Free The Twisted Window by Lois Duncan Page A

to life in an alien family.
     
    What should he do next? He had been so riveted upon the challenge of locating Mindy that he had not planned for the second step of the recovery mission. How could he go about claiming her now that he had found her? Whatever he did would have to be sudden and drastic. To confront Gavin face to face would ruin everything. The moment he became alerted to the fact that he had been traced to Winfield, he would be up and gone, and Mindy would be lost forever.
     
    Brad felt a sudden, gut-wrenching longing for Jamie, who could always be counted on for practical solutions.
     
    "I have an idea," he said, keeping his voice carefully casual, as though taking Tracy's positive reaction for granted. "You could get Gavin's sister to hire you as Mindy's sitter. Then, while the Carvers were out, I could resnatch her."
     
    "That's a great plan for you," said Tracy. "To me, it doesn't sound all that terrific. The Carvers come home, their niece is gone, and I'm the one held responsible. So I get charged with a felony, and you're home free."
     
    "You wouldn't be charged with anything," Brad assured her. "You'd tell them I forced my way in and you couldn't stop me. They'd find you tied up or locked in a closet or something. Besides, the last thing these people would do would be to call the police. That would mean exposing Gavin, and they wouldn't do that."
     
    "No," Tracy said firmly. "I just couldn't do that, Brad. What would happen if they didn't believe me? What if Doug Carver got violent? Helping you find your sister was a harmless adventure, but what you're suggesting now could be really dangerous."
     
    From the sudden burst of activity within the kitchen, it appeared that dinner had now been officially declared over. Gavin's sister had risen from the table and was busily gathering up plates and carrying them over to the dishwasher. Her husband leaned back in his chair and patted his stomach.
     
    Mindy said something to her father and started to giggle. The dimple popped in and out of her cheek like a twinkling star. Gavin reached over and ruffled her hair, and the ribbon came loose, releasing a shining torrent of corn silk, which came tumbling down to frame the child's face.
     
    Getting up from his chair, Gavin went around to Mindy's side of the table and bent to unfasten the safety strap on the youth seat. For the first time since their arrival, he was facing the window, and Brad had a full view of the man who had caused him so much anguish. His mouth filled with the sour taste of hatred, and he closed his eyes.
     
    "I can't even stand to look at the bastard," he muttered.
     
    There was a moment's silence. Then Tracy said, "Brad—he's crying!"
     
    "Crying!" Brad exclaimed. "What would Gavin have to cry about?"
     
    He opened his eyes and forced himself to stare at the man on the other side of the pane.
     
    "He's not crying, Tracy, he's laughing. Mindy probably said something funny. You must have been looking at him through a warp in the glass."
     
    "Maybe," Tracy conceded. She shifted her position at the window. "You're right—it wouldn't make sense for him to be crying. But when Mindy hugged him, it did look like he had tears in his eyes."
     
    CHAPTER 8
     
    The first thing Tracy was aware of when she entered the house on South Cotton Road that evening was the fact that the television set was not on. The sound of canned voices and laughter was so much a part of every night at the Stevensons' that without it the house seemed silent and oddly empty.
     
    For a moment the possibility occurred to her that her aunt and uncle might have gone out to a movie or to visit friends. They did not do that often, but there were occasions when the urge to "live it up" would suddenly strike them and they would take off for a madcap two-hour "night on the town."
     
    That hope was quickly squelched, however, when the couple emerged together from the living room, walking in tandem as usual and, with their