BOOK 6

Her movements stiff and panicked, Jill snatched her keys from her shoulderbag as she tried to walk as normally as possible toward her worn-out car. There had to be a way to get Holly into her car seat without giving that sinister looking man a chance to grab her. The stroller could be abandoned if need be.

Telling herself to be calm and not to overreact, Jill shuffled the bag of bread and her purse down to her wrist as she unlocked the car door. Too frightened to look up to see if she’d been followed, she tossed her things to the car floor. Swiftly, she picked Holly up and fastened her into the car seat, all the while acting as though she weren’t petrified out of her wits. Risking a quick peek, she saw that the man had gone into the bakery and was locked in confrontation with the shop girl. Jill could see her head moving back and forth in an emphatically negative response to whatever the man was asking her. He glanced toward Jill’s car, pointing purposefully. Jill grabbed the stroller