Prologue

“Hello, Matt. Long time no see.”

As the words slithered through the clammy night air, a jagged shaft of lightning illuminated the speaker’s face for one brief instant.

But Matt Parker didn’t need a visual cue to identify the man on the other side of his front door.

The glib voice was all too familiar.

Fingers clutching the doorknob, he stared at the shadowy figure as shock thrummed through his nerve endings. In the background, another eruption of electricity slashed across the inky sky. A sharp crack of thunder shook the walls of the house. Rain pummeled the tulips rimming the porch, beating their heads into submission.

Hollywood couldn’t have staged a more dramatic—or ominous—reunion.

“Aren’t you going to ask me in?”

When the man he loathed flashed the same smug smile he’d worn during their last conversation five years ago, Matt attempted to slam the door.

“Not so fast.” A foot shot between the door and the jamb. “I’ve come a long way to see you.”

“You wasted your time.” The anger he thought he’d tamed churned anew in his gut.

“I never waste my time.”

“Get your foot out of my door.” He ground out the words through clenched teeth, knuckles whitening on the doorframe.

“We need to talk.”

“I have nothing to say to you.”

“I have some things to say to you.”

“I’m not interested in hearing them. I told you five years ago—stay out of my life.”

“I intended to. But I have a problem.”

“Tough.” A pair of headlights swung onto the long driveway that led to the house he’d called home for the past three years. “My pizza’s here. Don’t expect me to share.” He kicked the foot away from the jamb.

Before he could shove the door closed, however, the interloper shouldered through. “I didn’t come for pizza.”

“Get out of my house.” Fury nipped at every syllable as he grabbed the other man’s arm.

“I don’t plan to complicate your life for long, so back off and deal with the pizza guy.” He yanked free and strolled toward the kitchen.

As the car lights swept across the front of the house, Matt muttered an obscenity—but remained by the door. Finding a pizza place willing to deliver to his wooded property on the outskirts of St. Louis had been tough, and he wasn’t about to jeopardize their arrangement by ignoring a delivery on a night like this.

But once he took possession of the dinner he no longer wanted, the man in his kitchen was getting a swift kick out the door.

Literally, if that’s what it took.

An older-model Sentra stopped in the drive, engine idling. The lanky kid who often delivered on Saturday nights bounded up the stone walkway through the driving rain and leaped onto the porch, juggling an insulated container.

“Hey, Mr. Parker.” He cringed as a shaft of lightning pierced the sky, followed by another bone-jarring crack of thunder. “I thought April was supposed to bring showers, not monsoons.”

Matt tried to conjure up a smile for the high schooler with the happy-go-lucky grin.

Failed.

“Thanks for coming out on a night like this.” The charge for the pizza was already on his credit card, but he fished out a generous tip.

“It beats doing homework.” The teen’s eyes widened as he pulled the pizza out of the carrier and gaped at the bill Matt extended. “Are you sure about this? I mean . . . that’s a lot of money.”

“Put it toward your college fund. And be careful driving tonight.”

“I will. Thanks a lot—and enjoy the pizza.”

Not likely.

He waited until the kid was back behind the wheel, then closed the door and stalked to the kitchen.

His visitor had tossed his slicker over a chair and was sipping a can of pilfered soda when he entered. Water pooled on the tile below the garment, the puddle widening with every drip.

“I told you once to leave.” He slammed the pizza onto the counter. “You have thirty seconds to clear out.”

“And if I don’t?” With infuriating nonchalance, the man settled on a stool at the island. “Is 911 in your plans?”

Matt clamped his jaw shut, silently cursing the obnoxious piece of scum across from him.

“I didn’t think so. I’ve been watching you, Matt. You lead a quiet, off-the-grid life. I doubt you’d want to call attention to yourself by filing a police report . . . or dredging up our past.”

The very thought of all that garbage seeing the light of day sent a cold shiver snaking down his spine.

But the man’s first comment scared him more.

“What do you mean, you’ve been watching me?” Although Matt tried to contain his alarm, tension nipped at his words.

“I mean exactly what I said. I’ve been watching you. Observing. Studying.” He started to lift the lid on the pizza. “Trish is pretty. I commend you on your excellent taste.”

Matt shoved the box out of his visitor’s reach, his blood chilling. “Leave Trish out of this.”

“Hey . . . can’t a man notice a pretty woman? You did. The two of you seemed very cozy at lunch last week.”

Matt’s stomach heaved. “Why have you been watching me?”

“I need your help.”

“You expect me to help you?” Matt barked out a harsh laugh. “What a joke.”

“I’m dead serious.”

“You’re also delusional. I wouldn’t lift a finger on your behalf if my life depended on it.”

A muscle twitched in the other man’s cheek. “Too bad. Refusing isn’t an option. But once you give me the help I need, you’ll never see me again. Guaranteed.”

“Forgive me if I have trust issues.” He made no attempt to hide his sarcasm. “As for that option crack—you can’t force me to help you. I want no part of your problems. If you’ve dug yourself into another hole, you can dig yourself out.”

“That’s what I’m doing. It’s why I’m here.” He finished off his soda and set the can on the counter. “To tell you the truth, I’d rather not involve you. It’s too messy. But there’s no other way.”

“You are delusional.” Matt planted his palms on the counter and leaned toward the man who was fouling the air in his house. “Read my lips. I said forget it. Now get out of here.”

As a shudder of thunder rumbled through the walls, the lights flickered. Steadied.

His visitor regarded him, an odd mixture of emotions in his eyes. At last he stood. “Sorry, Matt. You are going to help me. Here’s how.”

With the pizza cooling between them and the aroma of spicy tomato sauce turning his stomach, Matt’s heart stalled as the man he’d never wanted to see revealed his plan.

And as the seconds ticked by . . . as Matt stared across the counter at this specter from his past . . . as the rain pounded against the roof and the wind howled . . . one thing became terrifyingly clear.

The new life he’d created was over.