The Girl in the Box 01 - Alone Read Free Page A

who have someone pointing a gun at them.” I paused. “Or do you?”
    He blinked. “It’s not a usual thing. But you have to understand…there are a lot of people looking for you.”
    “For me?” A doubt caused me to shiver. I hadn’t believed he was someone driving by my house at random, but having the gun made me feel like I was still in control when I went with him. Still, it worried me when he confirmed what I suspected.
    “Yes, you.” He looked to either side. “Let me get you something to eat. I doubt you have any money.”
    “I don’t.”
    He bought one of the big chickens that came in a cardboard box. I ate without consideration for how it looked, and he watched.
    “Who are you?” I asked him between bites.
    “Reed.”
    “Smartass.” I glared at him, but it lacked intensity. I had a hard time being mad at someone who was feeding me.
    He shrugged. “It’s true.”
    “Beyond that.”
    “Someone who’s concerned about you.” His face grew serious. “There are dangerous people after you, Sienna.”
    “How do you know?” I sighed. “Beyond the obvious fact that they shot at me.”
    He hesitated. “Those guys…the young one’s name is Zack Davis; the older one is Kurt Hannegan.” He must have seen me stiffen in surprise, because he leaned back from the table. “I wasn’t sitting outside your house by coincidence.”
    I felt the flush of blood running to my cheeks. “Are you with them? Are you one of them?”
    “No.” He shook his head, hot with indignation. “I’m not. But there are worse things after you than those two.”
    “Who are they?” I asked. “Who are you?”
    He placed his palms on the table. “That’s not the question you should be asking.”
    “Oh?” My eyes narrowed. “What question should I be asking?”
    “The question you should ask is ‘What am I?’“ His eyes darted left and right. “Do you think it’s normal for a mother to lock her child in a house and not let her out for years? Even in your limited experience, that can’t seem quite right—”
    “Mom said it was for my own good—”
    “I bet,” he interrupted. His face barely concealed disdain. “Putting that aside, I know your mother disappeared—”
    “How do you know that?” My fingernails dug into the soft wood surface of the table, leaving marks. “Do you know where she is?”
    “No. But she goes missing and suddenly you have a host of people after you?” He wasn’t smiling. “You realize that’s not coincidence.”
    “I do. I’m not stupid.”
    “Didn’t say you were. I—” He stopped midsentence and his eyes widened as he looked past me. I turned my head to follow his gaze as Oldie walked in through the sliding doors with a thin young guy at his side – the guy I had hit in the groin earlier. He was limping. And he was hot.
    “How did they find me?” I turned to Reed, and he wore a stricken look.
    “Some sort of tracking device, maybe,” he murmured, sliding out of the booth. “Let’s get out of here.”
    “Nuh uh. I want answers.” My hand slid to my waistband. Mom had taught me the basics of how to use a gun, though I had never fired one. Tough to practice shooting live rounds in the house.
    His eyes almost exploded out of his skull. “Are you crazy?” His voice was just above a whisper, but it was delivered with the force of a shout.
    “I bet they know about my mom.”
    I started to advance on them, but he brushed against my arm. I looked to his eyes, and they were wide with fear – for me. “You don’t know what they’re willing to do.” He tugged on my arm. “Please. Let’s leave before they see you.”
    The gears were grinding in my head. I’d been left alone for a week, and these guys came for me, armed. Mom was missing and I didn’t know where she was. Lots of questions. I looked back at him and a hint of pleading was obvious in his brown eyes. Seeing the world on TV was different than seeing it like this. And for some reason I couldn’t