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happen! Long term
relationships never lasted for her. She was too weird—the Knowing
made her different and even guys who didn’t have the slightest bit
of sensitivity to unseen things seemed to sense it. Plus, when they
found out she could read them by touching their skin, they became a
whole lot less interested in touching her . And even if she could have found a guy
who didn’t mind having his secrets revealed every time they made
skin-to-skin contact, there was the little matter of her
scars…
    Kate shrugged her shoulders irritably. The
scars in question ran the length of her spine, just between her
shoulder blades. The tissue there was tight and unyielding, making
her itch sometimes.
    The itch made her
self-conscious—as though everyone could see the ugly scars beneath
her clothes. Which was silly. She ought to be over it by now—her
scars were part of her, like her red hair and green eyes—like the
Knowing. Besides, she was always careful to dress appropriately and
keep her back covered. Nobody would ever catch her out on the beach
in a bikini, even if she did live in Florida now.
    She came to the long, narrow corridor,
started to go down it …and stopped. Was it her imagination or was
it darker down here than usual? Were some of the overhead lights
burned out or was management just cutting them back to save money?
It seemed like a ridiculous gesture in such a huge, expensive mall
but Kate had known them to do stupid, petty things in the hope of
saving a few pennies before. For whatever the reason, the service
corridor certainly seemed dimmer and spookier than usual.
    For a moment she debated
going back to the main restroom but she only had ten minutes left
on her break and it was a long walk back to the food court.
Besides—what was there to be afraid of? A
lot, whispered a voice in her head and she
flashed on the tall man with glowing blue eyes.
    But that had probably been
just her imagination working. She hadn’t slept well last
night—mostly because of the damn dreams she kept having. Probably
her subconscious mind had just turned some random guy into her own
personal boogieman and played a little trick on her because she was
so tried. She was armed, after all. The comforting weight of the Glock under
her arm made her lift her chin and step confidently down the dim
hallway.
    She used the bathroom and washed her hands
without incident and in plenty of time to get back to work.
    “ See?” she muttered to herself as she swung open the door. “You were
scared for nothing. There’s nobody he—”
    The words died in her
throat as a huge, menacing man stepped out from the shadows where
he had plainly been waiting for her. He was wearing tight black
leather trousers, a wife beater t-shirt, and a black leather
jacket. She recognized him from the brief glimpse she’d had in the
food court. It was the man from her dreams again. So her
subconscious hadn’t been making him up.
    He was real and he was more frightening than
any nightmare could ever be.
    Kate looked up at him, her heart pounding in
her chest. He was massive—6’8 at least—with shoulders fully twice
broad as hers. Either one of his muscular thighs was as big around
as her waist. His hand, when he held it out to her, was a big as a
catcher’s mitt.
    “ Kate,” he growled, in an
inhumanly deep voice. “I’m here for you. I finally found
you.”
    Kate stumbled backwards, trying to get away
from him but he was blocking her only exit from the narrow hall,
his muscular shoulders filling the tight space.
    “ No!” she gasped. Just as
it had when she saw him in the food court, her pulse started racing
and she suddenly couldn’t get a deep enough breath. She took
another stumbling step, tripped over her sensible work heels, and
fell flat on her back.
    Trapped! I’m
trapped! her mind screamed. He’s come for me and now I’ll never get
away!
    “ No!” she moaned again
when he reached for her. She tried to roll away but he was too
quick. One