Page 33 of Billion-Dollar Ransom
“Very distinctive fashion choices, wouldn’t you agree?” Hardy said. “You wouldn’t catch me dead in a green cap in this town. People might mistake me for an Eagles fan.”
Nicky had to admit that Mike had a point. She was also thinking about Virgil Tighe’s tip about Tijuana.
Maybe this was phase two of the kidnappers’ plot: Let themembers of the task force believe they were making excellent progress on a number of fronts while the kidnappers’ actual movements were obscured.
“That doesn’t change the fact that we need to find these two right away,” Nicky said.
Mike nodded. “I call dibs on Green Cap.”
CHAPTER 35
Thursday, 12:35 p.m.
THE REALITY OF the situation dawned on the children right around lunchtime.
It was easy to pretend that last night was nothing more than a sleepover full of games and food and jokes, followed by a surprise breakfast of cereals that were outright banned in the Schraeder household.
Cal hadn’t known such a thing as Cap’n Crunch’s Crunch Berries existed, let alone the Cap’n Crunch’s Oops! All Berries variation.
But once the sugar high wore off, Cal and Finney began to feel different. They were wearing the same clothes they had put on for school yesterday. And now for lunch, they were staring at packaged deli meats, Kraft singles, and white bread, none of which were allowed at home. According to their father, processed food was poison, Finney said.
Four watched Cal carefully. The boy was struggling to put on a brave face, most likely for his little sister’s benefit. But Four could see his hands trembling as he spread a dollop of mayonnaise on the thin slice of bread in his hand.
Call it Mom Radar. She could always tell when something was off with her own child, and apparently, this skill transferred to other children too. The longer this whole ordeal wore on, the worse things were going to get for these children. And Four wasn’t sure she could bear it.
“How are you doing there, Cal?”
“Fine.”
Cal was absolutely not fine. And he refused to make eye contact.
“Look, I know how strange this all seems. I promise, you and Finney are going to be okay.”
Cal finally looked at Four, and his eyes almost took her breath away. They projected sadness, fear, and anger all at once.
“You don’t know that.”
“I swear on my—” Four caught herself. “I swear nothing will happen to you.”
Finney looked up from her cheese sandwich and watched their exchange intently.
“You can’t swear or promise anything because you’re not in charge,” Cal said. “You’re taking orders from somebody, right? That’s how kidnapping works. But if you are in charge, why don’t you let us go?”
“It’s not as simple as that, Cal.”
“Somebody could just call your cell phone and order you tokill us,” Cal said. “Isn’t that right? You have to do whatever they say.”
“Cal,no.”
“Maybe they already told you to kill us. Maybe there’s poison in the mayonnaise! I notice you and the other guy aren’t eating the same food as us.”
Finney glanced down at her sandwich, studying the bite mark she’d just made.
Four and her husband—who was currently upstairs taking a shower—weren’t eating the same food as the children because neither of them had been able to choke down anything other than black coffee since this whole crazy thing began yesterday. Probably even before that. Four couldn’t remember her last hot meal.
And yes, Cal was right: Four and Three were ultimately not in charge. Despite the circumstances, though, she’d sworn to do everything in her power to keep these children as safe, comfortable, and mentally healthy as possible.
Four took a clean spoon, dipped it into the mayonnaise jar, widened her eyes playfully, then scooped up a big mouthful and ate it as if it were vanilla ice cream. She almost gagged, and her stomach was already in knots. But the wide-eyed surprise from both kids made it worthwhile.
