Read Online The Survivor by DiAnn Mills - Free Book Online

bend in the road when Kariss thought about the man who’d tried to kill Amy. After twenty-three years, the assailant might no longer be alive or might be too old to care. Amy claimed to feel safe, but was she being naive? An icy chill swept over Kariss. The man could have gone on to kill other victims and might still regret Amy’s survival. Kariss needed to have that discussion with her tomake sure she understood the full picture. The assailant might never read the novel or connect it to Amy, but Kariss and Amy needed to be realistic about the risks if they were going to work together.
    She checked her email and scrolled through the list of what she wanted to read. One subject line, “True Story Alert,” caught her attention. Although she didn’t recognize the sender, she read the contents.
    “I F YOU PLACE YOUR HEAD IN A LION ’ S MOUTH, THEN YOU CANNOT COMPLAIN ONE DAY IF HE HAPPENS TO BITE IT OFF. ”
    She recognized the Agatha Christie quote. It made no sense, so she pressed Delete.
    Her iPhone alerted her to a low battery. She connected a cord from her laptop to the phone and allowed the devices to sync. As the process began, Kariss stared at the computer screen, as if daring herself to look at the pictures from the past twelve months. Her attention swung to the office door and hallway. Good thing Vicki was in Texas City for the day with Rose. If her sister discovered Kariss viewing photos, she’d ask about Tigo again.
    Kariss could take a quick look before returning to work. A glimpse of the past would only take a moment. What would it hurt? She clicked on the file, and the screen came alive with memories she knew she should forget.
    She was such a fool.
    But there she was looking at the history of a relationship gone south. Special Agent Santiago Harris had touched her heart, and she was supposed to be snatching it back.
    Kariss and Tigo’s first photo together had been taken at the Houston Zoo near the Africa exhibit. She smiled at the screen. When it had started to rain, they’d walked across the street to the Houston Museum of Natural Science to visitthe butterfly center. When a blue morpho landed on Kariss’s shoulder, Tigo had kissed her. His grin captured her as much now as it had then.
    She studied another picture, snapped at Ryan’s house with his family and Linc’s. Tigo and Kariss had been invited to a barbecue there for a Labor Day celebration. They looked so happy together. Kariss believed in happily ever after—after all, she wrote suspense with a touch of romance—but it obviously wasn’t meant for them.
    She clicked on another photo and covered her mouth to stifle a laugh. They’d been at the mall near her house and had stopped at the Disney store, which was Tigo’s favorite. He had picked up an obsession with Buzz Lightyear, as though his little-boy days hadn’t stepped into adulthood. He wore a watch with Buzz on it, kept a box of Buzz Band-Aids in his truck, and quoted Buzz lines from
Toy Story
—but only when it was just the two of them. Kariss had snapped pics of him drooling over Buzz T-shirts, pajamas, stuffed toys, and a child’s plastic plate and cup. He said he was practicing for when he had a son.
    Sobering, the thought reminded Kariss of Tigo’s child, who’d died. It had been a miscarriage … She doubted that Tigo even knew the baby’s gender. But after his comment in the Disney store, Tigo’d had a good opportunity to tell Kariss about his past. Instead, she’d had to learn the truth from someone else.
    Kariss sighed and clicked on another photo. Tigo had decided they needed a hobby, so he’d bought mountain bikes for them.
    “Houston doesn’t have mountains,” she’d said. “Only anthills. Are you planning road trips too?”
    “They’re trail bikes. You’re going to love this.”
    “What part? Pedaling in one-hundred-degree temps or the damp rain in winter?”
    “Spoilsport. Where’s your sense of adventure?”
    “On my treadmill. It’s called iFit,