Perilous (20 page)

Chapter 36

The western road looked like it headed into more suburbs, so they turned south, walking parallel to a paved, two-lane road, lined by woods on both sides.

They had no food. The day was long, empty, and cold.

Finally, the sun began to set.

The next day, they turned at Genesee Road and started heading west again. The sunset glowed a brilliant purple and orange.

In the distance they could hear a train on its track. They followed the sound.

There was a small bridge where the track crossed over a shallow ravine lined with gravel and grass. This was where they decided to stop for the night.

An hour later they sat huddled together under the bridge, staring into the flickering fire.

Early the next morning, the loud horn warned them seconds before the train rolled overhead. Dust piled down on top of them. Coughing and sputtering, they rolled out from under the bridge.

Neal started to kick dust onto the charcoal that remained from their fire.

The day remained overcast and cloudy, with a brisk wind blowing from the east. They came to a T in the road and stopped.

Amanda pulled out her compass. “This way’s south,” she said, pointing.

“Wait.” Neal frowned.

“What’s the problem?”

Neal didn’t answer.

“We can’t avoid a town forever.”

“I’m not avoiding a town. I’m looking for a grocery store. It’s been three days with no food.”

“I can steal us food,” said Ricky. “We don’t have any money. Your credit card has probably been alerted.”

Neal reached into his back pocket and pulled out a plastic card. “I took this from the farmhouse.”

“Where’s a grocery store, then?” said Sara. “We’re starving.”

“I think we should follow this road north.” Neal chewed on his lower lip, waiting for their response.

Ricky disagreed. “We’re trying to get to Idaho, not Maine. Let’s go south.”

Neal shook his head. “Uh-uh. We’re going north.”

Jaci stepped toward Neal. “Let’s go north.”

“We better find a grocery store then,” Ricky said, shooting his brother a threatening look as they turned right.

Forty minutes later they arrived at Langford’s Superette, a small but suitable market.

Neal bought fresh fruits, vegetables, bread, meat, cheese, and ice-cream. He swiped the card at the single register and the teenage boy didn’t even look at the name.

They seated themselves on the wooden picnic benches in front of the store to eat. They relaxed, enjoying the autumn sunshine, in no hurry to get going again.

A van pulled up and Jaci watched with mild interest as a large family tumbled out.

“Vacationers.” She nodded at the license plate. Montana.

“Hmm.” Neal scooped out the last of the ice-cream with a plastic spoon and licked it clean.

“Montana’s close to Idaho.” Sara stared at the van with a kind of longing expression.

The mother shouted at a teenage girl to get the baby out of the car seat. The girl struggled to do so, then balanced the screaming child on her hip.

For a moment her eyes glanced over them as she approached the entrance of the store, and she slowed ever so slightly. Her eyes never left their faces before she disappeared inside.

They had been noticed. “We should go,” Jaci said, standing up.

“I have to use the bathroom,” Sara said.

“Me, too.” Amanda went with her.

“Bathroom break,” Neal said. “Meet back out here in ten minutes.”

There was only one bathroom, behind a pair of swinging orange doors. Sara went first, with the rest of them standing in an impatient line.

Jaci glanced around for that family, and noticed the teenage girl still watching them. She began to speak to her mother, who looked over at the girls.

“We need to hurry,” she said to Ricky.

“Sara just finished. You’re after Amanda.”

“That’s not what I meant,” she said, and jerked her head in the direction of the women. “Look.”

“What? There’s no one there.”

She turned and saw that Ricky was right. “Oh. I guess they left.” Their disappearance didn’t make her feel any more comfortable.

When Amanda came out, Jaci hurried inside, rushing through the necessities. She washed her hands, anxiety flooding her. She stared at her dirty face, the red-rimmed brown eyes.

Hurry, hurry! We’ve stayed too long. Gotta get going.

She unlocked the door and ran out, looking around for her friends. Ricky stepped inside and locked the door. Sara and Amanda were examining the chocolate bars, and Neal waited his turn for the bathroom.

Jaci walked outside, just to check. The minivan was still there. She noticed the family at a picnic table, a red cooler open in front of them. She ducked her head, trying to keep a low profile, and started back for the store.

“Wait!”

Don’t turn around. Just keep going.
She quickened her pace. A hand grabbed her arm and she gasped, whipping her arm away and whirling around.

The teenage girl stood there. She looked about eighteen, tall with long reddish-brown hair and side-swept bangs. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you.” The girl hesitated, and then she said, “Are you Jacinta?”

Nothing could have shocked her more. “Do I know you?” Jaci searched her face.

“It is you, then,” the girl said, her eyes widening. “You’ve been in the news for weeks—you’ve been missing since September—”

Jaci gasped, hands flying to her mouth.

The girl turned around, beckoning at the crowded picnic table. “Mom, it’s them. It
is
them.”

Her mother stood up and came over, an expression of confusion on her face.

The girl turned back to Jaci. “I’m Megan. Are you in danger? Are you being held captive? How can we help?”

Jaci began to cry. They had been found.

Megan’s mother stepped forward and hugged Jaci. “It’s okay. We’ll help you. Let’s call the police.”

Jaci shook her head, jerking away. “No. No police. You can’t. The police work for him. We just escaped from the police.”

Sara and Amanda came out. Amanda looked back and forth between Jaci and the woman.

“What is it?” she asked.

“I’m Megan,” said the girl. “We want to help.”

Amanda gasped and grabbed Megan’s outstretched hands, holding them in a trembling grip. “Please help us!”

Megan’s mother said, “Megan, get your father. We’re leaving for the hotel right now.”

