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“What other options are there?” she asked.
“We wait and watch…see what they do when you don’t show.”
She shook her head. “Uh-uh.”
“No? Just like that?”
“What good will watching them do?”
“For one, I’d be able to ID some of these guys, and then we could follow them, find out where they’re holding your family.”
“And what then?” she demanded when he didn’t continue. “Rescue them? You and me?”
“It’s an option.”
“You’re crazy.”
“Maybe.” He’d driven back around the block by now, and at the farthest corner, pulled over on the right side of the road.
Halli sat forward, craning her neck to get a glimpse of Rachel down and across the street. Trent reached over and tugged her hood back up. She straightened it, realizing it must’ve fallen down during their earlier struggle. She’d love to remove the jacket in the rising heat, but she understood the reason for its bulky disguise. Felt a tiny bit safer in it, too.
After she caught sight of her sister still sitting on the cement block, she looked at Trent. “Listen, I’m all for doing whatever it takes to get them back, but let’s be realistic here. I’m no good at stuff like this.”
“You’re better than I would’ve guessed,” he muttered toward the windshield.
Sticking with realistic, she knew she’d gotten lucky more than once. Starting with his arrival. “Still, what could you and I do against God knows how many of them?”
He sighed through his nose, a sound of pure, controlled frustration. His hands gripped the wheel in front of him and a muscle ticked along the hard line of his unshaven jaw. “Probably not much.”
Her stomach sank. After a moment of silence, she ventured hopefully, “Any other ideas?”
“Nothing viable,” he bit out.
Acute despair formed a lump in her throat. The hopeless feeling churned in the pit of her stomach. He was supposed to have a solution. He’d gotten them this far.
And as suddenly as if someone had flipped a switch, anger flooded back. Not at him, but herself. Since when had she become a helpless wimp, completely dependent on a virtual stranger? The night her parents were arrested for the first and last time, she’d vowed to make a life for herself without resorting to the tricks of their dishonest trade. At sixteen, she got herself a job, finished high school, worked her way through college and established a pretty darn good career.
She sat up straight in her seat, decision pulsating through her body. No more acting like a victim. Granted, this was a lot more intense than striking out on her own. And though yesterday may have vaguely resembled one or two fuzzy-edged incidences in her childhood, she was still amazed at what they’d managed to escape. But sure as the sun rose each day, nothing would get better if she crawled in a hole and waited for Trent to rescue her. Or Ben and Rachel, for that matter.
The wheels in Halli’s brain finally kicked in and began to turn. Scenarios played in her mind and she faced Trent’s profile with a surge of hope. “What if we call Ben’s phone and see who answers? If it’s one of these guys, we could offer to trade the video for Ben and Rachel. After all, that’s what they want.”
“I already thought of that, but…”
She frowned at his hesitation. “But what?” Then she gave a short laugh of disbelief. “I get it. You don’t want to lose the video.”
“For starters.”
“My brother and sister are worth more than that video.”
“I won’t argue that, but with Lorenzo’s wire-recording only God knows where by now, your video is the only evidence we have of his murderer.”
“You’ve still got me,” she pointed out. “I could be an eye-witness.”
His head swiveled toward her. “You said you didn’t see anything.”
She shrugged.
“Did you watch the video?”
