Live to Tell (Live to Tell #1)(98)
But he couldn’t possibly know where to find it. Not unless someone told him.
Sadie had already lied about the toy being in the tag sale boxes. Would she suddenly decide to reveal the truth now?
If it is, indeed, really the truth.
What if Lauren is wrong?
I can’t be. If I don’t find that toy, he’ll kill them.
She realizes she’s standing idly in the kitchen.
I have to do something. Anything.
She goes to the sink and runs water into a glass. Glancing out the window, she wonders if the bucolic backyard really does shield a predator. Does Sam Henning really live back there, on Castle Lane? Are her children being held there, a stone’s throw away?
Lauren turns off the tap and raises the glass to her lips, forcing herself to drink.
Then something catches her eye in the trees at the edge of the property line, and she nearly chokes on it.
Before she can react, a floorboard creaks behind her.
“Hello, Lauren.”
“It’s a slippery slope, my friends. If we allow human life to be devalued in this manner, what will be next?”
The speaker pounds the podium to make his point, temporarily startling Garvey from his reverie.
He glances at Marin.
She meets his gaze with a level one of her own, and as always, he can read her mind.
Such controversy over methods meant to save lives.
Stem cell research…
Savior siblings…
Medical tourism…
Garvey is well aware of the ethical implications that come with traveling abroad for surgical procedures and treatments difficult to come by in the States. These days, it’s a hot button topic.
Fourteen years ago, it wasn’t even on his radar—until he realized it was the perfect solution.
Only two people knew of his plan. He trusted both women implicitly—one with a truth so damaging that she could have destroyed him with it. He knew she never would.
Meanwhile, all he told Marin was that an overseas donor had been found for Caroline.
His wife rejoiced. She didn’t ask many questions. In the final trimester of pregnancy, she was not only preoccupied, but of course she couldn’t accompany her husband and daughter to India for the surgery. He was counting on that.
It was so long ago. Another lifetime, really. Caroline was a toddler. Annie wasn’t born yet. Nor was the city of Mumbai. Back then it was still called Bombay, and elephants walked the streets amid the filth and chaos.
He remembers Caroline’s wide eyes when she spotted one as they pulled up in front of their hotel on that first day.
“Doggy!” she trilled, clapping her hands together. “Big, big doggy!”
“No, sweetheart, that’s an elephant. When we get back home, Daddy will take you to the Bronx Zoo and show you lots of elephants.”
He remembers brushing tears from his eyes, praying he’d be able to keep that promise. Praying that the next round of lab tests would prove that the donor was compatible.
Traveling under fake passports, Beverly arrived in Bombay two days later with Jeremy.
Ryan would give anything for a flashlight.
That, or at least some fingernails. Too bad he’s chewed them all away.
Without them, it’s nearly impossible to claw at the wobbly board. He discovered it while feeling along the wall in the darkness of his wooden prison, looking for a way to escape before the lunatic comes back to kill them.
Ryan has no doubt that it will happen, thanks to Sadie.
When she realized what she’d done, she was filled with regret. But it was too late to change anything. They were already left alone, their captor off on a mission that wasn’t going to end well.
“It’s all right,” Lucy told Sadie, even though it wasn’t. “You didn’t mean it.”
Ryan couldn’t say anything at all. Partly because he was furious with his little sister, and partly because there wasn’t a minute to waste on talking.
There has to be a way out of here. It’s their only hope.
Sadie eventually cried herself to sleep on the dusty floor. Ryan can’t see her, but he can hear her even breathing in the darkness. He’s starting to feel bad about being angry with her. She’s just a little kid. No match for a crazy person with a gun.
Meanwhile, he’s doing his best to pry the plank loose, with Lucy’s help. There still isn’t much slack, but it’s getting a little better.
“I think we should try the door again, Ry. Maybe if we both throw all our weight against it…”
“We’ve tried that,” he reminds his sister. “There’s no way. It’s solid. But this wall isn’t. Here, feel this? I think it’s starting to give.”
“I think you’re right.”
“What do we do if we escape?”
“Are you kidding? Run like hell.”
“We don’t even know where we are.” Lucy’s voice is hollow. “We might be in the middle of nowhere.”
“It doesn’t matter. Anyplace is better than stuck in here, waiting to die.”
Ryan’s fingertips burn as he goes back to work on the board.
“How do you take your coffee, Congressman?” the waitress asks quietly, filling his cup.
“Just a little cream, thank you,” he whispers back, and focuses on the new speaker, a physician who is—surprise, surprise—opposed to stem cell research.