“What?” he said in mock disbelief. “My adoring wife doesn’t enjoy spending time with her adoring husband?”

“Adoring?” Maryn hooted. “You never adored me. You adored owning me, bossing me around, showing me off to your friends. But I was just a thing to you. Nothing more, nothing less.”

“And you didn’t adore spending my money, living in the home I gave you, flashing that big diamond engagement ring, honeymooning in Bermuda?”

“Believe it or not, Don,” Maryn said, grimacing, “I fell in love with you. The nice things were … nice, but for a while there—until I figured out who you were, and what you’d made me—I did love you.”

“About that ring,” Don said. He lifted one hip and reached for his pocket.

Maryn flinched. He’s got a gun, she thought. He’s got a gun, and he’s going to shoot me.

Instead, Don brought out the black velvet ring box. He opened it, and thrust it towards Maryn.

“It hurts my feelings that you’re not wearing your engagement ring,” he said. “Put it on, why don’t you? As a token of your affection.”

“Fuck you,” Maryn said, batting his hand and the ring box away. “It hurts my feelings that you’ve been screwing around with Tara Powers. Did you think I wouldn’t find out? Taking her to the same restaurants you took me when we were dating? The same freakin’ motels, afterwards? You’ve got the ring. Give it to your little whore Tara. Let her wear it.”

*   *   *

Ty and Ellis stood, riveted, watching the shadow man reach out and slap the woman in the top-floor bedroom. “We’ve got to do something,” Ellis said.

“First we’ve got to get out of this rain,” Ty said, and hand-in-hand, they went splashing up the boardwalk towards the back porch. When they were safely under the shelter of the porch roof, Ellis remembered the cell phone she’d stuck in the pocket of her dress only a few minutes earlier.

“I’m calling the cops,” she said. “Dorie and Julia are inside the house. What if he tries to hurt them?”

“Nine-one-one,” a recorded woman’s voice said. “You’ve reached Dare County Emergency Services. This line is to be used exclusively for life-threatening situations. If you are calling to report a nonemergency or inquire about county services, hang up and dial the number listed in your telephone directory. If you have a bona fide emergency, please stay on the line until an operator can assist you.”

A faint hum came on the line.

“I’m on hold!” Ellis said, listening to a series of beeps. “Damn it, I have a real emergency. Come on, come on.”

Ty pulled his own phone from his pocket and started punching numbers. “I’m calling Connor,” he said. “He’s still at the bar, but if he picks up, he’s only ten minutes away.” He waited, listened, and frowned. “It went to voice mail,” he reported. “He probably can’t even hear the damn thing ringing.” He waited a moment. “Con, it’s Ty. Look, we’ve got an intruder at Ebbtide, and I think he’s holding one of these women hostage, in the top-floor bedroom. We’ve tried calling 911, but we’re on hold. If you get this, haul your ass over here, right now.”

“We can’t wait,” Ellis said. “The girls are alone inside the house. I’ve gotta get them out of there.” She started for the kitchen door. “I’m gonna sneak upstairs and let them know what’s going on, and get them out as quietly as I can.”

“Fine,” Ty nodded. “I’ll stay here and watch the back staircase, in case he tries to take Madison out of there. Stay on the line for the cops. And be careful, okay?”

“Okay.” Ellis eased the kitchen door open just far enough to slip inside.

Ellis tiptoed up the stairs, praying her bare feet would avoid the creaking boards, that she’d make it to the second floor undetected.

She heard water running in the bathroom, saw a flash of light from under Julia’s bedroom door. She pushed into the room without knocking, finding Julia pulling a pink sleep camisole over her head.

“Julia!” Ellis whispered. “He’s here.”

“Who?” Julia said, stepping into her yoga pants. “Ty?”

“Not Ty! I mean, yes, Ty’s downstairs, watching the back staircase. It’s that Adam guy. He’s upstairs, in Madison’s room.”

“How do you know?” Julia asked, alarmed.

“We were coming in off the beach because it started raining, and I happened to look up at the window. There are two people in Madison’s room, and one of them is a man. It’s got to be Adam!”

“How the hell…?” Julia exclaimed. “How did he get in here? How’d he find the house?”

“I don’t know, but he did,” Ellis said. “We’ve got to do something.”

“What?”

“I don’t know,” Ellis said. “I’m on hold for 911, and Ty left a message for Connor, asking him to get over here right away. But in the meantime, he’s up there with Madison. We saw him slap her!”

“Where’s Dorie?” Julia asked. “It would be just like her to go tripping upstairs to have one last gabfest with Madison.”

They heard the sound of running water coming from down the hall. They tiptoed towards the bathroom. Julia tapped lightly, but there was no answer.

“Dorie,” she whispered. “Open up.”

“I’m not done yet,” Dorie called, her voice echoing on the tile walls. “For God’s sake, if you have to go that bad, use the downstairs bathroom.”

“Let me in, damn it,” Julia whispered hoarsely. “And shut the hell up.”

Dorie opened the door looking peeved. Her hair was gathered in a purple scrunchy on top of her head, and she was wrapped in a damp towel. “What do you want?”

“Shut up!” Julia exclaimed. “You’ll get us all killed.” She grabbed Dorie’s arm and yanked her out of the bathroom, herding her down the hall to her own bedroom. When they were inside the room, with the door locked, Ellis pointed upwards with her index finger.

“He’s here!” she said. “Adam! In Madison’s bedroom. He must have broken into the house while we were at karaoke. Ty and I were coming in off the beach, and we saw him.”

“Call the cops, for God’s sake,” Dorie said.

“I have,” Ellis exclaimed. “I’ve been on hold for, like, forever.”

“Are you really on hold?” Julia asked. “Can they do that, put you on hold for 911?”

“I’m waiting for the next operator,” Ellis said. “What should we do?”

“I know what I’m gonna do,” Dorie said, heading for the door. “I’m gonna go put on some underwear. I can’t handle an emergency naked.”

“Wait for me,” Julia said. “Come on, Ellis. We need to stay together.”

*   *   *

Don Shackleford crossed his legs and sat back in the chair, regarding Maryn with a sardonic smile.

“You see,” he said, shaking his head. “When you go nosing around in other people’s business, you might find out stuff you regret. You shouldn’t worry about Tara. She was just … convenient.”

“The same way I was convenient when you met me?” Maryn asked. She let her right arm drift casually to the side of the bed, inching it down until her right hand rested loosely on the edge of the box spring.

“Not the same thing at all,” Don said. “I married you, didn’t I?”

“Eventually,” Maryn agreed. “Although you conveniently forgot to mention that you were already married when we met.”

“Separated, technically,” Don said. “But you never asked if I was married, did you?”

“You also conveniently forgot to mention your vasectomy,” Maryn said bitterly. “When were you going to tell me about that, Don?”

He sighed. “You’ve been speaking to Amy, I guess. Such a vindictive bitch. You’d think the fact that I never miss a child-support payment would soften her attitude, wouldn’t you? Anyway, you don’t really want to have a baby, Maryn. You’re too self-involved to be a good mother. And God knows, I’ve been a less than stellar parent to the two brats I did father. No, I won’t be reversing the vasectomy.”

Maryn inched her fingertips between the mattress and the box spring, silently praying that she’d feel the comfort of the cool, blue steel at any moment.