She was looking as hard as she could for the sign for Callaway Road when Sal’s cell rang. They both jumped. “Shit.” He banged his elbow on the door trying to get the phone out of his jacket pocket. He looked really scared, and when he answered, his voice kind of squeaked. “Hello?”

All the way on the other side of the car, Riley could hear his dad yelling, asking Sal where the hell he was and telling him if he didn’t get home right now, he’d call the police. Sal was afraid of his dad, and he looked like he was going to cry. When his dad finally hung up, Sal stopped the car right in the middle of the road and started screaming at Riley. “Give me the rest of the money! Right now!”

He looked like he was going sort of crazy. Riley shrank back against the door. “As soon as we get there.”

He grabbed her jacket and shook her. A little bubble of slobber popped at the corner of his mouth. “Give it to me or you’ll be sorry.”

She jerked away, but he’d scared her so much that she kicked off her shoe. “I got the money here.”

“Hurry up. Give it to me!”

“Take me to the farm first.”

“If you don’t give it to me now, I’m going to hit you.”

She knew he meant it, and she grabbed at her sock and pulled out the bills. “I’ll give this to you when we get there.”

“Give it to me now!” He twisted her wrist.

She smelled the Cheese Nips on his breath, plus something sour. “Let go!”

He pried open her fingers and grabbed the money. Then he yanked her seat belt free, reached across her, and threw open her car door. “Get out!”

She was so scared she started to cry. “Take me to the farm first. Don’t do this. Please.”

“Get out right now!” He shoved her hard. She tried to grab the door, but she missed and fell out on the road. “Don’t you tell anybody,” he shouted. “If you tell anybody, you’ll be sorry.” He threw her backpack out, pulled the door shut, and took off.

She lay in the middle of the road until the sound of the engine disappeared. All she could hear was herself crying. It was so dark, the darkest night in her whole life. There weren’t any streetlights like in Nashville, and she couldn’t even see the moon, just this gray place in the clouds where the moon must be behind. She heard scuffing noises and remembered this movie she’d seen where a guy jumped out of the woods and kidnapped this girl and took her back to his house and cut her all up. That scared her so much that she snatched her backpack and ran across the road to where the field was.