Page 2 of Suspicion

Grasping the phone, she brought it closer to her face. Whatever bubble of relief she’d acknowledged at discovering the device abruptly burst when her gaze fell over it. It wasn’t her phone. The slim-line technology wasn’t even a brand she recognized.

Tapping at the buttons as best she could in her fettered hands, she held the device aloft. “This isn’t mine!”

Why was there a strange phone caught in the sleeping bag in which she was confined? Who the hell had put it there?

No doubt the same person who put me here.

She shivered at the disturbing thought. Someone had done that because people didn’t just wake up bound in the woods.

Someone had done that to her.

“I’m in trouble.” Her body stiffened as she fought back the tears welling in her eyes. “What am I going to do?”

Staring at the strange phone she’d found wedged between her and the sleeping bag, she gripped the device tighter. Maybe she could use it to call for help.

There’d have to be a signal. She peered once again around the canopy of trees above her, hoping the greenery wouldn’t denigrate the chances of finding one. Please let there be a signal.

Switching on the phone, she held her breath. This was it—her way out of this nightmare. All she had to do was to make an emergency call, but to her horror, the screen reverted straight to a message she’d never seen before.

She’s never known yours.

Her brows knitted as she tried to make sense of the riddle.

Don’t start Bowman.

Remember, I don’t

Have time.

Contact doesn’t bother

me.

Do this again?

Many say until

Then, but we have never agreed.

Alarm bells rang in her mind.

What the hell was that supposed to mean? The message didn’t even make sense! No direct threat had been made to her, and the missive didn’t even mention her by name, but deep down, Ella knew it was bad news.

Someone had tied her up in the sleeping bag, and whoever that was had slipped the device she now clutched inside that bag with her after, presumably, ensuring the message she’d read was the first thing she’d find.

But who? The pain in her head made her want to throw up. Who would do this to me? She pulled in a shaky breath. If only I had my phone, I could—

The sound of heavy footsteps snapping twigs behind her punctured the raging questions in her mind.

Someone was walking in the woods.

In a flash, her spiraling thoughts registered what that meant. Either she was the luckiest woman in the world who, after waking up in dismay, was about to be found by a helpful passerby. Or—her heart skipped a beat as she stumbled upon what the other option was—or someone who knew that a woman had been dumped in the woods was on the lookout for her.

Oh God.

Fresh panic erupted in her chest, the apprehension spreading across her body until she could scarcely take another breath.

Pressing herself against the tree, she strained her senses to listen harder, her trepidation ratcheting up with every new crunch of leaves. Whoever it was, they were close. Close enough, she thought she could hear their breath as they neared.