Just get out of town, Julie kept chanting to herself. Figure out the rest later. It wasn’t much of a plan. She had to let everyone know that Felix was safe. She had to come up with some kind of explanation that made sense to everyone. Felix had a meltdown, he wanted to go home. Sorry for all the trouble.

She still couldn’t pin down where she knew the man from. Either her musician’s ear was failing her or she didn’t know the man very well. Maybe she’d just heard him in passing around town.

But most importantly, Felix was okay.

“Did he hurt you, kiddo?” Julie was trying to keep her cool, she really was. But her hands were shaking so hard it was difficult to steer.

“No. He just surprised me, that’s all. I climbed out the window because I didn’t like it there. As soon as I got to the ground, he grabbed me. I tried to scream but I couldn’t make any noise with his big hand over my mouth.” Felix made a face of disgust. “I can still taste his glove.”

“I’m so sorry that happened. Jeez, Felix, I was scared out of my wits. Everyone’s searching for you back at the Reinhards’, even your mom.”

“Mom came?” Felix’s pale little face brightened as he adjusted his glasses. “She really came?”

“Of course she did. No one knew where you were. We were terrified. I’m still a little terrified.” She touched his arm lightly, not enough to bother him. “I will be until we get home.”

“One hundred percent rayon with leather strips, size twelve, made in China,” Felix said. “Do you think he’ll ever give me my phone back?”

“I wouldn’t count on it. We’ll get you a new one. What’s that about China?”

“The man’s gloves. Remember when you said I should pull a Felix? Right after that I saw the tag on his gloves.”

She grinned at him, delighted. “Good work. Maybe you’ll actually crack this case. I want that man off the streets.”

“Do you think he’s on the streets?” Felix asked seriously. “Right now?”

“Figure of speech. I don’t know where he is, and I don’t care, as long as he’s nowhere close.”

“When we left, he was going back inside the gas station, but maybe he was buying gas. Or going to the bathroom. I have to pee.”

Julie’s heart sank. Of course he did. He was a kid, and kids always had to pee at the most inconvenient moments. The man’s instructions had been to drive straight to LA and not stop for a hundred miles. But did that pertain to bathroom breaks? Exactly how would he enforce that? She checked the odometer. They’d only driven sixty-two miles since they’d left the gas station.

But when you had to go, you had to go. Felix wiggled back and forth in his seat. With a sigh, Julie gave in and took the next exit, which led to a rest stop. She grabbed the parking spot closest to the men’s bathroom, which wasn’t difficult because the parking lot was empty. Tourist season was still a month away.

“Make it as quick as you can, Felix. And I know you won’t like this, but I’m coming in with you.”

“What? That’s stupid.”

“I’m not letting you out of my sight, buddy boy, not unless you can hold it until we get to LA. You can have all the privacy you want back home.”

“I can’t hold it that long,” he grumbled. He hopped out of the car and stalked to the men’s room.

“Wait. Let me check it first.” She peered under the doors of each stall while he hopped from one foot to the other. When she was sure it was safe, he marched inside a stall and banged the door shut. She leaned her back against the main door and scanned the space. Rest-stop bland, with two screened-in ventilation windows too high to reach. Perfectly safe. God, she was paranoid.

Felix emerged from the stall and went to the sink. He always took a long time washing his hands. Julie suppressed the urge to ask him to hurry. He’d been through enough today; if washing his hands soothed him, she’d give him all the time he needed.

“I want to go back to Jupiter Point,” he said as he squirted soap on his hands. “I don’t want to leave.”

Trust Felix to be contrary.

“I know it’s sudden, but we didn’t have a choice. Don’t worry, we’ll call everyone as soon as it’s safe. You can say goodbye properly.”

“No, I mean I want to go back now. I want to see Mom. And Tanaka is having a birthday party tomorrow at the bowling alley. I’ve never bowled but I think I’d be good at it. I already have a present for him. I’m going to give him my old calculator.”

Julie stared at the back of her young godson’s head. His neck looked so thin and vulnerable as he bent over the sink, obsessively washing his hands. “It’s not safe, Felix. You heard what the man said. We can’t go back.”

“But what about Ben?”

“Ben will understand. He wouldn’t want either of us to get hurt.”

Felix squished the soap between his fingers, carefully coating each finger with slimy bubbles. “That’s not what I mean. Ben is strong and tough, and so are his brothers. They’ll watch out for us.”

“Yes, but as long as that man is running around free, we’d never be completely safe. They can’t watch us all the time.”

“So we should catch him. You said to pull a Felix, and I did. Not just with the gloves. I figured out a lot of other things, too, about his clothes and his car and his disguise. He doesn’t really need glasses, that’s one thing. Julie, I really want to go back. I want to catch him and put him in jail so he can’t hurt anyone. What if he tried to scare Sarah or Tanaka or one of the other kids? I hate him!”

That fierce statement gave her a shock. Felix might be an undersized, unusual kid, but he was a lot tougher than he appeared.

“I know how you feel. I swear I do. I don’t want to leave Jupiter Point either. I love it there. I always have. But I love you more, and we can’t risk it.”

Felix swung around and stomped his foot. “I’m not getting back in your car. I want to see my mom. I want to go back!”

Oh God, just what she needed right now, an epic Felix emotional breakdown. “Sweetie, we’ll call Savannah as soon as we can and she’ll come to us. I promise. I’m just trying to keep us safe.”

Felix didn’t answer, just crossed his arms over his chest and set his face into the mulish lines that meant “no deal.”

God, was she going to have to overpower him? Lie to him? Physically drag him into the car? Then he’d have an even bigger meltdown and they’d be in a moving vehicle.

She dug her fingernails into her palms, fighting for calm.

This situation was her and the Reinhards in a nutshell. All the Reinhards. They decided what they wanted, and she went along.

What must it feel like to fight for what you wanted, even when everything seemed lined up against you? What must it feel like to claim your own power? Like Ben said…when are you going to go after what you want?

What did she want?

She wanted to stay in Jupiter Point. With Ben.

Of course, she also wanted Felix to be safe. But damn it, Felix was making some good points. Between Ben and Will and Tobias, and even the Reinhards, they had a lot of backup. And if Felix really had learned everything he could about his kidnapper, why not try to find the man and get him arrested?

This time, maybe running was not the answer.

She whooshed out a deep breath, hoping she was doing the right thing here.

“You know something, you’re right, Felix. I mean, you’re also wrong. It’s not cool what you’re doing right now. I’m really unhappy with you. Except that I’m also extremely happy you’re okay, so I can’t even be mad. And I’m starting to think you have a good point.”

“I do have a good point.”

God, the confidence of a Reinhard. Maybe some of it would rub off on her.

“Let’s go back to Jupiter Point. I’ll take you to your mom, we’ll go see Will, and you can tell him every detail you picked up about the bad guy.”

Slowly, Felix’s stiff form and clenched fists relaxed. He pushed his glasses farther up his nose and took in deep breaths, the way he’d learned when he needed to calm himself.

In typical Felix way, he didn’t apologize or gloat, but simply said, “Let’s go then.”

She laughed ruefully, then opened the door and led the way outside.

As soon as she set foot on the pavement, something hit her from the side. Rough arms grabbed her, and a hand came over her mouth.

A man. Not just a man…the man. She remembered everything about how this felt—the powerlessness, the meaty push of his chest against her, the heavy weight of his arms digging into her sides.

Not just his arms—something sharp as well, pricking at her ribs. A knife?

“Why won’t you ever fucking listen to me?” he growled in her ear. “Why can’t you just go away and stay away? I didn’t want to hurt you. But now I have to.”