Free Hide My Memories: A Romantic Suspense Thriller Series (Hide Me Series Book 1) by Lisa Ladew

feet and West thought she was going to fall to the concrete below them. He moved to catch her, but suddenly she dropped the aid bag and ran, flat out, like she was being chased by a clown wielding an axe.
    West watched her go for a second, completely thrown off by her behavior. When she crossed the road without even looking either way, and then climbed over a short wire fence on the other side, he shot into action.
    He chased her, running as fast as he could. She pulled ahead, even though she was shorter. Somehow she was beating him. The field was open and empty, just weeds, and on the far side of it was a copse of trees. He hoped that wasn't where she was heading. He could lose her in there.
    "Katerina!" he screamed, using what little breath he had. She didn't even slow. West lowered his head and pumped his arms harder, willing his legs to move faster. He didn't know what was going on, but he knew it was scaring him. A small piece of the back of his mind was worried for Katerina’s sanity. He couldn’t think of one sane reason why she would do this.
    She came upon the trees, and just as he had feared, she ran head-long into them, not even looking for a trail. Once he reached the trees though, he realized that she had entered at a trail. He followed her into the forest as quickly as he dared, picking his way as carefully as he could on the small foot trail, probably forged by animals.
    He could no longer see her, but he could hear her ahead of him, occasionally breaking a branch or taking a ragged breath.
    A change in the sound ahead of him, caused him to slow down. Suddenly it sounded like an animal was pushing through the underbrush. He kept walking and looked left and right rapidly. Finally he saw her, she was about ten feet off of the trail, to the left, her chest heaving, her eyes wild, staring even farther into the woods.
    He leaned against a tree and yelled to her. "Katerina, what is going on?"
    She said something, but her words were so soft he couldn't understand her. He pushed his way through the underbrush until he was at her side. "What is wrong with you?"
    "I'm scared," she said.
    "Of what?" He asked, perplexed.
    She lifted her left hand and pointed. He followed her finger and swore under his breath. "Stay right here," he told her. He pushed farther into the forest, his eyes never leaving the foot he could just barely see past the next tree.
    When he reached it, he spread the foliage apart and saw what he had feared. A woman's body, naked, curled up beneath a tree.
    The smell told him what he needed to know, but he inspected her closely anyway. She was dead, and had been for at least a few days. He turned to go back to Katerina but she was suddenly right there behind him.
    "I have to see her face," she whispered.
    "Why?" West whispered back, not knowing why he was whispering, but helpless not to.
    "Please, West, I just do." Her eyes pleaded with him. He stepped back, and allowed her access. She pushed forward and walked around the body, kneeling by the woman's head. When she stood and looked at him, the pain on her face floored him.
    He held out a hand to her. "Come on, we're going back to the ambulance."
    She walked to him, as if in a dream, her eyes large and stricken. He pulled her back to the path and curled his fingers in hers. He thought hard, trying to figure out the implications of what had just happened.
    Once they reach the field, he squeezed her hand. "How did you know that she was there?"
    She didn't speak.
    He asked again.
    "What?" she said.
    "Look Katerina, you've got to get a hold of yourself. You have to tell me what you know about that body. Once we get to the ambulance, we're going to have to call the police and they are going to want to know how you knew that body was there."
 
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    Terror spiked through Katerina’s thoughts. The woman was real. The field was real. The other women were probably real too. Katerina felt hysteria claw at the back of her brain. She bit her lip hard, trying