Forty-Four: 44, #1

Forty-Four

by

Jools Sinclair

Copyright © 2011 Jools Sinclair

You Come Too Publishing

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in, or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical without the express written permission of the author. The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2011 Jools Sinclair

Tenth Anniversary Edition

Forty-Four…

Last year after falling through the ice, seventeen-year-old Abby Craig woke up from death.

But she woke into a world she barely recognizes. She can’t see colors, memories have been erased, and her friends all hate her. And then there’s Jesse, who she loves, but who refuses to forgive her the one mistake she made long ago.

Just when she thinks it can’t get any worse, the visions begin. In them, she sees a faceless serial killer roaming the streets. While the police believe that there have been a lot of accidents in town lately, Abby knows differently. And she soon realizes that it’s up to her to find him.

But to stop him, she’ll have to confront more than just the killer. She’ll have to face something else that was lost in those dark waters.

The truth.

Praise for Forty-Four

*****

A FANTASTIC novel! Forty-Four was just about impossible to put down once I started. From the very beginning, there was an air of mystery that kept me on the edge of my seat… I highly recommend this fantastic novel!

The Caffeinated Diva

*****

Everything from the setting, to the time frame, to the characters, was beautifully developed. This book is truly a gem and I highly recommend it. It literally took my breath away.

Avery’s Book Review

*****

Sinclair sucked me in like a vacuum cleaner sucks up dirt. She brings mystery, love, and friendship to the book and weaves a lovely tale.

Just Another Book Addict

*****

IMPRESSIVE! Forty-Four is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, and will take readers by storm. With so much information in such a small book it will impress readers to the detail and depth in so few pages. The conclusion will take your breath away. Don’t miss you chance to check out this amazing story.

The Book Whisperer

*****

Fantastic, edge of your seat thriller. A MUST READ! It twists you about and as soon as you think you have it all figured out, throws you for the final loop with an ending that will break the hardest heart.

Wormhole

Books by Jools Sinclair

Forty-Four

Forty-Four Book Two

Forty-Four Book Three

Forty-Four Book Four

Forty-Four Book Five

Forty-Four Book Six

Forty-Four Book Seven

Forty-Four Book Eight

Forty-Four Book Nine

Forty-Four Book Ten

Forty-Four Book Eleven

Forty-Four Book Twelve

Forty-Four Book Thirteen

Forty-Four Box Set, Books 1-5

Forty-Four Box Set, Books 6-10

Forty-Four Box Set, Books 11-13

The Road Not Taken (An Abby & Jesse Short Story)

Whiskey Rain (Rose City Thriller Book 1)

Wrong as Rain (Rose City Thriller Book 2)

Ginger of the West: A Witches of Broomfield Bay Mystery

Girl on the Ghost Train (Abby Craig Paranormal Mysteries Book 1)

Chasing the Ghost (Abby Craig Paranormal Mysteries Book 2)

See the Beauty: A 30-Day Celebration of Your Magnificent Life

See the Beauty: A Mindful Gratitude Workbook to Celebrate Your Magnificent Life

to C and M…

the best of the best of the best

PROLOGUE

I know I’m lucky.

Lucky to be alive, lucky to be able to walk again and inhale the juniper-scented air and watch snowflakes twirl in the wind. I can spend afternoons with Jesse as he plummets down the steep hills around town on his skateboard. I can watch Barcelona soccer games, eat pizza, and even see those dumb reality TV shows late at night.

I’ve been on the other side and I’m grateful that I’m here.

My life is good, most days.

But this morning wasn’t like most days.

The wind had a bite and as I stood at the edge of the river, ice pellets drilled into my face. Dark clouds filled the sky.

She was there.

Floating under the footbridge, snagged and hidden in bony branches and moving in a subtle, unnatural rhythm that the dead dance to when submerged in water. The river rushed around her, forming small riffles at her feet, as if she had always been there, belonging like a large boulder or a rooted tree.

In my dream the night before, I had watched her die.

It started soon after I drifted off to sleep. Her fear radiated in waves through me as she ran, trying to get away from him. She slipped, falling hard onto the icy pavement, her screams lost in the hollow, empty night. He squeezed her neck until she was still.

I watched from the shadows like it was a scene from a movie. The moon was bright, beams threading through the trees. He picked her up, took her to the bank, and held her head under the water.

After a while, the killer stood up and began walking toward me.

I could hear my heart pounding.

I backed deeper into the darkness. His breath leaked out in ghostly wisps as he passed by.

He was leaving. I let out a quiet sigh. But a moment later he stopped and slowly turned around, his eyes hooking into mine.

He saw me.

Somehow he cut through the dream and saw me.

But I saw him too, and now I knew who he was.

He stared at me, still and contemplative, as I fought my urge to run. The bastard just stood there and then smiled, before stepping away and disappearing into the lonely night.

CHAPTER 1

Five Months Earlier…

Can you get the door? Kate yelled from her bedroom.

