LITMIR.BIZ

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his last fry. He always ate his fries first. Then he ate the meat off the burger. He hated buns.

      “It means your Dad and I are working out a deal. He comes up with cash. You go home.”

      The fry slipped from David’s finger and plopped into the puddle of ketchup. “Have we been kidnapped?”

      “No, no. Nothing like that. This is just a business deal, and you’re the collateral.”

      “How much cash are you trying to get from Daddy?”

      “Just a little pocket money. Five million. Do you think you’re worth that?”

      David choked and had to spit out the fry he was eating. His allowance was only a dollar a week, and when he’d asked for that super skateboard with all the fancy stuff on it the last time they went to Houston, Momma had said it was too expensive. And that didn’t cost even a hundred dollars.

      He didn’t figure anybody had five million dollars except the Queen of England and maybe that woman who wrote the Harry Potter books. He and Derrick were in big trouble. He looked at his twin brother and could tell he was thinking the same thing.

      Derrick jumped up from the rickety chair. “I’m getting out of here right now.” He sprinted across the room, heading for the back door.

      The guy with the dirty denim jacket grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back until Derrick yelped in pain.

      David ran over and kicked the man in his shins. The guy let go of Derrick and grabbed David. “You kick me again, and I’ll take a belt to you, you hear me, boy? You won’t have an inch of flesh that’s not bruised.”

      “Then don’t you hurt my brother.”

      Surprisingly the guy laughed. “So you two stick together, eh.” Then he stopped smiling and his face turned red. “Let’s get one thing straight. I don’t want to hurt either one of you, but you try anything funny and I’ll lock you in the bathroom and leave you there until this deal is done, do you understand?”

      “Sure, I understand,” Derrick said. “You’re a criminal.”

      “Right, so don’t even think of trying to escape. Besides, even if you did escape, you’d be so lost no one would ever find you but the snakes and buzzards.”

      “You hurt us and my daddy and uncles will kill you,” David said. He was trying hard to act like he wasn’t afraid, but he was plenty scared. Not for him but for his brother. Derrick didn’t like to listen to anybody, and he might do something stupid.

      “I’m treating you good, now aren’t I?” the man said. “I bought you hamburgers and fries just like you said you wanted.”

      “Yeah, but you told us we were coming here to meet Uncle Langston so he could fly us to Dallas.”

      “I lied. Now I’m going to let you talk to your dad, but you have to tell him how good I’m treating you. And that’s all you say. Tell him you’re fine and that you want to come home. That way he’ll close the deal, and this will all be over.”

      David nodded. He wanted to talk to Daddy. He wanted that real bad. He didn’t like being kidnapped, and he didn’t like this cabin. He didn’t even want to go to visit his dad at the hospital now. He just wanted to go back to Jack’s Bluff. But if he made this man mad, he might never get back.

      The man took the cell phone from his pocket and started punching the buttons, whistling the same tune he’d been whistling when he’d picked them up in the car. David put his arm around Derrick’s shoulders. He’d do what the man said for now, but he’d find a way out of this. Fast. He wasn’t missing Christmas.

      THIRTY MINUTES later, there was still no return call. Nick paced the floor, the pain from his injury shooting up his back and settling like smoldering embers in his shoulders and neck. He welcomed the pain. It was familiar and deserved. He’d willingly taken the risks that playing ball in the NFL carried with it.

      His boys didn’t deserve this mess they were in and neither did Becky. She might have turned against him, but she’d always been a terrific mother. She was the mainstay for both his sons—steady, constant, yet filled with a love of life.

      The same Becky he’d fallen so madly in love with from the first day he’d spotted her jogging across the campus in a pair of tight blue running shorts and showing off the best pair of legs he’d ever seen. He’d asked her out for beers and pizza that very night. To his utter amazement, she’d said yes.

      The phone vibrated in his clammy hand an instant before its piercing ring shattered the ominous silence surrounding them. No ID information. His muscles tensed as he took the call.

      “Nice that you’re so available these days, Nick. Who’d have ever thought you could call a famous Dallas Cowboys receiver and get him on the first ring?”

      His grip tightened on the phone. “Are my boys with you?”

      “Still don’t like talking to people like me, though, do you, Nick Ridgely? Your sons are standing next to me. You can have thirty seconds with each boy.”

      “Their mother wants to speak to them as well.”

      “Thirty seconds. You guys divvy it up any way you like. Maybe Brianna Campbell can take a turn, too.”

      Go to hell! The words hammered against Nick’s skull, but never left his mouth. The rotten piece of scum held all the power, and he couldn’t risk riling him.

      “Daddy.”

      His heart stopped beating for excruciating moments and then slammed into his chest. “Hi, Derrick. Good to hear your voice.”

      Becky was at his side in an instant, her eyes begging him for reassurance. He nodded but held on to the phone.

      “David and I got kidnapped. Momma’s gonna be mad ’cause we got in the car with a stranger, but we thought he was Uncle Langston’s friend.”

      “Mom’s not mad, son. Are you okay? Has he hurt you?”

      “Not really. He didn’t buy the kind of hamburgers we like, though, and he doesn’t have much of a TV. It gets lines in it all the time.”

      A sorry TV. Nick swallowed hard as relief rushed through him. If that was their biggest complaint, he’d called this right. The guy wasn’t a child molester. Now Nick just had to get the bastard the money and get the boys back before the situation worsened.

      “Momma wants to say hello.”

      Tears filled Becky’s eyes as she reached for the phone. “Are you okay, sweetheart?”

      Nick could only hear her side of the conversation, but he could hear the relief in her voice when she realized as he had that their sons were apparently unhurt.

      “Daddy and I are taking care of everything. You’ll be back with us soon.” There was a short pause, and then she whispered I love you and was apparently handed off to David.

      “No, David, I’m not mad. I just want you home with me. Daddy’s fine. He’s here at the ranch. You’ll see both of us soon. Are you warm? Did you get enough to eat? Okay, you can talk to Daddy. I love you.”

      She handed Nick the phone. His time was almost up with the boys, but now that he knew they were safe, it was the abductor he wanted to talk to. The quicker they made the exchange of his sons for money, the less likely they’d have complications.

      “Satisfied?” the man asked after letting Nick have only a sentence or two with David.

      “For now, but I mean what I said that you’d best not hurt them.”

      “Yeah, big guy. I’m doing my part. Now it’s time for you to do yours.”

      “I’m ready.”

      “I’ll give you twenty-four hours to get the cash together. Let’s see, that will make it at 4:00 p.m. tomorrow.”

      “I

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