Page 98 of Before the Night Falls

The same blank expression still captured her face.

They drove past a couple of restaurants, a bed-and-breakfast, and a gift shop before turning down a back road. Tires rumbled over broken seashells beneath them.

Eventually, they pulled up to an old beach house facing the Atlantic Ocean.

This place had been Tyson’s haven after his father had passed. And no one knew about this house except for Tyson, his mother, and Ernest.

Tyson had found healing and a refuge here.

He prayed Olivia might also.

CHAPTERFIFTY

The next morning,Olivia awoke disoriented, the unfamiliar ceiling above her spinning a moment before reality crashed back.

The mask. The escape. The beach house.

She pressed her eyes closed, willing away the images that flooded her mind. Instead, even more came.

The root cellar. The garden shears. The expressionless face of Casanova hovering above her.

When she opened her eyes again, sunlight streamed through gauzy curtains, so different from the absolute darkness of her captivity.

Olivia forced herself to sit up.

She barely remembered the journey here—just fragments of a private plane, Tyson’s concerned glances, the car ride along dunes. She’d been floating somewhere outside her own body, watching herself move through the motions while her mind retreated to a safer place.

She lay in bed, still trying to process what had happened.

Detective Scarborough seemed to indicate that the man who’d abducted her was someone she might know.

The thought was terrifying.

But who could it be? Was it Donald?

She couldn’t really believe that.

She ran through a mental list of suspects. Guilt pounded at her for each thought.

Wes. But he couldn’t be behind this. Not only was he like a brother to her, but he’d been out of town during one of the incidents. She’d even seen a picture of him on social media. He’d been on a date with his flavor of the month.

Chandler was a family man and so even-tempered. She couldn’t see him doing this either. And he’d been out on medical leave when Olivia’s first abduction happened. He’d had knee surgery and hadn’t been able to walk without a limp for weeks.

Paul . . . hehadarrived in town at a suspect time. Had he wanted to be a hero and set himself up to save her during her first abduction? Had he arranged for someone else to take the fall? He had the knowledge and skills to do so. Olivia shuddered at the thought.

Who else could it be?

Lyle’s image came to mind. The thought of Lyle being guilty made her stomach churn with disgust. Her therapist couldn’t be behind this. But if he was . . . he would have a front row seat for her turmoil. Wasn’t that what predators preyed on?

She swallowed hard. Was there a way she could check his schedule? To see if he’d been out of town while she was in Charlotte?

Maybe. Perhaps she could make a few phone calls, see what she could find out. But if so, she’d need to be very careful.

That only left one other person . . . one person she couldn’t bear to think about.

Tyson.

She shook her head. It absolutely couldn’t be him. If this madman was Tyson, he’d need to have a serious personality disorder. Or he was a master of disguise.