“You were in shock,” he reminded her.
“She’s still in shock,” Naomi muttered, but nobody—including her sister—paid her any attention.
“Yesterday you said that all Thomas said to you was to drive, and that he wouldn’t let you stop when you wanted to when we started following you.”
Clara nodded slowly.
“Did he say anything else?”
“Just that he wanted to show me something.” A shudder wracked her thin frame.
“But you knew it was Thomas Karl?” he confirmed.
She nodded again, as her eyes started to grow misty with a mixture of tears and dismay.
“How did you know Thomas?” he continued.
At the question, her eyes cleared instantly. “If you're asking me that, then you already know.”
“What happened to her as a child is off limits,” Naomi quipped, her brown eyes shooting arrows at them.
“I wish it were, but unfortunately the doll murders have started up again,” he said gently.
At his words, Clara went completely still; her eyes glazed over, and she barely even looked like she was breathing. Her sister, on the other hand, bounded to her feet and began to pace, running her hands through her hair and shaking her head.
“It’s been over twenty years,” Naomi protested. “Why would they start killing again? It doesn’t make any sense.”
Jonathon ignored her for the moment. Clara’s stillness was scaring him. He reached for her shoulder and gave her a small shake. “Clara? Can you hear me?”
Her eyes turned to his, and she began to tremble. “No. It’s over. They stopped,” she said, her voice heartbreakingly childlike, and he hated himself for making her relive her worst nightmare.
“I’m sorry, Clara. They did stop, but they started again a few months ago.”
“How many so far?” Naomi asked.
“Two dead, another two taken,” he replied.
“The dolls?” Naomi stopped her frenetic pacing to pierce him with a horrified glare.
“They were found with the bodies,” he confirmed.
Wrapping her arms around her middle, Clara whispered, “I don’t understand. Why start again now?”
“We’re not sure it is the original killers,” he ventured, unsure how she would take the accusation against Thomas.
Her reaction was so instantaneous that it caught him off guard. Clara bounded to her feet so quickly her chair clattered to the floor. “You think Thomas has been abducting and killing children in the same way as the people who took us?” her voice brimmed with incredulity. “Tommy would never hurt anyone. How dare you even suggest such a thing! You don’t even know Tommy.”
“You're right, I don’t, but you do…”
“I am not helping you pin this on my friend,” she interrupted. “Besides, the people who took us worked as a team—if someone started up the murders again, then wouldn’t they be working as a team? So why would Tommy be doing this alone?” she demanded.
This time it was Naomi who caught on first. “Get out,” she said as she stalked to the door and threw it open.
“What?” Clara cast her sister a confused glance.
“They think it’s you,” Naomi ground out. “They think you're Tommy’s partner.”
Clara recoiled as though she’d been slapped. Pain and betrayal filled her eyes, and pink splashed her pale cheeks. “You . . . You think I’m a killer? You think I'd hurt children? After what happened to me?”
“We have more questions, Clara,” Allina spoke for the first time. “Maybe it would be best if we ask them down at the station.”
Naomi snapped immediately into protective mode. “Is my sister under arrest?” she demanded.
“No,” Jonathon answered firmly. “No,” he repeated, this time directing it to Clara.
“Then we’re not going anywhere with you,” Naomi challenged.
“It’s okay, Naomi,” Clara’s voice was now icy cold and chillingly calm. “I want to go. I want to answer their questions, so I never have to see them again. I’ll get dressed, and we’ll meet you there in an hour.”
With that, she turned and headed back upstairs. The finality with which she said that she never wanted to see him again left Jonathon feeling horribly empty. He’d thought he wanted to solve this case no matter what the cost. If the cost turned out to be losing his chance with Clara, could he live with that?
* * * * *
9:46 A.M.
Katie was bored.
She hated having to tag along with her mom and baby brother running errands. But this was the price she had to pay to get a day off school. She’d told her mom she had a sore tummy, but really she just hadn’t wanted to go to school.
It was all Becca Stevens’ fault.
Becca and her family had moved away at the end of first grade. That would have been fine; only it messed things up with their friends. Now there were three of them. And three was an odd number; they'd learned about odd and even numbers in math class. Even numbers went together in pairs, but odd numbers meant someone was always left out. And right now, she was the one who kept getting left out.
It wasn't fair.
Jasmine was her best friend. They’d been best friends since kindergarten, but now that Becca was gone, Kelly wanted Jasmine to be her best friend. It wasn't her fault that Becca had moved; why should she lose her best friend because of it?
And Katie was scared that she was going to lose her best friend.
Jasmine and Kelly were always whispering secrets to each other. They sat next to each other in class. They were working on a project together while she was stuck working with Missy Fendrake. Missy Fendrake! The weird girl that no one played with because she hardly ever talked, but was always laughing at everything, and Katie was going to have to be her partner! Maybe she’d even have to go to Missy’s house or have Missy come to hers! Everyone in their class was going to tease her.
And then yesterday, as if being Missy’s project partner wasn't enough, Jasmine and Kelly said she couldn’t play with them. Katie had been so shocked; she hadn’t known what to do. She had just stood there and then Jasmine and Kelly had laughed at her. Embarrassed, she had gone running off and hid in the library for the rest of lunchtime.
How could she go back to school now?
She couldn’t.
She hated second grade.
She hated school.
If she could manage it, she would never set foot in that place again.
“Katie,” her mom’s angry voice broke into her thoughts.
Blinking, she found her mom frowning at her. She had been too busy thinking about her problems at school that she couldn’t even remember what shop they were in. They’d been to so many already this morning; now they were in the bank. Katie hated the bank most of all. There was always a long line, and there was nothing fun to look at while you waited.
“Would you stop daydreaming?” her mom snapped. “I need you to watch Kevin while I wait in line; he’s tired of sitting in his stroller.”
Kevin’s sticky little hand was thrust into hers, and her mom moved off to take her place at the end of the line. Katie didn’t like her little brother. Her dad kept telling her that one day she would, one day she’d love him, one day she’d be glad to have a sibling, but so far that day hadn’t arrived.