Month: December 2025

Rachel kept crawling away from the mansion. Blacktop stretched in front of her. Was it taking too much of a chance to cross the road? If a car came, they were done for. But getting to the other side of the country lane might be the only way to cut off the effects of whatever

Harold Goddard, alias Mr. Smith, walked restlessly around the first floor of his mansion. He had nothing to worry about, he told himself. He’d killed three people in the past few days, and that should take care of any problems he could anticipate. First, there had been the boat captain, Carson. Then the detective, Gabe

The rest of the group came back for a planning session. First, they called up Google Maps on a laptop that was Bluetoothed to the room’s TV. Using Travis’s memory of Olivia and Gabe being carried from the house, they found a river view of the property. From there, they moved the map to the

Gabe woke with a start when the boat bumped against a pier. Olivia was no longer beside him. She was talking to one of the women—the one he knew was called Rachel. He heard her say, “It has to be confusing for him. Give him some time.” Olivia nodded, and he sensed that she was

Gabe heard voices. Men and women were talking excitedly. “It’s a miracle.” “He was dead.” That last was from the one who’d been working on him, trying frantically to bring him back to life. Somehow, he remembered that. He also knew that the man was a doctor. Gabe tried to breathe, but a coughing fit

“Do you know how to find the estate?” Stephanie Branson asked Rachel. “I think so.” The six members of the team from Louisiana had landed at BWI International Airport and rented a van. As a group, they had decided that Rachel and Jake Harper should go on the rescue mission, along with Matt Delano, Elizabeth

Gabe tipped his head to the side, staring at the man who must have gone to a lot of trouble to capture him and Olivia. Smith charged across the floor. “What happened a few minutes ago?” So he’d been right—he was under observation. Now he did his best to look confused. “I dunno. A nightmare?”

Travis tried to raise some kind of power to stop what was happening. But he was too deadened to have any effect. The drug Smith had given Olivia had done its work. With a leaden feeling of defeat, he watched while she was secured to a stretcher, then followed along as the men wheeled her

Travis knew something was wrong. First, there was the muzzy feeling in his head. It shouldn’t be there. He had no body, no physical brain that was failing to function. Still, he had to fight for coherent thoughts. The only firm idea that stuck in his mind was that Olivia was in danger. Fear and

Gabe briefly considered shooting it out with the bad guys. But no telling how many of them were in those two vehicles, since the windows were tinted. And no telling who else might get hurt. Looking left and right, Gabe saw there was maybe enough leeway between the creek and the house whose property abutted