Military Heroes Bundle: A Soldier's Homecoming / A Soldier's Redemption / Danger in the Desert / Strangers When We Meet / Grayson's Surrender / Taking Cover

“Naw,” said Ethan, just as quietly. “I didn’t mind what she said, and you don’t want to change her because of this thing.”

“No.” She looked at him. “That really worries me. That this could change her.”

“Then don’t let it.”

“Easier said than done, I fear.”

Sophie waved to friends, skipping along tirelessly, eager to get to the park. Connie kept scanning for anything the least bit suspicious but saw nothing. Everyone who was there should have been there. Nobody lurked or seemed out of place.

And the farther they got from the school, the thinner the crowds became, until they were nearly by themselves.

“Where’s Jody?” Connie asked Sophie. “I didn’t see her. I thought the two of you were stuck together like bubblegum.”

Sophie giggled again and downshifted from skip to walk. “She didn’t come to school today. I think maybe she was sick.”

Connie’s heart slammed. “I’ll call and check on her.” What if something had happened to Jody? But then she reminded herself that Jody’s mother had been the first to learn of what had happened, apart from the police. So maybe she had just kept Jody at home today.

“I got a surprise for you,” she told Sophie.

“Yeah? What?”

“A cell phone.”

“Oh, boy!” Sophie let out a shriek of delight. “I get my own cell phone!”

“I got one for me, too, so when we get home, we’ll figure out how to work them, and then I’m going to give you some rules.”

Sophie’s face scrunched up. “Everything has rules.”

“Everything,” Connie agreed.

Sophie peered around at Ethan. “Do you have rules, too?”

“Lots of them,” he said. “More than you do, I bet.”

“How come?”

“Because I was a soldier.”

“Oh.”

“Lots of rules for soldiers.”

Sophie shook her head. “Not as many as my mom makes.”

Ethan laughed. “We’ll see about that.”

They reached the park without seeing anything unusual, which contradictorily both eased Connie’s mind and heightened her fear. No threat right now, but what if the threat was merely hiding and waiting?

She shook her head, trying to clear it of such thoughts. No good to think that way. Utterly useless worrying.

No one else was at the park. Not a single swing moved. Connie would have expected to see at least a few children, preschoolers out with their mothers, if nothing else. Cold winters made spring days welcome and cherished, but apparently everyone had hunkered down.

Ethan chose an open patch of ground between the swings and the baseball diamond, and set the ball down. “We’re just going to practice kicking it around, okay? Because there’s no one else here yet to play with.”

Sophie nodded and dropped her backpack on the ground. “Everyone’s scared because of that man yesterday.”

“Are you scared?”

“A little. But I’m not alone.”

“Right.” Ethan smiled. “Have you ever kicked a soccer ball before?”

“Once in gym class. I wasn’t very good.”

“Then we’ll work on making you the best kicker in your class.”

Sophie nodded. “Yeah. The best.”

“That’s what we’ll shoot for.”

Connie stepped back, giving them room and pretending to absently look around, although there was nothing absentminded in her surveillance of the area.

She listened while Ethan showed Sophie how to kick with the side of her foot, not her toe. Pretty soon she got the hang of it and was kicking the ball where she wanted it to go. Both Connie and Ethan applauded her efforts.

A few minutes later, Sophie and Ethan were kicking the ball back and forth, even running with it a bit, every move accompanied by Sophie’s cries of delight.

Connie would have bet Ethan hadn’t a thought to spare for anything except the little game he and Sophie were playing. But then, in one dreadful moment, she learned otherwise.

“Let’s go,” Ethan said. His tone was level. Connie’s gaze snapped to his face. He was looking at something behind her. Instinctively she whirled around, but she saw nothing.

“I don’t wanna go,” Sophie argued. “This is fun.”

“We’ll play more later,” Ethan said. “Connie, take Sophie home. She needs a drink of water.”

“But—”

Connie took her daughter’s hand. “Let’s go, sweetie.” She hoped her voice didn’t betray the sudden terror and tension she was feeling. “We’ve got cell phones to learn how to use, remember?”

Apparently that didn’t seem important, because Sophie continued to pout as she left with her mother.

Ethan dashed away, soccer ball abandoned on the field.

Chapter 7 (#ulink_b83fb21c-ef1f-5622-920d-54dcdbfd1e7b)

Connie paced, trying to ease the tension in every muscle of her body. Julia kept telling her daughter to calm down and have some coffee, but Connie hardly heard her. All she could think of was the way Ethan had looked—and the way he had suddenly run off.

He’d seen something. Someone had been watching them, she was sure of it. For the hundredth time, she went upstairs and checked on Sophie, who was already in command of her cell phone and calling friends on it.