If You Know Her: A Novel of Romantic Suspense

possibly weeks.
    And she knew she would die there.
    She knew he was coming back—the door creaked. It was like a death knell, heralding his arrival. As the door swung open, the ancient hinges protested.
    A sob bubbled up in her throat as he laid a hand on her calf and stroked up. She cringed away as much as she could, but the restraints at her wrists, waist, knees, and ankles didn’t allow for much movement.
    When he cupped his hand over her sex, her scream, long and desperate, split the air.
    Her kidnapper, rapist, and soon-to-be killer watched,amused … pleased with her terror. “Go ahead and scream, sweetheart. Nobody can hear you.”
    “Please …” her throat was so dry and raw from how she had cried. How she had begged. How she had pleaded. She almost hated herself, for begging. For giving him that pleasure. Some part of her just wasn’t ready to accept the truth, wasn’t ready to give up.
    Even though, in her heart, she knew it was useless. “Just let me go. Please let me go … I won’t tell anybody, I swear.”
    He sighed. It was a sigh of long-suffering patience, the one a parent might give a child. He even patted her shoulder as he murmured, “Yes, I’m sure you won’t.”
    A loud sound rasped through the air and she whimpered as she recognized it. A zipper. He was getting undressed—no, no, no …
    Hysterical panic tore through her and she started to scream.
    He raped her again.
    Her voice gave out long before she was able to escape inside herself.
    This time, though, her escape was final. She had retreated somewhere deep inside herself—somewhere where pain didn’t exist, where terror didn’t exist.
    When he ended her life, she never even knew—she was already gone.
    Her name was Carly Watson.
    It was a lovely day, the kind of day you just didn’t get too often. The air was warm and mild, with clear sunshine beaming down. A soft breeze drifted by. Under the trees, it was just a bit cooler.
    The perfect sort of day for a walk.
    At least, Lena Riddle would’ve thought so. But halfway through, her dog started getting anxious. Puck didn’t do anxious. Not in the four years she’d had him. But therehe was, pulling against his leash, like he was determined not to let her take their normal route through the woods.
    “Come on, Puck. You wanted to go for a walk, remember?”
    She tried to take another step, but the big yellow retriever sat down. He wasn’t going to move an inch.
    Just then, faintly, oh so very faintly, she heard … something.
    Puck growled. “Hush,” she murmured, reaching down and resting a hand on his head. He had his hackles up, his entire body braced and tensed. “Easy, boy. Just take it easy.”
    Standing in the middle of the trail, with her head cocked, she listened. The faint breeze that had been blowing all day abruptly died and all those faint sounds of life she could always hear in the woods faded down to nothingness. A heartbeat passed, then another.
    It was utterly silent.
    Then it came again. Something … muffled. Faint. An animal? Trapped?
    She scowled absently, concentrating. There it was again.
    Her brow puckered as she focused, trying to lock in on the sound better.
    Puck whined in his throat and tugged on his leash, demandingly. Lena turned her head, trying to follow that sound. It was gone, though. The breeze returned and all she could hear now were the leaves rustling in the breeze, the sound of a bird call, and somewhere off in the distance, a car’s motor.
    Still, the faint memory of that sound, whatever it was, sent a shiver down her spine.
    “You know what, Puck?” she murmured. “I think you’re right. Let’s get the hell out of here.”
    She only had a few hours left before she had to go to work anyway.
*   *   *
    “… there.…”
    He stood over her, studied her hair.
    The gleaming blond strands were shorn now to chin length, perfectly straight, even as could be.
    Her eyes, sightless and fixed, stared overhead.
    That blank look on her face irritated him, but he wasn’t surprised. He had seen this coming, after all. Something about the way she had reacted, the way she’d screamed.
    The life had gone out of his girl and once that fight was gone …
    Well. That was just how it was.
    Carefully gathering up the hair, he selected what he wanted and then bagged up the rest, adding it to the pack he’d carry out of here. Later. Few things still that he had to handle.
    He studied her body, the long slim lines of it, her