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05855b2
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I'm not seeing spooky," I said. "Dark, yes, but what's spooky about it?" "What's spooky?" Sam muttered. Hayley pointed. "You can't tell me that isn't creepy." I followed her finger to see branches draped in elegant, pale-green Spanish moss. "That? Seriously? It's moss, Hayley, not an alien lifeform. We just escaped a helicopter crash and a death brush with something in the water. was scary. This is the forest. This is where we're going ..
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Kelley Armstrong |
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d8039b9
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Figures," Corey muttered. "Survive a forest fire, helicopter crash, and killer eels, only to slip on a rock." "That's what you get for trying to take charge," Hayley said. "No kidding."
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Kelley Armstrong |
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0095f36
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I stayed up there for about ten minutes, straining for any sign of light, even the flicker of headlights on a distant road. Then I climbed back down. "It's dark," I said, after I leaped to the ground. "Um, yeah," Sam said. "It's night. How the hell you expected to see anything--" She stopped as she realized what I was really saying. "Oh."
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Kelley Armstrong |
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8d14e94
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Plenty of dead vegetation had blown in and dried out, and Daniel managed to knock rocks together, get a spark, and light a tiny blaze. Considering I'd escaped a raging forest fire earlier that day, I was good with tiny.
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Kelley Armstrong |
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4ac3d68
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Mr. Tillson?" I said, shaking him harder. Daniel undid his belt. Sam did, too, getting up and walking forward, hunched, as she stepped over Rafe. "Okay, that's enough!" the pilot barked. "In your seats, belts on. Everyone!" "Or what?" Sam said. "You'll pull over and make us walk the rest of the way?"
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Kelley Armstrong |
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3e7d4fd
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Maya can help," Nicole said when the pilot tried sending me back to my seat. "She knows first aid. She runs a hospital." "For ," Hayley said. Corey told her to shut up, but she had a point. My dad was the local park ranger, and I had a rehabilitation shed for nursing injured animals back to health. I did know first aid, though, and the basics of dealing with a heart attack victim. Step one: call a doctor. Kind of tough, under the circumsta..
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Kelley Armstrong |
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6ac32e4
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Maya can help," Nicole said when the pilot tried sending me back to my seat. "She knows first aid. She runs a hospital." "For ," Hayley said. Corey told her to shut up, but she had a point. My dad was the local park ranger, and I had a rehabilitation shed for nursing injured animals back to health. I did know first aid, though, and the basics of dealing with a heart attack victim. Step one: call a doctor. Kind of tough, under the circumsta..
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Kelley Armstrong |
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1bfdbb5
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We had to get him to a doctor and, until then, I could only presume it was heart failure and perform CPR if he stopped breathing. I unbuttoned the mayor's shirt. When Nicole inched forward, the pilot snapped at her, and Corey told him to go to hell, which really didn't help matters.
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Kelley Armstrong |
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06b532e
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We need to get his jacket off," I said. As Daniel helped me get the mayor out of it, the pilot yelled, "Whoa! Hold on! Back in your seats. We'll be landing in a few minutes." Fortunately, as long as he was flying the helicopter, all the pilot could do was yell. And if there are teenagers who actually respond to adults shouting at them, I've never met one."
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Kelley Armstrong |
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4007b52
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Wake him up!" Hayley shouted. "Someone wake him up!" Daniel and I shook the pilot. The helicopter dropped a couple of feet and we stumbled. Corey ran over. "Help me get him out!" he shouted to Daniel as he grabbed the front of the pilot's jacket. "I can fly it." "Based on what?" Sam appeared at his side. "Video games?" Corey scowled. "You got a better idea?"
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Kelley Armstrong |
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a67363a
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SOS!" I said. "Helicopter out of Salmon Creek. Pilot unconscious. Repeat, helicopter pilot unconscious." I stopped transmitting and listened. Static. "SOS!" I said. "Emergency situation. Helicopter over Vancouver Island. Pilot unconscious. Repeat, pilot !" The helicopter dropped again. Corey bent to look at the control panel. "You need to--" "I'm working on it!" Sam snarled. "Here, let me--" I didn't see what Corey did, but the helicopter ..
