Bodhi said, “I never thought I’d see any of my friends again.” Wiping tears from her eyes, she led Amber toward the bed so they could sit together. Amber tugged her in a different direction, toward the curtained window. She peeked between the curtains. Metal bars covered the outside.
“Crap,” said Amber.
“Yeah. Come sit down so we can talk.”
Amber said, “Why are they holding you?”
“It has to be about money.”
“How much do they want?”
“I don’t know. They never told me, and they never asked me, either.”
Amber thought, “From your mother, then.”
“I think so.”
Amber patted Bodhi’s hand to reassure her and said, “We’ll get out of this, don’t worry. Your mother will pay. And two good private eyes are on the case to find you.”
“Why do they want you?”
Amber shook her head, “Because you and I are friends. I think they’ll use me to get you to talk.”
“About what? They haven’t asked me for anything so far.”
“I guess we’ll find out.”
Bodhi said, “Who are the private eyes?”
“Ronny Baca and Hondo Wells. Your mom and dad hired them.”
The two friends sat that way for several minutes, with Bodhi tearing up several times, but regaining control.
Amber asked, “Do they ever let you out?”
“Sometimes. Usually, one hour right before noon, and one hour in the evening around eight or so. Not every day, but four, five times since they took me. Why?”
“If they let us out together, we might be able to escape.”
“To where? I don’t even know what town we’re in, or even if we’re still in California.”
“Doesn’t matter. Once we get away, we can figure out where we are.”
The door opened and the Indian said, “You’re not escaping. Get that out of your heads. And you,” he pointed a thick forefinger at Amber, “We’ll be talking real soon, and I better get some answers.”
“I don’t know anything!”
He said, “Nice eyes you got. Be a shame to pour Drano in them. Get your mind right.” He stared at her for a few seconds, “You might get out of this in one piece if you do.” He closed the door, leaving them alone.
Amber pulled Bodhi close, “Did you know they could hear us?”
“No. I haven’t had anyone to talk to before.”
“We’ll figure out some way, we just have to think.”
Bodhi nodded, then her eyes brightened. She walked to the lone dresser drawer unit, opened the top drawer and pulled out an ancient plastic clock radio with RCA Victor in aluminum script letters below the small speaker. It only showed AM on the white plastic dial. She plugged it in and worked the dial until there was an oldies station playing without too much static interference. She turned it up, not so much that they would come in and take the radio from the room, but loud enough to cover their voices if they were careful.
She sat down again and Amber squeezed her arm, “How did you know it was in there?”