BOOK 6

‘What was that?’ Sadie gasped.

Her mother didn’t reply. She stared at the window. ‘Did you lock the front door when you came in, Sadie?’

‘I don’t know. I was so upset I might not have.’ She couldn’t bear not knowing what was outside her window. ‘You go check the door, Mama.’

‘Okay.’ Vera ran from Sadie’s room. She stood, slowly going to the window. Cautiously, she pulled back the second-hand curtain her mother had bought at a garage sale.

Curtis jiunped up from his hiding place under the ledge. Sadie bit back a scream, knowing he was deliberately trying to frighten her.

‘What do you want?’

‘You, babe.’ His laughter came through the thin window pane, mean and calculated to hurt.

‘Mama’s calling the police. You get out of here and don’t come around anymore.’

He held his hands up to his heart, faking fear. ‘I can only stay a minute, babe. Just wanted to let you know I found our little girl, safe and snug as a bug in a rug up at the Reed Ranch. You really didn’t think I’d let that skinny-