Recap: Rikki is tired of the FBI agents following them for protection, and she convinces Evie to go a back way with her to the skating rink. Evie is nervous and senses someone following them.
My heart pounded. The shadow stepped closer. A man wearing a mask covering his nose and mouth stood only a few feet from us. There was an evil glint in his dark eyes.
“Don’t move!” he hissed. “You come quietly with me, or I use my weapon.”
My throat went dry. I squeezed my eyes shut. Please send help, I found myself praying. If only the FBI agents were here. Why had we taken this deserted back path? How foolish of me to go along with this plan. This man had no compunction about using his weapon. I assumed it was a gun.
Rikki stood a few inches from me. Her face paled. She remained perfectly still.
A bird was chirping nearby. A chipmunk scampered across the yard.
“Nice and slow. Turn and follow me. My car is very near. You will get in without a sound, or I shoot one of you in the heart.”
I didn’t think I could move. My heart was exploding.
Rikki turned to follow him.
My whole body was shaking. I found myself praying. Please, please let the FBI agents come now.
Suddenly, Junie bounded into the yard followed by Maggie and Aunt Ruthie.
Aunt Ruthie’s voice rang out. “Evie, your mother just called and said to wait a bit before coming because the Zamboni is broken and the repair people are at the rink now.”
Junie ran over to me, panting and jumping up on me. When I looked up, the shadowy figure with the mask had disappeared.
“Rikki, where—?”
Rikki whispered in my ear. “Shh, don’t say anything. Baruch Hashem, I think he was scared away by Junie and Maggie and your aunt. I don’t want to frighten them.”
I kept looking behind me. It was the strangest feeling, like I’d almost been kidnapped a minute ago.
We all headed back to the house. I was still shaking. When we were alone in my room, I told Rikki, “We should call the FBI guys.”
She agreed and dialed the number on the card they’d given us. Rikki put her phone on speaker so I could hear the conversation.
Herb answered right away.
“We heard you were off radar. That’s dangerous. We told you, you need surveillance.”
“Yes, yes, I’m sorry,” Rikki said. “We were followed and almost abducted.”
How could she say that so matter-of-factly?
“Tell me exactly what happened and where you were.”
“My friend Evie and I…” Rikki retold the whole thing, including the fact that we were taking a back path to the skating rink. The only indication she was upset was how rapidly she told the story and the pale color of her cheeks.
“Look, you can see you are in danger. You must only stick to the main road and don’t go on any back paths. Can you describe the man? What did he threaten to do?”
I lay down on my bed. I was feeling nauseous from fear. I tried taking deep breaths to stop my heart from pounding. I was amazed at how Rikki could just talk about it all so calmly.
“He was tall with a face mask covering his nose and mouth. He had a wild look in his eye, and he said don’t move. Then Evie’s dog appeared, and her aunt, and he slunk away.”
Our little goldendoodle was a hero, I mused.
“Both of you, listen carefully. It sounds like he could be Muhamed Abdullah, the terrorist criminal we’re looking for. It fits the description. You must be vigilant. Don’t go anywhere alone and stay on the main path or road. I’ll come pick you up today for the ice skating time.”
After she hung up, my phone buzzed.
“Hello,” I said.
There was silence, and then a strange voice spoke softly, each syllable enunciated with an undercurrent of fury. “You will not be safe until Mrs. Bernson gives me the information I want. You will be sorry if she doesn’t cooperate.”
The phone clicked off.
To be continued…
Susie Garber is the author of Captured (Menucha 2025), an historical fiction novel, Please Be Patient (Menucha 2024), Flight of the Doves (Menucha Publishing 2023), Please Be Polite (Menucha Publishers 2022) , A Bridge in Time (Menucha Publishing 2021), Secrets in Disguise (Menucha Publishers 2020), Denver Dreams, a novel (Jerusalem Publications, 2009), Memorable Characters…Magnificent Stories (Scholastic, 2002), Befriend (Menucha Publishers, 2013), The Road Less Traveled (Feldheim, 2015), fiction serials and features in Binah Magazine and Binyan Magazine and “Moon Song” in Binyan (2021-2022) and Alaskan Gold ( 2023-2024).
