Wendy’s lips twisted as she suppressed a smirk. She turned the key and the old truck roared to life. Peter’s hands latched on to the dashboard. If she weren’t so worried about him, she would’ve laughed at the deeply concerned expression on his face. “Put on your seat belt,” she told him as she pulled her own across her chest.

He took the seat belt in his hand and pulled it across, mimicking what Wendy did, but then his longer fingers fumbled with the buckle. She gently took it out of his hand and clicked it into position.

When she started to back out of the driveway, Peter’s hands went right back to the dashboard. “Don’t look so scared,” she told him, shifting into drive and starting down the road. “I’m an excellent driver.”

“You almost ran me over.” Peter scowled, but when she got to the end of the street, he started to relax into his seat. “It’s like flying, but a lot … bouncier,” he mused, watching houses go by.

Her plan was to drive to one of the small side roads that bottomed out into the woods. That way, they could go into the woods without being seen, and no one would notice her truck.

Only a minute had passed before Peter figured out how to roll down the window. He leaned out as far as he could with the seat belt still restraining him. Peter squinted in the sunlight as his hair whipped in the air. His laughter caught in the wind and floated off. The sunbaked road stretched and curved before them, hugging the line of trees. White mile markers leaned on the shoulder, nearly lost in the overgrown weeds.

“So, what’s going on with the latest missing kids and the police at your neighbor’s house?” Peter asked, back inside the cab and rubbing his eyes.

“They were two boys,” Wendy started. “Ten and seven, the same age as my brothers when we went missing. They were taken from their backyard, just like we were. Their dad even saw them being taken by someone, but he couldn’t see what they looked like.”

“My shadow,” Peter stated.

She nodded. “It has to be taunting us, right?” Wendy asked. Anger heated her skin. “That’s why he took those kids like that. It’s too similar to my brothers to just be a coincidence, isn’t it?”