“She racked her brain for the training session she’d taken on bear encounters, but it had been a long time ago. Stay still. It can’t see me if I don’t move. No, wait - that’s what you’re supposed to do for a T-Rex.”

“Sixteen long years of unbearable waiting. I can’t do it anymore. She was supposed to return—she always did—and now I see the cruelty in this helpless waiting, living at the mercy of Time. Dragging through the days, I ask myself why I bother when I know that the one place I can find her isn’t here on earth. That’s it—that’s enough of this—I’m done.”

“She clutched the train ticket tighter and waited for the sense of escape to come over her as it had a dozen times before, that heady sensation of having just scooted through the clanging gate, of eluding the thrown net. It didn't come. She was running again, but she wasn't escaping. She'd been chased to ground a long, long time ago.”

“Why don’t we break up? I guess I stay with her because she stays with me. And that’s not an easy thing to do.”

“Sam…”“What?” she whispered.“Tell me what to do to fix it.”She shook her head and closed her eyes as though she couldn’t bear to see him. “You can’t fix it.”He had to. Failure here was not an option. “Let me try.”

“Beckett, you’re doing this for people who don’t even know you’re protecting them. We’re in the shade here. I can do this. Let me do this. I can’t stand by and watch.”Beckett thought for a moment, saying nothing. Blake had taken the beating like a pro. Too good to be his first time.”