No, Billy had told her that they would catch her if she took this way out.

Red herring, he had said. Be clever. Trust me.

But she was so afraid. Her hand instinctively reached up to clasp the gold key on her necklace. Help me …

But the key was only a symbol, and Billy was the only one who could help her now. Do exactly what he said.

She turned away from the cliff and back toward the corridor leading to the elevators. She deliberately left the door cracked open so that they would think she’d already left the hospital. Then she ran back toward the elevators.

Red herring. Go back upstairs to the third floor, where Billy would meet her. Billy would help her. Trust him …

*   *   *

RUN.

Billy had worked his magic. He had not asked questions, had not even let her speak. He had just grabbed her hand and pulled her from the corridor into the room. He had told her exactly what they would have to do to get her away, and they had done it. She had been too frantic to even be afraid. A few minutes after she entered the room, she was outside the gates of the hospital.

Then she was running across the manicured green lawns toward the woods.

Her heart was beating hard as she reached the shelter of the trees. No one was behind her. No one had seen her.

Free. Am I free? Will I ever be free? What the hell is free?

But she had to do everything Billy had told her to do. Make the call. She reached into her jacket pocket and drew out the prepaid phone Billy had given her and dialed the number he had given her. “I’m in the woods, Billy. I’m making my way toward that motel you told me about, where the Greyhound bus stops. I don’t think I was followed.” She drew a long breath. “You didn’t let me tell you, Billy. You were right. There was a man … he was going to kill me.”

“I told you that I thought it would be tonight after I overheard that last phone call. You should have believed me.”

“It was … hard. It didn’t make sense. But I did what you said about the pillows and everything.”

“But instead of running to me right away, you had to stick around and see for yourself. Thank God, you were at least ready for him.” He muttered a curse beneath his breath. “I could have gotten you out of there a lot easier if you’d trusted me before this.”

“It didn’t make sense,” she repeated shakily. “Why, Billy? I never hurt anyone. Why would they want to kill me? And why now? I’ve been here at the hospital for years. What did I do that made them want to get rid of me now?”

“I don’t know, Beth. I only found out bits and pieces of what’s going on. Stop asking questions and concentrate on just getting away. But you’ve got to remember everything I told you. They’ll be hunting you down. From now on, don’t trust anyone.” He paused. “Not even me.”

“Of course I trust you.” If she didn’t trust Billy, then she was absolutely alone, and the thought frightened her. “You always told me to trust you.”

“That’s over. You can’t trust me any longer. I won’t let them catch you by using me. You’re safer if you realize you can’t depend on anyone but yourself. I gave you the tools to save yourself, now do it. You don’t need anyone.”

“Then why do I feel as if I need you, Billy? Dammit, I don’t know anything. It’s as if I’ve been lost at sea for all these years, and now that I’ve come back to port, everything I knew is gone, and I’m lost again.”

“Then change it to suit yourself. You can do it. I’ve seen how you meet a challenge. Are you at the motel yet? There should be a bus leaving there in ten minutes.”

“I think I see the neon sign.”

“Hurry. You have to get out of the area right away. They’ll be searching the grounds for you for quite a while. They won’t expect you to have a plan.”

No, why expect a plan from a crazy woman, she thought bitterly. “I am hurrying.” She was almost running. “I’ll call you when I reach—”

“Don’t call me. I won’t answer. You’re on your own.” He hung up.

On her own. The words sent panic racing through her. She suddenly felt terribly alone. Billy had tried to warn her he couldn’t be there for her, but she hadn’t wanted to believe him. He was the only one at the hospital who cared anything about her. He had helped her shake off the drugs, talked to her, made her aware of what they were doing to her. He had been her friend. If she didn’t have Billy, she had no one.

Calm down. What was different? She couldn’t remember when she hadn’t felt alone. No, when they’d used the heavy sedatives on her, she hadn’t felt anything but a blurred sense of contentment. She hadn’t felt loneliness or sadness or fear. It was only when they started lessening the doses that she’d begun to feel the emotions that everyone else felt, the emotions that made them human beings instead of mindless robots.

She felt a wild burst of anger as she remembered the little cups of pills handed her by the nurses. The shots administered to calm her when she was calmer than anyone on the medical team who’d clustered around her, smothering her.

Now she could see the Greyhound bus drawn up before the motel entrance. Her hand in her pocket closed on the scrap of paper with the address scrawled on it. She started toward the bus at a dead run. She was not going to miss that bus. It was going to take her to a new life, a new start.

She was not mindless. She was not crazy.

And she would not let those bastards rob her of either her mind or her life.

Lake Cottage

Atlanta, Georgia

RUNNING.

Panic.

The trees were all around her, tall shapes in the darkness. Eve could hear the sea crashing against the rocks though she couldn’t see it from here. But she had seen it from the hospital every day for all those years. Sometimes, she’d even been permitted to go down to the shore. But there was always a price.

Always something she had to give up in return.

No one behind her yet.

But how did she know?

Run faster.

Her breath was coming in gasps.

Did she hear someone? A crackling of leaves under a heavy footstep. He’d been a big man. She’d barely managed to get away from him. Could she get away from him again if he caught her? She didn’t want to die.

She wouldn’t die.

Just run faster.

Fight them. Don’t let him kill her.

That bus was right ahead.

Get on it. Lose herself. But she was already lost. She’d been lost as long as she could remember.

Run!

“Eve, wake up!”

A hand grasping her shoulder.

He’d caught her! Fight him.

“Eve, dammit, wake up.”

Joe.

She opened her eyes to see him leaning over her. “Joe?”

Joe. Not the man with the syringe.

The lake cottage, not the hospital by the sea.

No one chasing her through the woods.

“Shh.” Joe was holding her close. “Just a dream, Eve.” He kissed her temple. “But it must have been one hell of a violent one. It took me a couple minutes to bring you out of it. And you almost knocked me out.”

Her arms clung to him with all her strength. Safe. Joe would keep her safe.

“Hey, it’s okay now.” He brushed back her hair from her face with a gentle hand. “I’ve never seen you like this after a nightmare.”

She had never felt like this. “I hit you?” She shook her head to clear it of the last vestiges of sleep. “Lord, I’m sorry, Joe. It was so real…” She sat up in bed and ran her fingers through her tousled hair. Her scalp was as damp as if she’d really been running through those woods. “It still seems that way.” She drew a deep breath. “I think I need to get a drink of water and some fresh air. Go on back to sleep.” She swung her feet to the floor. “It’s almost dawn, and you have to be at headquarters in a few hours. I’m sorry I woke you.”

“Don’t be silly,” he said curtly as he sat up in bed. “What does that matter? You’re upset. You’re still shaking. I’m not about to go peacefully back to sleep. What kind of nightmare was it?” He paused. “Bonnie?”