Audrey stood next to the door, trying to peer through the tiny crack between the door jamb and the wall. "I haven't heard anything since the door slammed early this morning. I think we're alone."

Beth pressed her ear against the wall in a vain attempt to hear something that would tell them of Sam's whereabouts. She shrugged, glancing at Audrey.

"Get off the bed, Beth. I have an idea." She waved her hands to the side.

She picked up the lumpy mattress, and with Beth's help, flipped it over. The ragged box spring beneath, torn in some places, revealed both a weapon and a tool.

"The springs," Beth said. "Do you think we can pry one out? We can do it, I know we can, if we can just get hold...." She reached for what looked like the loosest one and gave a sharp tug. Speckles of rust came away in her hand, as well as a piece of the spring, about four inches long.

"Sweet."

Audrey grabbed another, broke it off, then another. Soon a little pile of metal sat on the floor. She sat back, panting from fear and exertion and glanced at the door.

"We have to make a plan, Beth, a good one." She rose from the bed and walked to what they felt was an exterior wall. Already, the morning sun warmed it in spots, reaffirming their earlier suspicions.

Beth knelt on the floor and gently began scraping down the edges of the boards that made the wall. Unfinished and without benefit of drywall, the exposed wood crumpled with age. She continued to scrape, encouraged by her success. Soon Audrey knelt beside her, working about two feet over.

"If we ever get these boards pried loose, we can squeeze through the crack. Then we can get away."

"Do you have any idea where we are?" Beth glanced sideways at Audrey. "I managed to see trees, lots of big trees, so we're in a woods, I know that."

"I'm from Costa Mesa, down by the beach. Orange County. I was out of it, even when we got here; I never saw a thing. How about you?"

"I don't know this area at all. I'm from Del Mar, up the coast a ways. Looks like even when we get out of here, we're still in trouble."

"I know, but it'll be an improvement from here. Besides, there aren't wild animals around San Diego, and even if we're up in the hills, it's just coyotes and bob cats. We'll still be safer there than here. He's never going to let us go alive. I don't mean to scare you, Beth, but that's just the truth."

"I know. If this were a TV show, we'd already be dead."

They continued to dig and pry at the boards. Hours passed and two very distinct cracks filled with sunshine, began to widen.

"Move out of the way, Beth, I'm gonna lay down and give it a kick."

Audrey rolled over on her back and with one quick, sharp motion, jammed the ball of her heel into the center of the board. The screech of protest was ear-shattering, at least to the two girls. Gasping, they both stared from the broken board to the door and back again.

"Oh, my God, thank you, Lord. Oh, I'm so outa here." Audrey pushed and shoved, further weakening the board. Puffs of lovely fresh air wafted into the room.

"Take a rest and let me do some, too." Beth took her place, strong athletic legs pushed hard. Several more blows from her heels widened the space with another sickening shriek, the board moved farther out. Almost there.

"Stop!" Audrey grabbed the leg in mid air. "Listen. Oh, no, it's a car. Oh, God, he's back. If he sees this board, he'll kill us."

Petrified, the girls pulled the board back toward them, raced across the room and replaced the mattress over the box spring.

Frantic, Beth scooped up the little pile of broken springs, ran to the bathroom and placed them behind the toilet. She hurried back to Audrey and they huddled together, staring at the door, terrified.

***

Lenny and Jim drove into the lot and parked next to the Jag.

"Terry said they're sitting on the back patio of a little cafe, so I guess we can bring the dogs."

"They need to get out and stretch their legs anyway. If it's too crowded we can bring them back to the SUV."

Ella waved as they approached the table. "Hey, that was fast." She returned Jim's kiss and scooted over to make room under the table for Tony.

The waitress approached the tables, a grin on her face. "Oh, my goodness, we have a pack of Pinschers." She chuckled at herself and nodded to Jim. "I have one. Absolutely the most fun dog in the world. Is there a dog show in town or something? Cause if they don't have to be AKC registered, my Lady would do great."

"Nah, they just love to travel. No dog show."

With a shrug of disappointment, she took their drink order, soon returning with two bottles of beer. They ordered sandwiches and began to catch up.

Terry took the clown out of the bag and showed it to Lenny.

"Man, that's incredible." He turned it over in his hand, checking out the back of the head. "I can't imagine there are too many artists of this quality out there that are into clowns." He handed the doll to Jim. "What do you make of that?"

