Tempted Trapped and Too Late to Run

Clara called Kay over, her voice sharp. "Do you think Palm Bay is just open to anyone? Dylan told you to stick with me, so that means from now on, you listen to me. Anyone who wants to set foot in Palm Bay has to check with me first. I don't care if it's Walter-no exceptions."

Kay hesitated, fidgeting. "But..."

"No buts. If you can't follow my rules, then you don't need to be around me at all."

Clara turned away, her tone turning cold. "From now on, even if Dylan himself shows up, you don't answer to him-you answer to me. I'm sure you've noticed he's not quite himself lately."

Every time Dylan visited the Fergusons, Clara never knew what to expect. She'd already braced herself for the possibility that one day, he'd come to hate her.

If that really happened, it would break her.

Kay just nodded, silent, and slipped out the door.

Clara felt completely wiped out. Her head had been pounding for days. Tonight, she didn't even want to eat-she just wanted to close her eyes and wake up in the morning, leaving all her problems for later.

But of course, tonight was anything but peaceful. She'd barely lain down when Charles knocked on her door.

"Hey, sis, remember that good-for-nothing brother of ours? He just called me. Says he needs to talk to you."

Clara frowned, got up, opened the door, and took the phone. Ryan's voice came through, calm but with a thread of confusion.

"Clara, do you remember that old alternative medicine doctor back home? I was going to let Emily study with him for a bit, but when we got here, he was already dead-murdered."

Clara's heart skipped. "When did it happen?"

"The police are here now. They said he's been dead for about ten days. The weather's still cold up in the mountains-there's snow everywhere—so nobody found him until now."

The old doctor had always kept to himself, tucked away in the hills. He was only known by the locals and never cared for a reputation. Who would go all the way out there just to kill him?

"Clara, I think this might have something to do with your past. Besides our late father, that doctor might have been the only one who knew what really happened back then."

Clara felt the same. If the old doctor was murdered because of her, then maybe she wasn't just some abandoned child after all.

She leaned against the wall, rubbing her forehead. "Did you find anything else? What are the police saying?"

"The killer was clearly a pro. No fingerprints, no footprints, nothing. The security cameras here are ancient-totally useless. The doctor didn't have any family either. They're planning to bury him tomorrow afternoon."

Ryan stared at the thin snow covering the mountain, worry eating at him. “Clara, I have a bad feeling about this."

He was scared Clara's past would drag her into even more mess-she'd already been through so much.

The last time Dylan had come by, asking about Clara's childhood, Ryan had felt uneasy then, too. But lately, since he couldn't reach Clara, he'd just done what she asked-looked after Emily.

Emily really was something. Young, gifted, always buried in her medical books. No idea where she foundnoveldrama

those old remedies, but she spamet

every day in the garden,

experimenting, totally absorbed in

her work. Someone like her deserved to be treated well.

Ryan realized Clara hadn't said anything for a while. He gripped the phone tighter, eyes drifting to the small grave in front of him. "Dad buried the real Clara here,

remember? And brou het

you home.

You must've been a few years old at the time. You seriously don't remember any of it?"

Clara tried to reach back into those early memories, but it was all a blur-nothing.

Ryan gave a crooked smile, letting out a slow breath. "Right. I forgot. You lost your memory. You don't remember a thing. You really need to get those memories back, Clara. I'm worried that if you don't, whoever's behind all this will find you*

Clara nodded, torn between Dylan and the mystery of her own past, her headache throbbing even harder.