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Lock’s lifeless face swam before me. His glazed eyes would haunt me for the rest of my life. She killed him. She killed him. And now, she meant to kill me.

Corrine was right behind me. I could still hear her screams. I could feel her hot breath on the back of my neck. She was possessed with rage. With vengeance. With a darkness I could never comprehend. I braced for the gunshot that never came.

But she had me, throwing the full weight of her body on top of mine. She pushed me to the ground face-first. Sand filled my nose and mouth, choking me. I flailed as hard as I could, trying to throw her off my back. But it was no use. The waves came in and I was submerged.

Somehow, I was on my back, looking up at Corrine’s face through the water. I tried to hold my breath. She was going to drown me. I saw Lock’s face. He held a hand out to me. Complete calm settled over me. It would have been so easy to just go to him, even though I knew the vision wasn’t real.

But my body rebelled as the water filled my throat. I brought my knee up as hard as I could. It landed between Corrine’s legs, knocking her off balance for the instant I needed.

She clawed at me as I stumbled to my feet. I kicked back, choking, sputtering as I struggled to expel the water from my lungs. But somehow, I got my legs under me and ran again.

I screamed. Someone had to hear me. I knew how well sound carried along the water. From the corner of my eye, I saw Corrine still kneeling at the water’s edge. I put as much distance between us as I could. I vaulted up the steps heading back to the house. I heard screaming but kept moving.

I got to the door at the back of the garage. I tried to turn the knob. It was locked. There was no other entry to the house on this side.

She was coming. I could feel it. Maybe I should have kept running down the beach. But if she caught up with me. If she overpowered me again… did she still have the gun?

“Mina!” she shrieked. I turned. Corrine had just gotten to the top of the steps. She was weaker this time. Her steps faltered.

“Stop,” she said. The rage seemed to have gone out of her. “Please.”

To get to the garden and back into the house, I’d have to run past her. There was nothing behind me but a locked door and fifty yards of sand dunes. I looked for a weapon. There were rocks on the ground. I picked up the largest I could fit in one hand and took a step toward her.

She smiled. She reached behind her and grabbed something out of the waistband of her jeans. That’s when I saw the gun. Blood poured from an ugly gash in her temple. She had to be running on pure adrenaline.

“You’re hurt,” I said. “We need to call an ambulance.”

“How could Lock say those things about me? I’m not crazy. He loves me. He’s lying to you.”

I held my hands up. There was nothing to hide behind. I could run, but she’d have a clear shot at me.

“I know,” I said, changing tactics. She had every opportunity to shoot but hadn’t taken it. Maybe there was still hope. “I’m sorry. I should have listened to you. I’ll do what you say. Lock isn’t who I thought he was either.”

She shook her head and aimed the gun at me. I saw her pull the trigger in my mind’s eye. What would it feel like to be shot? What if her aim wasn’t good? What if she didn’t kill me outright? Strange things go through your mind when you’re staring down the barrel of a gun, it seems.

“He loves you,” I tried again. “He thought I was going to hurt him. He was just saying what he thought I wanted to hear. You were right, Corrine. I’ll leave.”

“He said I was crazy. Why would he say that? I’m not crazy. He’s wrong. PJ and Sylvie are wrong.”

I took a step forward. Corrine put both hands on the gun. I froze.

“You have everything,” she said. “You don’t even know it. You can write a check for anything you want. You don’t know what it’s like to be poor. I bet your parents did everything for you. Came to all your recitals or games or whatever you were good at. You can’t have Lock too.”

“No,” I said. “My life isn’t what you think it is. My parents are dead, Corrine. A horrible mistake. One I’ve lived with my whole life. I know what it’s like to wish you could undo the past. Don’t you understand? I don’t have anyone. Lock is my only family.”

“He’s mine!” she shrieked.

“Please let me help you,” I said.

“I don’t want your help. You don’t know what I’ve been through for him. Do you know what he wanted to do to Lock? What he’d still do if he could. He wanted me to hurt Lock. Oh God, forgive me. Now I have. He knew I had it in me. I broke my promise.”

He?

“Who, Corrine? Who wants to hurt you? Who wanted to hurt Lock?”

She shook her head violently. “I’d never let him. Never. I told him I was done. I told him I’d tell everyone who he was if he ever tried to hurt Lock. I kept all my promises.”

“To who, Corrine?”