“Are you going over there?” Jani asked, pointing at the place.

Grigor nodded his head.

“Yes,” he said. “I just have to pick something up.”

The two girls exchanged glances. Then Jani leaned forward in her seat. The house looked empty and gave her a creepy feeling.

She took hold of Raysa’s hand and squeezed it. Raysa squeezed back.

“Our father says we should go straight home when he isn’t with us,” she told him. “He never turns this way.”

Grigor was driving on toward the house.

“I’m sure he won’t mind this one time,” he said. “We have to go there before going anywhere else.”

Jani felt unease trickle own her spine as he reached the driveway and turned in. It didn’t look as if the owner mentioned in the sign still lived here.

Raysa shrank closer to her sister so their knees almost touched, their hands briefly unlocking as she squirmed on the car seat. But then their fingers found each other’s again and held on even tighter.

“There’s no one here,” she said. “Can’t you take us home first? Then come back?”

Grigor pulled up to the garage with the lowered door, cut the ignition and slid a hand under his hooded sweatshirt. An instant later he drew his Glock 43X from its holster, swiveling around to point it between the two front seats at the girls.

He saw their eyes widen with fear and smiled.

“Don’t either of you move,” he said. “I’ll explain everything.”

“He has Raysa and Jani,” Musil said. His voice was a dry, reedy rasp. “I don’t know what he wants. But he has my daughters.”

Kali and Carmody stood there looking at him. It was moments after he’d gotten off the phone with their school.

He looked down at his cell, tapped an icon, studied the screen.

“Checking their location trackers?”

Musil nodded, looked at the screen another couple of seconds, expelled a breath.

“Nothing,” he said.

“You told me they have to stay off in class. Maybe they’re still off.”

Musil didn’t answer. Then he pocketed the phone and looked around at the nearby police cars. “We should tell them.”

“No,” Carmody said.

“He has my daughters.”

“That’s why we keep them out of it for now.”

“They have manpower that we don’t.”

“And we can do things they can’t.” Carmody kept his voice low. “I don’t want them stepping on us.”

Musil looked at him. “We don’t even know what he wants.”

“Right,” Carmody said. “But we know he wants something. And that means you’ll hear from him.”

Musil shook his head. “He could bring the girls anywhere in the meantime.”

“Not in that GoRide,” Carmody said. “It’s too easy to find, and he’ll know it.”