He lowered the camera, his dazed mind demanding to know how it was possible that he could be looking at Rebecca Chance.

4

AS HE TOOK ANOTHER STEP, a look of fear crossed the woman’s face. She stumbled backward, lost her balance, and slipped to her knees in the waves.

“No!” he told her. “You don’t need to be afraid! I’m not here to hurt you!”

He raised his hands, causing her to raise her own gloved hands as if to protect herself.

“Please!” he said. “I didn’t mean to startle you! All I want is to ask you some questions! I’m not going to hurt you!”

The slap of waves against the rocks wasn’t loud enough to mute the sudden noises behind him: doors banging open, shouting, shoes scrabbling over rocks. Pivoting to look behind him, Coltrane was astonished to see a half dozen men racing toward him, two from the house, two from hiding places under the deck, one from shrubs on each side of the house.

“Stop right there!” one of them yelled, his face twisted with anger. “Don’t move!”

As fast as he could, Coltrane turned and ran.

“You son of a bitch! Stay where you are, or I’ll-”

Coltrane didn’t hear the rest, the noise of the waves and his frenzied breathing blocking it out. His shoes slipped on the wet rocks, but he managed not to fall as he strained to increase speed, all the while hearing barked curses behind him. Without warning, ahead of him a man lunged from the side of another house, shoving out a hand, yelling at Coltrane to stop. Just when it seemed that he and the man would collide, Coltrane changed direction, veering around him, charging away from the shore, but two of the men racing behind him had anticipated that move and were running parallel to him, ready to grab him.

He changed direction yet again, hurrying back toward the shore. The man who had appeared from the side of the house had assumed that Coltrane would continue to rush inland. As a consequence, the man had left his strategic position and was racing inland, as well. Coltrane outmaneuvered him, continuing to charge along the shore.

“Damn it!” someone yelled.

Coltrane avoided a difficult shelf of rock and felt something twist in his stomach when he saw that the shore curved inward. To avoid the waves facing him, he would have to go inland again. His pursuers racing closer, he hurried around the half circle of the shore.

As one of the men darted at him from the side, Coltrane recalled how he had used his cameras to defend himself in Bosnia. He pulled the camera from around his neck, gripped its cord, and reached back to swing the camera toward the head of the attacking man.

“Hey!” The man lurched back.

Simultaneously, Coltrane lurched also, the backward motion of his arm causing him to lose his balance. His feet slipped out from under him. The next thing, all he saw was the sky as his body arched backward. The shock of cold water took the remainder of his breath away.

Not that it mattered. He couldn’t breathe anyhow. He was submerged in a hollow among the rocks, flailing to reach the surface. The current of a wave gripped him. Thrashing with cold-cramped arms, he heard a roaring in his ears. When he broke through the surface, the sun was almost blinding. Buffeted by another wave, he gasped and fought to inhale. Swallowing water, he coughed and tasted salt, then struggled against the weight of his water-filled shoes and soaked clothes and pawed toward a shelf of rock.

“Let him drown,” a man said.

Peering up through water-bleared eyes, he saw the men standing along the shore, just beyond the reach of the waves, their faces as craggy as the shelves of rock. They wore sneakers, jeans, and windbreakers, and looked like the only thing they had wanted for Christmas was a renewal of their exercise-club memberships.

“Yeah, let’s do the world a favor,” another said.

“Sure,” a third said. “He ran. He fell. We couldn’t get him out before he drowned.”

“But think about the lousy paperwork.”

Coltrane’s right hand gripped the shelf of rock. A wave thrust him toward it but as quickly tugged him away. His numbed hand lost its hold.

“The paperwork’s worth it,” the first man said. “Can you think of any better way to spend New Year’s than watch this prick drown?”

“Not me,” the fourth man said.

Aching from the cold, Coltrane got another grip on the rocks and strained to pull himself up. A wave knocked him against the shelf, making him groan. But despite the undertow, he mustered the strength to grip the shelf harder, pulling himself higher.

“Hold it.” The first man stepped forward and pressed the sole of his sneaker against the back of Coltrane’s right hand.

Coltrane winced.

“You didn’t ask, ‘May I?’” the man said.

“What do you think, Carl?” The second man turned toward someone approaching. “Do we let this jerk drown or pull his sorry ass out?”

Coltrane struggled as another wave splashed over him, his numbness worsening. He coughed and fought for air. Despite the bleariness in his salt-irritated eyes, he peered helplessly upward and managed to get a look at the person joining them, a man in sneakers, jeans, and a windbreaker similar to what the others wore, a man whose brown hair was trimmed to almost-military shortness and whose matching brown eyes had a no-nonsense steadiness, showing no reaction as he gazed down at Coltrane.

“Pull him out.”

“What kind a fun is that? At least let’s watch him splash around a little longer.”

“No, pull him out. This isn’t the guy we want.”

“How can you be sure.”

“I know him.”

“What?”

“He’s a photographer named Mitch Coltrane. He lives in Los Angeles, and believe me, he was otherwise occupied when all of this started. We’ve got the wrong man.”

The man who pressed his sneaker against Coltrane’s hand took a quick step backward.

Coltrane strained to get out of the water. The newcomer quickly grabbed him, raising him dripping from the waves.

“Are you all right?” the man who had saved him asked.

“Frozen.” Coltrane’s teeth chattered. “I didn’t know your first name was Carl.”

“That’s because I wanted you to think that my first name was Sergeant.”

“What are you doing here?”

“That’s exactly what I was going to ask you,” Nolan said. “And I can’t wait to hear your answer.”

5

“YOU CAN SEE WHERE WE WOULD HAVE GOTTEN THE WRONG IDEA.” The first man gestured apologetically.

A blanket wrapped around him, Coltrane didn’t respond, only kept shivering as he sat in a white wooden chair in an all-white living room. The back wall was composed entirely of glass, providing a panoramic view of the ocean. The late-afternoon sun blazed in but didn’t warm him.

“You were peeking in her windows,” the second man said.

“Give me a break. I was checking the house from the road, trying to see if it looked like anybody was at home.”

“And taking pictures of the place,” the third man said.

“I’m a professional photographer. That’s what I do, take pictures.”

“Including of a woman you claim you’ve never seen before, while you’re trespassing?” the fourth man asked.

“Yeah, how come you were sneaking up on the house?”

“Sneaking up?” Coltrane asked.

“I suppose you’re going to tell us you walked all the way here from L.A. Where’s your car?”

Anger raised Coltrane’s temperature as he told them where he had left his car.

“Okay, okay, that explains why you were on foot. But you weren’t just sight-seeing. You didn’t just happen to pick this house. What are you doing here?”

“I could have hit my head and been killed. You threatened to let me drown. I’m not answering any more questions until I find out who you are and what the hell’s going on.”

The group lapsed into an uncomfortable silence.