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Cardozo’s chuckle sounded forced. “I’ll get right on that.”
Elijah shrugged sassily, but then his shoulders sagged as he sighed, his playfulness clearly feigned. “Ask your questions, Miss Sorensen. I figure you have some.”
“Okay. Why are you here?”
“My dad said I had to come. He didn’t have anyone to leave me with, and it wasn’t safe for me in school.” There was a reluctance in his voice, and Val wasn’t sure if it was because he was here or because he wasn’t in school.
She wanted to ask where his mother was but held back. “Do you like school?”
Elijah’s expression became abruptly defiant. “I do. Is that a problem?”
“Nope. I’m a teacher. I like kids who like school.”
“I thought you were a bodyguard.”
“Now, yeah. And an investigator sometimes, too, but I still do some teaching.”
Elijah’s defiance melted away. “What do you teach?”
“Music. I teach kids at the community center. Piano, violin, flute, some guitar, and a little tambourine for those who don’t have success with the other instruments.”
“That’s really nice,” Elijah said with a small smile, then dropped his gaze to the cupcake. Silence followed, and Val waited patiently, keeping her attention on Elijah.
She had experience with traumatized kids and knew that he’d speak when he was ready.
Finally, he looked up, swallowing audibly. “Someone tried to kidnap me yesterday.”
Val drew a sharp breath, managing not to gasp. “That sucks.”
Elijah snorted, then looked surprised that he had. “It really did.”
“Can you tell me what happened?”
“It happened really fast. I was with my aunt, walking home after the math club competition at my school.” He dropped his gaze again. “There were two men in a white minivan. Both had on ski masks. One got out and grabbed me, then started carrying me to the van.”
He stopped and looked up, his eyes now as fearful as his father’s.
“That had to have been terrifying,” Val murmured. “How did you get away?”
His lips curved again, this time with pride. “My aunt Genie carries a Taser.”
“Excellent,” Val said with a nod. “She hit the guy with the ski mask?”
“Yep. And I have a noisemaker, one of those things that’s as loud as a siren. I pressed it right after she tased him.”
“Good job.” Val held out her fist, and Elijah bumped it.
“The guy dropped to the ground after Aunt Genie tased him, and she yelled for me to run. But...” He dropped his gaze to his hands once again. “I froze.”
The boy’s shame was palpable. That would not do.
“It happens,” she said quietly. “When you’re dropped into a situation you aren’t expecting or you haven’t been trained for, sometimes the brain can’t process.” Elijah only huffed his disgust, presumably at himself. She decided to come back to the shame later. “You’re sitting here enjoying a cupcake, so I’m guessing that you got away.”
“Yeah.”
“And because you’re here with your dad, I’m guessing the masked guys got away and you’re still in danger. What happened after your aunt tased the bad guy?”
“The driver got out of the van and started to come after me, but lots of people had started to gather around.”
