Page 45 of The Girl in the River

A fire engine roared up and firemen descended. His father grabbed his arm and yanked him toward the ramp. “We have to go, son.”

“But Jesse!”

“She probably got off with the crowd,” his father said as he yanked him onto the dock.

Kevin stumbled, coughing, tears from the smoke and fear blurring his eyes.

“Jesse!” he screamed as his father dragged him onto the shore.

Jerking back to the present, he picked up the photo of their wedding kiss and dried his wet cheeks with the back of his hand.

He’d never stopped loving Jesse. He had to get her back.

FIFTY-SEVEN

SOMEWHERE ON THE RIVER

Mia stirred from unconsciousness, her stomach turning. Where was she? What had happened?

She was so dizzy she could barely lift her head. Her mouth felt dry, like cotton balls had been stuffed inside. Her head swam. A noise sounded, constant. Water? The river?

Panic zinged through her as she realized she must be on a boat. How had she gotten here?

She rolled to her side to get up, but the room tilted and bile climbed to her throat.

Squeezing her eyes shut, she lay her head back down and inhaled to keep from throwing up. The boat rocked, bouncing up and down as it crashed over rocks. Outside thunder crackled, taking her back years ago to when her parents had been killed.

She had been on a boat with them, racing away. But lightning stuck and fire burst from the stern. Then her parents were screaming and she and her sister were clinging to each other, terrified and crying.

Fear had made it hard to breathe then. It made it hard to breathe now.

She inhaled another deep breath and racked her brain to remember what had happened, why she was here. She’d been dressed for her wedding… Pixie and Mark were waiting…

The boat lurched forward. Nausea built. Darkness beckoned again.

She fought to stay awake and looked down. Fear choked her. She was dressed in a thin cotton T-shirt and shorts, not her wedding dress.

She felt her hair; the veil was gone too. And her ring… She checked her hand. Missing.

Tears burned the backs of her eyelids. Pixie… Where was her daughter? Was she here, too? Was she okay?

Images flashed through her mind. A scream sounded in her head.Her own scream.Tori’s… They were running. Then Tori… He caught her. Tori stumbled. She turned to help her, but a gunshot blasted the air. Tori stumbled forward and collapsed.

Mia tried to help her, but she staggered. The trees were spinning, turning upside down. Then something slammed against the back of her head and light disappeared as she fell into nothing.

She blinked her surroundings back into focus and glanced up at the tiny window in the cabin, forcing herself to crawl to it. Sucking in a breath to steady herself, she peered through it. In the distance, lightning zigzagged across the tops of the trees. A red mist rose from the river just as the legends said.

All she could see for miles and miles was water. And the river monsters swarming like piranhas.

FIFTY-EIGHT

FOGGY MOUNTAIN

Another storm was starting to brew as Ellie and Derrick left the real estate office. “Cord called, Derrick,” Ellie said as they got in the Jeep. “SAR found a body in a barrel in the river.”

“Mia?”

“Don’t know yet. I hope to God it’s not… Apparently it was burned. I want to take a look. We also need to ask Mark if he recognizes the name Jesse Habersham.”

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