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know him. Which is it?”
    Her gaze went back and forth between the two men. “I...I don’t know.”
    “Did Adams hurt you?”
    Did he? She was already injured when she came to in the mine. She pressed her hand against her head. That damned throbbing was getting worse, scrambling her thoughts. “I...I don’t think so.” She blinked hard against the blur Daniel’s face had become. “I think he just helped me. I can’t really remember what happened before the cave-in.”
    “So he could have put you there?”
    “No. He specifically told me he didn’t do that.”
    “What?” Galloway strode out to Daniel. “Okay, Adams, that’s it. You’re coming with me until I sort this out.” The sheriff slapped a cuff on Daniel’s wrist.
    Daniel stilled, his face stiff as he stared at the silver bracelet. “Great, just great. Good Samaritan bites the dust one more time. When will I learn?”
    Raven stared at him in handcuffs, horrified. Her mind whirled in confusion. She didn’t think he had hurt her, but could she be wrong? Nothing made sense.
    His gaze went flat, the light behind his eyes dimming. Expressionless, lifeless, soulless. Instinctively Raven reached out to him, needing something, anything to hold on to, but Daniel turned away from her. “I guess I know where I’m headed. Thanks, sweetheart.”
    The sheriff snagged his prisoner’s free arm and snapped the second cuff closed, pinning his arms behind him. The loud click echoed in the room, and Daniel’s jaw throbbed, his neck muscles bunched together. He didn’t look back at her.
    She wanted to call out to Daniel, but she didn’t know what to say. She just couldn’t remember. She had to be Raven. Didn’t she?
    Then why had he lied about not knowing her?
    “I...don’t...remember.” The words stuttered from her. Desperation clawed at her insides.
    The sheriff gave her a sympathetic grimace. “If Adams is telling the truth, he’ll be out soon. If not...you have nothing to be sorry about. You’re safe now.”
    Sheriff Galloway escorted Daniel out.
    The nurse whipped the curtain closed, shutting her in. Alone. Abandoned. The cream-covered cloth fluttered still, a barrier to the world. She wrapped her arms around her body, trying to stop the aching loneliness. Her hands and heart felt empty.
    She turned to her side in the bed, staring at the curtained wall. She didn’t blink. Her vision grew blurry. Why couldn’t she remember? Try as she might, just a few glimmers sifted through her. A fuzzy dog’s face, a toy box, and Daniel.
    She sighed. Daniel. What had she done? Why hadn’t she defended him? Why hadn’t she fought to make the sheriff understand that she felt safe with Daniel? She reached out her hand, wishing his strong fingers were there for her to grasp.
    Her belly clenched. She had the unsettling feeling she’d just made a terrible mistake in letting Daniel go. She curled into a ball. Her fingernails bit into her palm.
    Oh, God, what had she done?
    * * *
    T HE NIGHTMARE WOULDN ’ T end. Raven knew she was asleep, but she couldn’t escape. Wrapped in a carpet. The dust, the dirt, the blood.
    She fought against the memory suffocating her, struggling to break free from the prison. Her hands clenched at her side. Not carpet. Sheets.
    The clinic. And a presence watching over her. She could feel its malevolence.
    She squeezed her eyes tighter, unable to battle the unexpected terror seizing her body and her mind. She swallowed and forced herself to open her eyes.
    “Daniel?” she mumbled, praying he was there, despite her letting him down.
    Her blurry vision focused. A man stood above her, his face half-hidden by a surgical mask. Not Daniel though and not the doctor who’d treated her before.
    “Who—”
    Before she could ask, he pressed his fingers around her throat, then clamped his other hand over her mouth and nose. He tightened his grip, cutting off all air.
    Please, God. She couldn’t breathe. She twisted against him, each movement