Chapter 6

LeLandI opened her eyes and brilliantly white lights

flooded her vision. Where was the ceiling fan in her bed- room? She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to orient herself. The odor of antiseptics filled the air. Her eyes popped open. White sheets, railings caging her in on an elevated narrow bed. What the... She tried to reach up, to rub her temple as her thoughts spun out of control, but she couldn’t. Leather restraints wrapped around her wrists pinned her to the bed—not the man of her dreams.

Her sister. Oh, God, and her parents, too, were dead.

Tears filled her eyes and her heart lodged like a lump of stone in her throat. She sobbed with a strangled whimper and a teary haze blurred her vision. Yanking at the restraints, she fought the mounting frustration, her body heating by degrees.