At first, her mind didn’t register what he said. Every single thought focused on escaping. She bolted toward the beach, but she could hear her pursuer steadily gaining on her.
Faith reached for the latch on the gate when a strong hand clamped down on her shoulder. The momentum of his body slamming into hers sent them both sprawling along the dew-covered grass. It took a few seconds to drag air into her lungs and then she was kicking and punching him, fighting with everything she had, but her strength was no match for his.
“No!” she screamed as loud as she could, hoping someone would hear and come to her aid.
The stranger moved to a kneeling position, caught her flailing hands together in one of his, and brought them up over her head. “Stop that. I’m not going to hurt you.” When she finally stopped struggling, he let her go and got to his feet.
“See? I mean you no harm,” he said. Faith opened her eyes and stared at him for the first time. From her position lying flat on her back, he seemed incredibly tall.
She ignored the hand he held out to her. “Who are you? What do you want?”
“I told you, I have your dog.”
“What are you talking about? My dog is inside my house. How can you have him?” She sat up slowly, rubbing her wrists where he’d held them. In the darkness, she couldn’t tell much from his expression.
“Well, his name tag says he’s Ollie and that he lives here.”
He knew her dog’s name. While her brain struggled to make sense of it, barking coming from the front porch seemed to confirm his story. Yet Ollie was scared of his shadow. He would never willingly go to a stranger.
“Ollie, it’s okay, boy. Come here.” The little Pug bounded around the corner of the house and into her arms.
“Satisfied?” The stranger sounded amused. Faith got to her feet and put some distance between them, an impossible habit to break no matter how hard she tried. Another gift from him.
Although she couldn’t remember a single thing about the actual attack that had taken place in Austin, she knew it had been brutal. When the EMTs brought her to the hospital, the doctor who treated her told her it had been so violent her mind had simply wiped away all traces of the incident as a coping mechanism. In spite of all her doctor’s reassurances, her memory of the attack and what her life had been like before it remained locked away in her head.
She knew her attacker had murdered two people that night. Her friend Rachel Jennings and Rachel’s father, Carl, had paid the ultimate price with their lives. Faith had given up a lot to this nightmare as well. She had nothing left to give except for her life and he seemed determined to take that from her as well.
She brushed off her jeans while Ollie wriggled in her arms and licked her nose. She could only imagine what this man must be thinking after their hot-pursuit chase. “Yes. I’m sorry. I thought...” She stopped, realizing she couldn’t possibly tell him the truth. Most normal people would probably think she was the crazy one, and at this point, she was beginning to wonder if she was. She shook her head. “Never mind. Where did you find him?”
“Sitting on my back deck barking at the door and demanding to be let in. I guess he mistook my house for yours. He doesn’t appear to see too well at night. I stopped by earlier, but no one was home. I took the dog for a walk on the beach and saw your car lights.”
She smiled at his description of Ollie. At almost fourteen years old, a lot of things didn’t quite work the way they used to. Ollie’s poor eyesight was one of his latest ailments.
“Well, thank you for bringing him back. I don’t know how he got out.” Faith headed back toward her house with Ollie’s rescuer falling into step beside her, careful to keep some space between them. He’d caught the way she reacted when he got too close.
“I’ll help you find your keys. My name is JT Wyatt, by the way.” He held out his hand and she hesitated only a second before accepting it.
“Faith McKenzie.”
JT stepped up onto the porch and retrieved his flashlight from where he’d dropped it.
It took only a second to locate the keys beneath the porch swing. “Can you hold this for a second?” He handed her the light and got down on his knees to recover the keys. She caught a glimpse of faded jeans and a dark, long-sleeved turtleneck. The casual way he dressed didn’t quite fit with her first impression of him. She hadn’t pegged him as a local. More the corporate vacation type.
The light illuminated golden highlights scattered throughout his chestnut hair, which he wore swept back away from his face. A single strand fell across his forehead, dispelling the notion that he might have walked off the cover of some slick magazine.
“Here you go,” JT said as he got to his feet. She realized her first assessment of him had been correct. He was tall—well over six feet. She had to tip her head back just to look him in the eyes. They were a magnificent shade of blue that reminded her of the sky on a summer day.
Faith tamped down her wayward thoughts. “Thank you.”
He grinned at her. “No problem. I’m just glad I was home when Ollie showed up. I’d hate to think of him roaming around the beach on his own. October nights here can get pretty cold.”
When JT handed her the keys, his fingers brushed against hers, sending an unwelcome jolt of awareness surging through her, and she instinctively took a step back. His gaze narrowed just a fraction as he watched her, no doubt witnessing all her anxiety. Faith turned away and unlocked the door while praying he wouldn’t ask the questions she’d seen in his eyes.
“Looks like you have a secret admirer.”
Immediately her heart leaped to her throat and she turned back to him. “Excuse me?”
JT pointed the flashlight at something just beyond the door. “Someone left you flowers.”
A dozen red roses had been deliberately placed on the porch railing.
Faith struggled not to fall apart. In spite of what she’d hoped, she realized the call earlier hadn’t been an accident. He wanted her to find the roses when she returned, but she had been too scared and intent on escaping her would-be attacker to see them right away.
This was his subtle little reminder he could find her wherever she went. He enjoyed toying with her. The way a cat toyed with a mouse before devouring it.
“I take it you weren’t expecting those.” JT continued to watch her expression carefully.
“No.”
He took the flashlight and went over to examine the flowers. Nothing unusual about the dozen red roses in a cut-glass vase except for their purpose. They were part of his deadly game.
“They were purchased at the local florist here on the island. There’s a card attached.” JT held it out to her.
She closed her eyes and tried to capture the faintest memory. There had once been a time when she’d loved red roses. Something had changed. The memory disappeared before she could grasp it. Had it been real?
When she opened her eyes,
