Page 97

CHAPTER 21
Kara’s heart nearly stopped.
She whirled on the sidewalk to peer intently through the veil of snowflakes steadily falling from the night sky.
Her breathing shallow as a frightened rabbit’s.
Was someone behind her?
Did she just see movement, a shadow quickly disappearing between two parked, frozen vehicles sitting and collecting snow in front of the house with the creepy plastic Santa?
Don’t let your fears get the better of you.
It’s all in your mind.
What does Dr. Zhou say? “Breathe. Think calm thoughts. Mind over matter. Face your fears.”
But the now-silent Santa was still inflated, the whir of its pump loud in the night. Something or someone had set off the motion detector.
“Shit!”
No time to waste thinking about it.
Only two more blocks to the church lot.
Heart pounding, she started running. Faster and faster, her boots sliding a bit, her breathing wild.
It’s only your mind, Kara, just your mind!She didn’t care. Wasn’t strong enough to turn and wait until her heart rate slowed or someone actually did leap out at her. She wasn’t going to take that chance.
Slap, slap, slap!Her footsteps beat a frantic tattoo only intensified by the pounding of her heart.
Flying, she ran through the narrow, empty street.
Slap, slap, slap!
Whether it was her imagination or someone was really after her, she raced toward the final corner silently praying that Tate had waited for her. That he hadn’t given up. That—
She slid around the corner and spied a single vehicle in the old church’s parking lot, a black Toyota RAV4.
Tate was at the wheel, his face illuminated by some kind of screen that he was reading.
As if he’d noticed her from the corner of his eye, he glanced up just as she dashed across the parking lot and raced to the passenger side of his SUV.
“Let’s go,” she said, sliding into the warm interior and slamming the door shut behind her. “You know, like now!”
“Trouble?” he asked, his eyebrows slamming together.
“I don’t know. Let’s just get out of here.”
“Fine.” He slipped his iPad into the console, then, checking his mirrors, eased out of the empty lot.
Kara swiped a patch of condensation away so that she had a better view of the side street as they drove past. There was nothing. The neighborhood was quiet, no dark figure hiding in the shrubbery or peering out from behind a lamppost. Slowly she let out a breath.
“You look like you just saw a ghost.”
She thought of Marlie and the woman who, until a few seconds ago, she would have sworn was her missing sister. “Just a very weird Santa Claus.”
“Weird?” He slowed for a stop sign. “Santa?”