This was her chance. She tore off the wire and scrambled through the window just as the water pressure equalized. Her car was now almost entirely submerged.

Just another few feet, and—

Colby grabbed her foot!

She kicked, but his grip was too strong.

Slice.

He cut her ankle.

God, the pain …

Slice.

He’d cut her again. She wriggled her foot, kicking madly.

She was free!

She positioned her foot. She took aim. Gotta make it count …

Contact!

She struck Colby’s already-shattered face. Even underwater, she could hear his anguished scream.

With one final kick, she propelled herself out the window, just before her car rolled over onto its driver’s side and landed on the rocky bottom.

Kendra turned for a last look. A full moon shimmered through the water and bathed her car in an ethereal glow. The car’s dashboard was still lit, and inside she could see Colby moving.

He was scrambling for the passenger door, she realized. If he got it open, he might escape.

And it would all begin again.

Not this time, Colby.

She swam back toward the car, fighting through the pain of her injuries. She floated over to the passenger-side door, watching Colby for a long moment.

Then he saw her. He smiled maliciously as they locked eyes.

He reached for the door handle. And in that moment Kendra dug out the remote key fob of her keyless car that she’d shoved into her pocket back at the hospital. She dangled it over the window, in front of his face.

Then she pressed it, and the door locked.

Thunkkk.

Colby was smiling mockingly as he reached out and pulled on the passenger-door handle.

It didn’t open.

Child-safety locks, she wanted to tell him. For her young clients, but they’d never been more useful than they were at this moment.

Colby couldn’t believe it. He kept trying to open the door.

Panicked, Colby pounded on the window. For the first time, she saw fear in his eyes. Absolute terror.

Still, only a tiny percentage of the terror he had brought into the world, she thought.

How does it feel, Colby? Remember Beth?

Colby’s eyes bulged, and in one magnificent burst, his lungs exploded with water. Kendra watched, transfixed, as he thrashed on the seat.

He went still.

Eric Colby was dead. His striking blue eyes were still wide open, reflecting the shimmering, water-filtered moonlight.

She couldn’t believe it.

Yes, she could. Because she had done it. As she had promised herself she would.

Kendra turned, and, the next minute, she broke the surface and started to swim toward the bank.

*   *   *

LYNCH ARRIVED AS THE EMTS were lifting Kendra into the ambulance on the road above the quarry.

“You look a total mess.” He climbed inside the ambulance and sat beside her.

“You should have seen the other guy,” Kendra said. “And I mean that. You would have enjoyed it.”

“I bet I would.” His hand stroked her cheek. “I nearly went crazy when I found out that you were missing. I told you not to shut me out.”

“No choice. I called you as soon as I got my hands on a phone, didn’t I?” Her eyes closed. “I’m tired. I don’t want to talk any more right now.”

“And you won’t. We’ll get you to the nearest hospital and have them look at that throat. It looks nasty.”

“No.” She opened her eyes. “They keep saying that’s what they’re going to do, but I want to go to the same hospital as Beth. Don’t let them take me anywhere else.”

“Whatever you say.” He smiled. “Anything you want.”

“That’s right.” Her eyes closed again. “I can’t fight anymore right now. Do it for me, okay?”

“Now. Tomorrow. Forever. Just give me my orders.

“Very sappy, Lynch.”

“I guess I was. It’s the situation. Just go to sleep. I’ll take care of it.”

Yes, Lynch would take care of it.

She let go of everything and drifted off …

Alvarado Hospital Medical Center

EVE WAS BESIDE HER when she woke the next time.

“Hi,” Kendra said drowsily. “You’re not supposed to be with me. You were sitting with Beth…”

“That was yesterday.” Eve smiled. “And I’m still watching out for her. But the doctors kicked me out while they did some more tests, so I decided to come down and check on you.”

“Yesterday?” She looked at the daylight streaming into the hospital room. “I’m fine, but I shouldn’t have slept this long.”

“You were in pretty bad shape when they brought you in. Cuts, bruises, shock. The doctors decided to give you a sedative while they were working on you.” She wrinkled her nose. “Probably at Lynch’s suggestion. He was very protective.”

“He said he’d take care of it,” Kendra said dryly. “I should have known it would be in the way he decided was best.”

“I might have made the same decision,” Eve said quietly. “You’re going to have a zillion conflicting emotions after getting rid of Colby.”

Kendra didn’t doubt it. She was already feeling strangely at a loss, as well as bewildered and sad and angry. “Maybe a zillion, but none of them will be regret. Not after what he did to Beth.”

“Beth…” Eve suddenly jumped to her feet. “Care to take a trip up to see her?”

“Now?” she asked, startled.

“Right now.” Eve was wheeling a wheelchair up to the bed and helping Kendra to sit up. “You’ll have to ride. The nurses would have a fit if they saw me helping you down the hall.”

“I could wait until—”

“No, you can’t.” She was tucking Kendra into the wheelchair. “Now hush while I sneak you upstairs.”

Two minutes later, they were getting off the elevator, and Eve was wheeling Kendra toward Beth’s room.

“Eve, something is going on.”

“How perceptive. Anyone could tell that. It doesn’t take a Kendra Michaels.” Eve stopped at the door. “Yes, it is.” She opened the door. “At about four this morning, Beth woke up on her own. She smiled at me and said my name, then drifted back to sleep.”

“Oh, thank God.” Kendra was suddenly afraid. “Not unconscious? Not a coma?”

“She was still under sedation. But she has woken twice since then, and they say she’s in a normal sleep now.”

She moistened her lips. “How … normal?”

“Recognition. She knew me. She knew the year, the date. I don’t know what else the doctors found when they tested her. They say there’s still swelling.” She smiled. “But hope, Kendra. Gigantic hope.”

“Why didn’t you tell me right away when I woke up?”

“I wanted to get all the results first.” She grimaced. “Okay, I wanted to stage a big surprise with all the trimmings. But I couldn’t wait. I had to share it.”

“May I sit with her for a while?”

“Until the nurses find you fled the coop and call out security.” She wheeled her next to Beth’s bed. “Which might not be too long. I’ll keep watch from the door.”

Beth looked pale and fragile, but her breathing was steady, and she didn’t have that terrible remoteness that had so frightened Kendra.

It’s over, Beth. Come back to us, and you won’t have to be afraid.

But Beth was never afraid. Even when she should have been during that horrible time with Colby.

“Kendra?” Beth’s eyes were opening. Her voice was weak but steady. “You look … terrible. You need to see one of these doctors they have … bustling around here.”

“I’ll consider it.” She covered Beth’s hand with her own. “You were keeping them pretty busy, but they might have a little time in the near future.”

“Now…”

“Stop bossing me.” It was wonderful having Beth boss her or do anything that was blessedly normal. “I have something to tell you before Eve has to smuggle me out of here. It’s something you have to know…”

Alvarado Hospital Medical Center