Avery swallowed her own panic. She’d seen that man’s face. Bad guys didn’t want to be identified. Would they leave them unharmed tonight as he’d told Gianna?
“And you don’t know what they want?” she asked.
Gianna wiped her face with the back of her hand and shook her head. “They came in the middle of the night, during the storm. A man and woman carrying another man. They put him in the guest room and the woman has been with him most of the time. They forced Mom to help them. Mom thinks there’s still a bullet inside and that’s why he’s not going to get better, at least not until they get it out. But this morning I overheard them all talking about how after tonight, they would disappear, but thatSam—that’s the guy who was shot—needed a doctor. So, I don’t know what they’re going to do.”
Avery didn’t know what to do, either. If she was discovered crawling out the window, they might hurt her or Gianna’s family. And if she got away, they still might hurt them.
“Bobby,” Avery whispered. For the first time she felt truly terrified.
“Your brother?”
“He’s searching for that stray cat who’s been in our barn. She disappeared during the hailstorm and he went to the old equipment shed, but he’s going to meet me here.”
She bit her lip. Maybe she could get out the window and use the radio,thenreturn before they figured it out?
“I’m going to get my radio, tell Bobby to go home and get help. I’ll be back in less than five minutes. They won’t even know I left.”
Gianna bit her lip. “Be careful.”
Avery slowly, carefully, slid open the window next to Gianna’s bed. It was in the back of the house and couldn’t be seen from the kitchen window, but she’d have to run around the backside of the garage to reach her ATV, otherwise they might see her if they were still in the kitchen.
The drop wasn’t too far, and she slipped out the window and landed in the mud, barely noticing the sharp leaves of the holly bush scratching her arms as she brushed past them.
She ran around the back of the garage and considered just for a minute that maybe she should leave and get help. She didn’t want to go back into the house. She didn’t want to see that man ever again.
But what if they killed everyone before Ryan’s dad, the sheriff, arrived? Avery would never be able to live with herself if her fear resulted in people she cared about dying.
Just make sure Bobby doesn’t come here, Avery told herself. Tell him to go get help. That was the smart thing to do.
She rounded the garage to the narrow spot where she’d parked her ATV and ran right into the man who answered the door. Heseemed just as surprised to see her, but then he narrowed his eyes and grabbed her arm. “I came out to make sure you came alone, and good thing.” He held her radio in his other hand. “Don’t be stupid, Avery, and this will all be over tomorrow.”
Tomorrow? If she didn’t come home, her mom would send Jake for her or come herself. She couldn’t bear for anyone in her family to be hurt.
As if he could read her mind, he said as he half dragged her to the house, “You’ll let your parents know that you’re spending the night with your good friend Gianna, and then no one will bother us. Understood?”
She nodded, because she didn’t know what else to say or do.
She was stuck. How was she going to warn Bobby?
CHAPTER SEVEN
Uncle Travis was waiting on the small porch for Jake when he drove up on the ATV, Timber strapped to the attached trailer. It had taken far longer than it should have to reach Travis’s house because Jake didn’t dare cross the muddy fields even on the ATV as the uneven terrain could have toppled the sled. As it was, he had to take it slow along the road because of the extensive damage from last weekend’s storm.
Titan, Timber’s brother, bounded down the stairs to greet Jake. He immediately went to the sled and sniffed Timber, then whimpered and paced.
Travis limped down the worn stairs. He looked angry and said, “What the hell happened, Jake?”
“I told you. Someone robbed Baldwin, shot Timber. I don’t know much more than that.”
“Is Baldwin okay?”
Jake shrugged and shook his head at the same time. “It doesn’t look good, but he was alive when they put him on the medical chopper.”
Travis shook his head as he approached the sled. He gruntedas he squatted next to the dog. Timber looked up at him with sorrowful eyes. Travis petted his head while looking at his bloody hind leg. “We’ll get you fixed up, boy,” Travis said, his voice cracking. “I’ll help you get him inside, put him on the dining-room table. I already prepped the space.”
“Uncle Travis,” Jake said when his uncle unbuckled the straps. “I’ll do it.”
“I’m not a fucking invalid,” Travis muttered.
