Page 2 (1/2)

PROLOGUE

I was stalking again

I wasn’t subtle about it eitherI sat in ht in front of the same dilapidated duplex and just watched and waited, for hours on end

Not that it matteredShe wasn’t here, hadn’t been here for days, and even her things were gone from the placeI knew that, because I’d busted into the place doorThe neighborhood was so terrible that no one had even taken noticeInside the s, no hint of her, no clue to her whereabouts, or that she’d ever even stayed there at all

But I didn’t knohere else to lookI’d circled the city, gone to every place we’d ever been together, or that I’d ever seen her go

And I’d found nothingShe’d quite simply disappeared without a trace

I was distraughtI couldn’t remember the last time I’d eaten, and I’d only slept in fits, for daysEvery harsh thing I’d said to her, every brutally honest thing she’d shot back atme

It couldn’t end like thisNot like thisIive up, and so I searched for her

Searched for Iris

I’d become a man obsessed

CHAPTER ONE

A FEW WEEKS EARLIER

I set yot on the machine

I always brought twoI wasn’t even sure whyI was a creature of habitOnce I started a pattern, I tended to stick to it, rain or shine

Kind of like eOf course, that hadn’t lasted forever, but that hadn’t exactly been my choice

I punched in anat homeMy three-hour daily workout was very preciseI had a faressively fought to stay healthyI was intelligent enough to know that I’d brought the whole thing to an extreme, but honestly, what else was I supposed to do with h ork, butaway at a computer, and I felt I had to counter all of that physical inactivity, somehow

I’d just had ood of shape as I’d ever beenMy waistline wasn’t growing, thanks to ym, and an iood-sizedI had no idea what age I actually looked, but I figured the liberal salt and pepper at ht it at least close to fortyI didn’t really give it ely to myself, and any ti it

The gym was busy, as it usually was, so e day, and I usually got aith a nod or a goodto the receptionist on the way in