Hostage

'Thomas?'

He hated it if you called him Tommy. He didn't even like Tom. It had to be Thomas.

'Thomas, go tell Daddy that lunch is ready.'

'Eat me.'

Thomas was playing Nintendo in the family room.

'Go tell Daddy.'

'Just yell. He'll hear you.'

'Go get him or I'll spit in your food.'

'Spit twice. It turns me on.'

'You are so gross.'

Thomas paused the Nintendo game and looked around at her. 'I'll get him if you ask Elyse and Tris to come lay out.'

Elyse and Tris were her two best friends. They had stopped coming over because Thomas totally creeped them out. He would wait in the house until everyone was lying by the pool, then he would appear and offer to rub oil on them. Even though everyone said ooo, yuck, go away, he would sit there and stare at their bodies.

'They won't lay out with you here. They know you watch.'

'They like it.'

'You are so gross.'

When the three young men stepped inside, Jen's first thought was that they were gardeners, but all the gardeners she knew were short, dark men from Central America. Her second thought was that maybe they were older kids from school, but that didn't feel right either.

Je

The first one pointed at Thomas.

'Mars, get the troll.'

The biggest one ran at Thomas, as the first one charged into the kitchen.

Je

The third one was younger. He hung back near the door, crying, talking in a loud stage whisper, trying to keep his voice down.

'De

'Shut up, Kevin! We're here. Deal with it.'

The one holding her, the one she now knew as De

'Stop kicking! I'm not going to hurt you!'

She tried to bite his hand. He pushed her head farther back until her neck felt like it would snap.

'I said stop it. Relax, and I'll let you go.'

Je

Je

'I'm going to take my hand away, but you better not yell. You understand that?'

Je

'Close the door, Kevin.'

She heard the door close.

De

'Who else is here?'

'My father.'

'Is there anyone else?'

'No.'

'Where is he?'

'In his office.'

'Is there a car?'

Her voice failed. All she could do was nod.

'Don't yell. If you yell, I'll kill you. Do you understand that?'

She nodded.

'Where's his office?'

She pointed toward the entry.

De

Her father's office was off the entry hall behind wide double doors. They didn't bother to knock or say anything. De

'Don't say a goddamned word! Don't fucking move!'

Her father was working at his computer with a sloppy stack of printouts all around. He was a slender man with a receding hairline and glasses. He blinked over the tops of the glasses as if he didn't quite understand what he was seeing. He probably thought they were friends of hers, playing a joke. But then she saw that he knew it was real.

'What are you doing?'

De

'Don't you fucking move, goddamnit! Keep your ass in that chair! Let me see your hands!'

What her father said then made no sense to her.

He said, 'Who sent you?'

De

'Kevin, close the windows! Stop being a turd!'

Kevin went to the windows and closed the shutters. He was crying worse than Thomas.

De

'Keep him covered, dude. Watch the girl.'

Mars pushed Thomas onto the floor with Je

'Don't go psycho and everything will be fine. Do you hear that? I'm go

Her father looked confused.

'What are you talking about? Why did you come here?'

'I want the fucking car, you asshole! I'm stealing your car! Now, where are the keys!'

That's what you want, the car?'

'Am I talking fucking Russian here or what? DO YOU HAVE A CAR?'

Her father raised his hands, placating.

'In the garage. Take it and leave. The keys are on the wall by the garage door. By the kitchen. Take it.'

'Kevin, go get the keys, then come help tie these bastards up so we can get outta here.'

Kevin, still by the windows, said, 'There's a cop coming.'

Je

De

'Don't fucking say a word. Not one fucking word.'

'Please don't hurt my children.'

'Shut up. Mars, you be ready! Mars!'

Je

Kevin scuttled to his older brother, gripping his arm.

'He knows we're here, De

'Shut up!'

The doorbell rang again.

Je

The policeman walked past the windows toward the side of the house.

'He knows we're here, De

'He doesn't know shit! He's just looking.'

Kevin was frantic, and now Je

'He saw me at the window! He knows someone's here! Let's give up.'

'Shut up!'

De

'Get up.'

Officer Mike Welch didn't know that everyone in the house was currently clustered less than twenty feet away, watching him through the gaps in the shutters. He had not seen Kevin Rooney or anyone else when he'd pulled up. He'd been too busy parking the car.

As near as Welch could figure, the people from the red Nissan had jumped the wall into these people's backyard. He suspected that the three suspects were blocks away by now, but he hoped that someone in this house or the other houses on this cul-de-sac had seen them and could provide a direction of flight.

When no one answered the door, Welch went to the side gate and called out. When no one responded, he returned to the front door and rang the bell for the third and final time. He was turning away to try the neighbor when the heavy front door opened and a pretty teenage girl looked out. She was pale. Her eyes were rimmed red.