Prologue
A crack. A jolt. A metallic tang in the air.
And then—
Pain.
Fire tears through my thigh, shockwaves splintering down my leg. Fluorescent lights smear into shelving units, and the whole room tilts.
A panicked voice cuts through the static. “No… Oh, no—shit…”
My gaze drops when something clatters at my feet.
Then it pans lower: a bloom of red, seeping through my jeans, dark and spreading.
Heat pulses down my leg. My body teeters, but adrenaline holds me upright. I glance over my shoulder through the glass door.
An engine hums. A getaway, waiting.
All the best mistakes have names.
This one?
Stupidity.
Chapter 1Annalise
One Hour Earlier
“Phone. Now.”
I pivot away, holding the cell phone just out of reach. “No way.”
“Annalise, come on. You’ll thank me in the morning.”
Three Tequila Sunrises pump through my bloodstream as I turn my back to my brother and dance my thumbs across the keypad without a care in the world.
Me:I think we should book a trip! A vacation somewhere warm. Fiji? Thailand? The Zen life is calling. There are monkeys in Phuket.??
Leaning back against the edge of a pool table, I chew on my lip, waiting for a response. Outside the window, snow buckets down in slanted white sheets, obscuring the Christmas lights twinkling from the shopping mall across the street.
I imagine a stress-free getaway, sans the twenty-plus hour flight both ways with multiple layovers and a likely abundance of screaming babies. Alex doesn’t like being confined for too long. He doesn’t like babies either.
Perhaps a quick flight to Florida would sway him more.
I start to pivot.
Me:You might already be looking into flights, but just letting you know I’m flexible! Miami is nice. We have a ton of vacation time saved up. I think we really need this. A break.
Panic ripples down my spine.
Me:A break from life. Not each other. Obviously. I love you!
Still nothing.
I stare at the screen, my anxiety climbing.
Me:You love me, right???
