Relief coursed through me when I realized Oreo wasn’t about to be shot. Of course Lindsay, Andi, and I were still likely to face that fate, but somehow knowing the cat was safe was satisfying.
But before I died, I could at least do half of something right. I turned to my sister who leaned against her pastry table beside me.
“Mom’s here,” I blurted.
“Shut up,” Harl ordered.
“Mom? Here where?” Lindsay looked confused.
“In Seaside.”
“Yo!” Harl yelled.
I hurried on before I lost my nerve. “And she came into the café.”
“What? When?”
“I said shut up!” Harl let go of Andi and grabbed for me. I dodged. “Wednesday and today.”
Lindsay blinked. “And you didn’t tell me?” She looked from Harl to Michael, then back at me. I knew she was thinking that there was a very good chance she’d never see Mom now.
“She looks good, Linds. And she’s got this handsome, nice husband. At least he seems nice.”
“Mom’s married.” She said it with wonder. Given our experience with her, sticking with one man didn’t seem something she’d be capable of.
“I’m sorry you didn’t get to meet her.”
“Yeah, me too.”
“She wants to meet you. Her husband said.”
“Are you deaf or something?” Harl snarled. “Shut up.”
“Let them alone.” Michael indicated Andi. “She’s who’s important. Get what we need from her and fast.”
“It was my bitterness.” I held out my hand palm up because I was without excuse. “I made your decision for you. I’m sorry. Can you forgive me?”
Lindsay got a dreamy expression in her eyes. “You know, I’ve wanted to see her for years. Just see her.”
I shriveled a bit inside as I realized what my pettiness had cost my sister. “You can see her. It’s okay with me. Get to know her. Love her.” But as I looked at the guns focused on Linds and me, the chances seemed terrifyingly small.
Andi cried out in pain as Harl grabbed her again by the hair, and I temporarily forgot Mom.
“Leave her alone!” I cried.
“Don’t hurt her,” Lindsay cried. “She’s a kid!”
We might as well not have spoken.
“No more lying, or I’ll hurt you bad,” Michael told her, a desperation I hadn’t heard before creeping into his voice. “Maybe a bullet in some vulnerable spot or maybe I’ll use one of those knives over there.”
Andi started to cry.
I looked at the knives, blades sharp as Ricky could make them, and shuddered.
“Or maybe I’ll hurt her.” Michael grabbed me, his arm wrapping around my neck. I’d been so transfixed by the knives I hadn’t seen him coming. He stroked the barrel of his gun down my cheek. “It’d be a shame if one of those knives damaged this lovely face.”
“She doesn’t know anything!” Andi cried.
“Get me that DVD.”
“It’s in the café.”
“I mean in the dining area.”
Harl put his face mere inches from hers. “You’d better be telling the truth this time.”
“I am. I swear. It’s under the pink counter.”
The defeated way in which she spoke told me she was telling the truth. Lindsay opened her arms, and Andi ran to her, holding tight as her tears wet Linds’s shoulder.
Harl almost danced out of the kitchen.
“Go.” Michael pointed to the dining area, and Andi and Lindsay went. He pushed me ahead of him, walking in time with my steps as he kept the pressure about my neck steady. I tried to pull away, and he tightened his grip. Immediately I had difficulty breathing. I stopped fighting him.
Not now, girl. Relax. Wait.
Harl gave a happy cry. “Got it!” He held a jewel case high overhead.
And the world exploded.