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I fight to stay present. Focus on their words.
“Kali.” I hear Paxton, but his voice is muffled.
“Keep digging! I’m down here!” I scream and claw at the air, pleading with him not to leave me.
Except it’s not air.
It’s a wooden box.
A gentle stream of light slips through my closed eyelids before I jerk awake, shooting straight up. Riggs barks from the foot of my bed, gazing at me. My T-shirt clings to my back, drenched in sweat. The door creaks open, and Paxton steps into the room.
“You okay?” he asks.
I rake my fingers through damp hair and free it from its ponytail. “Yeah. I had a horrible nightmare. I dreamed he did it again. Kidnapped someone and then I was back in another box. It felt so real.”
“Kalico. You scared the shit out of me.” He kisses my forehead and pulls me in for a hug.
My brain teeters between my nightmare and reality. How did I scare him?
“There’s someone here to see you. I thought it would be helpful to call her.”
I look at the door and notice Dr. Betty standing just inside the doorway. When I tilt my head at her gentle smile, they share a look of concern.
“Hello, Kali,” she says.
“What’s happening?” I question, pushing the covers off and scooting toward the end of the bed. Why did I wear jeans to bed? No wonder I’m sweating like I’ve been running in one-hundred-degree weather. Wait. What time is it? There’s darkness behind the shades. My eyes dart to the clock. Eleven o’clock. Why is Dr. Betty here this late?
“It wasn’t a dream,” she says, her words blending between my dream and reality.
Considering I’m not in a box, I’m confused.
“There was another kidnapping.”
Flashes of memories ignite, and everything comes rushing back. Driving to the hole, the paint, the fear.
“Being there triggered a flashback,” she explains, taking a seat next to me.
I draw in a ragged breath, the cold sweat chilling my trembling body. “I can’t do this. I can’t do this anymore.” Anger reverberates through my bones.
“Yes, you can,” she insists, wrapping her arm around my shoulder.
My fight-or-flight kicks in, and an intense wave of leaving this place takes root. Putting distance between me and this nightmare is the only thing that makes sense right now. I have money. I can go anywhere. But then there’s Paxton. Except our relationship can’t move forward, not when I’m being held captive by a psychopath.
He will always be my hero.
I raise my eyes to meet Paxton, and the ache in my heart intensifies. “I think I have to leave.”
His brows furrow as he stands taller in a defensive stance, crossing his arms over his chest. “Leave where?”
“Somewhere not in Texas.”
“They’re going to catch this guy,” he argues. “Why leave everything?”
Why leave him, he’s asking, and my heart cracks open.
“He’s tormenting me,” I murmur, standing and walking over to him. I place my hand on his chest. “I thought I could put what happened behind me and move on, but not now.” I shake my head. “Not with what he’s doing.”
“Running won’t stop him.”
