Page 52 of Lion’s Den

Sedona wrinkled her nose, but began her recitation of her day. When she reached the point where she arrived at school, Isaac asked, “Did you notice a vehicle you didn’t recognize in the area or near the faculty parking lot?”

After a few seconds, she gasped and her eyes popped open. “Yes, I did. How did you know to ask that question?”

“It just made logical sense to me. If they planned to take you anyway, they’d be wise to case the area to see what kind of traffic, vehicles, and people for which they’d have to plan contingencies in order to pull off the kidnapping.”

When Sedona shuddered, Cam tightened his hold on her. “I should have told someone about the unauthorized vehicle on school property.”

“Why didn’t you?” Cam asked.

“I was running late that morning. I had so much to do to get the kids ready for our field trip the next day that it slipped my mind as soon as I walked into my classroom. I just dove into the work and didn’t come up for air until later that night. By then I was so exhausted that I planned to crawl into bed and drop off to sleep after I finished making my lesson plans.”

“You said earlier that you stayed late to grade. You went outside the school building alone, and there it was. What happened when you saw the vehicle?”

She froze.

“Sedona?” Isaac asked. “What is it?”

“I wasn’t alone.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CAM EASED SEDONA back enough to see her face. “You weren’t alone at the school that night? Who was with you?” Could this be the clue to get them started on the right path? They needed a break, fast.

If they didn’t get one and the attacks kept coming, Cam may have to resort to asking his boss for a favor. David would do it, no question, but it could put his job with Fortress Security in danger to get Cam the help he needed to protect Sedona.

“Julio was there.”

“What was he doing at school that late?”

“His sister forgot her backpack, and she had homework that she still needed to finish for the next day. Their mother was at work, and Julio’s sister didn’t want her to find out that she’d forgotten the backpack.”

Spencer frowned. “Wouldn’t Mom have picked up on it when the backpack was nowhere to be found the next morning?”

“Well, the kids didn’t want her to be angry when she got home from work.”

“Wait a minute.” Cam held up his hand. “Julio is in kindergarten. How old is the sister?”

“Seven or eight.”

“Please don’t tell me that young children are staying home by themselves until midnight or after.”

“They have an older brother who drove Julio to school that night. I remember because Julio was griping about his brother parking at the back of the school so no one would see him. The brother was also talking to his girlfriend, which Julio thought was icky.”

The Thunderhawks chuckled.

Isaac said, “He’ll change his mind about that in a few years. Let’s go back to when the school bell rang to dismiss classes for the day. Tell me what happened from that point on.”

Sedona recounted her day again, this time mentioning that she’d heard a strange noise in the room across the hall and thought maybe her fellow teacher had rats in her room. But no, it was just Julio who had left the lights off so that no one inside the school would know that he was there when he should have been at home.

“Did he find the backpack?”

She nodded. “After that, I returned to my room to grab my bags, and then Julio walked me out the back door.”

“His brother was waiting?” Rhys asked.

“Yes, but not where he was supposed to be. I don’t know if he got spooked because of the vehicle with the three men, but he’d moved his truck to the front of the school to wait. Julio was relieved to see him. I think he was afraid his brother had left, and he’d have to walk home by himself.”

Cam growled. “If he had done that, that teenager and I would have had a serious talk about taking responsibility for his siblings’ safety.” Just the thought of that little kid walking home alone at night made him furious.