Well, they weren’t in LA, they were in the Valley—the burbs, north of the city. Dingo wasn’t even close to Australian. He was a Valley boy. Although boys and men probably didn’t get labeled like that. It was probably just the women and girls who were given that meant-to-be-insulting name.
But Dingo hadn’t uttered the classic Valley girlOh my Godas they’d approached his parents’ house. In fact, over the entire course of the drive, mired in this new, awful dimension that Maddie was currently trapped in, neither of them had said much of anything.
I’m going to get you your fucking shower…and then I’m going to bring you to your father and be done with you. For once and for all.
They’d driven past the house, and everything was still and dark even though the sun was starting to rise.
“We’re good, they’re gone.” Dingo had finally spoken.
At Maddie’s questioning look, he’d grudgingly explained. “My mother sends me emails, so I know where they are, partly in case they die in a fiery ten-car pile-up. They have an RV and they travel a lot. They just got home from a long trip east—my sister had a baby—but then my dad wanted to go to some asshole festival in Arizona, so…She said she wasn’t sure if they were leaving last night or this morning, but the RV’s gone. She hides bags of food for me in the spare room, and sometimes money, too. We’ll have to be careful not to move anything or leave anything out of place, because I’m sure my dad checks. So we’ll want to wash and fold the towels after we shower.”
He’d gone around the block, and parked on the next street over. “Just in case Dad forgot something—like his officialI’m an Assholehat—and they come back. That’s happened before. If they do, we’ll have to hide. And maybe pray.”
Once inside, Dingo had raided some boxes that were neatly stacked in the corner of that spare room he’d mentioned. They were all markedThrow Away,but they held what had to be his belongings. “This used to be my room before my father attempted to erase me,” he’d told her as he handed her a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. “You can wear this until your clothes dry.”
With the exception of her underwear, Maddie had put her dirty clothes outside of the bathroom door, and Dingo had immediately started a load in the washing machine—she heard it thumping and swishing from what must’ve been a laundry room on the other side of the shower wall. It was clear that he’d come here often when his parents were away, and he’d learned to be efficient with his time.
The phone finally stopped ringing, but only a few seconds passed before it started up again.
“Don’t answer that!” Dingo shouted through the door. “It’s probably my father. I think he suspects that Mom helps me out, because whenever I’m here, the phone rings off the hook, like he’s trying to catch me or something. So just…don’t.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t,” Maddie shouted back.
Dingo was in the living room when the black truck pulled up in front of the house. It was Nelson’s man Cody—with the pale eyes and total lack of soul. He didn’t even try to approach with stealth. He just parked and started up the front path.
The hair dryer was still buzzing in the bathroom—Maddie wasn’t even close to being able to run. Still, Dingo went into the kitchen where—fuck!—the skinhead twins, Stank and Eddie, had just dropped over the back fence, into the dust bowl that was his parents’ backyard.
He ducked down behind the counter, so that they couldn’t see him through the windows.
Running was not an option. That left hiding, or fighting….He quickly opened the junk drawer, rummaging for something, anything….A jackknife…But all he found was a fold-up corkscrew that had a little knife on the end. Better than nothing, except, really? It was sharp as shit, but only three quarters of an inch long. Fighting wasn’t much of an option either.
Still, he pocketed it, but then pulled out his phone. With shaking hands he went to his list of texts and found…Yes. Nelson had texted him just last night.Where you at?
Fist time in days that M hasn’t been watching me,Dingo typed. Recovered some $$$, but now at end of rode. Will bring her to you ASAP.
He hitsend,pocketed his phone, and took a deep, steadying breath as he heard the glass break in the back door.
The hair dryer went off, and Maddie called from the bathroom, “Dingo? What was that?”
Dingo didn’t answer her.
Maddie hurriedly put her still-damp underwear back on, along with the much-too-big shorts and T-shirt, then went to the door and opened it a crack. “Ding?”
Had he dropped a glass in the kitchen? God, that would be a mess. She only hoped it wasn’t his father’s favorite, or even just something that would be easily missed.
But then she heard voices. Dingo saying, “Whoa, whoa, whoa,whoa. Mate! Mate! Take a breath! Take a breath!” He was using his fake accent, so he probably wasn’t talking to his father. “Ijustsent him a text—this is the first time in days that she hasn’t been completely on top of me—lookit, lookit, just check my phone. See? Right?”
“Firsthas anrin it, you fucking idiot.”
Maddie stood there, frozen in disbelief as Dingo said, “But, see? I sent that text to Mr. Nelson. I was playing her, mate, ’cuz I thought, you know, if I was her boyfriend, she’d tell me where the money was, but she honestly didn’t have it. We found this, in Fiona’s ma’s house in Sacramento—they’ve shipped Fee off to some kind of juvie looney bin….”
He’d sent a text toNelson.
Dingo kept talking, but Maddie closed the door. Locked it. Looked around. There was no window in there—she hadn’t noticed until now. No window, but a phone. She picked it up. Dialed 9-1-1.
Her heart was pounding, which was weird, because it shouldn’t even be able to beat let alone pound since it had just broken into a million pieces.
Dingo had been playing her. All this time.
