Page 63 of Finding a Melody
I sighed and they all finally quieted down, realizing they were being a bit ridiculous right now. “Listen, okay,” I said. “The Ryder gang is after me because I helped their leader’s girlfriend escape. I imagine they want to beat me up until I talk.” I shivered, not even going to voice the other things they could do to me.
“You did what?” Bryan asked.
“I met a girl a couple years ago and we hit it off, and became close. I learned about the abuse she was facing and I got her out.” I glanced out the window, at the darkness on the other side. “I don’t even know where she is right now. If they do get me, they aren’t getting any answers.”
“Do you know who the leader is?” Seth asked, his eyes hard, but not because of me. His anger wasn’t toward me.
“Truthfully, no. Only his name. I just set everything up for her, set up all the contacts for her. When it was time, we met up and I got her to the first stop. After that she continued on. She sent me postcards to let me know she was fine, but the postcards were from cities she wasn’t in.”
“Smart girl,” Toby said.
I smirked. “She’s resourceful, she just needed a push.”
Toby shook his head. “I meant you. You’re smart. You managed to help her without the Ryder gang even knowing.”
“But they know now,” Bryan said.
“Which means someone figured it out and told them,” Seth said. “Who else knew?”
“The only people would be those I contacted to help her. They aren’t the type to tell.”
“How can you be so sure?” Paxon asked.
“Because they’re just like her. They’ve been in similar situations. They know what’s at risk. They would never sell her out. They also didn’t know her situation, just that she needed out. I doubt any of them even knew her connection to the Ryders.”
“Shit,” Toby said and ran a hand through his light brown hair. “Doesn’t matter, they aren’t getting her.”
“Agreed,” Justin spoke up. “We won’t let them.”
The others nodded and my eyes widened as I looked at each guy.
“You do realize they’re the Ryders?” I asked, as if they’d forgotten about that little tidbit.
“We know,” Seth said. “But we can be resourceful. We wouldn’t have lasted this long otherwise.”
The others nodded along with him, sharing glances with each other. While they quietly talked around me, trying to come up with plans to help me, some a bit too ridiculous. I was dozing off when the door clicked open and a woman walked in. She had long, wavy black hair, glowing tanned skin, and wore a dark blue dispatcher shirt with black dress pants. She carried an oversized black purse.
“You boys need to go home and sleep,” she said with a glower, her dark brown eyes scanning the room and stopping on Toby. “And some of you no doubt still have homework to deal with before you go back to school tomorrow.”
Toby moaned. “But Laura, we can’t leave her here by herself.”
“Yes, you can. There’s a nice policeman outside to keep her safe.”
“It isn’t the same. She just went through something dangerous, and she needs to know we’re here for her. That she’s safe.”
Her expression hardened. “You need to get your butts home and get to sleep. She isn’t going anywhere and has only the best care here. And Seth’s here too. Go home.”
They went back and forth. The others didn’t seem surprised by the interaction, even smiling. I gaped.
“Oh, right.” The woman turned to me, moving closer and holding her hand out. “Laura Braden. A pleasure to finally meet the girl Toby never stops singing about.”
“Auntie!” Toby looked horrified.
“Singing?” I asked.
The woman laughed. It was a nice sound. “Every day.”
I looked between the two of them, seeing the similarities. They had the same features, the way they smiled and held themselves. His aunt seemed to have as much energy as he did.