They were using her login from her own IP address. From her personal computer. She recoiled, heart thundering. They wereinsideher house.
And this was no ordinary robbery. This was someone who knew her name. Who knew her login. They were struggling to crack her twenty-character password—thank God for her insane levels of security—but they had everything else.
Where was Josh? Was he still in the house? Was he okay? God. What about Nissy?
She sucked in a ragged breath and pressed her fingers into her cheeks, forcing herself to think. If only she had bought those security cameras when she first thought of them….
She dropped her hands, eyes flying back to her laptop. Therewasa camera.
She hunched over the keyboard, typing as fast as she could, taking control of her computer remotely. And then she turned on the webcams and told them to record.
A man was sitting in her office. At her desk! He wore a black ski mask completely covering his head and mouth; only his eyes were vaguely visible in the dim room.
He flinched and then tilted his head, facing directly toward the camera. Dammit. The light must have come on and alerted him. He looked at her for a tense moment, clearly aware of her. His eyes were wide, pupils dilated in the dim light.
Then he jerked to his feet and hurriedly sprayed all the surfaces from a bottle spray he’d brought with him. Alcohol or vinegar maybe. He was clearly rushing, but still meticulous.
She reached for her phone to call 999 at the same moment that he scanned the room, perhaps checking that he hadn’t left anything, and then jogged away. But he didn’t run. He never panicked.
Almost as if he knew he still had time. As if he knew she was too far away to stop him.
Chapter Twenty
Josh feltthe distance between them growing with every minute after Ellie drove away. And as the distance grew, his hold on himself—on his connection to the earth—diminished.
He tried lying on her bed, surrounded by her vanilla and jasmine scent. But it wasn’t enough. He fell into a fitful, broken sleep, only to wake hours later, dazed and brain-fogged, with pins and needles in his hands and feet, and a cold tingle lapping along his spine.
Despite the exhaustion dragging at him, he made himself stand and close the curtains against the midnight dark and go downstairs to find Nissy. She roused herself from her bed in Ellie’s office and chirped as she wound herself against his legs. He leaned down to scratch behind her ears before checking her feeder and water.
Had he ever had a pet? He felt certain that he never had. And yet… why not? Nissy was a joy. He could easily get used to her gentle companionship and charming certainty that she deserved to be treated like royalty at all times.
Josh rubbed his chest, reminding himself that it was a good thing he didn’t have a pet. He didn’t want there to be an animal left behind somewhere, wondering what had become of him.
He had a few sips of cold water and then walked through Ellie’s house, touching the things she loved, looking at her art, trying to ground himself.
And trying to find himself. What didhishouse look like? What art decoratedhiswalls? Where didhelive?
He spent long minutes standing on her deck, looking out at the dark woods. Little night animals called and scurried, and their names rose and fell in his mind. He knew their diets and their habits. The dangers they faced.
A memory drifted into his awareness like a dream. A scene of people wearing scrubs, surgical masks, bright lights overhead. The memory sharpened, clarified, until it was the clearest one he’d had.
He was so close. So very close to knowing everything.
He stumbled across the deck to the far corner and sank onto a lounger next to the hot tub. The world was spinning, his ears ringing, and he leaned his head between his knees in the dark as the memories welled within him.
He could recall that procedure vividly. A rare white-tailed eagle had become tangled in a large hedgerow. Her wing was badly broken, and the surgery to repair it was brand-new and very challenging. He’d traveled north, to Scotland, to work with the conservationists there, and then stayed.
He remembered watching the majestic bird take to the skies once more. The visceral joy and relief, and the bittersweetness of whispering goodbye as he set her free.
How long ago was that? Did he live there? He wished he knew. But at least he knew one thing: he was a veterinary surgeon. He worked with birds of prey. Thank fuck. He wasn’t a criminal. He wasn’t a murderer. Hopefully he was far away when Ellie had her accident.
He gripped the back of his neck with his hands. The relief uncurling through him was so powerful he wanted to laugh. He almost wanted to cry. He was starting to remember who he was.
He wanted to tell Ellie. To share this revelation with her He wanted to hear her voice. Even better, to see her face. She wore her emotions so honestly—so much more openly than him—and he couldn’t wait to see her joy.
Josh stood, thinking. He could reach her through her computer. He could send her a message. If there was one thing he knew, it was that Ellie would have her laptop nearby.
But then he stilled, lingering in the shadows. Something didn’t feel right. Had he heard something?
