Never Die Alone

Once again she thought of the creatures of the night.

As frightening as snakes and gators were, they were nothing compared to the psycho who’d abducted her and pla

Setting her jaw, she pushed herself upright and ignored the headache pounding behind her eyes and the pain splintering up her leg from an ankle that felt as big as a cantaloupe. Her stomach grumbled, but that was to be expected. Slowly, painfully, she pushed her way up the bank and felt the ground. She thought she’d seen a stick she could use as a crutch, something to lean on, but her progress would be slow. Her plan, if she had one, was to walk as far as she could into the forest and then, come first light, head farther downriver.

She had searched for signs of civilization, a light shining on either side of the river, but here, in the middle of nowhere, the darkness offered no beacon of hope. Even if she caught sight of a flashlight’s beam, she would have to hold her tongue for fear that is was the freak on her trail. Although there were night fishermen and poachers and alligator hunters—all of whom would use a flashlight to find and kill prey—she wouldn’t know whether the light was generated by an outdoorsman or the douchebag himself.

Slowly she inched her way up the bank, her skin raw and muddy, her thoughts returning to Chloe. God, where was her twin? Hopefully, Zoe prayed, at a police station telling the cops what had happened, or somewhere using a telephone and calling Dad. He would know what to do. Not Mom. Not first. She would just fall apart or scold before she pulled herself together and called the authorities.

Zoe’s heart grew heavier when she thought of her mother. No doubt Selma was going out of her mind with worry, having no idea of the terrifying circumstances her daughters had fallen into. She might even be pissed, thinking Zoe and Chloe were hungover somewhere and sleeping it off.

If only.

Her hand slid along a sharp blade of some kind of grass, which sliced into her skin.

“Crap!” Zoe whispered, jerking her arm back. “Shit!”

Craaack!

A twig snapped nearby.

Zoe froze.

Heart beating a wild tattoo, she strained to determine the source of the noise. All the while she braced herself, certain that the monster would leap out of the darkness, a machete raised, his eyes and teeth gleaming hideously in the barest light from the weak crescent moon.

Her skin crawled and she slid her fingers through the darkness, across weeds and grime, searching for a rock or stick, any kind of weapon.

Ssssh.

A rustle in the brush. Movement in the cattails and nettles.

God, have mercy.

Her fingertips scraped across a stone buried deep in the mud. She dug around the edges, forcing her nails and fingers to clutch the golf ball–sized rock and jerk it upward. A sucking sound ensued.

Okay, Freak, I’m ready for you—

The grass beside her shifted.

Zoe jumped backward and pain streaked up her leg. Her pulse pounded like crazy.

Hoisting the rock into the air, she spied two shiny objects in the scant moonlight. A pair of eyes, small and beady, poised only a few inches from the ground. The creature glared at her.

Hiissss.

A jagged smile of white teeth glistened.

Her heart nearly stopped.

She raised her hand. Aimed.

The creature uttered another sibilant hiss just as Zoe recognized it as a possum.

Letting out her breath, she watched as the shaggy marsupial bared its needle-sharp teeth again, then waddled away into the darkness, leaving Zoe, arm still raised to hurl the rock, gasping and inwardly calling herself a fool.

A possum?

All that panic for a possum?

“Grow some balls,” she whispered to herself. Rather than take the encounter as a warning, she decided instead to think of the meeting with the possum as impetus to find her way to the nearest farmhouse or cabin.

If the damned possum could wander safely around in the dark, she decided, her chances weren’t as bad as she’d imagined.

You could take to the water again, float downstream, save your ankle from bearing weight.

But she was too exhausted to consider swimming right now. Too easily she could get caught in the current and drown. Besides, she’d rather take her chances with the creatures on land than find herself wrestling with an alligator or water snake.

There are plenty of snakes in the wetlands. Alligators, too. Maybe even a bear or boar as well.

“Awesome,” she said under her breath. Still, she was determined to get as far from the river as possible. It would be easy for her hunter to spot her on the open water. She was certain of it.

Time to move on.

Regardless of how excruciating the pain.

“How’s she doing?” Jase notched his chin toward the street where Selma’s car was rounding the corner. He’d obviously guessed that the fragile woman Bria

“I’d like to say ‘hanging in there,’ but it would be a lie.” Bria

“Point taken.”

“I assume you’re waiting for me.”

“See? You do have detective skills.” A hint of a smile slashed across his beard-shadowed jaw.

She wasn’t in the mood for jokes. Nor would she allow herself to be charmed by this old high-school crush, even if he was damned handsome in the warm summer night. She stepped into the watery glow of the street lamp and tried to tamp down her awareness of him: his shoulders wide, his lips blade thin, his eyes deep-set and intense. And then there was that scar. He appeared as rugged and sexy as she remembered from high school. Maybe even a little dangerous.

Ridiculous!

Years ago she would have killed to have him stare at her as intently as he was now, but tonight she wasn’t about to get lost in his gaze. “How’d you find me?”

“I’m a wiz on the Internet.”

“Humble.”

“Hey, it’s what I do.” He flashed a self-deprecating grin. “And it wasn’t that tough. You were written up a few months back, in the Observer no less, about the twinless twin thing.”

She remembered. It had been a small, obscure human interest story, a few column inches, the interview done over the phone by a female reporter.

“I put two and two together,” he said. Again the barest of smiles, almost self-deprecating.

Was it possible? Jase Bridges could actually not take himself seriously?

No way.

“So, okay. You must want something.”

One eyebrow lifted. “Direct, aren’t you?”

“I’m not big on beating around the bush. Besides, I’m tired. It’s been a long day.” And it had been. She felt as if she’d been spi

“I’ve been doing some checking. I think you might be on to something.”

Finally, someone who believed her. Someone with intense hazel eyes that, she suspected, didn’t miss much.

“But I’m not sure you’ve got it all right,” he said as a horse-drawn carriage rounded the corner. “I don’t see that the twins who are missing in Phoenix and Dallas play into it.”

“You did eavesdrop.”

He didn’t deny it. “Yeah, and then I checked into the missing persons cases you described. Tell ya what, why don’t you let me buy you a drink and we’ll discuss?”