I need to tell you something: Daddy had a car accident. It was really bad . . .

It seemed to take her forever to get to the sofa. Her knees didn’t want to bend so she could sit down.

“Leah,” her mother began. “The man who took Leslie . . . He’s here.”

Leah’s stomach did a backflip. She jerked her head around, expecting to see him.

“Not here in the house,” her mother corrected herself, patting Leah’s hand. Her fingers were like icicles. She was still breathing hard, as if she had been running. “He’s here in Oak Knoll. He’s living here.”

Leah didn’t know what to say. She didn’t know whether she should be afraid or angry or what. Why was he here? Had he followed them here? Why couldn’t he just fall off the earth? Why couldn’t he just die? She would never understand why the police couldn’t have put him in prison. Everyone believed he had taken Leslie. Most everyone believed he had killed her.

“I’m telling you because I want you to be aware, sweetheart,” her mother said. “I want you to be careful. If you see him, don’t go near him. Go to the nearest adult and tell them. Call me. Call nine-one-one. The sheriff’s office knows about him.”

“Why is he here? Why does he have to be here?” Leah heard herself say. “It’s not fair!”

She sounded stupid, she thought. She sounded like a stupid little kid, but she couldn’t help it. Roland Ballencoa had ruined their lives in Santa Barbara. Leslie was gone because of him. Daddy had died because of him. They had left Santa Barbara because of him. Now he was here.

“I don’t know, honey,” her mother said.

“Did he follow us here?”

“I don’t know.”

“Does he know we’re here?” she asked.

Her mother glanced down at something on the coffee table. Leah’s eyes followed, going wide at the sight of the gun lying there on top of a pile of mail.

“Why is Daddy’s gun here?” she asked, her eyes filling with tears.

“I took it out last night,” her mother said. “It needs to be cleaned, but I fell asleep.”

“You’re lying.” The words were out of Leah’s mouth before she even realized she was going to say them. She jumped up from the sofa. “You’re lying! I can tell. Don’t lie to me! I’m not a baby!”

“Leah!”