Chapter One

The rest stop was small and muddy, with only one other car parked at the far end. Spray and grit from the road had all but obscured the car's license plate and left the paintwork a nondescript khaki gray. Even the bushes were a dull brackish brown.

I poured myself a cupful of sludge-colored coffee from a thermos. It had the sickly aroma that only flask coffee has, but I closed my eyes and savored the comforting warmth. It had been a long drive south toward Boston, and the break was very welcome. When I opened my eyes again, I stared wearily out the rain-speckled windshield, rolling my shoulders back to ease the tension several hours of driving had left in my arms and neck.

As I peered out at the leaden sky, I felt a pang of jittery nerves, and I was uncertain whether I had made the right decision. The bubbly excitement I'd felt when I'd set out had gradually evaporated with the passing of the miles, leaving me feeling like a condemned woman awaiting the executioner's block. I gave myself a mental shake, pushing aside the shivery premonition that I should simply turn the car around and head back the way I'd come. I swallowed the last of the coffee. A chill had begun to steal up from the foot well and whisper across my shoulders since I'd turned off the ignition, and it was probably this that was causing my bad mood, or maybe it was simply the bleakness of the weather.

I started the engine again and left it running so that the heat crept gradually back through my veins. A truck sped past, throwing up sheets of filthy spray. The car rocked with a whoomp that made me tighten my grip on the plastic cup as I fixed it back onto the thermos and glanced around to check that all was well. ...