Braxton was lying against the stack of hay, having fallen asleep about an hour ago after he played the limited games I did have on my phone.
I grabbed his legs and shook him awake. His eyes widened as I held a finger against my lips, shaking my head.
I moved back against the wooden deck and pushed us against the wall as the man started to push on the door from outside.
I covered my mouth as Braxton buried his face in my shoulder, and I held him tightly against me as another bang came from the door.
My body shook, and I closed my eyes, praying they wouldn’t see us.
Braxton jumped when the lock finally gave way, and the doors were pushed open.
I didn’t dare look down at the man, but I could hear some scuffling as the man walked around the open space.
I tensed when I thought I heard him get close to the side leading up to the platform where we were, but he would have a pretty hard time without the ladder. Not that it would stop him if he knew we were hiding up here.
Braxton peeked up at me, the blood draining from his face.
I held him tighter against me as the man’s phone rang.
He answered it right away.
“Yeah?”
His voice was deep and unpleasant, with a slight New Jersey accent.
“No, they’re not here.… Are you sure?… We can’t lose the boy.… He’ll have our head if we come back empty-handed. Do you know who that bitch with him is? Where the fuck did she come from? Yeah.… Okay, I’ll meet you there.”
I didn’t know who thehewas that this man was talking about, but it was obvious these men weren’t in charge. No, they were just the retrieval.
I looked back at Braxton, hating what might have happened to him if I didn’t leave Freddy’s house when I did or what would have happened had I called off today’s lesson like I had wanted to do this morning.
We didn’t say anything as the man walked out the door, and I made Braxton stay where he was as I looked back out the window. The man was walking away from the house.
My shoulders sagged in relief, and had I been standing up, I might have fallen right here.
“He’s gone,” I said to Braxton.
“What are we going to do now?”
I didn’t answer right away.
“Why don’t we wait until midnight to leave? By that time, I’m sure they’ll have given up searching for us, probably thinking you’re safe back home. We’ll find a place with some signal, and I’ll call for a ride to get us. Yeah?”
He nodded. “Okay.”
I smiled a little and leaned back against the wall, getting comfortable. We were at least several hours away from the sunset, then a few more until midnight.
We had a long way to go.
4
DOMINIC
My fist slammedon the wooden table, causing the men standing in a line before me to jump.
“Where. The. Fuck. Is my son?”
The sun had set, and Braxton wasn’t safe at home, where he was supposed to be.