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Kelley Armstrong |
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2e10f23
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I didn't think. I shoved Kenjii into the safe nook between the front seats and scrambled toward the door as the helicopter jolted again, righting itself. Daniel lunged for me and missed. Wind rushed in through the open door. I could barely breathe, barely see. Then I saw Rafe's hands gripping the bottom frame. Rafe's hands from the bottom of the door. I dropped and grabbed his wrists just as he lost his grip. As he fell, I shot forward. I..
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Kelley Armstrong |
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91c7998
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Nicole was trying to rouse her dad. Hayley was doing the same with the pilot. I took the headset and got on the radio again. No one was responding. So either we tried to land or we kept flying until Sam lost control and we plunged into the strait.
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Kelley Armstrong |
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acc65f0
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It doesn't seem real. The fire. The people in the forest. The helicopter crash. Mayor Tillson. Rafe." I looked up at him again. "It can't be real. I'm asleep. It's a nightmare. Tell me it is." He hugged me so tight my ribs protested. "I wish I could." His voice cracked and I hugged him back, as hard as I could. Someone cleared his throat behind us. It was Corey. He crouched and said, in a low voice, "I know this is a bad time, guys. I'm rea..
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Kelley Armstrong |
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61862f0
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So in sedating him, they were getting rid of our chaperone," I said. "They wanted one of us." I thought of the list Daniel had found, with the word on it, and I thought of the man in the woods, who'd called me by name. So I seemed to be the one they wanted. But when I glanced up, Sam looked like a cartoon character with a "Who me?" bubble over her head."
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Kelley Armstrong |
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4b5feb9
|
If we light a fire, someone out boating might see us." "That's a good idea," Sam said. "Or it would be. If we had matches to light a fire. Or if anyone was actually out boating." "Why don't we just find a place to hide?" Hayley said. "That way, when someone does come, we can see if it's a real rescue or not." "How the hell are you going to tell the difference?" Sam said. "Ask them?"
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Kelley Armstrong |
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f7f8823
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The fog's gone in here," I said. "It was marine fog. It doesn't penetrate the forest." "Yeah," Corey said. "I'm thinking the fog's not such a problem. It's very...dark. We don't know what's in there." "Yeah, we do," Sam said. "Bears, cougars, wolves..."
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Kelley Armstrong |
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d907c15
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I'm not seeing spooky," I said. "Dark, yes, but what's spooky about it?" "What's spooky?" Sam muttered. Hayley pointed. "You can't tell me that isn't creepy." I followed her finger to see branches draped in elegant, pale-green Spanish moss. "That? Seriously? It's moss, Hayley, not an alien lifeform."
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Kelley Armstrong |
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74bbfdb
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Figures," Corey muttered. "Survive a forest fire, helicopter crash, and killer eels, only to slip on a rock."
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Kelley Armstrong |
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b1293db
|
Getting to a higher spot to look around is a good idea," I said after we sat him down. "We'll find a tree while you rest--" "Whoa, wait." Corey started struggling to his feet. "I'm okay. I'll be slow, but I can move." "He doesn't want to be alone," Hayley said. "You know how he is. Leave him alone and he discovers he's not as much fun as he thinks he is."
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Kelley Armstrong |
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f860fc4
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Getting to a higher spot to look around is a good idea," I said after we sat him down. "We'll find a tree while you rest--" "Whoa, wait." Corey started struggling to his feet. "I'm okay. I'll be slow, but I can move." "He doesn't want to be alone," Hayley said. "You know how he is. Leave him alone and he discovers he's not as much fun as he thinks he is." Corey shot her the finger. She was right, though--Corey really wasn't one for enjoying..
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Kelley Armstrong |
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d8f66f1
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I don't know what to think," he interrupted. "What happened in the forest, when I yelled at that guy...I thought I'd hit him without realizing it. I was mad enough, seeing him pointing that gun at you. But when it happened again on the helicopter, with the pilot, I knew I'd done something. I just didn't know what." After a few more steps, I opened my mouth, but again he got there first. "I think...I think Sam might be onto something. Everyt..
