SEALs of Honor: Shadow Read Free Page B

“Surely they don’t mean to starve us.”
    “There’s food.” That was the man with the cell phone. “But not what you’re used to.” He got up and walked to a box at the side. One of a good dozen boxes. Without any fanfare, he pulled out a jar of peanut butter and a loaf of bread. He tossed them at Kevin. “This is your dinner.”
    Kevin lit up. “Hey thanks.”
    The gunman looked at him oddly for a few moments then shrugged.
    “Can I have something to spread the peanut butter?” Kevin asked in his guttural tone.
    The gunman glared at him, then pulled out a plastic spoon and gave it to him.
    Again the irrepressible spirit of a child on an adventure surfaced. Kevin snatched it up and opened the peanut butter. The spoon went in and he didn’t bother with the bread – the first spoon went right in his mouth. If there was one food guaranteed to put a smile on Kevin’s face it was peanut butter. Arianna rolled her eyes and helped him to spread peanut butter on several slices of bread. She slapped tops on both of them and handed them over to him.
    He took one in each hand and had the first gone before she’d managed to make up two more. She nodded to their parents. “Go offer them some.”
    Still buoyed by the peanut butter, he headed to his father with a sandwich in each hand. Arianna watched as she continued making sandwiches. Her father was gruff and often distant but she knew in his own way he loved Kevin. However, he hated peanut butter.
    Yet, with a resigned look on his face, the senator accepted the sandwich and whispered, “Thanks.”
    Kevin grinned. “I’ll get you a second one too.”
    He turned to his mother. “Mom, do you want one?”
    Arianna lowered her gaze. It was painful to see the other woman so out of her element. She’d not wanted to come in the first place, had made life for her father hellish for weeks and now seeing as what had happened, she could imagine what her stepmother was thinking.
    “No, I most certainly do not.” She turned on her husband. “See, I told you we shouldn’t have come.” She glared at him from watery eyes. “This is a terrible place.”
    He reached out and patted her knee. “We’re here now and we’ll make the best of it.”
    Kevin kept holding out the second sandwich to his mother.
    Arianna watched, waited. Her gaze narrow, Linda stared at the sandwich like it was a viper about to strike and opened her mouth as if to offer a scathing report only to catch sight of Arianna’s hard gaze. Her face pinched and she shot a glare at Arianna as if this mess was her fault, then accepted the sandwich. “Thank you, Kevin. Very kind of you.”
    Beaming, and seemingly unaware of the tension between the two most important women in his life, Kevin raced back to Arianna. “Two more please.”
    She nodded and handed him the next two sandwiches.
    He reached almost instantly with empty hands. She had made four more by now. He snatched up two and walked over to the gunman who’d given him the peanut butter. “These are for you.”
    Silence.
    Everyone in the room stared as the young boy held out the sandwiches to his captor. Arianna wanted to look around and see what the other men would do. Hell, she didn’t know what this first man would do, but she hoped not beat the child for being impertinent. Instead, the gunmen accepted the sandwiches and returned to the game on his cell phone.
    After that Kevin went to the other three gunmen inside the house. She worried when he went down the hallway to the kitchen and back door where the fourth man stood.
    Still he came back empty handed.
    Then he realized the bag was empty and his face fell. He studied the two sandwiches left in her hand. One she’d been taking bites out of as she worked. She laughed and handed over her second sandwich. “That will teach you to give all the food away while you’re still hungry.”
    “I might be a little hungry, but better that than everyone being really hungry.”
    Arianna smiled. She loved