“I have a hard time believing that,” John said incredulously as he held the old toy in his arms, and Clay came back to attention.

“Well, tell her that it’s here if she ever wants it.”

“I will,” John said, setting the doll back down. Clay glanced at the window again and looked preoccupied. “Is something wrong?” John asked.

“Not at all,” he said.

John raised his eyebrows. “Are you sure about that?”

Clay sighed. “A child was abducted this morning.”

“What?”

“A little girl, she disappeared sometime between mid-night and six a.m.” Clay was stone-faced; John searched for words and came up empty. “It’s the second one this month,” Clay added quietly.

“I haven’t heard anything about that,” John said. He glanced at the window again as the wind began to howl outside, then looked back at Clay, and immediately the knot of fear took up its post behind his head again. “Do you have any leads?” John asked the first question he could think of. Clay didn’t answer for a long moment, and John asked the next question. “Do you think it has something to do with—I mean, missing kids, it’s not the first time that’s happened here.”

“No, it’s certainly not.” Clay was staring into the space between them as if there was something there he could see. “I don’t see any way that it could be connected, though; Freddy’s has been destroyed at this point.”

“Right,” John said. “So, you don’t have any leads?”

“I’m doing the best that I can.” Clay lowered his head and ran his hand though his hair, then sat up straight again. “I’m sorry. It’s got me on edge; I feel like I’m reliving those days: children, the same age as my little boy—the same age as you back when—getting snatched one after another, and there was nothing I could do to stop it then, either.”

“Michael,” John said quietly.

“Michael. And the others. There never seems to be a shortage of evil in this world.”

“But that’s why we have you, right?” John smiled.

Clay snorted. “Right. I wish it were that simple.”

“You said two kids were missing?” John said, his eyes drawn again toward the sound of the wind dragging branches and leaves against the side of the house.

Clay stood up and went to the window, almost defiantly, and opened it wide. John startled at the sound of the window cracking. John could see from where he sat that Clay seemed to be scanning the area for something under the guise of getting some air.