Edgewise by Graham Masterton

Tasha and Sammy. But we may have some kind of a lead to the people who took them.”
    She led them into the living room. “You look frozen. Can I get you something hot to drink?”
    â€œNo, we’re fine,” said Special Agent Rylance. “We don’t want to take up too much of your time.”
    â€œHere, sit by the fire,” she said.
    Special Agent Rylance unbuttoned his overcoat and sat down. “We had a report less than an hour ago that these FLAME lunatics have attacked another estranged wife—in Winona this time—and kidnapped her son.”
    â€œThat’s terrible. Was the woman badly hurt?”
    â€œThat’s the reason we came around to see you personally,” said Special Agent Kellogg. “The woman suffered third-degree burns and she died on the way to the hospital. We didn’t want you to hear it for the first time on the TV news.”
    Lily said, “Oh my God. How can anyone be so sadistic?”
    â€œHard to understand, isn’t it? But people do all kinds of terrible things to each other, every day of the week.”
    â€œThe woman was only twenty-nine,” said Special Agent Rylance. “Her son was four.”
    â€œDo you think it was the same men who tried to kill me?”
    Special Agent Rylance nodded. “A neighbor saw them leaving the apartment. One of them was wearing a headdress like the one you described, with horns.”
    â€œThe neighbor also saw their vehicle, a black Toyota SUV.”
    â€œWe’ll find them, Mrs. Blake,” said Special Agent Kellogg. “And when we do, there’s every chance that we’ll be able to locate your ex-husband, too.”
    For a moment, Lily was tempted to tell Special Agents Rylance and Kellogg what had happened in Black Crow Valley that afternoon—the chanting, and the bone-rattling, and the dim, flickering light behind the trees. But it all seemed so unreal, and she didn’t want them to know how gullible she had been. How could a Native American spirit find Tasha and Sammy when the FBI couldn’t? A Wendigo? Much more likely that it was a hoax—a setup constructed from strobe lights and loudspeakers.
    Special Agent Rylance said, “We’ll keep you informed of any developments, Mrs. Blake. Meanwhile, as usual, if
you
hear anything . . .”
    â€œOf course,” Lily told him.
    Lily was spooning Purina Dog Chow into Sergeant’s bowl when the FLAME story came on Channel 41 news that night.
    Jerry Duncan, the newscaster, said, “. . . Ms. Whitney’s robe was drenched in water. Then she was tied to a kitchen chair, doused in gasoline, and set alight. She died of her burns before the ambulance could reach the Community Memorial Hospital.
    â€œHer four-year-old son, Dean, was kidnapped from his bedroom and so far his whereabouts remain unknown. Police are looking for his father, Morris Whitney, whose last address was in Good-view. Mr. Whitney was apparently involved in a series of legal wrangles with his former wife over access and alimony.”
    Lily immediately stood up and walked through to the kitchen, just as a wedding picture of the Whitneys was flashed on to the TV screen. They were both laughing, Lily couldn’t help thinking how ordinary they looked: Mr. and Mrs. Happy Average.
    Jerry Duncan continued, “Less than an hour ago, Channel 41 News received a webcam message from a man claiming to represent the men’s action group FLAME—Fathers’ League Against Mothers’ Evil. In recent months, FLAME has been committing increasingly violent acts against mothers who have been granted custody of their children after a divorce. In three cases they have kidnapped the children and presumably handed them over to their fathers, although all efforts by law enforcement agencies to find these children or their fathers have so far met with no success.
    â€œThe FLAME representative—who said that his name was ‘Victor