There was one small light on in the back of the bookshop, but I didn’t see Alice inside. I pressed my face closer and looked around. The place was empty. As I leaned back, I caught my reflection in the wavy glass. I wasn’t alone.

“Pussycat,” the deep voice growled. I smelled stale smoke, beer and my own fear as I tried to dash away.

A callused hand grabbed my arm and my foot shot back and made contact with a knee or shin. Whatever I hit, it made him lose his grasp on my arm. I ran. The scream stuck in my dry throat as my feet flew along the uneven sidewalk. I couldn’t tell the difference between my pounding pulse and the man’s determined footfalls behind me. The few remaining cars had all but vanished, and with the exception of the man chasing me, I was alone.

Everly’s house came into view. I fidgeted with the key in my pocket. My hands were shaking. There was no way I could stop and get a key in the lock and get inside the house before the man grabbed me again.

I kept running, too scared to look back. Whoever it was, I could still hear them plodding behind me. I was faster. It was my only chance. The diner sign lit up the sky several blocks ahead. I used it as my focal point. If I could make it to Jem’s or the diner, I’d be safe.

Just as the plan solidified in my head, my foot hit a crack in the sidewalk. I flew several feet before landing and skidding painfully on my knees. The denim on my jeans ripped away along with the skin beneath. Tears clouded my eyes as I pushed to my feet. His hand wrapped around my arm before I could get my feet moving again. A car rounded the corner. Its headlights lit up the sidewalk, and the hand fell away.

I took off running again. My heart was pounding so loudly, I couldn’t hear anything but a thrumming pulse in my ears. My knees were numb, but I could feel warm blood trickling down my shins. I would have been crying hysterically, but I was struggling just to catch my breath.

Jem’s bike sat in the driveway, and a cry of relief erupted from my lips. I was no longer sure I was being chased, but I wasn’t about to slow down to find out. I raced up the driveway and as I pushed through the back gate, I slammed right into Jem.

I fell against him. He swept me up into his arms and without a word he carried me into his house. By the time we were inside, my gasping breaths had been replaced by sobs.

Jem lowered me onto the small sofa in his front room. He looked down at my legs. “Shit, Tash, I need to clean those knees.” He turned to walk away, but I grabbed his hand.

“Don’t leave me yet, please, Jem.”

He sat down and I crawled onto his lap and pressed my face against him.

He rubbed my back with his hand. I clutched at his shirt, never wanting to let him go.

“Tell me what happened, baby. Did you run all the way here?”

I pulled in a few more shuddering breaths and swallowed back the dryness in my throat. My entire body trembled. “I was being chased. He was there again. I was looking in Alice’s window, and I saw him in the reflection. His face was blurred in the wavy glass, but he was there. And he called me pussycat, just like in the mill. Just like in the bathroom at Rotten Apples. I kicked him, and he let go. I ran.” Tears flowed again and I pressed my face against his shirt. “I just ran straight here.”

“There wasn’t anyone behind you when you came through the gate. They must have taken off. Did he hurt you?”

I looked down at my legs. My jeans were ripped at the knees and blood stained the fabric. “I was running so fast, I tripped. He grabbed me again, but a car came around the corner. I guess it scared him off.”

“Did you see him well enough to describe him?”

“I don’t know.” I closed my eyes and leaned my cheek against him. “I can’t think straight yet.”

Jem kissed my forehead. “I’m sorry, Tash. I promised I wouldn’t let anything happen to you, but I wasn’t there.” He hugged me tighter.

“You can’t be with me a hundred percent of the time. I don’t understand what he wants from me. I’m not a threat to anyone. I’m just here looking for a little piece of my past.”

“It’s that piece of your past that is a threat. There’s something I need to ask you. I’ve just been waiting for the right time, but I need to get this out. It might drudge up the accident and some other painful stuff, but I think if we don’t get to the bottom of this, you won’t ever be safe. Only first, I need to take care of those knees. Slide off your jeans and I’ll get something to clean those scrapes.”

I moved off his lap, and he got up.

“Can’t believe I’m asking this because it tastes like paint thinner, but do you have some of that whiskey? Every cell in my body is vibrating. I need something to take the edge off.”

Jem returned with the whiskey. I took a few sips and shimmied carefully out of my jeans. “I haven’t had scrapes like these since my infamous summer of scabs.” Just being with Jem had taken away some of the horror of the night. I felt so incredibly safe with him.

“You had a summer of scabs? That doesn’t sound like fun.”

“It involved a lot of roller skating and a particularly gnarly crack in the sidewalk.”

He leaned down and gently poured some antiseptic on the scrapes.

I winced as the stinging liquid covered the broken skin. I took another sip of whiskey. “Shit, I wouldn’t have made a good soldier on the battlefield. Those guys used shots of whiskey to endure a leg being cut off. I’m just getting some scrapes cleaned.”

Jem looked up at me. “Pretty sure you’re not sipping whiskey because of these knees, Woodstock. When you reached the gate, you were as white as snow.”

He covered the scrapes with bandages and sat across from me on the table.

My fingers were still trembling as I took hold of his hand. “I don’t know if I’ve ever been that scared in my life and then I saw you and—” My voice broke. “Everything was better the second I landed in your arms.”

He leaned over and kissed me. My eyes were feeling heavy from the whiskey. I rested my head back and closed them. In a few seconds, I’d floated into that weird state of twilight sleep filled with images of the day that made it seem you were still awake. My body tensed and I was trapped, my legs were pinned and a pair of eyes peered down at me. The eyes glowed at me from the bookstore window, and I heard his voice again. I jolted awake.

Jem was covering me with a blanket from the bed. “You all right?”

He gazed at me with intense brown eyes, only they were set in the face of a young boy, a younger Jem. ‘You all right’. The words had sparked a distant memory.

He sat on the couch next to me. “Tash? What’s wrong?”

I reached up and touched his face, a face I knew so well. “This will sound strange, Jem. But just now, the way you looked down at me and the question you asked—it feels as if we’ve met before, back when we were kids.”

He took a deep breath. Then he lifted his face to me. “That’s because we met once—sixteen years ago.”

Chapter 28

Jem

Tashlyn was pale as she sat up on the couch. She trembled once and pulled the blanket tighter around her. She’d had a rough night and even though I had a lot to tell her, there were still so many parts missing. I needed her to tell me what she knew first. I wanted it to come back to her naturally and when she was ready to absorb it. I wasn’t completely sure tonight was the right time.

I put my arm around her shoulder, and she melted against me. “Tell me, Jem. Tell me what happened. When did we meet?”

“There’s a historical landmark down below Phantom Curve.”

“Yes, I saw the marker when I traveled down there.”

“Right. It’s a wooden shelter that some fur trappers built there a few hundred years ago. It kept them safe when the weather got brutal.”