Page 148 of Whispers and Wildfire

Anger flared through me, burning away some of the haze. I didn’t know how this had happened to me again. Could lightning strike the same person twice? Apparently so. But I’d fought my way out once. I’d just have to do it again.

Fucker didn’t know who he was dealing with.

A sound sent a jolt of fear through me. A click, then a slight squeak, like a door opening on old hinges. The creak of stairs. Someone was coming.

“Are you awake?” he asked.

That voice. It sent a chill down my spine. But my stubbornstreak was stronger than the fear or the drugs in my system. I didn’t move, even to nod.

His footsteps seemed to disappear, although I could feel him draw closer to me. How was he so freaking quiet? A light flipped on, and I had to squeeze my eyes shut against the brightness.

As he came around the mattress, I blinked, trying to adjust to the light. He peered down at me with something like curiosity in his gaze. He looked oddly plain, almost generic, although he was vaguely familiar. Blond hair cut short, eyes that were a dull blue-gray. No facial hair. Gray T-shirt and jeans. He was wiry rather than bulky, but the memory of his arm around my neck flashed through my mind. He was stronger than he looked.

His mouth turned up in a slow smile. That was when my still groggy brain registered an alarming fact. He was letting me see his face.

That couldn’t be a good sign.

“Look at you.” His tone was almost reverent. “I’ve waited so long for this. It’s even better than I imagined.”

With my mouth taped shut, I couldn’t reply, even if I’d wanted to.

Shadows seemed to move behind him, but I couldn’t tell if they were real or hallucinations. He had something small and black in his hand, and as he lifted it, he seemed to point it at me. A flash went off.

A camera. He was taking pictures.

I glared at him. If he wanted me afraid, he was going to be disappointed.

Not that I wasn’t scared. I was terrified. But screw him. If glaring at him was the only act of defiance I could manage, I’d glare with the fury of a thousand suns.

Lowering the camera, he crouched next to me and tilted his head. “Don’t worry. I don’t want to hurt you. I didn’twant to the first time, but you never gave me the chance to explain.”

The first time? Whether it was the drugs in my system or the shock of what he’d just said, it took me a few seconds to process what he was saying.

Was ithim?

“You really don’t remember me, do you?” he asked. “Not from our time together, before, of course. We didn’t get this far last time. I underestimated you. Believe me, that won’t happen again.”

Remember him? How could I remember? The man who’d taken me hadn’t shown his face. I’d never seen him. It was why he got away. There’d been no way to find him.

But something tickled at the edges of my memory. That face. I’d seen him before. Where?

“Of course you don’t remember.” His expression darkened, a spasm of anger distorting his features, and he lowered his voice. “No one remembers me. They don’t even see me.”

He stood and started to pace back and forth in front of the mattress, opening and closing his fists. “You were supposed to know. I’ve been waiting for this. I wanted the moment when you knew. When you realized it was me all along.”

I watched him while he muttered to himself, still walking back and forth. I didn’t know what he wanted from me. He’d taped my mouth shut, what the hell did he expect me to say?

“Fine. I’ll show you.”

He grabbed the camera and disappeared. The stairs creaked, followed by the soft swish of a door opening. Craning my neck, I could see a set of wooden stairs behind me. The light from the bare bulb hanging from the ceiling hurt my eyes, but I kept watching the door.

A moment later, he came down again, his footfalls making more noise. He crouched and held something in front of my face.

I blinked a few times, trying to get my eyes to focus. It wasa playbill, old and slightly faded. Sunset Community Theater presentsP.S. I Adore You.

I’d been in that play, back when I’d still been doing live theater. In fact, it was the last one I did, because it was right before…

My eyes moved to his face again. I did recognize him. He’d been part of the stage crew. Lighting and effects, maybe? A quiet guy, rarely talked to anyone. In fact, we’d hardly noticed him.

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