Jessica Crist is a top-notch psychic called on by the Sioux City Police to help stop a serial killer.  Seeing this as just another case, she eagerly agrees, until the tables turn and the hunter becomes the hunted.  Running for her life she travels hundreds of miles, still able to sense the killer on her trail.  But how is he tracking her?  Exhausted, hungry and scared, Jessica takes a wrong turn down a dirt road and crashes into detiny.
     Reclusive Reed Baker is heading to his home in town when headlights blind him on his private road leading to his cabin.  The badly injured driver pleads with him not to call the authorities.  Abandoning his vow never to become involved in another persons problem, he takes her to his home.  With each passing hour she causes him to question his sanity as he delves deep into her personal problems.  Problems that could cost him his life. 

Kill him, Jess, for me. His face distorted and when it cleared, an axe was embedded in the middle of his forehead.

Jess’ stomach muscles clenched hard. Her head spun as if she were on a roller coaster looping around. “Make it stop,” she sobbed.

Her foot pressed hard against the accelerator, propelling the car down the dirt road. Gravel and dust kicked up behind the iron machine, rocks pelted the trunk as it fell back to earth.

“Why is this happening?” Fear and anger consumed her body. Her muscles tensed into tight knots. Bile rose into her throat, gagging her.

Her foot slipped off the accelerator, slowing the car. All three faces of her friends swam in the windshield. Their voices rambled and mixed inside her head, demanding justice for their brutal murders. Their pleas stabbed at her heart like the knife the killer used to inflict torture.

The sound of a car horn blaring jerked Jess’ attention back to the road. She looked ahead into bright headlights that were bearing down on her. She snatched the wheel hard to the right. Her car hopped the bank and took a nosedive down a steep hill. Tree branches scraped and groaned against the car. Thinking she was standing on the brake, she pressed her foot to the floor. To her horror, the car sped through thick brush, plowing over shrubs that grew in the way.

Her body bounced in the seat, kept from flying around the inside of the car by her seatbelt. The wheel yanked hard out of her hands, wrenching pain shot through her fingers and wrists. Hard loud thumps echoed inside the car over the racing motor.

Instinct demanded she scream, but when she opened her mouth, nothing came out but a soft gasp. She saw the thick, gray tree trunk before the front of her car smashed into it. Jess’ head snapped forward and smacked into the steering wheel on impact.

The revving engine gave one last cough before shutting down in a cloud of steam. The soft hissing sound from the radiator filled the air. Jess’ head rested against the wheel. Warm, sticky blood trickled down her face and neck. For an instant, she hoped this would be the end of her nightmare. No more running, no more fear. Nothing but peace.

Like the end of an old black and white cartoon, her vision narrowed and funneled until there was nothing left but a pinhead speck of light. Just before all went black, a bright flash of light filled her sight.

This is it, she thought, it’s all over. She spiraled into a welcome darkness.

Rating:

Reviewer: Stevi B.

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