Page 80 of Preying Game

Chapter 22

It might have been minutes later—or hours—when she felt Jonah’s hand clasping hers as his thumb pressed and rubbed against her palm.

Her eyes blinked open and she stared up into his dear, familiar face, seeing the lines of worry and fear etched there.

Alice, he asked urgently, Is it you? Do you know me?

She smiled at the question. It might have sounded strange, but she knew what he meant. She had been fading out of existence since they’d pitched Hayward into the rushing river. Then they’d gone back to stage the accident that had supposedly buried her earlier self. But only one Alice could survive, and Jonah didn’t yet know which one it was.

Yes. It’s me. And I know who you are—the man I love.

She felt his deep relief. Thank God.

She wanted to sit up, but she felt too shaky to manage it. She was lying in a pile of brown and orange leaves under the trees, and Jonah eased down beside her, his arms around her.

The change of scenery was confusing. “What happened?”

“I brought us back to my time. All three of us, I mean. I guess while we were traveling, the two of you merged. “But I didn’t know if it would be you or her who arrived back here.”

“Me.”

His eyes shimmered as he buried his face against her neck, breathing deeply.

“You smell good.”

“It’s the soap from your shower.”

“No, it’s you.” He dragged in a breath and let it out. “It’s been a hell of a few weeks, knowing we had to do this but not sure if we could pull it off.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.”

“I made our lives hell.”

“But look what we accomplished. Something nobody else has ever done.” Just then, his cell phone rang, and he swiped the screen to answer. Frank Decorah was on the other end of the line.

“Put me on speaker,” he said.

Jonah complied.

“I take it you succeeded,” his boss said.

“How do you know?”

“All the newspaper articles and the references on the Web to the missing women are gone.”

“But you remember?” Jonah asked.

“Everybody here remembers. But I think as far as the rest of the world is concerned, nobody knows you saved six women’s lives—Alice’s and five others.”

“And we didn’t change history?”

“Just a few minor things.”

“Well, it’s sinking in that we saved the other victims. And I’m so glad,” Alice murmured. “But how did I hook up with Decorah if Jonah didn’t rescue me from captivity?”

“We brought you in as a consultant.”

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