Chapter Five
December 2, 1988
This is so not fair! Me – Hannah – grounded! I overheard Mom on the phone and she said "Oscar" and something like "Ok, see you in an hour, then." But I didn't put the tape recorder under the sofa this time. James did. Oh, ok – I gave him a dollar.
When Uncle Oscar left, Mom called me into the den and she was holding the tape recorder. James is the best brother in the world because he ran in right away and told Mom he did it, but Mom is too smart. She asked me how much I paid him, so I told her the truth. She made James give her the dollar, then she took the tape and grounded me for the whole week! Grandma and Grandpa will be in town tomorrow for part of their vacation and when James and my sisters go to visit them, I have to stay home.
I've never been grounded before. I wonder what it's like.
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Steve probably would've thought Hannah's little recording caper was funny, but I didn't see the humor and Steve wasn't here. Eavesdropping is never a good thing, but eavesdropping on Oscar Goldman is a world class no-no!
Oscar told me that Steve appeared to be handling the Red Knights with no problems and I knew Hannah had been bottling up a lot of angst, so part of the reason I grounded her was to spend some one-on-one quality time with our middle child. I had no idea...
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December 3, 1988
I am so bored, and the others have only been gone for three hours! I finished the book I was reading, played with Watson, dusted all the doorknobs for fingerprints and even cleaned my room without being asked. That's how bored I am! Now I'm up in the attic, looking for Mom and Dad's old yearbooks while Mom makes lunch. We're going to look at them together after we eat. That'll be fun.
Oh my God!
Diary, this is bad – really, really bad. Maybe if I keep writing, I won't freak out. I can't go anywhere or do anything else, and I have to stay calm and quiet. There's a bunch of men downstairs with Mom. They have guns. I don't know what to do. Two cars came up the driveway so fast it sounded like a thunder storm. That was what made me look out the window. The men – five of them – were getting out of their cars, two from one car and three from the other car, when Mom went out the front door, right toward them. That was when I saw that the really ugly man with red hair had a gun. He tried to grab Mom's arm, and she turned around and looked like she was going to hit him, but then the other men went all around her, and they all had guns, too, all pointed right at her.
Mom put her arm down and didn't hit anyone. Then the red haired man pushed her toward the house and they all came inside. They're downstairs now, in the den, I think. I can't hear anything they're saying. What do they want? Are they killing my mom? Dad, where are you?
I have to do something, but I can't do anything from up here. Oh – I know! The attic window on the side of the house is up over the garage. Maybe I could climb out and get onto the garage roof and then jump down and run for help. I'm not very good at that kind of stuff, but those men are down there with Mom, and I think the red haired man is going to hurt her. I have to try. Diary, I will write more later. I hope.
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It was the worst feeling in the world, sitting in that den, surrounded by gunman, with no idea where Hannah was. When I heard those cars come roaring up the driveway, my gut knew right away what was happening, and my first thought was to hide her, protect her somehow, but there was no time. I knew if I didn't go out and try to intercept them, the Red Knights would storm the house, probably shooting as they came. Hannah could've been caught in the crossfire!
I was sure surprised to see Red himself get out of the car. I knew they had to have broken him out of prison, because he'd been sentenced to double-life and had served just over ten years. I saw his face and knew they hadn't come to negotiate (which I pretty much knew anyway) – they were there for a final round of revenge. They knew Steve would insist on taking my place at the original so-called negotiations, and with him out of the way and occupied elsewhere, I'd be that much more vulnerable. They'd probably been watching the house and had seen the children leaving with Jim and Helen, so they thought I was all alone. They didn't know about Hannah.
I took a swing at Red, hoping he'd shoot me then and there, they'd leave and Hannah would be unharmed. I knew he and his men were ruthless enough to kill a child for the agony it would cause me. When they dragged me into the house, my heart sank. Where was my daughter, and was she safe?
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