Operation Xoxo. Elle James

the car, she warned them that she was the only person allowed to pick them up and they were not to talk to strangers. Ever.

      Brandon nodded, his face somber.

      Luke bounced out of the car, shouting, “Okay, Mom.”

      On her drive to work, she almost wrecked when she saw a man who vaguely resembled Stan. She circled the street, looking for him, but he’d disappeared. By the time she arrived at the school, she swore she’d seen at least a dozen Stan Klaus look-alikes.

      This is crazy! How could she live like this, scared of every man with brown hair and brown eyes?

      Afraid someone would stop her in the hallway and ask her what was wrong, she ducked into her classroom and hid behind her computer, hoping no one would talk to her before class started. What could she say? I’m not sleeping well because my demented, serial-killer husband is not dead like I thought.

      Ten minutes before the bell rang for second period and Elise’s first class, Gerri Finch flounced into the room, a sullen Ashley in tow. “Ms. Johnson, what do you mean by giving my Ashley three tardies in your class?”

      At barely eight in the morning, after a sleepless night of worry, Elise was in no mood to put up with Gerri. “Did you ask Ashley?”

      “Don’t get flippant with me. I pay your salary out of the god-awful amount of taxes I pay each year. Don’t think I can’t pull the plug on your little vendetta against my little girl.”

      Elise would bet Gerri Finch hadn’t worked a day in her life and if she had, she hadn’t paid a dime of taxes. As the general manager of one of the larger auto dealerships in San Antonio, her husband raked in a six-figure salary plus bonuses, enabling him to keep his wife and daughter in the manner to which they’d become accustomed.

      “Oh, Mom.” Ashley tugged against her mother’s clawlike grip. “Just leave it.”

      “I will not. She’s been out to get you since the first day of school and I won’t have it.” Gerri’s voice rose with each word she said until she was yelling.

      “Ms. Finch, my class starts in five minutes. Unless you plan to stay and keep quiet, I suggest you take your complaint to the principal’s office.” To Ashley, she said, “You’ve been late to class five times. The rule says three tardies and you’re in Saturday school. I gave you two freebies.” Elise raised her brows at the girl. “Didn’t I, Ashley?”

      Ashley shrugged instead of answering.

      Gerri stepped between Ashley and Elise. “If she goes to Saturday school, she’ll miss the cheer competition. She’s captain of the cheerleading squad, for chrissake.”

      “Then maybe she should set the example for her peers and get to class on time.” Elise stood and herded the mother and daughter toward the door where students waited to get in. “I’m following the rules, Ms. Finch. Now, if you’ll excuse me, the bell is about—”

      As Elise opened the classroom door, the earsplitting school bell blared in the hallway.

      Teenagers filed in looking no more rested than she felt, but probably possessing a lot more energy.

      Elise braced herself for the day ahead, wondering if she’d get a moment to call Paul and Melissa for an update.

      Gerri glared at her over the heads of the teens. “I’ll take this matter to the principal. Just you wait. We’re not through yet.”

      Oh, goody. One more thing to worry about. As if she didn’t have enough on her mind with a death threat. She stared after Gerri Finch. Could the pushy mother be the one who’d sent her the letter? She certainly had access to the school. She volunteered on occasion and knew every teacher by name.

      Elise made a mental note to talk to Paul about Gerri. In the meantime, she had a full day of teaching to get through before she could meet up with the FBI agents later that afternoon.

      The day passed much like the others in her teaching job. With the added stress of the note, she fought to be patient with the teens. Every minor thing was a major problem to them. Drama, always drama. The “me” mentality wouldn’t let them see past their own little worlds to the bigger, harsher world outside Breuer, Texas.

      On good days, Elise put herself in their shoes and tried to empathize, but today…not a chance. What to wear to the football game on Friday was the last thing she considered important.

      How to survive a serial killer ranked just a bit higher on her list.

      If the constant chatter wasn’t bad enough, Caesar Valdez was up to his usual tricks, as well, in her last class of the day. Her challenging class, as the seasoned teachers called it. The young man couldn’t sit still to save his life. After Elise had told him to return to his seat for the fourth time, she snapped.

      “Caesar, I can’t teach when you’re interrupting the class constantly. Go to the principal’s office. You can spend the rest of the week in the Student Alternative Center.”

      Caesar stood, puffed out his chest and said, “No.”

      Elise blinked, surprised by his blatant refusal to do as he was told. “What do you mean by no?”

      He shrugged, his lip curling into a sneer. “No.”

      The bell chose that moment to ring, indicating the end of the longest day of Elise’s life.

      While most of the students grabbed their books and raced for the door, Caesar stood his ground.

      “That’s fine, Caesar. I’ll inform the principal of your behavior. She can deal with it.”

      “Why don’t you deal with it?” He stepped forward until he was only two feet away from her.

      Her personal space threatened, Elise refused to back down. “Just because you’re bigger than me, doesn’t mean you can push me around, Caesar. Back off.”

      “You heard her, Caesar. Back off.” Kendall dropped her backpack on her desk and stepped up beside Elise.

      “That’s right. We’re tired of you pushing people around.” Alex moved to stand on Elise’s other side.

      Caesar’s brows rose at the united front. After a quick glance around at the room still full of his peers, Caesar’s glare returned. “You three don’t scare me. You can’t do anything to me.”

      “Maybe they can’t, but I can.” Paul Fletcher stepped through the doorway and stood a good six inches taller than Caesar. His muscular chest was developed and solid. Not to mention, Paul was a trained federal agent and he looked like it, from the way he stood to the cold look he directed toward Caesar.

      Elise let the breath out that she’d been holding. Glad for the interference, she knew she’d ultimately pay for not dealing with the problem herself. Now that Paul had stepped in, Caesar would find another time to test her and possibly Kendall and Alex. Not good.

      Caesar stared at Paul as if weighing his options and then he shrugged. “I got better things to do.” He pushed past Paul and left the room.

      “You okay?” Paul looked at her with a concerned frown.

      With a half-dozen students still gawking, she squared her shoulders and nodded. “Yes. I’m fine. Just another day in the classroom.” She shot a glance at the teens still standing around, her eyebrows rising. “Don’t you have homes to go to?”

      They ducked their heads and scurried out the door, except for Alex and Kendall.

      “I can’t believe what Caesar tried to pull. Someone needs to take him down.” Kendall threw back her shoulders as if she’d like to be the one to do it—all five foot two of girl with attitude. “We’ve got enough going on around here without him playing the class jerk.”

      Elise grabbed Kendall’s arm. “You be careful around him. He’s got a lot more bulk to him than you, and apparently he’s not afraid to throw it around.”

      “He