Prologue
He’d kill her if he found her.
But Reese Taggart couldn’t go back. Not to being smothered and held captive by his anger and his erratic mood swings. Not to pleasing him when that was impossible.
Not to a life without friends and a house where she had to follow his rules or be punished.
She tugged the ball cap over her head and struggled to stay in the shadows as she climbed in her car and pulled away from the gas station. A big burly man wearing a hoodie was watching her from the gas pump.
Tension gathered in her belly. Had Robert paid the man to find her?
Shivering, she pressed the accelerator and sped onto the highway. Nerves on edge, she looked over her shoulder to see if the man had followed.
Finally, when she veered onto the entrance ramp to the freeway, and she didn’t see him, she breathed a sigh of relief.
Although a feeling of despair mingled with fear as night fell. She’d left her apartment. Had packed everything she owned in her car and was on the run. She had no idea how to rebuild her life, but her first priority was to escape him.
The protective order she’d filed hadn’t mattered to him. He’d ignored it. Had broken in and threatened her. Had promised to make her pay if she ever tried to leave.
Then he’d tied her up and left her naked and alone. His ugly gray eyes had pierced her as he’d told her she needed to think about how to be a good wife.
They weren’t married. She’d turned down his proposal. Had made several attempts to break it off with him.
He’d refused to accept that it was over.
When she’d managed to free herself, she’d spent the night in a cheap motel somewhere on the highway, terrified and debating where to go. The police had said they couldn’t help her unless he hurt her.
She didn’t want to die.
This morning, she’d made a decision. Move to Raleigh where her sister lived. The two of them needed each other. And Tess deserved to know why Reese had cut off communication with her the last few months.
A gust of wind slammed against her vehicle, the windows rattling with the force. A storm was brewing. She had fifteen miles to go.
Her phone dinged with another text. Him again. He’d started calling and texting the minute he’d discovered she was gone.
You’ll be sorry for leaving me.
The only thing she was sorry for was ever believing he was a nice man. For signing up for that stupid online dating site.
Her friends said it would be easy. Safe. They were all doing it.
All she had to do was create a profile. Post some pictures. Swipe if she liked someone.
Meet in a public place. Like a coffee shop.
And she had.
He’d been so charming in the beginning. Almost shy. Quiet. Like a gentle giant, he’d complimented her and wined and dined her. She’d lost her mother the year before and had still been grieving. He’d offered a shoulder to cry on. Had understood the reason she’d dropped out of college to work for a while.
He’d promised to take care of her.
She hadn’t known that meant isolating her from friends and family and trying to control her.
Finally, she reached the exit for Raleigh. She considered giving her sister a heads-up she was on her way, but figured she needed to explain in person. Perspiration beaded on her neck as she took the exit ramp and veered onto the side street leading to her sister’s little house. Tess was an artist and worked at a coffee bar near the downtown area.
But she chose to live outside the city limits for the privacy. She said the countryside inspired her creativity.
The ten miles to her house seemed like an eternity, but Reese grew more relaxed as she approached. She’d missed her sister these last few months. Needed her now.
But as she rounded the corner, she spotted smoke in the air. Thick plumes drifted up into the clouds and swirled in a blinding haze of gray.
She punched the accelerator and sped the next mile. Just as she’d feared, her sister’s house was on fire.
Terror pulsed through her as she screeched to a stop. She punched in 9-1-1 and asked for help, then threw the car door open and hit the ground running. Flames had caught the roof and seemed to be coming from the back room. Tess’s studio.
The chemicals she used to paint and clean her brushes were there. Oh, God...
The wind howled as she ran toward the house. Maybe her sister wasn’t here. Although her little Toyota was in the drive.
Reese pushed the front door open and screamed, “Tess!” She called her name over and over as she raced through the small bungalow. Tess wasn’t in the living room or kitchen.
Smoke billowed everywhere. Wood crackled and popped from the back rooms. She coughed and covered her mouth with her scarf but refused to turn back.
Heat scalded her as she inched down the hallway. The guest room was empty but filled with smoke. Tess’s bedroom...so much smoke she could barely see inside.
She ducked into the room anyway. But Tess wasn’t in there.
Terror clawed at her. The studio.
Flames were starting to lick the edge of the doorway.
“Tess!” She blinked and peered inside. Flames crept up the wall. Her sister’s canvases were on fire, the beautiful colors of paint dripping like blood. Smoke and fire consumed the shelves of art supplies.
Then she saw her sister. On the floor. Not moving.
Screaming her name again, she raced toward her. Fire ate at the window curtains. A piece of burning wood splintered from the shelf and pelted her. Flames licked at her shirt, but she threw the splintered wood aside and beat at the flames. She knelt and shook her sister. Tess was unconscious.
Please, dear God, let her be alive.
Fear driving her, she grabbed her sister’s arms and began to drag her from the room. Sweat poured down her face and neck. Something shattered. The floor was growing hot, the fire spreading. She had to hurry.
She yanked and pulled with all her might, hauling her sister through the living room to the front door. A siren wailed in the distance. Lights twirled and glittered across the dark sky.
She pulled Tess onto the porch then down the steps and dragged her across the grass to a nearby tree. Then she dropped to the ground and shook her.
“Tess, honey, hang in there!” She felt for a pulse, but nothing. Seconds ticked by. A fire engine roared into the driveway. Firefighters jumped from the fire engine and sprang into action.
She shouted for help. “My sister. She’s not breathing!”
One of the firemen ran over, his face etched in worry as he stooped down and pressed two fingers to her sister’s neck.