The New Year holidays came to an end. It was Dorothea's first day back at school.
At 3:20 PM, Avery arrived ten minutes early, parking her car on the opposite side of the street. The moment she killed the engine, she saw it-a dark business van parked to the right of the school gates, less than twenty meters from the entrance. The windows were tinted so heavily she couldn't see inside.
The engine was running, white exhaust puffing rhythmically from the tailpipe.
She stared at the van, her fingers tightening slowly around the steering wheel. Her heartbeat grew deafening in the silence of the car.
She remembered now. That van had been there frequently before the break. The license plate ended in V95. She had asked the gatekeeper about it once; he didn't recognize it as a parent's vehicle.
