“You’re a kid. You livehere. You have parents who love you. You have no idea what the real world is like.”
Avery strained to hear what Lyla said, but the jangle of keys drowned her out and then they were gone.
Still, Avery waited a minute before speaking.
“They opened the medicine cabinet, I’m almost positive. Rena’s brother was seriously hurt, he was shot when they robbed Greg Baldwin. That’s why they’re here! How did they know my mom was a nurse?”
“Maybe they didn’t. Maybe they just got lucky.”
“But they came herespecifically, we’re not even off a main road. How did they find us? They must have learned from someone that my mom is a nurse.”
“A lot of people know your mom is a nurse. I don’t think it’s all that strange.”
Avery thought, shrugged. It didn’t matter how they knew, what mattered was that these people were here and could hurt her family.
“We have to do something,” Avery said and jumped up.
He pulled her back down. “Stop and think for a second. They have guns. We don’t. My dad can’t get up here. No one can. We don’t even have a working radio with us.”
“But— What if— That’s my family, Ryan! I can’t sit here and wait for something bad to happen to them.”
He was thinking, and so was she. “What if,” Avery said, forcing herself to be as calm and rational as possible under the circumstances, “we walk around to the mudroom door. We stay low sothey can’t see us out the window. I don’t think they can hear us over the rain if we’re careful. We can sneak in or at least look through a window and see what’s going on.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he said, then admitted, “but I don’t have a better one.”
They determined that the best way to get onto the porch without being seen was to go around the house’s north side. The living room and dining room faced the driveway—the kitchen faced south, which was next to the mudroom, which had the door they usually used to avoid tracking dirt through the living areas. The kitchen, dining, and living room were all lit up. But the west side of the house was her grandma’s room and the den, where they watched television and used the computer. It was most likely no one was in those rooms, so no one would be able to see them approach if they went around the north and down the west side of the house to the mudroom door.
She hoped.
Though the rain had lightened to a steady drizzle, the wind was fierce, driving the small raindrops into her face as they stayed low and close to the barn and garage. They would have to run across the driveway, but it was so dark now Avery didn’t think anyone would notice unless they were standing on the porch looking directly at them.
As they ran, Avery thought she heard something. She hesitated, looked down the driveway and saw fog lights reflecting off the rain, surprisingly close. Ryan pushed her down into the mud and they both landed with a grunt.
Was this one of the bad guys? Maybe Brock, the man who had scared the Mendozas, meeting his wife here? To do something bad to her family? Or…
“Ryan? Avery?”
“Uncle Travis?” she said.
Her uncle climbed out of the passenger seat. “I heard you were kidnapped by the people who robbed Baldwin.”
She hugged him tightly. “Yeah,” she said into his chest. She realized then that the truck was Jake’s, and she walked over to the passenger door and leaned in, looked around. “Jake? You have Bobby, right?” She didn’t see him in the back. Panic flared. “Ohmigod, he’s still out there, he’s—”
“At my house,” Travis said. “Safe and sound.”
“Really?” she asked. “You’re sure?”
“Or course I’m sure,” Travis said with a smile. “You okay?”
She nodded, as she forced her heart to slow down. “I just— I was so, so worried about him.”
“Long story,” Jake said. “I wasn’t certain we’d get through the flooded road, so thought he’d be safer there with the dogs.”
Avery breathed easier, then said, “The woman who kidnapped me is inside with Mom. I don’t know who else. We were going to look in through the windows.”
“We need a plan,” Jake said. “Climb in and tell me what you know.”
Ellen stared at Brock and Rena who were still standing in the entry between the dining room and the living room.
