Page 177 of On a Fault Line

Mark will kill you!

He’s deranged!

Black fog fills my vision, and the only thing I see is Mark in the crowd of people watching me.

I’m in the water.

The river…

I’m taking pictures in the river…at the photoshoot.

My eyes focus on his black shirt, and on the pocket, I see the red rose logo for the little cafe.

My body convulses.

“He was there,” I gasp, thrusting myself upward.

“Penny? Wake up. You’re having a bad dream.”

Gentle hands shake me.

“He was there.”

“Penny. You’re scaring me. Wake up, Princess.”

“He was there.”

“Who?”

My eyes flutter open, searching for an anchor to keep me from sinking back into the depths of my trauma.

“Mark Tanner was there.”

Collins hugs me to him as I sob into his shoulder.

“You were having a bad dream,” he explains. “I tried to wake you.”

“It wasn’t a nightmare. It was a memory.”

Hugging me tighter, I let every tear that I ever held back consume me.

And I shatter—as all of the memories from the night I was drugged come flittering back like a boomerang.

“For nearly a year, I couldn’t remember much from that night. But now I remember everything.”

“Just let it all out. I got you. I’m never letting you go.”

“I hate him.”

“I know, Princess. I hate him too—more than you’ll ever probably realize.”

“He was at the river for my photoshoot. He was wearing a Rose City Cafe employee shirt. I saw him in the crowd. That’s why I think I slipped back into that unresponsive state. He was there. I remember he was there.”

Collins stiffens. “No, Penny.”

“Yes.I saw him.”

“No… I think you were just imagining him there.”

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