“Be smart?” he asked, chuckling. “You are. I’m a strange man in a hallway. You should be on alert. And the whole dog thing, isn’t that something serial killers use?”
She giggled. That trick was exactly something serial killers used.
The guy was charming and seriously cute with a dimple. “Do you want to help me look for the dog?” he asked.
The hair on her back rose again. “No, I don’t think so, but I’m happy to call the janitor or even the principal.” Her phone was in the gym. Damn it.
He moved toward her then.
Heat flashed through her ears, making them ring. She backed away.
“Now, Val, you’ve finally grown a brain, huh?”
He knew her name. Chills went through her, and her stomach dropped. Her knees trembled. She could kick him and she could run. He had that leash in his hands, but no weapon. What was that old saying? You charge the guy with the gun, and you run from the guy with a knife? She could get to the gym and safety.
He leaned in. “I know who you are.”
She swallowed. “Yeah, I figured that out when you said my name.”
He edged slightly between her and the gym.
She could hear the basketballs bouncing and girls laughing. “What do you want?” Her voice trembled.
He reached out and ran a finger down her face. “Don’t you worry. You’re too young and unaccomplished for me. For now, anyway.”
She reacted as she’d been taught, trying to knee him in the nuts. He slapped her knee down and pushed her against the fountain, hard. She cried out as her hip hit the metal.
“Then again, you are awfully pretty.”
Lonni moved through the doorway. “Come on. We’re going to play—” She stopped.
Val’s stomach clenched, and she pushed the man, running toward Lonni and screaming for help.
“Say hi to your mom and Laurel for me, will you?” he yelled, running away.
Val reached Lonni and shoved her back into the gym. “We need to call the police.”
* * *
Laurel handed Val a warm cup of tea from the microwave.
The girl huddled beneath a blanket on her sofa with her mom’s arm around her. “Yeah, that’s definitely him,” she said, looking at the picture of Jason Abbott on the sofa table in front of her. “But he shaved his beard. I didn’t recognize him. I never really looked at his pictures in the paper, to be honest. He’s really good looking.” She sounded lost.
Stark pale, Kate sat next to her while Val’s sisters sat on the floor near the sofa. Kate looked up, her pupils wide. “I can’t believe he got that close to her. Laurel, what are we going to do?”
Laurel shook her head. She knew Jason Abbott wanted to play games, but she’d never thought he’d go after one of the girls.
Val gulped. “He said I was too young and unaccomplished for him. What does that mean?”
Laurel shook her head and looked at Kate, who was not too young or unaccomplished. She was actually a professional woman and exactly the kind of victim for Jason. “How do you four feel about taking a vacation?”
Kate blinked. “Laurel, I can’t leave you.”
“The whole team is gone, so maybe we all need a break,” Laurel said. “I’ll request temporary workers. Kate, until I catch him, until I find him, none of you are safe.”
Val sniffed. “I don’t feel safe.”
Laurel truly hadn’t thought he would do something like this. “I don’t think I’m underestimating him,” she said absently. “He’s obviously had time in jail to build new fantasies.”
