Page 2

Students and teachers milled in and out of the office. Elise had to squeeze through to get to the front desk.
“Hi, Elise.” Becky McNabb, the school secretary, looked up from her computer terminal at her desk. “How was class?”
“Challenging,” she answered, her tone flat, her lips twisting into a wry grin.
“I don’t know how you teachers do it.” She glanced back at the computer. “I’d have to shoot myself.”
“They have their moments.” Both good and bad. Elise handed Becky the stack of crumpled papers. “Could you file these?”
“Sure.” She stuck a paper clip on them and laid them on the stack in her inbox. “Hey, don’t forget to check your cubby before you leave. You got mail today.”
Behind the counter, a plain white envelope leaned to the side of her box. She retrieved it and stuffed it in her purse for later.
The small town was just what she and her boys had needed. Not much traffic and plenty of room to grow. Most of all, it was a long way from North Dakota. A long way from the past, she’d tried her damnedest to erase. She’d changed her name and her sons’ last names to ensure no one could trace them or know their identities. The only people who knew where they’d gone were her sister Brenna and Brenna’s FBI husband NickTarver—the only people she trusted with her children’s lives.
For the past four months, she and her sons had lived in the small Texas town with no one aware of what had happened in North Dakota.
A long funeral procession wound its way down Main Street, bringing traffic to a complete standstill. Elise glanced at the clock on the dash. She had a good fifteen minutes before Luke and Brandon got off the bus and she was only five minutes from home once the procession made it past. After shifting her metallic gray SUV into park, she reached into her purse for the envelope, slipped her fingernail beneath the flap and ripped it open. The sharp edge of the flap sliced into her skin, and she jerked her hand back.
Damn. She hated paper cuts. She dabbed at the dot of blood oozing from her finger and opened the envelope. Inside, she found a single white sheet of paper.
Careful not to bleed on the writing, she unfolded the paper and flattened it. The message was short. It didn’t take Elise long to read the three simple lines.
Dear Alice,
For better or worse, until death do us part.
Let death begin.
Cold consumed her, penetrating straight to her bones.
No. This was a mistake. No one knew her here. No one.
She grabbed the envelope. On the outside, EliseJohnson was written in crisp, clean computer print. There was no postage, and no return address.
Her hands shook so hard that the paper and envelope fluttered from her grip and fell to the seat beside her.
Brenna. I have to call Brenna.
She hesitated for a few seconds. Should she? Married now, Brenna was eight months pregnant with her first child. Should Elise call her and upset her?
The words on the note stared up at her, pushing her past reason. She had to talk to her sister. Brenna would know what to do.
Elise fumbled in her purse for her cell phone, pulled up her list of favorites and pressed the name at the top to connect her with her sister living in Minneapolis.
After four rings, Elise’s teeth were chattering, and she almost threw the phone out the window. “Where is she?”
“Al-Elise?” Brenna was still trying to get used to the different name, but her voice sounded so calm over the line.
"Brenna." Elise Johnson's fingers trembled as she held the phone to her ear with one hand and snatched up the letter in the other.
"What's wrong?" Her younger sister had a way of reading her voice, even from over a thousand miles away.
“Brenna. I’m scared.”
"Are the boys okay?" Brenna's voice, clear and crisp, snapped over the line.
"The boys are f-fine." Elise sucked in a deep breath and fought back the sob rising in her throat. Fear clenched a hand around her gut and squeezed. "I got a letter today."