Page 13 of Ghosts From Christmas Past

Jesse held up his hands. “Hey, I call it as I see it.”

Dylan chuckled. “Can I have a word with you outside?”

“Sure thing.” Jesse leaned in and gave Charlie a hug. She hated that so many people cared for her, and she had no idea who they were.

“I’ll see you soon.” Jesse lifted his hand and waved before he stepped out of earshot with Dylan.

Her gut told her something bad had happened, and she clutched her throat. The scars there were stark reminders of what she’d survived. A killer was out there somewhere. In her mind were the answers needed to bring him to justice. She was a liability to someone.

Charlie closed her eyes. Tried to calm her rapid-beating heart. If she could go back to that darkness where he waited. Where he’d held her captive for eight years. She squeezed her eyes tighter and he appeared before her, a faceless figure swirling in her memory. “Who are you?” she whispered. She could feel him coming closer, bringing a darkness with him that was terrifying.

You are mine. You’ve always been mine. Soon,you will be with me forever.

“No.” The word was torn from deep inside. “You killed everyone I loved,” she whispered. I will never be yours.”

“Charlie?” The darkness tried to hold her there.Hisvoice pulled her toward the light. “Charlie? Wake up.”

Her eyes opened, and she stared into Dylan’s worried face. Without hesitating, she threw back the covers and went into his arms. She was shaking all over. Terrified by the man in the darkness.

“It’s okay.” Dylan held her close and whispered against her ear. “I’ve got you.”

Charlie pulled in several breaths before she let him go and tried to believe him.

“What happened? Did you have a nightmare?” Dylan searched her face.

The images were fading quickly, and she struggled to hold onto them. “I’m not sure. I closed my eyes for a second. And then—”

Dylan clasped her hand in his. “Do you remember anything about the dream?” He pressed as if realizing something was hidden inside her nightmare that might be what was needed to bring a killer to justice.

???

Pushing Charlie too hard wasn’t wise, Dylan thought, but if her reaction were any indication, that nightmare she’d experienced might be part of her memory returning.

Her fingers pressed into her temples. “It’s gone. I’m sorry. I was hoping— “

“You’ve had the nightmare before?” Though he probably should get Dr. Montgomery, if there was the slightest chance she might remember what happened that day, he had to try.

Charlie’s forehead twisted up into a frown. “Yes, at least I think so, but it always disappears after I wake up. All I remember is there’s someone in the darkness. Someone bad.”

The hackles on the back of his neck stood up. “Do you remember anything about this person?”

Charlie kept her attention on his face. “Only that there’s darkness all around him.” She shivered. “And he is terrifying.”

Dylan was terrified for her. He had been convinced through the years that Charlie and her family knew the killer. When the truth finally came out, it would be devastating for her.

“As the sheriff, you’ve read the police report,” she said softly and latched onto his eyes. “Can you tell me what’s in it?” Her innocent question was anything but. Charlie had the right to know what happened back then, but there were other things that would come up—things he’d been avoiding.

She pressed on. “No one here is willing to talk to me about it, but it might help.” The pleading in her eyes was his undoing. Shewasstill his wife. The woman he’d fallen in love with and the one who still held his heart. No matter the cost, he would help her unravel the answers hidden in her mind.

“Okay,” he said. “I will tell you what I know.”

The smile on her face wiped away his misgivings. She clasped his hand and squeezed it. “Thank you.”

Dylan pulled in a breath and let his mind go back to that time once more. “I was the one who found you,” he said. Saw her surprise.

“You were? Why were you at the house? You weren’t a cop back then.”

He still held her hand. Dylan stared down at their joined fingers. “No, I wasn’t a cop. You and I were a couple, Charlie. I planned to spend Christmas morning with you and your family.”

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