How could I find out if she’d gone home with that Gavin guy? I couldn’t just go to their ranch and ask. I still didn’t know if he and Brian were the same men who hurt my mom. She’d said the guys took them back to their ranch but maybe they had just worked there. I remembered Crystal telling me how they’d been kept in a warehouse. I’d never be able to find it myself.
I decided to give it another day, see if she came back to the motel. If she didn’t, maybe I’d call Mom or Dallas and tell them that Crystal was definitely here. They’d take me seriously then. But they’d probably also make me go home—and I’d be in big crap with my mom. I imagined the phone call, the anger and fear and disappointment in her voice, and felt a lurch in my stomach.
I spent the rest of the day parked on a street behind the pub where I could see the back entrance, dozing in the front seat and listening to the CD Crystal have given me. Early evening I did another loop past the motel, then parked behind the pub again. I was starting to give up hope. I hadn’t seen anyone who looked like Crystal, and I had no idea what Brian and Gavin looked like.
My bladder was almost bursting and I had to sneak out and pee behind my car, hiding in the shadows. I kept watch for another couple of hours. Crystal didn’t show, and I was getting sleepy. I ate my last granola bar, then pulled the blanket and pillow out from the back, reclining my seat so I was more comfortable but could still see the bar.
I heard a vehicle coming down the road, blasting hard-core heavy metal music. I tucked myself lower. It parked right behind me. I peeked over my shoulder, recognized the truck from the garage. Shit. Was it both boys? I didn’t know which of them owned the truck. They turned their lights off. Two truck doors opened. The radio was still playing but at lower volume.
“Get a case of Molson, okay?” I could see the dark-haired boy from the light in the cab of the truck. He’d been driving. Another boy I didn’t recognize got out of the truck and headed over to the pub.
The dark-haired boy leaned against his truck, looked down at something in his hands. I saw the glow of a cell phone. Someone else got out of the passenger side of the truck and walked around to stand by him. Blond hair in the streetlight. The boy from the garage. They were laughing and talking about some girls.
Motion in the parking lot, the other boy walking out with a case of beer. He stopped to talk to some people in a truck who’d just pulled in. He called out to the guys near me. They walked past my car. I scrunched lower, held my breath. They didn’t see me, but they might on their way back. I checked behind me. They’d parked close to my bumper and I didn’t have much space between me and the car in front. I heard their voices, still laughing in the parking lot.
Should I climb in the backseat? Too late. They were coming back now and would see the motion. I scrunched down, pulled the blanket over my head.
The voices were coming closer. Stopped near my car.
“Isn’t that the car that came into the garage?” How did they know that? I remembered the pink rabbit foot hanging off my mirror.
“Is someone sleeping in there?”
Rapping on the window. I didn’t know what to do. If I ignored them would they go away? They rapped again. “Hey, you okay in there?”
I pulled the blanket off, sat up, and rolled down the window. “Yeah, I’m okay.”
“What are you doing in there?” the blond boy said. The new guy, who looked a little older with a goatee, was standing behind them.
“I was sleeping.”
“Where’s your friend?” the tall boy said. He had a beer in his hand.
“She wasn’t my friend,” I said. “And she’s gone.”
He was looking in the back of my car. I remembered that my clothes were all spread out.
“You mind?” I said, and he gave me a curious look.
“What’s your problem?”
“I don’t have a problem. Why don’t you just leave me alone?”
“Sorry,” the tall boy said. “It’s just the cops patrol around here at night. You might want to find another place to hang out.”
The last thing I wanted was a cop asking any questions—I didn’t even have any ID on me, thanks to Lacey.
The tall boy cracked his beer and took a sip. He gave me another look. “You need money?”
I stiffened. Why would he ask me something like that? “I’m okay.”
“You’re sleeping in your car,” he said.
“Maybe I like camping.”
He laughed. “My name’s Riley.” He pointed to his friends. “This is Noah and Jason.”
“Hi,” I said.
“You got a name?” Riley said.
“Skylar.”
“Well, Skylar, my dad owns a big cattle ranch. He might be able to find you some work for cash.”
No way. It had to be the same one. “What’s the name of the ranch?”
“Luxton Cattle Ranch.” He said it with pride.
I stared at Riley, trying to think whether I should ask how long they had owned the ranch. I opened my mouth but something held me back. I had this strange feeling, like I knew him from somewhere, or he reminded me of someone, but I couldn’t think of who or how. I just felt really uncomfortable.
He was giving me a weird look, waiting for me to say something.
“What’s up?” he said.