“Nope.”
“Any guesses?”
“No, but I can check the app that shows me where she is, if you want.”
“That would be great, thanks.”
“’Kay, hang on.”
Sebastian dug the tip of his thumb into his steering wheel.
“It looks like she’s on the north side of town. Um. On ... Serene Court. I don’t know what’s over there.”
Fear—cold and raw—pierced Sebastian. He knew exactly what was over there. He’d driven Leah to that street on Saturday to pick up Claire.
It felt as if his lungs were folding in on themselves as he ordered his phone to supply directions to Serene Court.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Leah pressed Claire’s doorbell and listened to its chimes reverberate within. Anxiously, she waited next to the two metal lawn chairs standing guard on the front landing.
No one answered, so she tried the doorbell a second time. After a minute or so, she heard movement on the other side.
She took several steps back.
A forty-something man, big and broad with dark red hair, answered the door. Color flushed his pale skin, and his eyes glittered with adrenaline.
Alarm bolted down her spine. “I’m Leah Montgomery, Claire’s math teacher. I don’t believe we’ve had the opportunity to meet.”
“Wes Dobney.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m here to pick up Claire and her siblings for the outing to the library.”
“What outing to the library?”
“Oh! Well ... the library recently completed an excellent math exhibit.” Not true. She’d invented this scenario on the drive over. “Very interactive. I told Claire about it, and she seemed interested, so I volunteered to take her and her sisters and brother through the exhibit this evening.”
“I don’t know anything about that.”
She feigned surprise and contrition. “My apologies. I set this up with your wife, but I should have emailed you both to confirm. Are . . . the kids available for an hour?”
“Just a minute.” The door shut.
Leah wrapped her arms around herself. Painful seconds dragged by, then the door slid open again, this time revealing a girl no older than five or six, with a round face and orange curls.
“I’m Ms. Montgomery,” Leah told her.
“I’m Annie. Are you ... here for us?”
Leah nodded.
“Daddy locked Mason in his room. We need to get him out so he can go, too.”
“I don’t have a key to Mason’s room.”
Annie glanced over her shoulder, then focused on Leah. “You don’t need one. The lock’s on the outside but it’s too high for me to reach.”
“I don’t think I should come in.”
