Page 34 of Billion-Dollar Ransom
“See?” Four said after she swallowed. “No poison.”
Finney giggled. Even Cal cracked a smile.
“Cal, honey, I know you’re afraid. You want to know how I know? Because I have a daughter who’s a little older than you, and sometimes she gets afraid too.”
“You do?” Cal asked. “So where is she?”
Leave it to a child to innocently hit the heart of the situation.Yes, Four, where is your daughter? And why aren’t you with her right now, when she needs you the most?
“My daughter is with my baby sister, her aunt,” Four explained, “while her daddy and I are looking after you two goofballs.”
But this last attempt at humor didn’t work. Finney solemnly placed her sandwich back on her plate. “Why does your daughter get afraid?”
“She’s sick a lot,” Four said quietly.
“Sick from what?” Cal said.
From what?Four thought.That’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it.If she knew the answer to that question, they might not be sitting here in this strange house with these innocent children.
“Nothing for you to worry about,” Four said, which was the truth in a twisted way. Her family problems were nothing to the Schraeder family. “But can I tell you something? I get scared too.”
Cal looked at Four, truly perplexed. “Why doyouget scared? You’re a grown-up.”
“Sometimes it can be very scary to be a grown-up. Because you’re the one in charge, and so many things depend on what you do or don’t… do.”
No. She couldn’t do this. Not in front of these kids, who continued to look at her with wide eyes. She muttered something along the lines ofFinish your lunch,rushed into the guest bathroom just off the living room, and closed the door behind her.
Four knew this violated the letter of the plan—and One took his plans very seriously; they were to follow them under pain of death. The children were never to be left alone. But she thought it would have been far worse to openly weep in front of them.
CHAPTER 36
THERE WAS A gentleknock-knock-knockon the bathroom door. “Honey, you okay?”
Four wiped her eyes, then stared at herself in the bathroom mirror. It helped to think of herself as a number, not a name. She was Four. Outside the door was Three, checking on his partner. Three and Four were employed by One to do a job. That was all that mattered inside this house; nothing else.
She opened the door and saw Three’s eyes were wide with panic. “Hey, I thought we agreed never to leave them alone?”
“Are they still here?”
“Yeah, of course. They’re finishing their sandwiches. But—”
“Then what are you worrying about?” She could tell Three wasn’t buying her cool-as-ice act. Not for a second. He knew her far too well. He also knew when to back off and not pressure her, and this was one of those times.
“Have we heard anything from One?” she asked.
“Do you honestly think I’d keep that to myself?” Threereplied. “No, not a word. And I don’t think we’ll hear anything for a while. That’s alotof money to pull together.”
Four understood, but that didn’t stop her from hoping that the text message would come soon, the promised money would be deposited, and they could all go back to where they belonged. These two kids to their billionaire father; Three and Four to their daughter’s hospital room.
But they both silently wondered about the other possible ending. One they had fooled themselves into believing could never happen—that even someone as cold and calculating as One could never actually contemplate it.
What if the family didn’t pay the money? What would happen then?
What would Three and Four be forced to do?
“Well,” Four said, “since we’re in this for the long haul, let’s distract them with an afternoon of fun and games.”
For the next couple of hours, they stuck to the list of board games they’d been supplied with. But soon, the delights of Mastermind and even the Settlers of Catan faded, and the Schraeder children were restless. That’s when Three revealed what he had in his back pocket. Literally.
