Jay didn’t seem to care what anyone said, and he made it more than clear who he would rather be with.

Grady, on the other hand, she still hadn’t dealt with. He seemed to be avoiding her like the plague. He sent a few more apologetic text messages, and Violet responded to them, letting him know that even though she thought he’d acted like a jerk, she wasn’t going to hold it against him. What she didn’t say was that Jay was still mad at him. But Grady probably knew that, which was why he was giving Violet as wide a berth as was humanly possible.

She and Jay settled into a nice pattern. School during the day and then doing homework at her house afterward. And, of course, “doing homework” meant making out in Violet’s room until both of them were tense with frustration and they had to take a break from each other just to get their sanity back. That was when the real homework was done.

She kept waiting for her parents to notice how much time they were spending in her bedroom and to say something, but they never did. Not that she was complaining; their ignorance meant she and Jay could continue with their extracurricular activities without interruption.

But on Thursday afternoon, after only about an hour of “studying,” Violet’s mom tapped on the door.

Violet shot up, not wanting her mom to walk in and catch them all tangled up together. Jay hopped off the bed as quietly as possible, and Violet rushed to the door, cracking it open to see her mom on the other side holding out the phone.

“Jay’s mom wants to talk to him.”

“Er, thanks, Mom,” Violet mumbled, taking the phone and trying not to sound incredibly guilty. She hoped that her messy hair wasn’t a dead giveaway to what they’d been doing.

Violet’s mom gave her a curious look, and Violet was sure that her mom was finally going to say something, but then she seemed to change her mind, and she left them alone again.

Violet handed the phone to Jay, who seemed remarkably composed considering they’d almost lost their closed-door privileges.

They’d lost them before, once when they were eight and Violet’s mom had walked in to find them playing a game of “I’ll show you mine, if you show me yours,” which at that point consisted of Violet flashing her flat-as-a-pancake chest at Jay. Her mom had come in while the bottom of Violet’s shirt was pulled up in front of her face. They never got far enough for him to show his.

Violet listened to Jay’s end of the conversation and knew, even before he’d hung up, that he had to go home. His mom needed his help at the house.

Jay didn’t bother explaining, he knew he didn’t need to, he just got up and crossed the room, pulling her as close as he could and kissing her with unrestrained tenderness…which led to barely restrained passion. She ended up clutching his shirt just to keep her balance. What was it with her?

He said he’d come back if he could, and then he was gone. His absence was almost tangible, and Violet missed him almost immediately, and then she chastised herself for being one of those girls. You know, the ones who can’t function without their boyfriends around, and when they weren’t together, that was all they could talk about. It was gross, really, and she definitely did not want to join their club.

She really didn’t have much homework-not real homework-and she decided that it might be a good time, with nothing better to do, to go for a run. After all, she hadn’t really taken advantage of her newfound freedom since the killer had been captured. She glanced outside to make sure it hadn’t started raining, always a possibility in the Northwest, and she decided to go for it, stripping out of her jeans and into a pair of track pants and a sweatshirt. She redid her ponytail, which was a total mess after rolling around on her bed with Jay for the past hour, and she slipped on her running shoes.

She stopped at her mom’s studio to tell her where she was going, invigorated by the idea of getting some fresh air and exercise, especially after being on lockdown for the past few weeks.

And then she made her way out of the driveway and toward the familiar path, glad-for the moment, anyway-that Jay’s mom had called him away.

PREDATOR

HE COULDN’T BELIEVE HIS LUCK.

The chief’s niece was leaving her house. All by herself.

He’d been watching her for several days, waiting for an opportunity when she was alone, but it never came. Day in and day out, someone was always with her. Her boyfriend never seemed to leave her side, and when he did, her parents were home.

It had begun to wear on his nerves, and then this…his lucky break.

He moved after her, keeping close to the trees, where he blended best, hidden from her view. He maintained a good distance, not wanting to frighten her. At least not yet, while she was still so close to home…so close to help. He needed to isolate her, to move her away from safety, and then he would strike, eliminating her.

His practiced feet moved stealthily, noiselessly, and despite her steady pace, he had no trouble keeping up with her.

He was exhilarated to be on the prowl again.

VIOLET SHOVED THE EARBUDS INTO HER EARS and pressed the button on her iPod until she found the song she was looking for. It was easy to fall into step, despite the weeks that had passed since she’d last run. The weather was holding out nicely, although the lack of crispness in the air and the dreary gray cloud cover wasn’t very promising. But for now, at least, the rain was held at bay, and Violet wasn’t about to let a decent afternoon go to waste.

She watched her feet move steadily over the gravelly terrain until she fell into an even rhythm. She found herself getting lost in the music as she ran, inhaling and exhaling with the cadence of her steps.

She wasn’t surprised that she couldn’t see the mountain today; the low clouds obscured any trace that it had ever even existed, blotting the image completely from the skyline. She ducked beneath the canopy of the trees, following the trail she’d run so many times before and enjoying the feel of the threatening moisture in the air against her skin.

And then something suddenly invaded her sense of calm. She paused the music and listened.

It was strange when an echo came to her, especially one that wasn’t exactly an auditory echo, like now. Not to say that she couldn’t hear it, she could…kind of. But it was much less a sound than it was a feeling. A high-pitched squeal that was nearly beyond the range of her ears…more like a resonance, a dark vibration, than an actual noise.

Either way, it was there. And it was clear and strong. And it was definitely close.

Her first thought was that there was a body nearby. The intensity of it didn’t speak to what it was so much as when it might have been left behind. She pulled the earbuds out of her ears and slowed way down, and then came to a stop as she tried to decide how best to handle this. She thought about trying to locate the echo, right here, right now, but the idea of potentially uncovering another body-another girl, maybe even Mackenzie-out here on her own, all by herself, was more than a little alarming to Violet. Her previous reactions had not been a good indicator as to how she might respond.

On the other hand, she knew this trail by heart, and she could easily find her way back here if she went to get help. She glanced around her, to make sure she knew exactly where she was, and decided to go back.

She turned around and started jogging again, this time slower, her senses heightened and straining to keep in touch with the shrill, almost inaudible, screech.

That turned out to be easier than she’d expected.

It followed her.