Page 4 of Look for Me

They were the same attackers from two months before, although that was on another street several blocks away. Some passersby stopped the attack and called the police. Corinne ended up in the hospital, and was released the next day before she contacted her FBI handler.

A week later, the police found her attacker dead, beaten to a pulp.

Corinne didn’t believe her FBI handler had sent someone to mete out justice for her. She was more apt to think it was Flavian.

It had to be.

Flavian Bailey was her ex-boyfriend in Nevada. Corinne had refused to remember him for two years, but could he have found her, even though she changed her name from Gail to Dinah?

Flavian was the reason she had to go into the United States Federal Witness Protection Program with her daughter. Rarely a violent man—he had others do his dirty work for him—Flavian lost it when he discovered that his favorite girl turned out to be an FBI informant.

Still, Flavian could never hurt Corinne.

He would even defend her.

However, the FBI wouldn’t take any chances. Corinne’s handler terminated her spying activities, and removed her from Las Vegas. Mother and child ended up in a safe house before they were whisked away by Federal Marshals who deposited them in Key Largo, at the house of one Wanda Preston.

WITSEC or not, this safe haven hadn’t prevented her from being raped by some drunken stranger, who had evidently paid for his life.

She should leave Florida altogether. But she had no money to go far, and wouldn’t dream of hitchhiking with a three-year-old in tow.

To be honest, Corinne was tired of running.

The door chimes jingled and jangled incessantly. Every now and then a whoosh of the afternoon heat pulsated into the shop. The ceiling fan spun quietly above, and the air-conditioning was at full blast, but all that wasn’t going to help much if the door to the hot Florida sun kept opening and closing.

However, such a thing was typical in June. After all, all the beach towns along the Florida Keys, from Key Largo to Key West, were huge tourist hangouts. People came here from all over the world, practically all year round. With school out for the summer in the United States, domestic tourists also flocked to the area. About the only time the chocolate shop had no customers was hurricane season.

Otherwise, Key Largo was filled with northern snow birds in winter, students during spring breaks, homeschoolers in the off-seasons, and people on vacation year round. They came to see the ocean, do some diving and deep-sea fishing, and dine on fresh sea food.

And maybe eat some homemade chocolate too.

“There you go.” Corinne handed another bag of yummies to the next customer. She was one of the many indecisive tourists who bought a little of everything. They sold sampler boxes up on the shelves, but most people wanted to pick their own samples.

She scanned the store to see how many customers there were currently. A few walked out without buying anything. That was highly unusual, but it happened.

The door chimed again, and Corinne glanced that way—

No. It can’t be.

Corinne felt lightheaded.

Her knees buckled.

Then she felt nothing.

Chapter Three

“Dinah? Dinah?”

Faintly, distorted and indistinct as though in a tunnel, the voices kept repeating the name.

Who is Dinah?

Whoever you are, Dinah, you better respond!

Corinne tried to open her eyes, but her vision was fuzzy—as though she was waking up from sleep.

What’s going on? Why did I…

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