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“What do you know about it? You had your crazy aunt Biddie to look after you.”
Anger caught hold of me like a sudden fire. “Don’t you dare say anything about my aunt. She was not crazy.”
“Okay, whoa, tiger.” Russo looked at me and then Heather. “Girls, I’m on your side. I’m all you have in this world, and I plan to take good care of my little sisters. You’ll thank me one of these days for pulling you from the toxicity of modern life.”
“You can’t keep us here against our will.” I spoke calmly but firmly. “And neither of us wants to be here. Doesn’t that matter to you? We’re not going to be a happy family here, because two of us just want to go home.”
Russo stilled, staring at me with steely gray eyes. “You say that now, but later you’ll see I was right. I had to save you two from the evils of the world. I brought you here to keep you safe, and someday you’ll thank me. There’s nothing but corruption out there. Society wants to eat you alive. Especially you two with your soft hearts. The world’s not made for people like you. Thankfully, your big brother’s here to look after you.”
16
CASPIAN
Iwoke to the sounds of someone shouting my name. My right shoulder throbbed in pain. Was it nighttime? Stars twinkled overhead. An almost full moon lit the river. How long had I been here? I’d been shot. The man with a gun. He’d shot me and taken Elliot. I had to find her.
I tried to sit up, but the pain was too intense, and I fell back onto the hard rocks. Listening for the sound of a voice, all I heard was gurgling water and rustling in the grass. Had I imagined the voices?
I reached up to touch my shoulder, sticky and damp with blood, and almost fainted from the pain. For a moment I lay there, sucking in deep breaths. I had to get up.
“Caspian.”
It was Rafferty’s voice from somewhere close.
“Here.” I meant to shout, but it sounded more like a whimper. “I’m here.” I lifted myself up and tried to stand. The effort was too much, and I crumpled to the ground and everything went black.
The next thing I knew, I woke in a hospital bed. I pried my eyes open to see Rafferty, Mama, and Pop surrounding me.
Mama rushed forward to take my hand. “How are you feeling?”
Nothing hurt. I felt high as a kite. They must have had me on strong painkillers. “I’m okay. Where am I?”
“You’re at a hospital in Bozeman,” Pop said, who stood on the other side of the bed. “When you didn’t come home and your brothers couldn’t get you or Elliot on your cell phones, they got worried. Thank God you told them where you were going. They found you passed out on the riverbank and called for help. You’ve been shot in the right shoulder. The surgeon was able to remove the bullet, and he believes you’re going to be fine after a few weeks’ recovery.”
What about Elliot? Panic rose up from my gut and made my head spin. “Elliot. He took her.”
“We gathered that,” Pop said. “Or, rather, the police did.”
“There’s a search out for the man and Elliot,” Mama said. “The police want to ask you what you remember. When you’re ready.”
“Get them in here. I remember it well. Up until I was shot, anyway.” The scene played before me again, like a movie. The man had been large, like a linebacker, and had a receding hairline. What was left of his hair looked almost like a mane around his head.
“I’ll get the detective,” Pop said.
Rafferty took Pop’s place, looking into my eyes with the gaze of a doctor, not a brother.
“I must be bad if I’m in here,” I said to him.
“You lost a lot of blood,” Rafferty said, tightly. “We weren’t sure you were going to make it.”
“How long have I been here?”
Mama stroked my hair. “You were admitted around ten this evening and went right into surgery. It’s almost two in the morning now.”
“Soren and Thad organized the whole town. They’re all out looking for Elliot,” Rafferty said.
“I heard a car engine,” I said. “After I was shot. He took her away in a vehicle of some kind. She could be anywhere.”
“The police thought so too,” Mama said.
