“Mason! He just sent me this. It’s a threat.”

“Vanessa, calm down.” She took a deep breath. “Where is Kelly now?”

“I don’t know. I can get a hold of Kate and—”

“In this video she’s at dance practice, right? Was this taken today?” Leigh studied the line of girls as they kicked and twisted and twirled, their slender bodies as bendy as rubber bands.

“I don’t know, but it’s a threat,” Vanessa insisted. “I need to go talk to him. He can’t keep doing this.”

“Vanessa, listen. Do not go anywhere near him. I’ll contact the police and—”

“No! What if he does something to hurt Kelly?” Her voice was shrill. “That’s what this video’s about. He’s taunting me and threatening to hurt her. Don’t you get it?”

“Vanessa, calm down.”

“No! You don’t know him like I do. I need to see him. I have to end this. I can’t stand that he’s controlling my life from a distance, like I’m on some kind of leash or . . . or . . . some kind of—”

“Vanessa, do not go near him. Do you understand me?”

“He’s at his lake house right now. I need to go see him.”

“How do you know he’s at his lake house?” Leigh dug out her car keys.

“Because it’s Wednesday. He plays golf at his course there every Wednesday and spends the night away from his wife. We used to meet out there. I’ll make a deal with him. I’ve got my stalker log. I’ll tell him he can have it—he can burn it, destroy it, whatever—if he’ll just get the fuck out of my life and leave me alone.”

Leigh started up her car and glanced over her shoulder at the traffic whisking past.

“Vanessa, this is not a good idea. You’re playing right into his hands.”

“No, I have the stalker log. That’s leverage. He knows about it and he wants it because he thinks that without it, I don’t have a case against him.”

“Vanessa, you’re not being rational. You need to calm down.”

“Don’t tell me to calm down when he’s threatening my niece! She’s freaking fifteen years old and he’s taking videos of her!”

“He’s bluffing. He’s manipulating you, okay?”

“You don’t know him like I do. He doesn’t bluff.”

Leigh took a deep breath. “Vanessa, where are you? Where’s Cooper?”

Silence on the phone. Then sniffling.

“Vanessa?”

“He’s at work. I’m in his car.”

“Okay, let’s meet somewhere.”

“I’m sorry. I can’t. I need to go.”

“Vanessa, wait!”

“I’m sorry. I’ll be fine. But I have to put an end to this.”

*   *   *

What’s your plan?” Brandon asked Tate over the phone.