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the back of his hand. “Are you afraid of spiders?”
    There was a second of silence.
    “You know who I am,” the man said slowly. “Don’t you?”
    “No,” Kathy lied, but it was too late.
    They both knew the truth.
    Kathy knew that the man in the ski mask was the same young man who’d delivered her groceries. That’s how he knew her name. That’s how he knew where her kitchen was. That’s how he knew she had tuna and rye bread. He’d been in her house, in this very kitchen, just days ago. “Nice house,” he’d said at the time. Had he madeup his mind right then and there to come back and rob her?
    “I don’t know who you are,” Kathy lied.
    The young man laughed. “Then allow me to introduce myself,” he said. He pulled off his ski mask. Straight black hair quickly fell around his chin. He scratched his nose, which was long and straight. Sweat dripped from his forehead into his dark eyes. He smiled, and Kathy wondered if his front tooth had been chipped in a fight. And how many other homes had he and Steve broken into in the middle of the night? “I’m Bobby,” the young man said. “What’s your first name, Mrs. Brown?”
    “Kathy,” Kathy whispered. She was sure Bobby could hear her heart pounding. What would happen to her and Jack now?
    “Nice to meet you, Kathy,” Bobby said. “You make a good sandwich.” He took a big bite. “I noticed that you only buy the best.”
    “Please don’t hurt us,” Kathy said.
    “Nobody’s going to get hurt as long as we get what we want.”
    “Can’t you just go and leave us alone? You have our bank cards...”
    “As soon as I hear from my pal Steve. When he tells me everything’s okay, I’ll be on my way.”
    “My husband is bleeding. He needs a doctor.”
    “A little blood never hurt anybody,” Bobby said. He took another bite of his sandwich. Then he drank half the glass of milk in one gulp.
    He’s only a boy, Kathy thought.
    A boy with a gun, she thought in the next breath.
    “Okay, play time is over,” Bobby said. He stood up. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to tie you up again.” He grabbed Kathy’s arm and pulled her to her feet.
    “No. Please don’t,” Kathy begged. “I promise I won’t try to get away.”
    “Has anybody ever told you that you’re a very bad liar, Mrs. Brown?” Bobby asked.
    Kathy said nothing. He’s wrong, she thought. I’m a very good liar.
    She’d lied to Jack when he came home from work. When he’d asked her what she’d done today, she’d said, “Not much. I ran a bunch of errands, went for a walk, stopped for coffee.”
    She didn’t tell her husband she’d stopped for coffee with an old boyfriend. She didn’t mentionhow Michael’s knees had brushed against hers under the small table. She didn’t say anything about the touch of his hand. She didn’t tell Jack that Michael’s touch had made her heart flutter and her pulse race.
    Okay, so maybe I didn’t really lie, she thought. But I didn’t tell the truth, either.
    “Turn around,” Bobby said now. He tied Kathy’s hands behind her back much tighter than before.
    “Ow. That hurts,” Kathy said.
    “Don’t worry,” Bobby told her. “It won’t be for long.” His cell phone rang. Bobby reached into his back pocket for it, then pressed the phone tight against his ear. “Hey, Steve,” he said, glancing at Kathy. “I think we might have a problem.”

Chapter Five

    “She knows who I am,” Bobby told Steve over the phone. He pushed Kathy back toward the den. “She saw the spider tattoo. What does it matter how she saw it? She saw it, and now she knows who I am.”
    Kathy tried to hear what Steve was saying, but she couldn’t. Then she heard Steve laugh.
    “Okay, yeah. Okay,” Bobby said into the phone. “How’s it going on your end? You get the money? Okay, yeah. Call me as soon as you’re done. Then I’ll take care of the rest.” Bobby returned the cell phone to the back pocket of his jeans.
    What did he mean by