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Kelley Armstrong |
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455488d
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I don't believe the parts about demons and all that, but I can see maybe having some power to sense bad vibes in people. I mean, it's not like she's saying I'm a vampire or a werewolf. That would be crazy. This is just a little weird." Not, it wasn't like she'd said he was a werewolf. It wasn't like she'd said he could change into an animal. That would be crazy. I shut my mouth and carried on in silence."
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Kelley Armstrong |
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15ebbba
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A distant splash told us someone had gone in the water. Retrieving the bodies? Removing identifying parts from the helicopter? It sounded far-fetched, but if you kidnapped kids in a helicopter that crashed, you didn't want local fishermen finding the wreckage.
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Kelley Armstrong |
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de79bab
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I shimmied up a tree and waited for her to pass my way. But once she got close enough for me to see her through the branches, she sat down to rest. When she didn't come closer, I started crawling along a branch, planning to cross to the next tree. She started to look up, then caught herself, waited a moment, gave a loud sigh and slumped back against the trunk, giving her an excuse to look up. I waited until she looked up, then bent to catc..
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Kelley Armstrong |
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94bc54b
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She picked up a stick and began idling poking around a patch of bare earth. Then she wrote "Don't be stupid." She erased it, doodled a bit, then wrote, "I'm fine." I hesitated, but she was right. It was a trap and my chances of foiling it were slim to none. If I got caught, could I trust Daniel not to come after me? No. Could I trust Corey and Sam to make it to safety alone? No."
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Kelley Armstrong |
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5138a1b
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We don't have time to argue," Daniel said. "I'll be fine--" "But we won't," Sam said. "We need you to get us out of here. It has to be someone else." "And you're volunteering, right?" Corey said. Sam opened her mouth, but nothing came out. "Thought so." Corey turned to us. "I'll go. Play the hero for a change." A forced smile. "I hear chicks really go for that kind of thing."
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Kelley Armstrong |
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99eb20e
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I grabbed her and held her close, whispering, "Shhh," as I kept looking and listening. Kenjii nudged me, as if to say, I pulled the rope in. The end wasn't broken, as I'd hoped, but as I ran it through my fingers I saw red smears. I took a better look. Blood. Someone had been holding her and Kenjii had wrenched so hard she'd scraped the skin from his hands as she broke free. I hugged her. "They couldn't hold you, huh? Good girl." "Maya?" I..
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Kelley Armstrong |
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d1fd4d9
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They couldn't hold you, huh? Good girl." "Maya?" I stood. It was Sam, coming through the trees. Daniel and Corey appeared behind her. Seeing the dog beside me, Daniel grinned. "We got one escapee, at least," he said. "Only one," I said as I tugged off the muzzle. "I found Hayley. She managed to communicate with me. It was a trap. There was no way..." I took a deep breath. "I wanted to try rescuing her anyway, but she said no." "Too bad ca..
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Kelley Armstrong |
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d482759
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She could be tagged," I said. "And as we agreed earlier, not all of us need to get to safety. That means not all of us need to stay with Kenjii. I'll take her. You guys go another way." Once again, our great escape devolved into chaos, which could be summarized as: "You can't do that." "Yes, I can." "I know you're upset--" "I'm not upset. We have a problem and I'm solving it." Expand. Mix. Repeat until one party wears down and surrenders. T..
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Kelley Armstrong |
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cd5ab28
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Angst. Fear. Stark, gut-twisting terror. It didn't make for an easy sleep.
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Kelley Armstrong |
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6b8aede
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As I turned around, I felt another brushing sensation, this one not nearly as intense but even odder. My tail. It was off to the side and I couldn't really get a good look at it. So how could I move--? My tail swung. Okay, that was easy. I took a closer look. It was thick and over half the length of my body. When I thought of moving it, it moved. Very convenient.
