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Brandon looked up at Paul, his eyes burning fiercely bright. “I won’t let anyone hurt her.”

“And nor will I. I promise.” Paul held out his hand, man-to-man.

With all the dignity of a statesman, Brandon shook Paul’s hand. Then he ran for the back door, yelling, “Luke! Luke, you get in here right now!”

Elise faced her bedroom again and pushed the door open. “It’s another note.”

Paul nodded. “Yeah.”

Elise shivered, her thoughts going back to the spring in North Dakota as one woman after another disappeared, only to be found dead days later. “If he follows the same pattern as last time, he’s going to kill again,” she whispered.

When Paul didn’t answer, she looked up into his eyes. “How can we keep him from taking another woman?”

For a moment, Paul refused to meet her gaze. When he did, his blue eyes were the flat color of slate. “We can’t.”

Elise’s heart flipped over, all the blood leaving her head in a rush. She leaned a hand against the wall to steady herself. “Dear God. He already has another.”

Paul nodded. “Last night.”

CHAPTER 10

“Ms. Johnson,mind if we come in?” Two students Paul had seen in Elise’s class appeared at the back door of her house, one on each side of Luke, each holding one of his hands.

“Mom, watch this!” Luke reared back and swung forward, kicking his feet high in the air. He flipped over and landed on his feet, still holding onto the teens’ hands.

Paul muttered a curse beneath his breath for the untimely interruption. He’d wanted to reassure Elise in some way before she faced the others.

“Wow, Luke, that’s amazing.” Elise’s voice was strained, not her typical soft, melodious sound and her face had lost most of its color. “Kendall, Alex, what brings you here?”

The young man held up a notebook. “You wouldn’t believe all the information Kenny and I have come upwith on Jack the Ripper. We aresogoing to make an A on our research paper.”

Paul opened the screen door, cringing inwardly at the subject Alex mentioned. Jack the Ripper? Why do a research paper on a killer who was never caught? He glanced at Elise.

Her mouth turned up on the corners, though her lips looked a bit too tight for the smile to be natural.

As he held the door for the kid, Luke shot through and headed straight for his room. “Alex, come see the Spider-Man action figure Aunt Brenna sent me,” he yelled over his shoulder.

“I will, in a minute.” Alex grinned, following Kendall through the door. “I had a collection of Spider-Man and Hulk action figures when I was a kid. I know, it’s hard to picture now.” He tipped his head to the side. “Come to think of it, I might still have them buried in my closet. I should dig them out. Luke might like them.”

Kendall turned toward the door. “Brandon, aren’t you coming in?”

A sullen Brandon tromped up the steps and entered.

Paul released the door and stood back.

“Brandon, go wash your hands for dinner, please,” Elise said.

When the boy complied without argument, Paul knew he probably was still traumatized by the writing on the wall in Elise’s bedroom. He gave her door a wide berth as he passed, his gaze flickering to the wall inside.

Kendall’s pale brows inched up her forehead. “You don’t mind, do you? Us coming over and all?”

Elise waved her hand absently, her gaze dull. “No, not at all. But do your parents know where you are?”

“Yeah, I told Mom I was going to get some help on my history homework.” Kendall beamed. “Not that I need help on that. I totally get it.”

“Uh, good, good.” Elise’s gaze flickered to Paul.

Paul stepped toward Elise and almost put his arm around her when he had second thoughts in front of the teens. “Maybe now isn’t a good time. Ms. Johnson is having an unusually bad day and needs some time to wind down.”

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