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Chapter 1

She jerked awake as a hand squeezed her knee A hand that was a little too friendly She opened her eyes to see a pair of brown ones looking down on her Brown eyes set into a round face topped by a receding hairline The bus driver had a look that was a little too friendly, also She irip

“Well, hey there, darlin’ ” he said, amused “This is your stop”

She blinked and looked out thethat was covered with road dust The bus was old and seats were starting to show their wear, but outside the as a bright, sunny April athered her duffel fro to stow it underneath the bus Everything she oas in that bag and not having it within aretting up, gathering their own belongings and she was grateful when the handsy bus driver was forced to head back up to the front to begin letting people off

Co air elcoht now The city was always at the mercy of the wind It could turn a hot day bearable, a s in winter, so said her guidebook She pulled her hoodie a little tighter around her against the chill and headed toward Main Street Her travel guide was stowed securely in her duffel and she was confident that she could navigate the streets noithout it She’d picked up the book on the shelf at the bookstore two days ago

The photo of the Black Hills National Forest on the cover had caught her eye and she thu on Rapid City as the closest she could get and still feel anonymous Rapid City boasted 67,000 people Considerably ser But the bustling don area made her feel comfortable Safe She wanted to be around people, just not be overwhelmed by them

She slung the black bag over her shoulder and out of habit fingered the bills in her jeans pocket The rest of her money was stored in several different locations both on her person and in her bag so if the bag was lost or stolen she wouldn’t be completely broke And if she had the unfortunate luck to be robbed on the bus, as she had four years ago, she had a chance of convincing him the fifty some odd dollars in her front pocket really was all she had She was clearly traveling by bus, wearing cheap canvas shoes, and, as was her usual, a pair of nearly worn out jeans So any potential ht actually believe her

She could afford better shoes and clothes, but she lived in perpetual fear of being broke again, as she had when she’d finally gotten off the bus in Dallas with only the clothes in her bag Going to the police was certainly not an option so she’d avoided herinto the bus station and locking herself in a bathrooht until she could be sure he would have moved on

Those had been terrifying days Days when she hadn’t yet gotten used to being on the road, without a past, totally cut off fro money had seemed an i for e to the fah she wasn’t a ticketed passenger, no one see in the terminal

She’d almost lost it and called her Mom and Dad, but that fifth day the clouds parted and she finally had a clear path again She’d walked into a diner Not shabby, but not trendy, either She’d been worn out and hungry fro machine with the few coins she’d found in a jacket pocket in her duffel The owner turned out to be an older, no nonsense woman, who took one look at her and had probably i the intervieas going badly, she’d gotten up to leave when the sleeve of her shirt had hiked up and the slightly purple, now yellowing bruise left by the er on the bus had become visible

The woently but fir for you?” Shirley had asked quietly

For a , but that other, ht that had seemed to stretch out forever until she was convinced she was in Hell and that every moment was an eternity of pain and fear flashed in her ht