I was sitting on the sofa, watching that show where three guys lock themselves in abandoned hospitals and prisons and then videotape one another pretending to see ghosts. Mostly the show made me laugh, but once in a while it gave me chills.

It was dinnertime, so I was sure that it was Matt, Kate’s boyfriend. As I swung the door open, I sighed loudly. Then I jumped back. It wasn’t Matt.

Hi, Abigail, Dr. Mortimer said.

Oh, hi, I said, a little embarrassed. Sorry, I thought you were someone else.

Well, I’m glad I’m not whoever you thought I was, he said, smiling.

He stood on the porch, his thick, black hair full of snowflakes. His eyes were bright and as he smiled, small wrinkles surrounded them, making him look extra happy.

Please, come in, I said.

I was just in the neighborhood, he said. Thought I would check on my favorite patient as long as I was out and about. If that’s okay?

Of course.

Dr. Mortimer had gotten into the habit of stopping by a few times a month to check up on me. He worked the night shift in the emergency room and even though he saved my life and I liked him quite a lot, I was never comfortable around him. I felt like he was always studying me.

I took his coat and hung it up on the rack and we walked to the living room.

Can I get you a soda or something? I asked as he sat on the sofa.

Oh, no. But I’d take a glass of water.

I was hoping that Kate would emerge from her room and join us. She was good at talking to people effortlessly about anything, plus I was still holding out hope that there could be a romantic spark between them. Dr. Mortimer was perfect for Kate. He was young and good looking, ambitious, and had a nice, relaxed way about him that could balance Kate’s intensity. I also knew that he liked her a lot. I just wished that she would notice him, take an interest, and forget about Matt.

But she didn’t come out and I was on my own. I headed back from the kitchen and handed him a bottle of water.

Thanks, he said, twisting open the cap and taking a long sip.

He looked tired. It must have been all those long night shifts, stacked up one after the other.

How are you feeling by the way? he asked.

Okay, I said.

He looked around the house for a moment and we let the silence sit. Eventually his eyes wandered back to mine.

How are you getting around?

Pretty good, I said.

And soccer?

I make a good mascot, I said, trying to laugh casually afterwards. It’s just not happening this year.

Initially Coach Wilson and the team were excited that I would be back. That was, until they saw me run. Or rather my horrible zombie interpretation of it. I’ll never forget the look on the coach’s face when he realized that his Olympic Development player really was gone, along with the team’s shot at the state title. Now I mostly sat on the bench during the games.

That’s tough, Dr. Mortimer said, looking guilty.

Nah, I do okay. Really. I don’t even care about it anymore.

We stared at the TV, which was still on and muted. I flipped the station back to the news because I knew Kate would have a cow if she walked out and it wasn’t on. The weather guy was in the middle of his forecast, predicting heavy snow.

It looks like you’ve been working a lot, I finally said.

Yeah. It was hard last night, he said, leaning back. Heart attack and a kid mauled by a dog.

That’s terrible, I said.

He took another swallow from the bottle.

How about your classes? Any progress?

They’re okay, I said. I still have problems remembering things for tests and stuff, but the teachers are giving me a pass, at least for now. That and a few volunteers who help me study.

Truthfully, my grades were in the gutter and I knew it didn’t matter what the teachers thought or did because there was no way I’d be going to college next year.

I know we’ve talked about this before, Abby, but it takes time for drowning victims to fully recover. It hasn’t really been that long.

I didn’t like the word victim. I wasn’t a victim. I was an idiot. I was the one who walked out onto that ice. 

Yeah, I said.

Dr. Mortimer had told me the story at least a dozen times and I was always amazed that I didn’t remember any of it.

Last winter I fell through the ice at a lake and when the rescue squad brought me in to St. Charles, I was clinically dead. No pulse, no breathing. They tried to resuscitate me with no luck. They called it and told Kate she could stay for a little while with me to say goodbye. She was by my bedside, crying, when something happened.

I woke up from death.

Kate saw my eyes open and she screamed.

I knew Dr. Mortimer carried around a heavy guilt over it. He was sure that the icy water must have shut down my system, making it appear like I was dead when in fact I was in a deep hibernation, similar to what happens to animals. And he missed it.

Kate never believed that though. She told me she was there, that she had held my frozen hand and had desperately tried to hear my heartbeat while she sat next to me. She was positive that I was dead.

I’m just saying you’re still getting better, Dr. Mortimer said. You have no idea what kinds of things you’ll be able to do a year from now. Your healing is a process, that’s all I mean.

He cleared his throat. He always got so serious when he talked about my recovery. He took it very personally, probably because he almost buried me alive.

I guess we’ll see what happens, I said. So is the kid okay, the one attacked by the dog?

Twenty stitches across his face. I’m afraid it’s going to leave a scar.

I was relieved to see Kate walk out.

Oh, Dr. Mortimer! I didn’t know you were here, she said warmly, slipping her phone into her pocket.

He stood up and they hugged. The room lit up.

Although I came back from death, I didn’t come back the same.

The biggest change was that I no longer saw colors, that everything in my world was now in blacks, whites, and