Heart pounding a hundred times a minute, she started waving from the side of the road, the flashlight in one hand making arcs across the sky. Frantically she swung her arms and hoped the T-shirt was long enough to cover her buttocks.

The vehicle bore down on her.

Faster and faster, as if the driver were flooring it.

“Hey!” she screamed. Did he intend to run her down? Couldn’t he see her?

God, the guy must be going seventy on this narrow road.

“Stop!” she yelled. “Please, stop! Help me!” But as the car or truck or whatever approached, she heard the sound of laughter and the thrum of bass throbbing through the night. The music was so loud, it nearly drowned out the whine of the engine and the staccato of her racing heart. “Stop!”

She screamed until her voice was hoarse, but the car, a dark sports model of some kind, streaked by. As it passed the sounds of laughter and hip-hop music and the smell of smoke, cigarette mingling with weed, escaped through the open windows.

“No! Help!” she cried, and saw the car swerve wildly and hit the shoulder. Gravel sprayed, the wheels slid and for a second she was certain the vehicle would crash. But the driver managed to get control and skid back onto the road. Someone threw something from the passenger window. Glass shattered, shards spraying on the asphalt.

Chloe backed up. Damn, she couldn’t take a chance on stepping on the broken pieces. She shined the flashlight toward the road where bits of glass glimmered and caught the light.

“Idiots!” she murmured, her spirits sinking as the glass sparkled brightly.

Too brightly.

What?

And then she heard it. Aside from the fading noise of the disappearing sports car, there was a deeper rumble, fast and ominous, approaching from behind her. From the way she’d just come.

Another car!

Another chance?

Whirling, she was caught in the headlights of the larger vehicle, a pickup or . . . or . . . Oh, sweet Jesus, it couldn’t be! Not the monster who’d abducted her! He was locked up. In his own damned prison. She’d clicked the padlock closed herself. No way could he have . . .

Her heart took a nosedive as she recognized the van with the broken window as it bore down on her.

She couldn’t let him catch her again. She wouldn’t! Spinning, she started running as fast as she could, breathing deeply and trying not to freak out. She ran through the glass and gravel, feeling as if a target was drawn on her back. She was directly in the path of the headlights, her silhouette captured in the smoky light.