He said, "Julia was pretty, too, but not like you." He put his hand back between her legs, pressing his finger deep inside her. She felt herself being stretched as he slipped in another finger.

"I could give you something," he said. "Something to dilate you. I could get my whole fist inside of you."

A sob filled the room: Lena's. She had never heard such grief in her life. The sound itself was more frightening than what Jeb was doing to her. Her entire body moved up and down as he fucked her, the chains from her restraints raking against the floor, the back of her head rubbing against the hard wood.

He slipped his fingers out and lay beside her, his body pressed into her side. She could feel every part of him, tell how excited this was making him. There was a sexual odor in the room that made it difficult for her to breathe. He was doing something, she could not tell what.

He put his lips close to her ear, whispering, " 'Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall by any means hurt you.' "

Lena's teeth started to chatter. She felt a pinch at her thigh and knew he had given her another injection.

" 'For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies I shall gather thee.'"

"Please," Lena cried, "please don't do this."

"Julia, Sara could save. Not your sister," Jeb said. He sat up, crossing his legs again. He stroked himself as he spoke, his tone almost conversational. "I don't know if she'll be able to save you, Lena. Do you?"

Lena could not look away from him. Even as he picked his pants off the floor and pulled something from the back pocket, her eyes stayed on his. He held up a pair of pliers in her line of vision. They were large, about ten inches long, and the stainless steel gleamed in the light.

"I've got a late lunch," he said, "then I've got to run into town and take care of some paperwork. The bleeding should be stopped by then. I've mixed a blood-clotting compound with the Percodan. I also added a little something for the nausea. It's going to hurt a little. I won't lie to you."

Lena rolled her head side to side, not understanding. She felt the drugs kicking in. Her body felt like it was melting to the floor.

"Blood is a great lubricant. Did you know that?"

Lena held her breath, not knowing what was coming, but sensing the danger.

His penis brushed against her chest as he straddled her body. He steadied her head with a strong hand, forcing her mouth open by pressing his fingers into her jaw. Her vision blurred, then doubled as he reached the pliers into her mouth.

Chapter Twenty-eight

SARA pulled back on the throttle as she neared the dock. Jeb was already there, taking off his orange life vest, looking just as goofy as he had before. Like Sara, he was wearing a heavy sweater and a pair of jeans. Last night's storm had dropped the temperature considerably, and she could not guess why anyone would get out on the lake today unless they absolutely had to.

"Let me help you," he offered, reaching out toward her boat. He grabbed one of the lines and walked along the deck, pulling the boat toward the winch.

"Just tie it here," Sara said, stepping out of the boat. "I've got to go back over to my parents' house later."

"Nothing wrong, I hope?"

"No," Sara answered, tying the other line. She glanced at Jeb's rope, noting the girlie knot he had used looping it around the bollard. The boat would probably be loose inside of ten minutes, but Sara did not have the heart to give him a rope-tying lesson.

She reached into the boat, taking out two plastic grocery bags. "I had to borrow my sisters car to go to the store," she explained. "My car's still impounded."

"From the-" He stopped, looking somewhere over Sara's shoulder.

"Yeah," she answered, walking along the dock. "Did you get your gutter fixed?"

He was shaking his head as he caught up with her, taking the bags. "I don't know what the problem is."

"Have you thought about putting a sponge or something in the bottom of the spout?" she suggested. "Maybe that'll help dampen the noise."

"That's a great idea," he said. They had reached the house, and she opened the back door for him.

He gave her a concerned look as he placed the bags on the counter alongside his boat keys. "You really should lock your door, Sara."

"I was just gone for a few minutes."

"I know," Jeb said, setting the bags on the kitchen counter. "But, you never know. Especially with what's been going on lately. You know, with those girls."

Sara sighed. He had a point. She just could not reconcile what was happening in town with her own home. It was as if Sara was somehow protected by the old "lightning never strikes twice" rule. Of course, Jeb was right. She would need to be more careful.

She asked, "How's the boat doing?" as she walked toward the answering machine. The message light was not blinking, but a scroll through the caller ID showed that Jeffrey had called three times in the last hour. Whatever he wanted to say, Sara wasn't listening. She was actually thinking about quitting at the coroner's office. There had to be a better way to get Jeffrey out of her life. She needed to focus on the present instead of wishing for the past. Truth be told, the past was not as great as she had made it out to be.

"Sara?" Jeb asked, holding out a glass of wine.

"Oh." Sara took the glass, thinking it was a little early for her to be drinking alcohol.

Jeb held up his glass. "Cheers."

"Cheers," Sara returned, tilting the glass. She gagged at the taste. "Oh, God," she said, putting her hand to her mouth. The sharp taste sat on her tongue like a wet rag.

"What's wrong?"

"Ugh," Sara groaned, holding her head under the kitchen faucet. She washed her mouth out several times before turning back to Jeb. "It turned. The wine turned."

He waved the glass under his nose, frowning. "It smells like vinegar."

"Yes," she said, taking another swig of water.

"Gosh, I'm sorry. I guess I kept it a little too long."

The phone rang as she turned off the faucet. Sara gave an apologetic smile to Jeb as she crossed the room, checking the caller ID. It was Jeffrey again. She did not pick up the phone.

"This is Sara," her voice said from the answering machine. She was trying to remember which button to press when the beep came, then Jeffrey.

"Sara," Jeffrey said, "I'm getting patient records to go over from Grady so we-"

Sara pulled the power cord out of the back of the machine, cutting Jeffrey off in midsentence. She turned back to Jeb with what she hoped was an apologetic smile. "Sorry," she said.

"Is something wrong?" he asked. "Didn't you use to work at Grady?"

"In another lifetime," she answered, taking the phone off the hook. She listened for the dial tone, then rested the receiver on the table.

"Oh," Jeb said.

She smiled at the quizzical look he gave her, fighting the urge to spit out the taste in her mouth. She walked over to the counter and started unpacking the bags. "I got deli meats at the grocery store instead," she offered. "Roast beef, chicken, turkey, potato salad." She stopped at the look he was giving her. "What?"

He shook his head. "You're so pretty."

Sara felt herself blush at the compliment. "Thanks," she managed, taking out a loaf of bread. "Do you want mayonnaise?"

He gave her a nod, still smiling. His expression was almost worshipful. It was making her uncomfortable.

To interrupt the moment, she suggested, "Why don't you put on some music?"

Following her directions he turned toward the stereo. Sara finished making the sandwiches as he trailed his finger down her CD collection.

Jeb said, "We've got the same taste in music."