Her shoulders visibly relaxed, and she placed a hand over his. “I know that, Nick. I do. But I don’t need to be coddled, and if I need to get away, believe me, you’ll be the first to know.” She inhaled a deep breath, straightening her shoulders, and he could tell she was preparing herself for what she had to say next. He braced himself. “What I need from you is bigger than a last-minute vacation. This isn’t the kind of thing I can trust just anyone with, which is why I wanted you out here alone.” She gave him a wry grin, blinking emerald eyes up at him. “If I’d known you were bringing me to a surprise party with my whole family, I would’ve broached the subject in the car on the drive over.”
“Whatever it is, you know all you have to do is ask.”
“That’s good, because you’re the only person I can depend on right now, aside from Jillian. I need a favor, Nick, and it’s a big one. But you can’t tell a soul. Even my family.”
She looked so serious that a spider of unease crawled across his skin. “All right.”
“No, Nick. I need you to promise that what I’m about to ask you stays between you and me.”
“I swear,” he said solemnly.
It was an eternity before she finally nodded. “Good, because if I’m going to keep Valerie Price safe long enough for her to testify, I need all the help I can get.”
3
Gabe followed a child’s squealing laughter down an aisle of the store, looking for a way out of the maze of toy filled shelves. There were board games, both old school and battery operated, even one that seemed to require farting. Stuffed animals of every shape and size filled the area to overflowing. He stopped in front of a teddy bear that reminded him of one he’d once won at a fair.
“Teddy Spaghetti?” Gabe whispered and reached out to touch the bear’s fur. Fingers sinking in deep, Gabe smiled at how soft the animal was. How familiar. And how…warm.
The bear’s dark brown eyes snapped to life with a sharp blink just as Gabe registered its aliveness. Gabe gasped in horror as the buttons focused in on him. One side of the bear’s mouth rose up in a snarl, revealing sharp incisors. At almost the same time that a low warning growl began in the creature’s throat, it snapped at him.
Gabe yanked his hand back, falling ass first on the tile floor. “What the hell!” He blinked, unable to believe his eyes.
But he hadn’t imagined it. The bear was inspecting his shelf, clearly looking for a way to climb down. When it found no easy way, it sank back on its haunches, ready to…spring.
As the bear launched, Gabe scrambled up off the floor, terror and adrenaline giving him speed. When the bear hit the floor and roared, Gabe took off at a sprint, running down the aisle, which seemed to stretch farther the faster he ran.
Around him, the other animals had found life and began to hurtle themselves in his direction, seemingly intent on tripping him up. Heart pounding, he picked up speed. Finally reaching an endcap, he took an abrupt turn, knocking the boxes off one shelf without slowing down.
“Hey!”
Gabe cringed and had no intention of stopping to find the owner of the male voice. But a hand wrapped around his wrist, pulling him to an abrupt stop. Panic lanced through his heart before his eyes found the hand’s owner.
Tall. Dark. Familiar.
The man standing in front of him could be his double. Except he exuded sexuality, as if he’d been sprayed with fuckable fairy dust, and it hung in the air, jouncing off his skin and leaving traces of it behind.
“How can you be playing with toys at a time like this?” the man asked, his expression as accusing as his words.
“I’m not—”
The dark man took a step closer, his hand warm around Gabe’s wrist. “You were going to leave me here alone.”
For some reason, Gabe’s eyes burned and filled with tears, so that the man became a hazy blur. “I-I’m sorry.”
“Apologies won’t get the cows milked.”
Gabe laughed, because it was what his grandmother used to say when he slacked on chores.
The man’s eyes narrowed, and he stepped even closer until Gabe was breathing in his breath. His body reacted, tuning into the man. He was so beautiful. So sexy.
At first, Gabe didn’t understand when a foul stench filled the air between them. He frowned, his gaze falling to the man’s full lips. Kissable lips. Lips that moved and bubbled and…sprouted maggots.
His stomach careened, and Gabe stumbled backward, screaming as the beautiful man’s face melted, turning into rotten flesh that hung from his jaw and fell with a splat to the floor.
Gabe Fisher screamed, thrashing as he sat up, the vision fading with each beat of his pounding heart. His bedroom came into focus in the dark, illuminated only by cracks of light peeking in around the blinds.
“What the…” Flipping on the bedside light, Gabe wiped his face with his hand. He was sweating, his head soaked. What a nightmare.
But that man.
Gabe had thought about him ever since the doctor had asked him to lock up his office, and he’d done the unthinkable and looked in his scrapbook. The man
