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He noticed movement on the side of the road, up ahead. Two
small figures, dressed in white pajamas. Josh and Kristen. He
slammed on the brakes.
He was out of the car and rushing toward them almost before the
jeep came to a halt. They cried out for him as they ran, and he bent
down to scoop them into his arms.
“You’re okay,” he murmured over and over, holding them in the
tight circle of his arms. “You’re okay, you’re okay.”
Kristen and Josh were both sobbing and hiccuping and at first he
didn’t understand what they were saying because they weren’t
talking about the fire. They were crying about a man with a gun,
that Miss Katie was fighting him, and then he suddenly knew
with chilling clarity what had happened.
He pushed them into the jeep and wheeled it around, racing
toward Katie’s house as his fingers punched the speed dial on his
cell phone. He reached a startled Joyce on the second ring and told
her to have her daughter drive her to Katie’s house now, that it
was an emergency, that she should call the police immediately.
Then he hung up.
Gravel sprayed as he came to a skidding halt in front of Katie’s
house.
He dropped the kids off and told them to run inside, that he
would be back for them as quick as he could. He counted off the
seconds as he turned around and gunned the engine for the store,
praying that he wasn’t too late.
Praying that Katie was still alive.
Kevin saw the gun in the same instant she did and dove for it,
reaching it first. He snatched it up and pointed it at her, enraged.
He grabbed her by the hair and put the gun to her head as he
began dragging her across the lot.