Rena ran back to the house in full panic. She’d chased the kid so far in the storm that she thought she wouldn’t be able to find her way back; then the house came into view suddenly and the mix of relief and fear nearly brought her to her knees.
The kid got away. Hell, he could have climbed a tree and she wouldn’t have noticed because the rain was coming down so hard she could barely see two feet in front of her.
She burst into the kitchen, bringing in a blast of wind and rain. She slammed the door shut and picked up her cell phone. Dialed Brock. Willed him to answer.
He didn’t.
“Call me,” she said into his voicemail and then ended the call and went to Sam.
“Hey,” Sam said. “You’re drenched. What happened?”
Sam didn’t look great—pale, with dark circles under his eyes, blond hair matted to his head—but he was sitting up and there didn’t seem to be fresh blood coming through his bandage. That was a relief.
He still needed a doctor.
“The brother, Bobby, who Avery told to go home hours ago, he was peeking in through the windows. He can rat us out. We have to leave. But Brock isn’t answering the phone!”
“Shh,” Sam said. “It’s going to be okay.”
“No, it’s not. It’s not okay! You’re hurt, you need a doctor, we have fourhostages! We’ve never had hostages before. This is so much worse than anything we’ve ever done. I don’t know what to do.”
Her cell phone rang and she yelped before she grabbed it. “Brock?”
“What happened?”
She told him. Then, “We have to go. I’ll take their truck. Where?”
“There’s an empty house; the people are gone for the weekend. I double-checked, it’s safe. Go there, I’ll meet you. I have one more thing to do.” He gave her the address and directions.
“Meet me now. Please. I don’t care about the money or anything, I just want to go home.”
“I’ll be there, an hour or two. It’ll take fifteen, maybe twenty minutes from where you are, because the road is a mess. In fact, bring the redhead with you, just in case.”
“No.”
“Yes, Rena, you have to. We need the leverage just in case something goes wrong. And if it wasn’t for her and her brother, we wouldn’t be in this situation, would we?”
Rena didn’t want to take a hostage with her. But what did it matter? Look at what they’d already done!
“Okay. We’ll leave now. Don’t be too late, please.”
“I love you, Rena.”
“I love you, too.”
She ended the call. “We have to go,” she told Sam.
“I heard. It’s going to be okay.”
“Just because you keep saying it doesn’t make it true.”
She grabbed a blanket from the bed and helped Sam out to the truck. It was a nice Dodge Ram Crew Cab with four full-size doors and a spacious backseat, a wheelchair lift folded up on one side. She settled Sam in the back, gave him the blanket, and turned the ignition, setting the heater to low. “I’m going to get the girl.”
“I’ll stay here,” he said with a touch of humor. He gave her a small smile that she couldn’t return.
She went back into the house and to the bedroom. Opened the door and stared at the two girls. She cut the zip ties around Avery’s ankles and said, “Get up.”
“Why?” Avery asked.
