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“But I can’t just stand here and do nothing. I have to look for Luke, too. I can’t stay locked in my house while my son is in danger.”

“You havetwosons, Elise. You need to take care of this one.” She shot a pointed look at Brandon who scrubbed at his eyes, trying to act brave when he was probably falling apart inside.

Elise ached for her oldest son. He shouldn’t have been through so much in his short life. She was lucky he wasn’t more screwed up than he was. “Okay. We’ll wait until Paul gets here. But then we have to find him.”

Melissa ran for the door, shrugging into a waterproof jacket, her cowboy boots, tapping against the entrance tiles. “I’ll have my cell phone. Call if you hear or see anything.”

The screen door slammed behind Melissa.

Elise stood at the door for a moment, staring out into the cool, wet night, her heart squeezing in her chest. She strained to hear over the water dripping off the eaves. Elise listened hard, hoping to hear her young son’s voice calling out to her from the shadows.

A small hand tugged the back of her wet jacket. “Mom, we have to go out and look for Luke.”

She turned to stare down into her son’s face. “Oh, darling, we have to wait here in case he comes home. What if he found his way home and no one was here to let him in?”

“He would already be home if he could get here. Luke needs us.” Brandon pulled her hand, urging her toward the door. “I know his hiding places. I can find him.”

“It’s dark and wet out there, baby. I can’t risk losing you, too.” And she couldn’t risk exposing Brandon to the killer.

“But Luke is part of our family. We won’t be a family without him.”

Elise dropped to her knees and hugged her son. “I know, honey, I know.”

The cell phone in her pocket rang, the vibration startling her. She jumped to her feet and fumbled in her jacket to locate the device. It could be Melissa, she could have found Luke.

Unknown Callerdisplayed on the screen. Cold fingers of dread clutched her chest and squeezed. She pressed the talk button and held the phone to her ear, her hand shaking. “Hello?”

“Mama, I’m scared.” Luke’s plaintive cry echoed in her ear. He sniffed and called out in a little above a whisper, “I want to come home.”

“Luke?” Elise clutched the phone, wishing she could reach through and hold onto her son. “Luke?” She couldhear him crying in the distance, but she could do nothing to comfort him.

“He’s fine as long as you do exactly as you’re told.” That familiar mechanical voice sounded in her ear.

“Who is this? Where have you taken my son?”

“Shut up and listen or the kid dies.”

Elise took a breath and forced a calm she didn’t feel. The killer had her son. If she stood any chance of seeing him again, she had to do as he said. “What do you want?”

“I want you.” The three words echoed in her head as though bouncing off the walls of a long tunnel. Silence followed when all she could hear was the blood pounding in her eardrums.

“Don’t hurt Luke. I’ll do whatever you say.” Cold determination settled over her. She avoided looking down at Brandon, knowing he understood more than any eight-year-old should and would get the gist of her conversation.

“Good girl. Drive out to the Guadalupe River Bridge on Highway 474 north of town. Luke and I will be waiting for you there. If you tell anyone, if anyone follows you, I’ll kill him. Do you understand? I’ll kill your son.”

The nightmare had returned. Her husband’s legacy had followed her to Texas and turned on her sons. She couldn’t run from it, she couldn’t hide. She had to stand and fight to win her freedom from the terror, to save her sons from their father’s horrifying past. She’d been a doormat to Stan Klaus, someone he could walk all overand abuse mentally, if not physically. She wouldn’t let anyone do that to her again. And she wouldn’t let anyone threaten her sons and get away with it.

Her shoulders thrown back, her head held high, she knew what she had to do. “I understand. I’ll be there. Alone.”

CHAPTER 16

Paul couldn’t find her.He’d searched the thinning crowd several times but couldn’t find Elise. He turned to the parking lot and searched through the cars to find her little gray sedan with the Minnesota Vikings bumper sticker. It had been there earlier when he’d arrived at the school. The automobile service had gone the extra mile, had the car’s windshield fixed and delivered the car to her school today, as good as new.

Of all the times for an automobile service to be efficient. Why couldn’t they have taken more time? Then Elise would have been stranded at the high school, and she would have had to rely on him to get her where she needed to go. The only place she could be was back home. Something must be wrong with the boys. The other more disturbing thought, he brushed aside, refusing to entertain.

The killer hadnottaken Elise. He couldn’t have.

Paul dug in his jacket pocket to find his cell phone. He cursed at the broken screen. He must have fallen on it. He tried calling Elise but couldn’t even get a dial tone. His cell phone was dead.

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