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Kelley Armstrong |
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91455e6
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The window's filthy. I can't see anything." "How about we try the door?" Sam said. She was walking toward it when Hayley grabbed her arm and pointed to a window sign warning that the place was armed with security alarms and cameras. "Um, yeah," Corey said. "Which will bring the local cops. If we're lucky." "At this point, I'll take any ride out of here," I said. "Even handcuffed in the back of a police cruiser." --
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Kelley Armstrong |
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00a7a8e
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Beside the door stood a cooler. It was unplugged and filled with pop cans and bottles. A handwritten sign advised those looking for milk to check aisle two, for the powdered and canned variety. "No beer?" Corey said. "What kind of place is this?"
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Kelley Armstrong |
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c742cd7
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Beside the door stood a cooler. It was unplugged and filled with pop cans and bottles. A handwritten sign advised those looking for milk to check aisle two, for the powdered and canned variety. "No beer?" Corey said. "What kind of place is this?" "The kind that knows better than to leave anything that'll make it a target for kids like you," I said. Corey grabbed a Coke. "Hey!" Hayley said. "If they aren't here to man the shop..." Daniel rea..
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Kelley Armstrong |
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150e02d
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No beer?" Corey said. "What kind of place is this?" "The kind that knows better than to leave anything that'll make it a target for kids like you," I said."
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Kelley Armstrong |
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19c1d02
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Corey grabbed a Coke. "Hey!" Hayley said. "If they aren't here to man the shop..." Daniel reached into Corey's back pocket. He plucked out his wallet, took out a still-damp twenty and put it on the counter. Corey grabbed for it, but Daniel gave a look that made Corey withdraw his hand. "Fine," Corey said. "Drinks and snacks on me, apparently."
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Kelley Armstrong |
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245408e
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Drinks and snacks on me, apparently. Chow down, guys." "I'm a little more interested in finding a phone," I said. "And figuring out if that open front door means someone's here." "Nah," Corey said. "They were so eager to get out of this dump that they forgot to lock up Sunday night." "Hmm." I walked behind the counter. Tucked beside the cash register was a folded newspaper. Beside it rested a paper cup of coffee. I touched the cup. "Cold?" ..
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Kelley Armstrong |
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aeff8d5
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He walked to the front door. When it didn't open, he put his shoulder into it and pushed. "Um, try the handle," Hayley said. "Um, there isn't one." Corey was right. It was the kind you pushed open from the inside, in case your arms were loaded with supplies. He hit it harder. It didn't budge. Daniel went over and they both heaved on it. The door groaned, but didn't open. "Is anyone else getting concerned?" Hayley said. My pounding heart sa..
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Kelley Armstrong |
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c7f3e5a
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I wanted to try rescuing her anyway, but she said no." "Too bad can't talk," Sam said. I glanced over at her. "Um, we're all feeling bad about Hayley," Corey said. "Don't interrupt by wishing we could question the dog."
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Kelley Armstrong |
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d3997be
|
They couldn't hold you, huh? Good girl." "Maya?" I stood. It was Sam, coming through the trees. Daniel and Corey appeared behind her. Seeing the dog beside me, Daniel grinned. "We got one escapee, at least," he said. "Only one," I said as I tugged off the muzzle. "I found Hayley. She managed to communicate with me. It was a trap. There was no way..." I took a deep breath. "I wanted to try rescuing her anyway, but she said no." "Too bad ca..
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Kelley Armstrong |
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9939293
|
Too bad can't talk," Sam said. I glanced over at her. "Um, we're all feeling bad about Hayley," Corey said. "Don't interrupt by wishing we could question the dog." "That's not what I meant. Hayley could tell you it was a trap. He can't." "Kenjii's a she," I said. "Whatever."
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Kelley Armstrong |
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16ad9a8
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My point is that your dog has conveniently escaped, just like Hayley did. You don't think that's a trap?" "If it is, then we've already been caught." I looked around. "Huh. I don't see the guys with guns yet." "Because they've put a tracking device on her. Or in her." I removed the rope. Then I took off her collar and handed it to Daniel to check while I ran my fingers over her, looking for tender spots. "It's clean," Daniel said, handing m..
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Kelley Armstrong |
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8e7cb4b
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If she was still wearing the muzzle and rope, then they--" "--wanted it to look like she really escaped," Sam said. "There's blood on the rope," I said. "That means she pulled free from whoever had her." "Or they're very detail-oriented."
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Kelley Armstrong |