If You Know Her: A Novel of Romantic Suspense

face and realized she was talking to herself, realized she was standing in the middle of the woods, one hand gripping her gun, and she was talking to herself. “Hidden.”
    She closed her eyes as she ran that idea through her mind.
    And then abruptly, an icy cold chill gripped her. Someplace dark. Hidden. Where he could have kept her alone, trapped, at his mercy.
    In her gut, Nia knew, it had been here. Or someplace close … 
very
close.
    “Where is it, Joely?” she whispered, turning away from the cliff and looking around, her gaze searching, although she didn’t know what she searched for. What … where …
    She squinted, trying to make things out as she started back up the trail.
    And that was when she realized how dark it had gotten. Swearing, she jerked her phone out of her pocket, checked the time.
    Shit.
    She’d been in here for almost two hours—how in the
hell
had that happened? Fuck. Needed to get out of here. This was
not
where she wanted to be once the sun went down. She stumbled along the trail, half-tripping in her haste to get out of there.
    She’d be back, though. At some point. She’d be back. And she’d keep looking, too, because there was
something
here. She knew it … and even as fear pushed her to move faster and faster, she felt like she had
finally
accomplished something. Even if all she’d mostly done was freak herself out.
    He didn’t go to his place often.
    He wasn’t planning to go there now, but every now and then, he just drove by it … thought about going inside, reliving things.
    Reliving
that
night.
    When Jolene Hollister had gotten away—
    “What the fuck?” he snarled.
    He came around the corner just in time to see Nia Hollister emerging from the woods. Under the smooth, café au lait brown of her skin she was pale, and even from here he could see how her steps stumbled as she tried to shove her bike closer to the side of the road.
    What in the hell was she doing? His hands started tosweat. He pressed on the gas, thought about pointing the van at her—gunning it. She wouldn’t stand a chance—
    Fuck, what was she doing in the woods?
    A car came blasting down the road, honking at Nia. She flinched, cringed.
    As the driver waved at him, he automatically waved back, a smile plastered on his face. And because he’d been seen, he couldn’t think about doing anything else.
    “Careful,” he reminded himself. “Have to be careful …”
    Swallowing his snarl, he slowed down as she threw a leg over the bike. “Hey there. Ms. Hollister, right?” He rested his arm on the door as he stared at her from inside his van, gave her a friendly smile—the same smile he’d given her cousin, the same smile he’d given Kathleen Hughes, the same smile he’d given Carly Watson and more than a dozen other women … right before he’d lured them to their deaths.
    She just stared at him, her eyes lost in her wan face.
    “You okay?”
    “I’m fine,” she said, her voice hollow.
    “You sure? Look kind of pale. Like you seen a ghost.”
    She flinched. Then, looking away, she took a deep breath, squared her shoulders before she looked back at him. “I’m fine, sir. Just having some bad moments, that’s all. Got a little too hot, I think.”
    He nodded in understanding. Then, as his rage and worry began to boil out of control, he pressed on the gas. He needed to get out of there now. As he drove away, he kept an eye on his mirrors, watched as she sat there on her bike.
    Just sat there.
    He needed to think … She was prying around just a little too much now. What was she doing in there? Had she found his place? Setting his jaw, he turned on thepolice scanner and listened, half-expecting to hear a call going out.
    There wasn’t one. Didn’t necessarily mean anything, though. He needed to get out of there. Check and make sure his traps hadn’t been disturbed—he’d know if somebody had been too close.
    He couldn’t have her doing this. She needed to get out of his town. Preferably on her own. Because if she didn’t leave, he’d have to
make
her leave.

CHAPTER
TWELVE
     
    N O .
    Nothing had been disturbed. Although he could see where she’d been … she’d come within thirty yards of the first trap he’d set up. Not a trap that would have harmed anybody, just enough to let him know somebody had been close.
    This was close, though, far too close. Something had to be done about her, and now. Before she got any fucking nosier. Damn her. Damn that