Chapter Fifteen
Avery glanced over at Gianna sitting in her rocking chair, a handmade quilt over her damaged legs.
She’d always been a little jealous that Gianna had a television in her bedroom, but felt bad about that now.
Gianna couldn’t do everything Avery could—she couldn’t run, could walk only with help, and was always in pain.
She deserved to have the luxury of a television mounted above her dresser.
Now, she hoped to distract her friend from what was happening.
“Wanna watch something on TV?” she asked. She tried to keep her voice light, but it cracked slightly at the end.
Gianna didn’t answer right away. Her eyes flicked toward the curtained window, the one they hadn’t dared to touch since being locked in. Then she looked at Avery.
“No,” she whispered. “They’re going to kill us.”
Avery’s stomach flipped. Her chest tightened as if someone had cinched a belt around her ribs. “They’re not,” she said emphatically. But the words felt like a lie. She wanted to believe the man was telling the truth, but she was just as scared as Gianna.
Gianna’s voice rose, trembled. “We saw them, Avery. They’re not gonna let us go. We can identify them.”
Avery’s throat burned. “We’re going to get out of this. I promise, we’ll find a way.” She said it like a vow, as if the sheer force of her will would give her an idea to escape.
Then the bedroom door slammed open, the knob banging against the wall leaving a mark. Avery prayed her mother hadn’t decided to come by, that Bobby had gone home, that no one else was going to be trapped with these dangerous people.
The broad man with the hard jaw and dark eyes stood in the threshold. Avery jumped, and Gianna whimpered. They both instinctively shrank back. He slapped zip ties against his palm. Avery stared at them, sickly mesmerized. She knew what was going to happen and was helpless to stop it.
Tears spilling freely, Gianna cried, “Please don’t hurt us.”
“I’m not gonna hurt you,” he said flatly, “if you behave.”
He stepped into Gianna’s bedroom, looming like a thundercloud. “If everything goes smooth, we’re outta here in a couple hours.”
Gianna sobbed harder.
He frowned and pointed at Avery. “You. Come here.”
“What are you doing?” Avery snapped, trying to sound strong, but her voice trembled. She forced herself to stand, legs wobbling. She would not cry. She had to act strong, no matter how scared she was.
“I have an errand, it won’t take long, and I’m not leaving you two free to pull any stunts.”
An errand? Avery’s heart pounded. If he left—if—maybe she could reach a phone. Or scream. Or—
He spun her around and snapped the zip tie around her wrists, tight enough to sting. She gasped as he pushed her down onto the hardwood floor.
“Ow!” Her tailbone struck hard, pain shooting up her spine.
“Sorry,” he said in a tone filled with humor. He grabbed her ankles and cinched them together. She winced. “You’ll be fine,” he said.
Then he moved to Gianna, who cried softly as he bound her in the same way, but let her remain sitting in the rocking chair. He looked at her with a hint of concern, which surprised Avery. “You’re okay, right?” He actually sounded like he cared.
Gianna nodded, still crying.
“I’m not going to hurt you, girl, not if you behave.
I told you that earlier, and I mean it. But this”—he motioned to their bound limbs—“is just in case either of you gets an idea while I’m gone that you can sneak out.
And I let your parents go sit in the living room, so they’re a little more comfortable. I’m not a monster.”
“Did you tie them up, too?” Avery demanded.
He grinned. “Yeah, I did, they’re fine. But you’re not going to be here alone. My partners are staying behind. Remember, one of my people is hurt, and I can’t risk bravery and stupidity at the same time. Got it? If you try anything, you will be hurt. That, I promise. This is almost over.”
Gianna nodded, trembling.
Avery didn’t flinch. She glared at him with more hatred than she thought she had in her soul.
He smirked at her like she amused him, winked, then stepped out and pulled the door shut.
Avery stuck out her tongue at the door. It was stupid, but made her feel a little better.
Then she turned to Gianna, whose face was wet with tears.
“We’re gonna get out of this,” Avery said again, her voice low, firm. “I promise.”
Brock stepped into the bedroom, quietly closing the door behind him. Rena sat cross-legged on the queen-sized bed, talking to Sam, holding a damp cloth to Sam’s sweaty forehead.
“How is he?” Brock asked.
“His fever’s climbing,” Rena said. “The pain meds helped, but the buckshot’s still in there. He needs a hospital, Brock.”
“I know.” His jaw clenched.
“I’m good,” Sam croaked, flashing a wan grin. “I’m just lying here for the view.”
“You’re not good,” Rena snapped, brushing a strand of hair from his clammy face. “You’re playing tough, but it’s only going to get worse.”
Brock paced a few steps, stared out the window. The trees outside dipped under the weight of the increasing rain. He had to go, but he was nervous about leaving Rena and Sam here alone. What if someone else came to the house? What if that kid’s mother calls and no one answers?
This was all going south fast.
“Everyone’s tied up,” he said finally. “I just need to collect the last contract and deliver it to Robinson. Then I’ll call, you get Sam ready, and then we’re gone.”
Rena’s eyes narrowed. “What do we do about everyone here?” She motioned toward the door.
