Hostage by Willo Davis Roberts

Author:Willo Davis Roberts
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aladdin

Chapter Six

He was big. Over six feet, and thick through the chest and neck. The hand that gripped my arm was huge and rough. His dark hair was longish and didn’t look as if he’d washed it recently, and there was a smell about him of sweat and tobacco.

He yelled to his conspirators downstairs. “Hey, guys! Come up here! We got a problem!” he informed them again.

“So take care of it,” the leader shouted back.

For a few seconds I stared into those dark eyes, wondering if I’d faint in terror at what I saw there. I started to sag, and he slammed me against the wall for the second time.

“You want me to kill her, or what?” my captor demanded loudly.

There was a startled silence, and then both of the other men appeared at the bottom of the stairs. “Her?” one of them echoed. “What the . . . ?”

I’d never heard some of the words that came out of their mouths, but I didn’t have any difficulty interpreting them as profanity.

They stared at me in disbelief.

“There wasn’t supposed to be anybody here,” the leader said. “What are you doing here, kid?”

It was a wonder I could speak, my mouth was so dry. “I . . . I live here,” I stammered.

I could see them evaluating that, and the expressions on their faces were unnerving, to say the least. “You want me to kill her, or what?” Had he been serious when he’d asked that?

“How long you been here?” the leader demanded.

I swallowed hard, and my throat worked, but I couldn’t speak as cold terror worked its way down my body, making me weak all over. I didn’t even know the answer to his question. Had I been home for an hour, ten minutes, what? I couldn’t tell.

The one holding my arm gave me a shake, his big fingers pressing painfully into my arm. “How long?” he asked harshly.

My lips trembled, but nothing came out of them. I’d prayed only a few minutes ago, but now I was too numb even to do that.

“She couldn’t have called the cops. The phones are all gone. I put ’em in a box with the other little junk that I carried away in the first load.”

“So who knows you’re here?” the deeper-voiced leader asked. He was standing a few steps below me, now, and his eyes, a very pale blue, were boring into mine. Blue eyes ought to have been friendly, but these weren’t. They were icy, mean.

I tried once more to speak. What would they do if they thought someone else knew and would rescue me very soon?

“My school nurse knows,” I managed to croak desperately. “And my mom. She’s . . . supposed to pick me up in a few minutes. . . .”

They were communicating something with their eyes. I couldn’t read them for sure, but I didn’t think they believed me.

“She’s lying,” my closest tormentor said. “Nobody’s coming to get her.”

The leader licked his lips, glaring as if he really was ready to strangle me with his bare hands, right there in the upstairs hall.

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