Jaci was unable to stop the flood of tears rolling down her cheeks. She looked at Amanda, afraid to hope. “It might not be safe.”

“It doesn’t matter. We have to take a chance. We need help!”

“It’ll be safe,” the woman interjected. “We won’t hurt you.”

“It’s not you we’re afraid of.”

“No one will know you’re with us. You can tell us everything. We have a long drive, our hotel’s in Ohio. It’s about five hours from here.”

Sara looked doubtful. “There’s no such thing as safe. They probably know we’re here.”

“You’ll be safe,” Megan promised. “My dad works for the FBI.”

“What is it?” The man joined them.

“It’s the missing girls, Dad,” Megan said. “The ones from Idaho.”

“Um, hello?” said Neal, joining the party.

Jaci turned to him. “We found help. We’re going to Ohio.”

Twenty minutes later all five of them were smashed into the van, sitting on suitcases and smothered by pillows.

Jaci was squished next to Ricky and Sara, Amanda sat between the door and the cooler, and Neal huddled behind the driver’s seat.

Jaci wiped tears on her jacket sleeve. Dust came away with the water, leaving a brown smudge on the navy blue.

Megan’s mother settled into a seat in the middle row. “I’m April Reynolds. You can call me April or whatever you want. My husband is Dave. You’ve met Megan.”

Megan nodded from her place in the back row. “Our oldest son Spencer is in the front, then there’s Whitney, and the baby, Becca.”

Ricky whistled under his breath. “That’s a lot of kids.”

For a moment Jaci allowed herself to think of her two brothers. Annoying little César and Seth.

“Who are you?” Megan asked Ricky.

“They’re my brothers,” Sara said.

“Tell us the whole story,” said Mrs. Reynolds.

Jaci hesitated. “Did they—has anything been said—there was a fourth girl.”

Ricky and Neal looked at her, their surprise evident.

“Yes,” Mrs. Reynolds answered. “They found her body several weeks ago.”

Jaci sank back on the cooler and nodded, tears springing to her eyes. Callie.

“Everyone is looking for you,” said Megan. “Where’ve you been hiding, the woods?”

“Pretty much,” said Amanda. She blinked quickly, her eyes moist.

“What happened, exactly?” Mrs. Reynolds asked again. “The four of you disappeared in September. The security guard on duty at the mall was found unconscious. Judging from where the body was found, the police thought the kidnappers might have taken you to Canada. But there were no leads.”

Sara and Amanda both looked at Jaci.

“It was The Hand. We escaped. He’s been determined to get us back ever since.”

Mrs. Reynolds nodded. “Of course. You’re worth something to him now.”

“Well, he lives in Canada. A girl helped us get out, and we’ve been walking since then. We met the boys in New York, and then found out that they are Sara’s brothers.”

“Why haven’t you gone to the police?” asked Megan.

“We did, once,” Sara said. “He had someone working in the police department.”

Mrs. Reynolds’ eyes darted toward her husband, driving the car.

“Ricky and Neal saved us,” Sara continued.

“So we’re a little afraid now,” Jaci put in. “We don’t know who we can trust. We can’t call home because the phones are tapped. We think that’s how he’s tracked us. We can’t go to the police. We weren’t sure how to contact the FBI.”

“You just did,” Mrs. Reynolds said. “We are on our way home from a funeral in Ithaca. It’s a miracle we stopped where you were. There was an accident on the interstate, so we decided to take back roads.”

“We were about to go south and look for a grocery store in that direction,” said Neal. “If we had, we would’ve missed you.”

Mrs. Reynolds leaned back. “My husband will contact his supervisor as soon as he can get a secure line. He won’t make such a confidential call from his cell phone. But we’ll see that you and your families are safe.”

Never had Jaci slept on such a nice bed. She knew it was morning, and she knew she should get up, or at least open her eyes, but she just wanted to lay there. She kept her eyes closed, pretending to be asleep. She hoped no one would disturb her and she could prolong the comfort a little longer.

The door that connected the two hotel rooms opened, and Mrs. Reynolds poked her head in. “Girls, time to get up. We’re having breakfast brought up.”

“Yes!” Whitney said, an enthusiastic six-year-old. “I love room service.”

Megan rolled off the bed. “I get the shower first.”

“Shower?” Jaci repeated, sitting up.

Amanda lifted the pillow off her face and reached a hand up to touch her dirty, matted hair. “Oh no,” she said. “I’m first!”

“Of course,” Megan said, tucking her chin against her chest. “That was selfish of me. You can go first.”

“There’s another one in Mommy’s room,” Whitney suggested. She rushed to the door. “Mommy, can we use your shower?”

Spencer poked his head in and grinned at them. “Too late. There’s already a line.”

Amanda ran for the bathroom, grabbing the hotel soaps as she dove in and closed the door behind her. “See ya!”

Jaci ran after her and banged on the door. “Hurry up!”

Amanda called through the door, “Can you get me a razor?”

Jaci fished through the hotel bucket and found one.

Amanda stuck a bare arm out and grabbed it. “Thanks,” she crowed.

Jaci pulled a toothbrush from the bucket and smiled. “Running water!”

The bristles felt sharp and harsh against her gums. She wondered how many cavities she had now. She leaned over the sink and spit. Even the air tasted clean and minty. She pulled her hair back and wandered into the other room, where Megan was talking to her mother.

“Any news?” Jaci asked.

Mrs. Reynolds looked at Megan. “Run across the street to Target and buy some shirts, socks, pants. One for each of them. Oh, and get some underclothes too. Just guess at the sizes.”