Chapter 19

Driving in the purple-black twilight, Rachel put Atlanta behind her.

A box of Kleenex was wedged in the cup holder, and tear-dampened tissues littered the seats and floor. She had been crying ever since she’d pulled her car out of the garage and driven away from the house.

Leaving her family and friends in Illinois had been extremely difficult. Leaving Joshua was harder. They shared a soul connection she’d never experienced with anyone else. With every mile she drove, the pain of separation grew sharper, like a knife sinking deeper into her heart.

But leaving was the only sensible thing to do. Dexter was coming for her with the destructive force of a tornado. She had to protect their baby.

She’d considered staying home, telling Joshua the truth, and, if Joshua still wanted to be with her after her confession, hunkering down in their house and mounting a defense against Dexter. But Joshua, in spite of his formidable size, was a gentle man; when he discovered a spider in their home, instead of squashing it, as most people would, he would capture it in a napkin and set it free outdoors.

He was no match for a man like Dexter. For Joshua’s own safety, it was better for her to be away from home, rather than risk Dexter finding them together.

At least, that was what she told herself. But she wondered if she were underestimating Joshua’s strength—and running mostly from her fear of telling him the truth about her past. It was easier to run than to deal with the consequences of owning up to her lies.

No, I’ll tell Josh the truth, when the time is right. But right now it’s safer for us to be apart. If Dexter found me with Josh, he would kill him.

She dried her eyes with a tissue. The two lanes of Interstate 16 unfurled ahead of her, miles and miles of tree-lined highway winding through southeast Georgia.

She was heading toward a place she’d visited many times before, a sanctuary that even Dexter, as cunning as he was, hopefully would never find. Somewhere she would be safe until the threat passed.

A keening gale sniped at the windows, and the winter darkness pressed down on the world, chasing away the light of the day.