Blood Relations Read Online Free

door. He yanked me out of the cab, handed me an envelope, got in the back seat with your mom, and the cab raced off."
    "What was in the envelope?" asked Mike.
    "Instructions," said Mr. Rawley, pulling a piece of paper out of his jacket pocket. " 'We have your wife. If you tell the police, we kill her fast. Don't try nothing because we will know everything you do. We stole the cab just like we stole your old lady, so you can't trace it. Keep your mouth shut and wait for us to get in touch with you if you want to see your wife alive again.
    ES. That goes for her kids too. They talk to anybody, and they say bye-bye to their mom.' "
    There was a long silence.
    Then Greg's voice: "What do we do, Dad?"
    "We do exactly what we're told," said Mr. Rawley. "We wait to find out how much money they want and how they want it delivered, and I pay it to them. The money doesn't matter. But the one thing I don't intend to do is gamble with your mom's life—and I'm sure you boys don't want to either."
    "Right," said Greg.
    "Of course not," said Mike.
    "If anybody asks where your mother is, just say she's gone to the West Coast on family business. Understand?"
    There was no sound. But Frank, Joe, and Dunn, listening from the closet, knew that Greg and Mike were nodding their heads earnestly.
    "Good," said Mr. Rawley. "Now, get a good night's sleep so you can appear as normal as possible in school tomorrow. It's vital that nobody suspects anything is wrong."
    "Right, Dad," said Greg.
    "Yeah, we understand," said Mike.
    "I know I can depend on you," said Mr. Raw-ley. "Good night."
    Frank, Joe, and Dunn heard Mr. Rawley close the room door as he left. Greg waited a minute before he opened the closet door.
    "It's him—I know it," Greg said, his face pale, his lips thin with anger.
    "He faked the kidnapping," Mike agreed. "I only hope he hasn't ... " He couldn't make himself finish the sentence, but all of them knew what he meant.
    "Hold on. Don't panic," Dunn said. "And don't jump to conclusions."
    "Right," said Frank. "Remember, we don't know what your mom found in that book. Sure, it could have been your stepfather but it also could have been somebody else."
    "Of course it was someone else," Joe said angrily, glaring at Greg and Mike. "I can't believe Mr. Rawley could be involved in anything like this. I've known him my entire life. You guys have only known him a couple of months, and you're accusing him of kidnapping his own wife. Maybe we ought to ask what kind of friends your mother used to have before she — "
    "Lay off my mother," Greg said, stepping forward so that he and Joe stood facing each other. "She's the victim here, not that overblown con man you call your family friend."
    "Yeah," Mike added. "You heard about the wicked stepmother. Well, this is the story of the wicked stepfather."
    "Hold it, Joe," said Dunn, putting a hand on his arm. "All of you had better bury the hatchet right now. This ain't the time for feelings. We need facts."
    "He's right," said Frank. "We need logic, not fights."
    "You and Dunn can look for facts and logic," said Joe. "Me, I have to go with my gut feelings. I know Mr. Rawley is straight."
    "Your gut feelings aren't going to get Mrs. Rawley back alive," Dunn said. "Only hard work can do that. We have to work together, especially since we can't turn to the police."
    "Why not?" Greg asked, reluctantly backing off.
    "For one simple reason," said Frank. "The first person the police would talk to would be Mr. Rawley. If he is one of the kidnappers, the idea that the cops might be after him would be all the reason he'd need to get rid of your mom." Frank paused when he saw Greg and Mike's reaction.
    "Hey, I'm sorry to put it that way, but you have to think about the worst and hope for the best in a situation like this."
    "No apology necessary," said Greg. "We have to face facts. You're right about the police. If Mom's still alive, we don't want to make any wrong moves."
    "So what can we do?" asked Joe, getting