The radio beeped, then Bobby said, “Avery, what are you doing? Are you still at the Mendozas? I’ll meet you there, okay? Over.”
She reached out for the radio and almost had it before the man clamped a hand around her wrist and squeezed. She winced.
“How old is your brother?” he demanded.
“T-ten,” she stammered.
“Shit. Fuck.” He slammed a fist on the table, causing a water glass to fall over. Rose Mendoza caught it before it rolled to the floor.
“Where do you live?” he asked her. When she didn’t immediately answer, he tightened his grip until she yelped. “I asked you a question,Avery.”
“About a mile down the road.”
“Who’s at your house?”
“My m-mom.” She blinked back tears.
“Okay, this is what you’re going to do. You are going to tell your brother that you are spending the night here with your friend Gianna. Tell him to go home without you. If you say or do anything different, I’ll first shoot your cute girlfriend, then I’ll find your brother and break his neck. Do you understand me?”
Rose groaned and stifled a cry, and Carl said, “There’s no reason to threaten anyone. We’re cooperating. Please.”
The man wasn’t looking at Carl. He stared at Avery and repeated, “Do you understand me, Avery?”
She nodded. Cleared her throat.
He let go of her wrist and pushed the radio toward her. “You blow this, people will die.”
She believed him.
Avery took a deep breath. Let it out slowly. Picked up the radio. Pressed the button. “Bobby? Um, I’m going to spend the night here. Go home. I’ll see you in the morning. Over.”
Half a minute later Bobby said, “Mom isn’t going to like that. We have chores. And you promised to help me find Cleo. Over.”
The man stared at her darkly, nodded once and motioned for her to respond.
“Mom will understand. I tried calling, but she’s probably in the barn. The Mendozas need help with their sheep and, um, Mr. Mendoza’s arthritis is really bad today and—”
The man pulled the radio from her grip and said to her, “Stop with the details because I don’t know if you’re trying to alert your brother or being truthful.”
“If Bobby goes home and tells Mom that I said I talked to her, she’ll get mad and call, maybe come over and—”
“I’ll take care of that. But if I see your little brother, I’m bringing him here, and you’ll have to deal with it.”
“Okay, okay.” She nodded frantically. “I understand!”
He handed her back the radio but with a warning. “Careful.”
She pressed the button. “Sorry, I dropped the radio. Just tell Mom I’m helping and I won’t be done before the rain starts, okay? I’ll see you tomorrow. And if Cleo doesn’t show up, we’ll go look for her again first thing in the morning. Over.”
A few seconds passed, then Bobby said, “Okay, if youpromiseyou’ll help me. Over.”
“I promise,” she said. “Over.”
The man took the radio. “That wasn’t so bad now, was it?”
“My mom’s going to call,” Avery said. “She’s not going to be happy.”
“And Carl and Rose are going to thank her profusely for letting you stay because they appreciate your help,” he said smugly.
