“You’re not making any sense. I—Dad! I said in a minute! It’s Kelsey—”

“Only she’s missing now—Jen, can you hear me? She’s missing and she might be dead, and I hid the note in my robe and I don’t know if I should show it to anyone—”

“What? There’s that echo, I can hardly hear you, you sound like you’re in a tunnel or something—”

“Jen—Jen—please—”

“Okay, I’m coming! Kelsey, he’s ready to kill me—you know how he gets. Look, I’ll call you when I get back.”

“But Jen, it’s an unlisted number and—Jen!” Kelsey wailed as the connection broke, first one click, then another. She stared down at the phone, then slammed it back into place and leaned her forehead against the wall. Now what? Jenny hadn’t heard a word she’d said, and she was no better off than she’d been before. Sighing, she dragged herself, up the stairs and into the bedroom.

She locked the connecting door between the boys’ room and the bathroom and began to undress. The shower felt wonderful, soothing her sore muscles. She hadn’t realized just how keyed up she’d been. Rinsing shampoo from her hair, she turned her face up, letting the drops dance across her cheeks, massaging the pain behind her eyelids.

She reached up and shut off the faucet.

And heard something moving in her room.

Naked and dripping, Kelsey stood there, too terrified to move. Silence hung around her, even more horrible than the sound had been. Whatever—whoever—it was, knew that she had heard. Knew that she was in here right now. Listening. Alone.

Kelsey’s heart lodged in her throat, making her feel sick. The silence was crushing her, the awful silence punctuated now by the thud of her racing pulse, her blood pounding ice through her veins.

Kelsey, I think someone is going to kill me…

Her hands were shaking so badly, she could hardly control them. Curling her fingers around the edge of the shower curtain, she tried to pull it back without making any noise. The faucet dripped slowly into the tub, loud plops that echoed like gunshots. There was no sound at all from her bedroom.

Explanations tumbled through her head like leaves in a windstorm. Maybe Neale had come back, looking for Justin, unaware that Justin was out looking for him. Or Justin had knocked and she hadn’t heard, and he’d come in trying to find her. Or Mom…or Eric…or nobody…maybe I imagined it…it was the plumbing or something outside or just the house settling and there’s absolutely nothing out there…

Groping, her hands found the towel, and she wrapped it around herself, inching cautiously toward the door. She couldn’t hear anything now on the other side—nothing to suggest that anything might be wrong…

Swallowing over the sharp tang of fear, Kelsey shakily called into her bedroom, “Justin, is that you?”

Silence answered her, deep and endless. Slowly…slowly…she cracked open the door.

The room was just as she’d left it. With a sigh of relief, Kelsey moved out into the middle of the floor, her eyes scanning every surface. Her purse—right there on the desk where she’d left it—her sandals, kicked back under the hem of the bedspread… She smiled to herself and bent down to pick up her robe—it must have slid off the end of the bed when she’d tossed it from the closet. Her knees were still shaking, and she suddenly realized how chilly she felt. She slipped out of the towel and into the robe, easing herself down on the edge of Beth’s bed, stretching her legs out in front of her, toes pointed into the rug.