Chapter 4

"Get away! Don't come near us!"

I screamed and hugged the phone tight, backing away.

"You don't need to trouble yourself, mister."

Molly stepped forward without flinching, staring him down, cold.

"We already called our dad. He's coming to get us any minute now. So stay away from us!"

Oswald froze, then let out a low, oily chuckle.

His voice went soft, coaxing.

"Little girl, it's fine. Just come with me somewhere nice first. When your dad gets here, I'll give you right back to him."

The second he finished, his eyes turned vicious and he lunged, grabbing for Molly.

"Get back!"

She was faster.

She snatched a bottle of pepper spray off the booth counter.

And blasted it straight into Oswald's face.

"Aah!"

He clapped both hands over his eyes and shrieked in pain.

Then the furious roar.

"Damn it! You little brat!"

"Run!"

Molly grabbed my hand and we ran for our lives.

But the moment we tore around the corner, I went rigid.

Dead end.

A dead end straight ahead.

No time to think. Molly's eyes went sharp.

She flipped open a dumpster beside us, waist-high, without a second's hesitation.

The stench hit us in the face.

We didn't even get to catch our breath.

When a swarm of footsteps came thudding in from outside.

"Oswald, where are they?"

A rough, hoarse voice, a stranger's, cut through the air.

"Weren't you saying you had a surprise for us?"

Oswald cursed, seething, right above our heads.

"What's the rush? We've got this whole park booked out. Nobody's coming to save them today."

"If that little brat weren't exactly my type, you think I'd have gone to all this trouble to drag you all out here?"

Cold flooded through me.

How could this be happening?

In my last life, it had only ever been him. Just one man.

Clang.

The dumpster next to us got yanked over, trash flying everywhere.

My eyes went wide with terror.

Molly clamped a hand hard over my mouth.

Neither of us dared make a sound.

"All right, all right. If they're not around here, check that little grove and the rest rooms. Two little kids can't have gotten far!"

A moment later, Oswald's frustrated cursing carried away.

The breath rushed out of me.

Molly and I looked at each other, giddy with relief.

Then, after a long moment, her trembling hands pressed a small pair of scissors into mine.

"Ari, listen to me. In a minute, I'm going to go out there and lead them away."

"You stay right here and hide. No matter what you hear, you do not come out. You wait for Dad and the police to come save you, okay?"

I shook my head hard.

"No! I'm not leaving. I want to stay with you!"

Her eyes went red.

"Ari, do as I say!"

I clung to the hem of her shirt with everything I had.

"I won't! Not this time. This time I am never losing you again!"

Molly froze.

Then the phone rang.

But before either of us could answer it, the dumpster lid was ripped open with brute force.

Oswald had circled back, running his tongue greedily over his gums.

"Little brat. So you were hiding in here after all."