"Intricate detail here, and you're right. I can't see all that many folks specializing in stuff like this, but I bet there's a huge market. The workmanship is excellent. Very talented artist."

The waitress served their lunch, which went down very quickly. Twenty minutes later they stood outside the curio shop.

"Jim and I have to go inside and we don't want to bring the dogs, so can you girls wait with them here while we go in and find out about Sam's clown?"

They nodded, accepting the leashes.

Ella shrugged at Terry. "You notice how I'm the only one who won't get to see the inside of that shop?" She handed Terry two more leashes, repeated the command to stay and said, "I won't be long and they won't move. I want to see the stuff, too." With a grin, she followed Jim and Lenny into the shop.


Lenny advanced on the clerk with a smile. "Hi, I'm wondering if I could speak to the owners? We're looking for the owner of a special clown we think was made here."

Before the clerk could answer, a middle aged woman entered the shop, waving at the girl. "Hi, Amanda. Is Dad here yet?"

Lenny turned toward the woman and grinned. "Do you paint all these incredible masks?"

"No," she said, shaking her head and returning the smile. "My husband does that. I make the costumes." She placed a brown paper bag under the counter beneath the cash register then nodded. "Are you guys looking for anything in particular?"

"Actually, we are. We're wondering about a certain clown. It looked angry, like a fright mask. The eyes were shaped like starbursts and the mouth opened in an O showing pointy teeth. Does that sound familiar?"

"Oh, yes, we did one like that for a young man. He gave Harry a good idea of what he wanted and when he picked it up, he seemed very pleased ... said he wanted it for his girlfriend."

"Do you happen to know his name? How about a description?"

"He was very good looking, remember, Amanda? You comment on it every time he comes in." She grinned at the girl, eyes twinkling.

"His name is Sam and I'm not sure, but I think he lives fairly close by. I remember Harry got the mask done ahead of schedule and when he called Sam and told him he could come by and pick it up in the morning, Sam asked how much longer we'd be open. Harry told him ten minutes, and he was here in no time."

"What was Sam like to talk to? Did you spend much time with him, Amanda?"

"No, not really. He was nice enough, kinda quiet. I only talked with him once or twice." With a self-conscious grin, she added. "He sure was cute. Dark brown hair and eyes, very dark. Maybe 5'10", maybe a bit less. Regular build. Can't really remember much else."

"How about you, ma'am? Do you remember anything more?"

"Well, I just remembered I didn't ask you why you want to know." Her face took on a cool expression. "Are you cops?"

"I'm a retired LAPD homicide detective." Lenny handed her his card. "Now I'm a private investigator. I work with Jim, here." He turned to his partner and nodded.

"We're trying to find the guy with this clown. He's a suspect in a kidnapping case we're working on behalf of the missing girl's parents."

"Kidnapping? My God, you can't be serious."

"Yes, we are, and we need to find the girl. Her name is Beth Chapman. She's fifteen. She went to Sea World with her best friend's family. Along the way, they met this guy. He lured her out of the park and we haven't heard from her since."

Jim glanced from Amanda to her mother. "You can see why any information you have that might lead us to him is very important. Time is of the essence. Statistics show she's running out of time."

"Oh, Mom, I recognize that name from the TV. She's an Amber Alert."

The older woman nodded, reaching out in appeal. "Like I said, I think he lives close by, maybe in the hills around here. Lots of places hidden away in the hills. Like I said, he got here in five or six minutes once, but really, that's all I know about him."

"How about a car? Did you ever see it?" Jim glanced from mother to daughter. "It's really important."

"I did." Amanda nodded several times. "'98 Honda, dark gray, the back wheel on the driver's side is missing a hubcap. At least it was the last time I saw it; don't know more, but the last two numbers of the plate were 8's."

Lenny's cell rang. He excused himself and moved to a far corner of the store.

"Browning here." He nodded. "Dana. What's up?" He leaned against a counter, his face suddenly pale. "Shit. Where from?" He listened for a while longer, nodded and snapped the cell shut.

Lenny walked over to Jim, shaking his head. "Dana just called. The bastard just got another girl."

"Call her back. Tell her we got a make on the car. '98 Honda Accord, left rear wheel missing a hubcap, license plate ends with two eights."