Loretta recognized Karl's shape, his shoulders, his hair, his long limbs. He didn't move, only stood there watching her, arms at his sides. The hand on her chest, over her thundering heart, wanted to curl into a fist and beat him until he begged her to stop.
"Why are you so damn determined to scare the life out of me everywhere I go lately?"
He didn't move or speak. Loretta walked toward him, then stopped in her tracks. The unease, the certainty that something was wrong, was back full force.
Her flesh again seemed to crawl all over her body. She'd never felt that warning so strongly when nothing was actually threatening her.
"Did you follow me out here?" she said.
"No. I was here already."
His voice sounded odd, strained and deeper than normal. Loretta finally remembered the door to
