The Guardian Read Free Page A

owe me, Ross. I need you to stand behind me.”
    Ross’s blood quickened, but he kept his mouth shut. He was willing to argue with his brother—if he knew the right answer. But he really didn’t. When it was all said and done, Greg had listened to the guy, and he hadn’t.
    Finally, he said, “Whatever you want.”
    “I only want to do the right thing by Janine,” Allie said. “You know that.”
    “So get us a buyer,” Beth said quietly.
    Allie turned to Ross. “It’s your land, too. You’ll sign, won’t you?”
    “Sure, we already made that decision. But that’s not going to be the quickest way.”
    “Hell of a time to be cash-poor,” Greg said hoarsely. “I could scrape up five, maybe ten thousand in cash. Maybe up to fifty if I throw myself on some friends … but they’d end up talking to the cops, someone would.”
    “Your business is that bad?”
    “It’s that bad. We’re staving off bankruptcy. There’s simply no lump for me to get my hands on, not if this guy comes back looking for any sizable amount of money. I’ve got the house mortgaged to the hilt, and you know we’ve had no luck selling it. I’d never get a loan of any size.”
    “How about if we just put the Sands up as collateral on a loan?” Ross asked. “That might be faster.”
    “I can’t imagine a banker not calling the police on this,” Greg said. “What do you think, Allie?”
    She nodded reluctantly. “It would be the rare banker who could leave the police out of it.”
    Greg continued. “Maybe I could sell the car fast, but it’s got over fifty thousand miles on it, I’d be lucky to get fifteen or twenty grand.”
    “Jesus.” Ross knew the business hadn’t been doing that well, but nothing like this. Greg had based his computer reseller business on two manufacturers who were both having serious problems. Consequently, his own sales had gone south. And Ross still owed him over fifty thousand dollars for legal fees. “You think we can find a buyer to move that fast?” Ross asked.
    “You know how many offers we’ve had.”
    “Yes, but to move so fast? And what if the kidnapper insists on more than the parcels we had in mind? Total, it’s assessed at, what, a little over five million?”
    “What are you going to say if the guy calls insisting on more than we can do?” Beth asked.
    Greg shook his head. “I don’t know. I don’t know.”
     
     

 
    Chapter 4
     
     
    The night before, the woman had put her coat over Janine’s head and told to her stay on the floor of the car.
    Janine had buried her face in the dirty carpet and squeezed her eyes shut. Without quite thinking it through, she’d known it would be bad to see the man, to really see his face.
    He talked fast. Swearing. “Goddamn, goddamn. We’re making it big with this one, babe.”
    He yelled things to the woman. “Don’t use my name. Got it?” Or, “We’re gonna be cold on this, babe. Fucking ice water.”
    “Did you have to shoot that man?” the woman said, once, quietly.
    “Hey, I did what I had to do. I can do it with the little chick, too.”
    Then he talked to Janine. “Tell me about your house. How big is it? How many rooms? You got a swimming pool? Huh? You’re a smart kid, how much money does your daddy make?”
    Janine didn’t answer.
    She didn’t think he really wanted her to. Sometimes adults did that, asked questions but didn’t really expect her to talk.
    But this time, the woman nudged her. “Tell him, sweetie. You got a pool?”
    Janine nodded her head.
    “Yes, she’s got a pool,” the woman said. “Now, sweetie, how about your dad? You know how much money he makes?” The woman rested her hand on Janine’s head, and, after a second, Janine shook it no.
    “No, she doesn’t.”
    “Bullshit!” The front seat thumped near where Janine’s head was and she cried out. “You want me to stop this car?” The man’s voice had kind of a laugh in it that terrified Janine all the more. She tried to dig deeper