Girl, Stolen(35)

Jimbo let out a whistle. “Sounds slick.”

Griffin didn’t care about the money. The idea of it didn’t even seem real. “After we get the money, then what?”

“I think we should all get out of town,” Roy said. “I know I am. I’m headed down to the airport to get on the first flight I can find to someplace warm where they put an umbrella in your drink.”

“Wait, we won’t be working here no more?” TJ looked confused.

“You won’t need to work, dummy.” Jimbo shook his head. “That’s the whole point. You won’t need to work for years and years. If we go down to someplace where they don’t ever see tourists and haven’t jacked up their prices, we’ll never run out of money.”

Griffin couldn’t believe they seemed to have forgotten the girl who was in the middle of all this. “But what about Cheyenne?”

Roy’s face twisted. “What about her?”

“We’ll let her go, right? We’ve never used our names. And of course she has no idea what we look like.” Griffin made his voice as certain as he could. Hearing Cheyenne say, “I know your name. It’s Griffin. And now I know for sure your dad’s name is Roy. When I tell the police that, they’ll find you in a minute.” Griffin didn’t know how to make things right. He just knew that he couldn’t stand by and let something bad happen to Cheyenne.

Roy looked skeptical. “Sooner or later, she’ll tell them something that will let them know exactly where we are.”

Griffin remembered his earlier conversation with Cheyenne. “Not if we’re careful, she won’t. For one thing, she’s the daughter of Nike’s president. Do you know how many people would want a piece of that pie? When you call back, you can say something to make them think it’s all about Nike. They’ll spend years tracking down every person who’s protested against them or worked there. And they’ll never find us. Because they won’t realize it was random. That it didn’t have anything to do with Nike at all.”

Roy thought about this for a while. The other three were silent, watching him.

“On the way to the airport we can slip up into Washington and drop her off along a logging road or something,” Griffin said. “Point her in the right direction and tell her to start walking. And by the time somebody finds her, we’ll be on the beach. With our mai tais.”

“Of course,” Roy said. Griffin was pretty sure Roy had never said “of course” before in his life.

At least not when he meant it.





INTELLIGENT DISOBEDIENCE


For a few minutes after she woke up, Cheyenne didn’t know where she was. And then she remembered. And wished she hadn’t.

By the sliver of light she could see with her left eye, Cheyenne decided that it was morning. Real light was warmer, somehow, than light that came from a bulb. But when she felt her watch, she was surprised to find it was one twenty. So afternoon, not morning. Then someone opened the bedroom door. Cheyenne braced herself.

“Are you awake?” When she heard Griffin’s voice, relief flooded through her.

“Yeah.” She pushed herself up until her back was against the wall.

“I brought you some Advil to keep your fever down and another one of those antibiotics. Plus OJ to wash it down with and some crackers. I’ll put the crackers at nine o’clock.”

She felt him settle on the bed by her feet, and then he put the glass in one hand and the pills in the other.

“Thanks,” she said, trying to sound like she meant it. “When am I going home?”

“Soon. My dad’s just making the final arrangements. There’s going to be a drop tonight at three, and then we’ll drive you someplace and let you go.” His voice changed to a whisper, and he leaned close enough that she could feel his breath stir her hair. “The thing is, you can’t let on that you know my name or my dad’s name. You have to act like you don’t know anything.”

Cheyenne nodded, biting her lip.

Griffin’s soft whisper continued. “You know how you told me about how many enemies your dad must have? They’ll probably say some stuff to try to make you think that you being kidnapped is connected to Nike. Pretend like you believe them.”

Cheyenne didn’t know who to believe. “Griffin, you’ve got to promise that they will let me go. Promise me.”

He was quiet for a long time. Finally he whispered, “I promise.”

Cheyenne started shivering, and it wasn’t just from being sick. She was afraid that Griffin’s hesitation had said more than his words.