her knees, bracing herself with one hand on the rough asphalt.
The kid reached out to put a hand on her shoulder and she further embarrassed herself by cringing back.
A woman appeared, the woman who’d been talking to Adam only a few moments before, Jade realized. Michelle something. She crouched before Jade and tried to take the kitten carrier.
“No!” Jade gasped, tightening her grip on Beans.
“Your hand’s bleeding, you must have scraped it when you fell,” Michelle said. “I’m so sorry. Timmy didn’t mean to scare you.”
“He . . . he didn’t say anything.”
“He’s deaf, he doesn’t speak. I’m so sorry. I know I should take the mask from him, but he’s so attached to his Halloween costume. He loves to wear it.”
Only seconds ago it had been terror blocking the air in Jade’s throat. Now it was humiliation. She got to her feet, still clutching Beans. “It’s okay, I’m fine.”
But she wasn’t. With the memories she’d beaten back now pounding just behind her
“I’ve got a steak on the barbecue with your name on it, Big Guy,” that female voice said.
Big guy?
Dell’s dark eyes warmed at the sight of Jade. “Sorry, Kel. I have work.” His hair was even more disheveled than usual. He’d shoved his fingers through it. He did that a lot when he was tired or frustrated, and today he’d been both. He’d lost a very ill cancer-ridden cat on the table, not entirely unexpected but never easy.
I’m going , Jade mouthed, and waved to indicate she was heading out.
“Wait,” he said.
“I’ll wait as long as you need,” the woman said.
“Sorry,” Dell said, putting his feet down and setting his laptop on the desk. “I meant Jade.”
“Who’s Jade?”
Jade rolled her eyes at Dell and left his office. The man was gorgeous as sin, and incredible at what he did for a living, but if he couldn’t see that he went through women like other men went through socks because he insisted on choosing the wrong women, it was really none of her business.
Not that she was one to talk. She hadn’t exactly been successful in the relationship area herself, especially lately. “People in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones,” she murmured to Beans as they stepped outside.
It was a relatively mild night, but she could hear the rustle of the dry leaves on the trees. They were getting ready to fall. The ground crunched beneath her heels as she walked across the parking lot. She was halfway to her car when it happened.
A figure darted between her car and Dell’s truck. He was tall, lean, and had a face chalk white with hollow, sightless black eyes and a black mouth, gaping wide open in a soundless scream.
Four
T error gripped Jade by the throat and between one heartbeat and the next, she was transported back to another time and another place.
To the night of her attack. And this time it was worse because she knew she was weak. She was supposed to be getting better and she wasn’t. She was hiding behind the same routines, different place, and she was no better than she’d been before the first attack.
Run .
She told this to her feet. Run . But like the last time, her feet didn’t obey. And also like last time, she froze.
That long ago night she’d been snagged up in hard, gripping hands, and dragged away by gunpoint. Knowing she couldn’t survive that again, she opened her mouth to scream but only a whimper escaped.
The dark figure stopped short and tilted its head. The white face wavered in her vision, then floated disembodied as it was torn away. A mask. A zombie, she thought dimly. A cheap zombie Halloween mask.
And the figure? Just a teenager, and a young one at that. But it was too late for logic. Panic had stolen her breath, stopped her heart, and she couldn’t breathe.
Couldn’t move.
From a great distance she heard the second horrifyingly pathetic whimper that came from her throat. Her legs wobbled and gave, and she hit her knees, bracing herself with one hand on the rough asphalt.
The kid reached out to put a hand on her shoulder and she further embarrassed herself by cringing back.
A woman appeared, the woman who’d been talking to Adam only a few moments before, Jade realized. Michelle something. She crouched before Jade and tried to take the kitten carrier.
“No!” Jade gasped, tightening her grip on Beans.
“Your hand’s bleeding, you must have scraped it when you fell,” Michelle said. “I’m so sorry. Timmy didn’t mean to scare you.”
“He . . . he didn’t say anything.”
“He’s deaf, he doesn’t speak. I’m so sorry. I know I should take the mask from him, but he’s so attached to his Halloween costume. He loves to wear it.”
Only seconds ago it had been terror blocking the air in Jade’s throat. Now it was humiliation. She got to her feet, still clutching Beans. “It’s okay, I’m fine.”
But she wasn’t. With the memories she’d beaten back now pounding just behind her
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