One thing she did know was that she couldn’t deal with it without more Dove’s inspirational messages. Thinking about the one she’d tacked to her door earlier that day, she realized that Carol from Alabama had been correct when she definedTOY… as thinking of yourself.
* * *
“I found her.”Kyle’s voice squeaked. He hated puberty. Why did his vocal cords need to make his life even harder? He’d researched the topic. For some, the transition could happen quickly, only that hadn’t been the case for him.
“Where is she?” the brute asked.
“Where’s my brother?” His voice rang high.
“Give us GigaByte’s location and we’ll release your brother.”
He’d seen enough TV to know that neither him nor his brother would live if he gave them her location. He still couldn’t believe he’d found the infamous GigaByte.
“No.” Thankfully, his voice resonated stronger.
“Do you want your brother to live?”
“Yes, which is why I’m not telling you anything about GigaByte.”
The man put a knife against his throat. Each swallow pierced the knife deeper, but wouldn’t give in. He couldn’t. If they truly wanted GigaByte, they would have to let Hunter go, and he’d pray she got his message and could take care of herself.
“Get him,” Roberto ordered Oscar.
Had his brother been in the same building all that time?
Minutes later, he heard Hunter before he saw him. “Kyle!”
“Hunter! Thank God you’re okay. Did they hurt you?”
Of course he was hurt. He’d seen the pictures himself.
“Shut up!” the man ordered. “Give me GigaByte’s location.”
“She’s here, in Austin?” the man asked after reading the file Kyle had created.
“Yes.”
“Interesting.”
“Are you going to let us go now?”
“Hmm, I think keeping you two here until we have GigaByte is probably the right decision.” Looking back over to his guard, he ordered Kyle and Hunter to be taken upstairs.
“That wasn’t the deal!” Kyle knew they would screw them over. A wave of sadness and regret rushed over him.
Instead of answering him, the guard chuckled and yanked him out of the desk chair.
Walking side by side, Hunter listened as Kyle admitted what he’d done.
“I uncovered GigaByte, and we’re in a world of trouble, as is she.”
Hunter wondered once again who this woman was. She had a strange nickname, but then again, so had his brother.
After the door slammed closed, Kyle wrapped himself against his brother’s chest, forgetting about the broken ribs until Hunter grunted.
“Sorry. I’m so sorry, Hunter. Sorry I started this hunt. Sorry I got you hurt, and sorry that these men will probably kill GigaByte when they find her.”
“I know you are, and I hope this woman can protect herself; however, my priority is you. We’ve got to find a way out of here.”