“They stay tied. Someone’ll be by tomorrow when the girl doesn’t come home. Cops, maybe. But by then, we’ll be far out of Texas.”
“We should leave now. Forget the contract. Forget the money. I don’t care anymore.”
Sam said, “We can’t, sis. I agree with Brock, we finish the job. I can go now. We don’t need to stay here. I’ll just lie down in the back—”
“No,” Brock said. “It’s too risky, and you’re better off here in bed. I know where I’m going, I’ll circle back here and get you both. One hour, ninety minutes, tops.”
Rena reached for his hand. “One hour. Promise me.”
He nodded. “If I call you, and I don’t come back, you take their truck and drive south. Get Sam to a clinic where nobody asks questions.”
“I’m not leaving you behind.”
“You will. If it all goes sideways, I’ll give Robinson up, throw him to the wolves if I need to. But you don’t stay. I need to know that you and Sam are safe.”
A beat of silence.
“Rena, say it. Say you agree with the plan.”
Her lips trembled. Finally, she nodded.
He leaned in, kissed her on the lips. What he’d give to be home, with Rena in his arms. Or playing card games with Sam.
He should never have taken this job. But the money …
Damn, the money was so good. He’d worked for Robinson a few times over the years.
Nothing like this had happened. The jobs had been simple, breezy, in and out, get paid.
This job was supposed to be simple. It had been anything but.
“One more thing. The redhead—Avery? She’s smart. Dangerous-smart. Don’t trust her. Keep this door open. Listen. But don’t untie anyone. I mean it. No matter what happens, no matter what they say.”
Rena nodded again. “Hurry back,” she whispered as he walked out.
Bobby huddled in the hayloft, his damp hoodie clinging to his skin, breath shallow as he peered through the knothole in the barn wall. The rain had started as a drizzle. Now it drummed steadily on the barn roof.
He should have gone home. He should have left when Avery told him to go home.
He had come to that conclusion after thinking hard about what he should do.
He had been about to leave when he heard the stranger on the porch and, from Bobby’s vantage point in the barn, he watched as the angry man was talking about doing one more job or something like that. Then he’d leave.
As soon as the man left, Bobby could go inside, and find out what was really going on.
What if he hurt his sister? What if he took her?
Bobby didn’t want anything to happen to his sister.
The man had been on the phone for only a few minutes, then he went back inside and Bobby decided to wait it out. He should go home, but if the man really did leave, Bobby had to be here to help Avery and the Mendozas.
And he was terrified to leave the barn for fear that someone would see him and he’d be trapped in the house with everyone else. At least from his vantage point he could keep an eye on everything and when the stranger left, he would go help them.
Then suddenly, the sound of a diesel engine roared to life.
Bobby flinched, his heart pounding so hard in his chest it hurt. He leaned closer to the hole and saw the black truck pull out of the garage, churning mud behind its tires.
He waited until he didn’t hear the truck anymore, then he climbed down the ladder as fast as he dared, his feet slipping on the slick rungs.
Avery’s ATV was right there, between the barn and the garage.
Carefully, he opened the door … the wind pulled it from his hand so roughly that his palm was raw.
He winced and looked down at the angry wet scrape.
He shook it out, hoping the pain would go away fast. He looked both ways, saw no one, and ran the ten feet to the ATV.
The key wasn’t in the ignition.
He checked the rear compartment where they often put keys for safekeeping.
Not there, either.
“Dang it,” he muttered.
He had to make a choice: go home on foot through the mud and rain, risking running into the black truck coming back from wherever it had gone … or risk sneaking into the house.
He chose his sister.
Bobby crept around the garage, sticking to the shadows.
The rain soaked him, his socks squishing in his boots.
They were supposed to be waterproof, but the rain came down through the openings around his ankles.
Still, he kept moving toward the house. He didn’t want to walk across the porch because if someone else was inside, they might see him.
He reached the back windows, stood on tiptoe, and was still too short.
Bobby ran back to the barn, grabbed a wooden crate, carried it back to the first window. Climbed onto the crate, peered inside.
A large bed, unmade. Dresser with clutter. A desk and a chair and a rocking chair and a pile of yarn. Mr. and Mrs. Mendoza’s bedroom, he thought. No one was there.
He brought the crate over to the second window, climbed up, and saw Gianna’s face practically right there. He tapped on the glass.
Gianna turned, surprise on her face. It was her bedroom, he realized, and she was probably freaked out seeing him in the window.
He smiled, then he saw Avery on the floor and became confused. She had her hands behind her back and he realized she was tied up.
Avery jerked; her eyes wide.
He mouthed, “Are they all gone?”
She shook her head frantically, then turned, eyes darting toward the open bedroom door.
Bobby squinted through the rain-spotted glass.
A woman stepped into the hallway, directly into his line of sight. She froze when she saw him.
Her mouth fell open in surprise—then rage.
Avery screamed, “Run, Bobby! Run!”
He jumped down from the crate, his foot slipping.
Pain flared in his ankle as he hit the mud, but he shook it out as he scrambled to his feet and sprinted around the back of the garage, then behind the barn, and into the muddy fields.
He thought he heard a shout behind him, but then he only heard the rain and thunder and the hammering of his own heartbeat.
He didn’t look back.