Page 183 of Our Little Secret

She inched toward the door.

Reached down, slid the knife from its sheath.

Every nerve-ending stretched to the breaking point, she peered into the weird orange shadows.

And then she heard his voice. No longer raspy, it was as recognizable as her own.

With clarity, Gideon said, “I want my knife back.”

She froze. From the corner of her eye, she saw movement in the kitchen.

“Did you hear me?” he said, leaping onto the counter, standing high above her, the axe in his hand. “I said, I want my knife back.”

“And I want my life back,” she said, her gaze focused on him, on the axe. His face was cast in an eerie orange glow, the blade of the axe glinting. “Leave me alone.”

“Too late.”

The front door was close. She just had to sprint to it, but how far could she get in this blizzard? If she screamed would anyone hear her?

“I told you I would never let you go,” he warned.

“But you were going to marry Leah.”

“A means to an end.”

The fire popped loudly and she jumped.

Get to the door. Somehow you have to get out of here. In the house you have no chance. Get the hell out!

“So why marry her?”

“To be close to you.”

“After all this time?”

“Patience,” he said. “I told you once I was a patient man.”

“You’re a sick man,” she countered, her mind spinning with ways to escape. In the meantime, though, she would keep him talking, knowing that the tiny camera in the Christmas tree was recording it all. As long as there was movement in the room. She inched closer to the door and he shifted. In one leap he could land in front of her. There wasn’t time to unlatch the door and run into the night.

“How did you get here?”

“A lie about needing to go to the restroom at the church and a few dollars in the right pocket of the owner of a boat who didn’t have anything better to do on Christmas Eve than ferry someone to the island. It’s convenient that the church doesn’t allow cell phones to be active during mass, so Leah couldn’t call.” Then he looked around. “And just so you know, the island isn’t out of power. Just this place.”

She felt sick inside. “You cut the wires?”

“Nothing so dramatic. Just threw the main power switch.” He grinned, and it was pure evil.

Keep him talking. By now Neal has probably called the police. They could be on their way. Or not.She blurted out, “I found the bracelet.”

“I know.”

“Why? Why would you leave it here?”

If not the front door then the back. It’s not locked. Get him to commit to jump one way, then feint and run out the other.

“So you wouldn’t forget me.”

“As if I could,” she said, her fingers sweating on the knife. If she could just get close enough to him, to strip away the damned axe. “And it’s more than that, Elijah,” she said and saw his eyes narrow at the use of his real name. “You want to terrorize me. Just like you terrorized Emme,” she threw out.