11:40 P.M.

IT WAS RAINING AGAIN.

She was wet to the bone, Beth realized as she ran down the beach toward the big house. It had been raining hard all day, and that wasn’t bad as far as she was concerned. This was California, where rain was probably not that common, and people tended to stay inside, not tempted to ask questions if they saw her on the road or beach.

She liked the rain on her face. It felt good. She had never been permitted to go outside when the weather was nasty or threatening. The doctors had to keep her well and free from germs or disease. Why? Why be so careful to keep her well, then try to kill her?

Don’t think. Just keep moving. She could puzzle everything out later.

Now she was climbing the dunes toward the house on the hill. All she had to do was reach the front door and enter the security code. Billy had given her the code, and there weren’t supposed to be any guards on the beach side of the property at this hour. She’d go inside and dry off and be safe for a little while.

But only for a little while. Billy had told her that she couldn’t trust anyone, that she had to figure out things for herself once he got her away from the hospital.

She felt a tingle of fear. Figure out things for herself? No one had let her think at all during these years. It was like a cripple learning to walk with no one standing beside her to hold her up if she fell.

But she wasn’t a cripple. She would not fall. Memories were coming back to her all the time about her life before the hospital. She had not been weak then, and she would not be weak now. Billy had told her she was to take this time to remember and find the answers he couldn’t give her.

“Hey, there! This is private property. You’re trespassing.”

A man in a security uniform was coming toward her! Dammit, Billy had told her there would be a guard, but she’d forgotten.

She whirled and stumbled back down the dune toward the beach. Go away and hide and come back later.

She heard his shout behind her. “Wait. What are you doing here? I want to talk to you.”

He was skidding down the dune behind her.

No!

Run.

Keep on running.

He was cursing.

Was he gaining on her?

Run …

*   *   *

RUN.

The phone on Eve’s nightstand was ringing as she struggled out of the depths of sleep and the tentacles of the dream …

Joe. She had been expecting him to call all evening. “What’s happening, Joe?” She tried to control the harshness of her breathing. “I thought you were going to call me before I went to bed.”

“Sorry. I’ve been on the phone most of the afternoon and evening. I wanted to know more before I filled you in.” He paused. “You okay? You sound kind of blurry.”

Rain and sand and a security guard chasing her down the beach.

“I’m fine. You woke me. Why have you been on the phone?”

He was silent. “Because I don’t like what’s going on here. When I went to the local police station this morning, I was told that the case was closed. Beth Avery had wandered back to the hospital last night during a rainstorm and was now safe in the hands of Dr. Pierce and his staff.”

“Just what you said you hoped would happen. But it’s a curious coincidence. Beth wandered away and just wandered back?” She added dryly, “That’s a lot of ‘wandering.’”

“It could have happened. But I went to the hospital to check it out and see Beth Avery. I saw Piltot, the human resources manager, I saw Dr. Pierce, but I didn’t see Beth Avery.”

“Why not?”

“According to Pierce, she was exhausted and disturbed and was to be kept in seclusion for the next few days until she recovered.”

“They wouldn’t let you see her?”

“They showed me a woman huddled in a bed, obviously drugged and out of it. They said to come back on Friday, and they’d see about letting me talk to her.” He paused. “But that wasn’t Beth Avery unless she’s changed beyond imagining. When I got back to the hotel, I called the records office of the private school she’d attended in Geneva and got them to send me a photo of her. I’ll forward it to you. Yes, she was younger and vibrant back then, but other than the dark hair, I couldn’t see any resemblance to the woman in that hospital bed. I’ve been calling that detective, Herman Dalker, but I haven’t been getting an answer. I’m trying to track him down.”

“And I’m going to call the school and see what I can find out about Beth. I want to talk to someone who knew her before she went into that hospital.” She added grimly, “And I want to know what happened that led her to run away from it.”

“I’m going to give you the answer that the hospital or a psychiatrist would give you: imaginary fears, schizophrenic delusions, or some other mental problem. And we couldn’t argue, Eve. We don’t have the facts.”

Heart pounding, sand beneath her shoes, rain on her face. Don’t let them catch me. Figure it out. Why …

“Speak for yourself. I can argue,” Eve said fiercely. She hadn’t even known the words were tumbling out until they were said. “You may have to have the facts because it’s your practical nature. I think she ran away because she was afraid. And not imaginary fear, Joe. She doesn’t know why, but she knows they want to kill her.”

He was silent. “Would you care to explain?”

“I don’t have an explanation. Not a reasonable one. I just think…” She drew a deep breath. “That dream the other night? I think it was Beth. It was the night she ran away from the hospital. I think I was running away with her. There was an ocean, a hospital … I was a part of her, feeling what she felt. I know it doesn’t make sense. Or maybe it does. I didn’t even know Beth existed when I had that dream. But perhaps she wasn’t meant to be alone any longer. Maybe God or fate or someone else decided that Beth deserved a break and needed a little help.”

“Someone else?” He paused. “Bonnie?”

“It’s possible.” Even probable. She could see the loving spirit of her Bonnie trying to arrange Eve’s life to suit herself. “Bonnie’s come to me in dreams before.”

“I know she has. From about a year after you lost her.”

Yes, Joe knew and accepted the fact that the ghost of Bonnie was still with Eve, which was a blessing beyond price. “It could be she just gave me a little push in Beth’s direction. Oh, I don’t know, dammit.” Her hand tightened on the phone. “But I was dreaming about Beth again when you called tonight. She was still running, but she was on the beach. There was a big house where she thought she’d be safe…”

“You’re sure it was Beth?”

“Yes, it was much clearer than the other dream. I know all this is weird as hell, Joe.”

“A little. But we’ve gone down that road before and survived. I trust you. If you believe it, then I’ll go along with you.”

“I believe it. Beth was thinking about someone named Billy. Billy had given her the security code to the house.” She was thinking. “So this Billy will know where we can find her. Someone at the hospital?”

“If I can get the password, I can check the personnel records on the computer without letting the staff know.”

“Which won’t be easy.”

“Not for us. But I know someone who might be able to get it for me.”

“If they can get into the personnel office.”

“That goes without saying. But if I can convince her to take the job, I’ll worry about access later. She can be stubborn as hell.”

“She?”

“Kendra Michaels.”

“A detective?”

“No. Yes. Sort of,” he said. “She kind of writes her own ticket.”

“But we need her?”

“We need her. She’s unique.”

“Then we’ll get her,” she said grimly. “I’m taking the next flight out.”

“I thought that would be your reaction. But take that flight to San Diego. That’s where she lives and works. I’ll meet you there.”