Page 40 of Shiver

“I’m not sure how she managed to hide her looks so well. That babe’s a knockout. How’d I miss it?”

“She’s good at hiding herself,” Riley muttered. “Either that, or you’re one lousy cop.”

“Very funny.”

“I just can’t stop asking myself why she’s trying so hard to hide,” Riley said.

Devra walked back in with two cups of hot tea and set them on the table.

“Perhaps it has something to do with our mystery man.” Tony pulled a piece of paper out of his jacket and held it toward her.

The color drained from Devra’s face.

Chapter 15

The eyes of the devil.

Devra’s hands trembled as she took the sketch from Tony’s outstretched hand.

“Have you seen him before?”

His voice sounded as if it were traveling down a long, dark tunnel, echoing somewhere she couldn’t quite place. She shifted her weight and swallowed, forcing back the rising nausea that threatened to overwhelm her. She dropped the paper on the table and fought the urge to run, to hide.

“Devra, have you seen him before?” Riley touched her arm.

She turned to him, but she didn’t know what to say.

“Devra?” His tone hardened.

She’d seen him. Every time she closed her eyes. She couldn’t tear her gaze away from the picture. The artist had done an incredible job capturing the eyes. The portrayal of glimmering evil shook her to the core of her soul. All that’s missing was the sardonic twist of his lips…and the glint of laughter shining in his eyes.

Everything in the room receded, so that all that was left, all she could see, were coal-black graphite eyes.

“Devra, do you recognize him?” Tony persisted.

She nodded.

“Who is he?” Riley stepped closer.

“The devil,” she whispered, looking up at him. She reached for him as the room spun and the world tilted beneath her feet.

Strong arms caught her just before she hit the floor.

“I’m sorry,” she moaned and pushed against Riley’s arms. Suddenly it was too hot. She had to get free. She wouldn’t let them lock her up again. Not ever again. The walls moved, pushing toward her. “I need air.” She stood on shaky feet and ran for the door.

“What just happened?” Tony asked.

Riley muttered an answer she couldn’t quite grasp. She stood on the porch and sucked in deep gulps of air. She had to get away, to think. She ran into the rain, sloshing through the mud.

Her nightmare was real.

They had said she’d made him up. That he was a figment of her imagination, the paranoid delusions of a very sick girl.

But they were wrong.

She kept running, not caring where she was as images flitted through her mind: cold water, daisies, raspberries, Tommy. A monster with the eyes of the devil. A monster in graphite.

Someone else had seen him, too.

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