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A second later, she heard the knob twist; the door was unlocked

Had she locked it again after she came in? She couldn’t remember

The door creaked open She heard footsteps, and then nothing Whoever was there was just standing, listening

Seconds ticked by with nothing, nothing except the pounding of her heart

Then, as if the intruder could hear that pounding, he zoned in on her exact location The footsteps caht in front of her In a second, she would be pinned in place, trapped where she crouched in fear…

She shot up, swinging the metal ash sweep She heard a hoarse cry as the rod connected with flesh, but then it was pulled out of her hand and a body tackled her length, sending her, and hied, struggling desperately

Her attacker went still

"Kelsey?"

She knew the voice Years dissipated She knew the voice well

The boy had changed The long, lean, ed

"Liam?" she breathed

"Good God, Kelsey!" he said

For another split second, he was on top of her, vital, tense, a mass of flesh and sinew like a brick prison wall that lived and breathed…and then he was up, reaching for her hand, hauling her to her feet

"Kelsey!" he said again, rubbing his ar at her in the shadows

"Liam," she said

Then he turned away froht switch, and the eeriness of the night was filled with a glow of rationality once again

3

It was good--and strange--to see Kelsey after so reat beauty that she’d always shown had come to full fruition, and the aard, e short of pure charrown up She was in a pair of rolled-up capri jeans, a soft cotton V-necked T-shirt and sneakers--she seeh him Time could wash away so easily Once, she had been the love of his young life, the seductress of an adolescent’s libido and the object of ain, and laughed "Oh, Lord, I am so sorry"

"Hey, it’s okay I’ I just never expected you to arrive so quickly"

"So, ere you doing here?" she asked hi in," he said

"Oh, yes, I heard--Joe Richter, told ed and--oh!" She stared at hiuess that you are the police officer who told hied I’ation unit Seems a lot of cris but we’ve also had our share of serious criree cleared in Tanya Barnard’s death and the awful things that happened" She griuy Just because I haven’t been here doesn’t mean that I don’t read And I read a really bizarre story about murders that took place near here--out on the islands Sean O’Hara was involved, right?"

"Sean and David were filh our history of oddities and wound up following thea feeeks ago and are thinking about their next project David has randfather’s place He and Katie O’Hara are planning their wedding now"

"Oh, that’s wonderful! Katie--so, what is Katie doing these days? Cutter told e, but came home"

"She’s home She runs Katie-oke at O’Hara’s"

"I can’t wait to see her," Kelsey said "Katie was younger, of course, but we took a sailing class together, and I knew Sean fairly well She was such a cute little raga around with hi at his watch, "you can see her right now, if you’d like Have you eaten? I can take you to O’Hara’s for soht"

She hesitated Liam wondered if her current life involved a boyfriend, a lover or even a husband She wasn’t wearing a ring but still he wondered if there had been a husband as gone now Maybe he was pushing too far too fast It just seeht that she was here

"Sorry, no pressure," he told her