“I have to run,” Pilar said. “You too. Get in your truck and leave town.”

“What about you?”

“I’ll have to go on foot. My car’s in the back.”

They both froze at the sound of the kitchen doorknob being jiggled. Pilar pressed her hand across her mouth, her skin a ghastly pallor.

Austin knew what he had to do, as much as it pained him. “Come on. I’ll drive you,” he whispered.

“No...” she said, so low he almost missed it.

“Seems to me you don’t have another option,” he tossed over his shoulder. “It’s not what I want either, but you’re not going to get far on foot in this storm.”

Still she stood rooted, backpack dangling from her fingers, until there was a crash of a fist coming through a glass pane. They both ran to the front door; Austin flung it open and hurtled down the stairs into the pouring rain. At the street, he yanked open the door of his truck. Leaping behind the wheel, his heart sank.

Pilar was gone. Again.