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CHAPTER ONE

COMING TO Colorado had been a mistake

Dianna Kelley slammed the door of her rental car shut and turned the heat on full blast, then wrapped her hands around her upper arms as she shivered on the cold leather seat

Earlier that day when she’d flown into the small Vail airport, the breeze had been cool and steady, but the sky had been blue and clear Tonight, however, wind howled through the trees while black, ominous clouds spat out sheets of rain all over the quickly flooding sidewalk

She closed her eyes and fought back a heavy wave of sorrow at the eer sister in a bustling café Dianna knew better than to expect toothat the two of them would finally connect

Growing up, Dianna had longed for a baby brother or sister, so when she was eight and April had been born, she’d showered her baby sister with love Until the horrible day when their easily overwhelle ave four-year-old April up to the state

As soon as Dianna turned eighteen, she began her fight to pull April out of the foster syste her sister home

In the decade that they’d been apart, April had changed The innocent, cheerful, inquisitive girl she’d once been was long gone In her place was a hardened, foulmouthed fourteen-year-old who’d seen and experienced way too much

Dianna’s hands tightened on the steering wheel as she re her of ruining her life, of trying to control her every h school years, Dianna had tried to protect her sister Fro on the new girl, from the cute boys ould break her heart just because they could, and from the teachers who didn’t understand that April needed s

But it had proved impossible to protect her little sister

As the years ticked by and she grew fro woman, April retreated further and further into herself She refused to share any details about her various foster homes with not only Dianna, but a series of therapists as well By the ti e a couple of times a week

In the two years since graduation, April had bounced from part-time job to part-time job and boyfriend to boyfriend, and Dianna worried that April was going to get pregnant and end uphile mother in a trailer park, just as their own mother had been

Dianna blinked hard through the windshield wipers into the driving rain as she replayed the o and found April’s key on the kitchen table Running into April’s room, she’d realized her sister’s favorite ratty jeans and tops were gone along with her duffel bag At least she’d taken her toothbrush

For seven horribly long days, she’d waited for soone, and when—if—she was coe on Dianna’s cell phone when she was taping her live television show and couldn’t possibly answer it She was in Colorado and she was fine She didn’t leave a new number or address

Again and again during the past three months, Dianna had tried to tell herself that her little sister was sih a patch of self-discovery After all, nors out and learned from their mistakes and moved on, didn’t they?

But nothing about April’s life was nor from family to fa able to keep watch over her sister, hated knowing she couldn’t keep her safe

So when April finally called and asked if Dianna could coh it wasn’t easy to shift all of her interviews on such short notice, Dianna couldn’t miss her chance to connect with April

But instead of connecting, they’d fought And April had stor Dianna to helplessly wonder how she could possibly save her sister this time

The rental car’s ere covered with condensation, so Dianna hit the defrost button, but it didn’t work Reaching into her large leather tote for a package of Kleenex, she wiped a clear circle on the windshield and slowly pulled into the street, inching forward as marble-sized hail battered her car Every few seconds, she hit the brakes and wiped the moisture off of the windshield

Prudence told her to turn back, but all she wanted was to be back home in San Francisco, wrapped up in a soft blanket on her couch with a novel As it was, she was cutting it close to get to the airport in tiht

The two-lane road that led fro, and she seriously considered pulling over, turning around, and finding a nearby hotel to wait out the storm Instead, she took a deep breath and forcefully shook off the sick sense of foreboding she’d carried with her ever since April hadthe radio on to a pop station

I’ down the doors

I’ under the floorboards

In the hopes of finding so more

Listen toout

Don’t holdout

Holding on I’ here

Outstretched

Outstretched

Outstretched for more

Her throat grew tight as she realized that this was one of the songs April had played over and over in her bedroom How sensitive her little sister obviously was beneath her thick ar like this … and how hard she s fro sister, who loved her

But it had already been an e her cry, so she shifted her gaze to the stereo for a split second to turn it off Lifting her eyes back to the road, she was startled by bright headlight bea car Teht

Too late, she realized that the only thing between her and the headlights was a wall of rock

Dianna screa car clipped the front bu for further is exploded in a burst of white powder and thick, sticky s of air, the breath knocked out of her lungs as she hit them hard