Neil sat up abruptly when the front door opened, then slumped back when Mrs. Parker appeared in a worn robe to grab the newspaper from the front porch. If today was like all the other days, William would be coming out any minute for his morning run.

Neil put the coffee cup aside. He could use a run himself. Sitting in this soup can was giving him a cramp in his ass. He-He jumped at the bright light shining in his face, followed by a knock on the car window.

"Sir, please step out of the car. Keep your hands where we can see them."

And he knew even before he turned around that this was not the way to start the day. "Shit," he muttered.

Thursday, October 6, 7:45 A.M.

Jenna paused, her hand trembling on her classroom door. "I'm afraid to look," she said.

"I'll look," said Lucas and pushed open the door. "No pinatas, at least," he said and Jenna peeked around him.

"No new graffiti," Jenna added.

"Check your desk," Casey cautioned, coming up from behind. "Maybe they booby-trapped the drawer or something."

But a thorough check showed no new activity through the night.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Jenna motioned to the students who'd been gathering at the door. "Come on in, guys. Let's learn some chemistry."

They filed in, each looking like they expected a nasty surprise to catch them unaware.

The muted sounds of scraping chairs and settling bodies was interrupted by Kelly Templeton. "Dr. Marshall, can we talk about the extra credit points on this quiz from Tuesday?"

Jenna rolled her eyes at the look of suppressed humor in the girl's eyes. At least it wasn't extortion this time. "Yes, Kelly, we can. Bring your paper on up and we'll take a look."

She watched her students' faces as Lucas and Casey took their leave. Most of the kids still wore the look of tentative caution, except for Kelly who smirked.

And Josh Lutz who looked very troubled. Troubled and torn. On one hand he looked to be on the verge of spilling his guts, but on the other, he looked ready to run at his first opportunity.

Jenna kept an eye on Josh, intending to talk to him when class was over, but when the bell rang he slipped away. She wondered what he knew. She wondered what he'd tell. She wondered, not for the first time, what went on behind the closed doors of the Lutz household.

Thursday, October 6, 9:45 A.M.

Steven glared at Assistant DA Liz Johnson as he walked into the reception area of Raleigh's first district. "This better be important." He'd come as soon as she'd called, once again leaving Harry point man at the search scene.

"What, were you actually doing the speed limit?" Liz asked sourly.

Steven grinned at her. "I can't afford any tickets on a cop's salary."

Liz grinned back like the old friend she was. "Like I can afford any on mine?" She sobered. "We're going to Interview Two," she said. "Lieutenant Chambers called me as soon as they brought the guy in. It seems he had some fascinating reading material Chambers thought we should see."

"Has he said anything yet?" Steven asked, falling into step beside her.

Liz shook her head. "Nope. He insists on talking to you. Who is this guy?"

"He's been hanging around," Steven answered. "I saw him at my son's soccer game Monday night and Harry said he was at the search scene last night. Looking for me. To!d Harry he was a reporter. Harry was going to ask Nancy to run plates on him this morning."

They came to a stop in front of Interview Two where Lieutenant Chambers stood frowning at the glass. On the other side sat the dark-haired man from Matt's game, arms crossed over his chest. Chambers acknowledged them with a curt nod, handing Liz a thin folder.

"One of my patrol units picked him up this morning. A resident on Hook Street called with a complaint that this guy had been loitering there for a few days."

Liz took a thoughtful look at the stranger. "So they shine their light inside his car and find his photo collection in plain view." She handed the folder to Steven. "Four mutilated corpses."

Steven glanced through the photos. "Before and after," he murmured, looking at the pictures of the girls before they'd become mutilated corpses. "Pretty girls." He turned the pic-tures over to look at the names neatly printed on the back of each one. "Did you run these names?" he asked.

Chambers nodded. "All murdered in Seattle three years ago. All sixteen years old. All cheerleaders."

Steven sighed. "Damn. And his hair's just about the same shade as the hair we found in the clearing last Friday."

"So's mine," Liz said, her tone pointed. "That doesn't prove anything."

So's Mike's, Steven thought, then cursed himself. But that didn't prove anything either. There was absolutely no way Mike was involved. Mike had seen his son home without incident. Steven felt the prick of guilt. He knew because he'd called Helen to make sure Brad was all right. Mike had ensured Jenna got home safe and sound. The prick of guilt jabbed deeper. Steven knew that because he'd called Jenna's home number last night well after midnight, just to hear her answer sleepily. Just to know she'd gotten home all right. Hell of a friend you are, Thatcher.

He cleared his throat. "Lieutenant, did you get a rundown on the Seattle case? Was anyone arrested for those murders?"

"I've got a call in to the commander of the precinct that handled the case, but it's still early in Seattle. We checked the Internet archives of the local Seattle papers in the meantime. They say they arrested a William Parker, but there was no record of a conviction. We didn't touch this guy except to escort him in for questioning. We did see a rental car agreement out in plain view, so we looked at that. According to the rental contract he's Neil Davies of Seattle, Washington."

"When did he sign the contract?" Liz asked.

"Monday morning."

"Of this week?" Steven asked.

"Yep. So he wasn't here when either girl was abducted. Or he hadn't rented his car by that point," Chambers amended.

Steven looked at the man sitting in the chair inside the in-terview room. His face was hard, as if he were angry. But more than angry. More like he was poised to explode any minute. "Was he carrying any other ID, Lieutenant?"

"No. Said his wallet was in the gym bag in the backseat."

"And was it?" Liz asked.

"Haven't looked yet. We wanted to wait for you to make sure we didn't break any new search and seizure laws we hadn't heard about yet," Chambers grumbled and Liz scowled.

Steven smiled at Chambers's sarcasm. "Did you find anything else in his car?" he asked.

"Just the gym bag," Chambers answered. "We wanted to wait for Liz before we checked the trunk. My boys didn't want any trouble down the line."

"Well, we'll take a look after we've chatted with Mr. Davies," Steven said, then gestured to Liz. "Shall we?"

The man looked up when Steven and Liz entered the room, but made no move to rise.

Steven looked at him, tilting his head in an exaggerated fashion. "You were looking for me?"

The man's dark eyes narrowed. "I was looking for the detective in charge, yes."

Steven refused to be ruffled by the challenge in the man's voice. "Then you were looking for me. I'm Special Agent Steven Thatcher."

"Hmm," the man said sarcastically. "North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation. Glad to see you could take a break from soccer games and the runaway roundup to take an interest in this case."

"I try to squeeze in an hour or two between golf and fishing," Steven said dryly, pushing back his temper. He pointed to Liz. "She's Assistant DA Johnson. So now that we've performed the social niceties and you know who we are, why don't you tell us who you are?"