Introduction

His secrets almost killed her. Her secrets may destroy them both.

Kai is recovering from a near-death experience when she realizes something isn’t right. Her body is healing, but her mind no longer feels quite like her own. Her telepathic powers are changing, too. She can’t trust herself. The darkness growing inside of her pushes her to use her telepathy as a weapon.

Oliver clings to the hope that he can save their marriage, even though he was the one who put her life in jeopardy. As his wife slips further and further away from him, he becomes increasingly obsessed with bringing the man who ruined his life to justice.

The sequel to The Six Train to Wisconsin is a genre-defying tale of love and consequences. Once again, award-winning author Kourtney Heintz seamlessly weaves suspense and paranormal intrigue into a real-world setting, creating characters rich in emotional and psychological complexity.

Paperback includes Bonus Content: Deleted Scenes Author Q&A Reader Discussion Questions

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Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

Kai

Like most daughters, I loved my parents, but right now, I wanted them anywhere but here. Hospitals are always hard, but my parents managed to make it harder. My head was already pounding from all the thoughts and emotions coming at me. Not just from the patients and their families and the doctors and the nurses, but also from my mother and father. Instead of shielding their thoughts and trying to make it better for me, they let their emotions crash into me.

My mind wasn’t strong enough for all this. Neither was my body. Tubes eviscerated my right hand. A giant bruise blossomed beside the newest IV line. A cast wrapped around my left wrist. My broken pinky finger had been set and taped to my ring finger. The back of my head was held together with stitches. Beneath the blanket, my body was covered in bruises.

I didn’t feel any physical pain because of the medications the doctors pumped into me. They said I needed it to recover, but it made my body feel like it wasn’t mine. And the steady drip of opiates didn’t just steal my physical pain; it left me unable to form the psychic shield I needed to protect myself from the misery swirling around me.

Mom sat in the chair closest to my bed. She wore one of her flowing peasant blouses and faded jeans. Her hair was pulled back in a messy bun, and light brown strands slipped loose to hang around her face. The corners of her hazel eyes were pinched with worry.

Her hand hovered over my arm, unsure where to touch me—if she should touch me. Finally, she laid her hand gently on my thigh. “You just need to rest here for a few more days.”

She was wrong. I needed to get out of here. Away from all these thoughts as soon as possible. “I want to go home.”

Mom shook her head. “You need to let the doctors help you.” Like they did last time.

Her thoughts slammed into my brain. She thought hospitalization was the solution to everything.

“Please. Look at what’s happened to you. You can’t go home until you’re better,” she said. I can’t lose you. I won’t let that happen.

I didn’t know how to reassure her. Yes, I’d almost died, but being here was hurting me more than it was healing me. I swallowed all the words I wanted to say and hoped for Caleb to come back soon. My brother would know how to talk to Mom, how to make her understand.

The doctor came in to check on me and Mom’s agonizing fear rose up. Don’t let her have brain damage.

Dad patted Mom’s shoulder. He looked like an older, surfer version of Caleb. Both were tall and muscular with curly blond hair. Dad’s hair was a darker blond streaked with platinum from decades in the sun and salt water. His eyes were greener than Caleb’s, but like Caleb’s, they were rimmed with purple bruises. When Dad smiled, sun lines radiated from his eyes and cut across his cheeks. But I hadn’t seen those lines since he’d arrived at my bedside. Instead, waves of exhaustion rolled off him and rippled over me, right before I heard his thoughts. I can’t go through this again, watching you slip away.

My younger sister Naomi lounged in the chair in the corner as far from me as she could get. She had Mom’s light brown hair and thin frame and Dad’s green eyes and height. She looked nothing like me and only distantly related to Caleb. Her long legs looped over the armrest as she flipped through a magazine. Thanks for ruining Christmas break. I’d rather be anywhere but here.

I felt the same way.

At least my husband Oliver was gone for the moment. Mom had convinced him to go home, take a shower, maybe even sleep. I couldn’t bear his guilt; it was so thick it choked me.

I’d never loved and hated someone so much at the same time. I still couldn’t believe he’d called my parents. He knew how bad they were at handling me. How could he have thought that having my family here would be good for me?

Bitterness frosted my thoughts. I was in a hospital, bruised and battered. I’d almost died. That’s what Caleb had said. He was the only one willing to tell me the truth. Oliver had said it was bad, but he wouldn’t say how bad. He couldn’t bear to admit what happened to me.

“Who’s hungry?” Caleb pulled me out of my thoughts with his question.

He came into my room with a tray of coffee and bagels from a nearby coffee shop. His hair had curled into ringlets. He looked like an angel. Seeing him made everything more bearable. He perched on the side of my bed. As always, he was shielding his thoughts to make sure there was one less mind invading mine.

I looked up into his eyes. He dropped his shield for a moment, so that his thoughts were clear. Give them another half hour; then I’ll get them to leave.

He reached over and tucked a lock of red hair behind my ear. I felt a trickle of relief. view abbreviated excerpt only...

Discussion Questions

Consider the title of the book. Since Highway 13 runs through Butternut but doesn’t connect to Manhattan, what is the author suggesting about the journey that Kai and Oliver take in this book?

Discuss the book cover. How does it convey the central concept for the story? Consider the positioning of Oliver and Kai and the smoke and clouds.

What do Kai’s nightmares tell you about her true emotional state?

Discuss Kai’s relationship with her family. What can you gather from her interactions with her mother and father and Naomi? Compare her relationships with them to her relationships with Caleb and Grandma Guhn.

One of the running themes in the book is how the past influences the present. For Oliver, the loss of his mother, Christian’s death, his rift with his father, and the breakup with Mickey in high school tend to define who he is now. For Kai, her parent’s fear of her abilities, her friend’s death in high school, losing her grandmother, and her breakdown continue to shape her daily life. Discuss how who we are is always tied to what happened to us in our past.

Weblinks

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