Free Little Lost Angel by Michael Quinlan

and her studies suffered. She found a steady boyfriend and began to come out of the shell she’d built for herself. Unfortunately, her relationship with the boy ended when she learned he’d been with another girl, and Toni was eager now to find another boy she could be serious with.
    Toni spent a great deal of time with Hope and Laurie during this troubled time. Toni had not liked Laurie much before and had thought her too strange. But at this vulnerable stage Toni became intrigued with Laurie’s weird philosophy and behavior. Once she asked Laurie to spend the night with her. It was a disastrous evening. While sitting in Toni’s room, Laurie tried to show Toni how she relieved stress by cutting herself. Trouble was, Laurie cut herself so deeply she had to be taken to the hospital. After that episode Toni’sparents frowned on the friendship, and Toni pretty much agreed with them. She’d still see Laurie from time to time when she was with Hope, but she kept at a distance.
    When Hope called Toni and asked her to go to the hardcore concert with her and Laurie, Toni was a bit reluctant. She told Hope that Laurie’s strange ways scared her. But Hope was persistent. Laurie had let Hope in on Melinda’s plans for Shanda, but Hope purposely didn’t mention this to Toni. Instead, she pointed out that there would probably be a lot of cute boys at the concert. In Toni’s mind that outweighed any reservations she had about Laurie. She told Hope that she’d ask her mother if she could go.
    Glenda Lawrence said no. She didn’t want Toni going down to Louisville at night, particularly with someone as irresponsible as Laurie. Toni decided not to push it. Instead, she asked her mother if she could spend that Friday night with her friend Mikel Pommerehn. Mikel was a nice girl, one of the preppy crowd that Toni usually ran with, and Glenda Lawrence gave her approval. But Toni had no intention of staying with Mikel. She had come up with a scheme to fool her parents.
    “Can you cover for me tonight?” Toni asked Mikel the next day at school.
    “What do you mean?” Mikel asked.
    “I told my mom I was spending the night with you, but I’m going to a concert with Hope and Laurie.”
    “Ugh, Laurie Tackett,” Mikel said. “I don’t see why you hang around that girl.”
    “Come on, Mikel, be a friend,” Toni pleaded. “All you have to do is tell my mom I’m in the bathroom if she calls. It’s no big deal.”
    Mikel reluctantly agreed, and Toni was set. Hope had also lied to her parents, telling them that she was going to spend the night with a friend in a nearby town. That afternoon, Laurie picked up Toni and Hope in the school parking lot.
    Laurie seemed in great spirits, ready for an evening of fun. But she was seething inside. The day before, she’d gone to the home of her ex-boyfriend, Aron Hall, and asked him to get back together with her. Aron was fed up with Laurie,who’d cheated on him with Danielle. Aron had never understood Laurie’s obsession with witchcraft, and now he was hearing rumors around Madison that she was trying to join a Satanic cult. He told Laurie he didn’t want anything to do with her.
    “She said she was going to leave Madison because there was nothing to hold her there anymore,” Aron said later. “She was crying and said she was going to kill herself or kill someone else.”
    *  *  *
    The girls’ first stop was the Madison WalMart, where Laurie and Hope stole some batteries for Laurie’s CD player. Next they grabbed some hamburgers at a fast-food restaurant, bought gas and cigarettes at a convenience store, then headed toward New Albany. They were driving past the Indiana Army Ammunition Plant northeast of Jeffersonville when Laurie nudged Hope.
    “Have you told her about it yet?” Laurie asked.
    “About what?” Toni asked.
    When Hope didn’t volunteer the news, Laurie spoke up. “We’re going to kill a little girl.”
    “No you’re not,” Toni said, not eager to be the