Remi thought about the attack on the road and the men who’d been hiding in the back of the white pickup. The road spikes would have disabled their vehicles, which meant they weren’t in it for the truck, the rental car, or the cargo. At least not the cargo meant for the school. Undoubtedly, they’d been after hostages. These men had enough firepower to ensure that anyone they came up against would quickly surrender without a fight. “I have no idea. But whoever they are, there’s no doubt they’re holding us for ransom.”
Zara looked at her in alarm. “My father doesn’t have any money. Who’ll pay?”
“My husband will.” But only as a last resort—that, Remi kept to herself. Right now, she needed the girls to remain calm. “Everything’s going to be fine. I promise.”
Her words sounded hollow even to her. A loud crash, then another and another, all coming from the dorm, startled the girls as the men ransacked the school.
“What are they doing?” Maryam asked, her voice shaking.
“Looking for the others.”
“But where are they?”
“Not here,” Remi said.
The answer seemed to confuse the girls, but Remi didn’t have time to come up with a plausible explanation. Noises came from every direction as the men searched. “Makao,” one of the bandits called out from the cafeteria. He walked over, looking in the door, the two talking intently. Remi wondered what they’d found that was so interesting.
“Look,” Tambara whispered. “At the shed.”
She turned to see Nasha peering out the door, watching the men standing by the mess hall. As much as Remi wanted to call out to her, tell her to stay there, she didn’t dare make a sound, even when the girl slipped out, ducking behind one of the planters. A moment later, she belly-crawled to the edge of the wooden box, looking out through the long tussock of grass that grew up at the corner of the bed.
Zara took a breath. “What’s she doing?”
Remi shook her head at Nasha, warning her away, but the girl darted toward them, scrambling into the space between Remi and Zara just as Scarface looked back to check on them. He watched them for several seconds, and Remi leaned forward, trying her best to block his view of the girl.
Apparently not realizing they’d gained an extra hostage, he returned his attention to whatever the man was telling him about what he’d seen in the mess hall.
Remi glanced over at Nasha, relief mixed with worry. If Makao connected her to the missing girls … Knowing they might have only seconds, she said, “Do you remember how to send a picture on a phone?”
She did. “Amal showed me. The button with the little white cloud. And then I press the camera button.”
“Good. I dropped my phone somewhere in the shed. If you find it, I need you to send a message to Sam. But you have to unlock the phone first.”
“How?”
“You’ll see the numbers when you press the round button at the bottom. Seven-one-two-two.”
“Seven-one-two-two.”
“When the screen comes up, take a photo and send it to Sam.”
“How do I find his number?”
“Unless someone else texted me, it should be the top number on the messages.”
“What do I say?”
“Help. Do you think you can do that?”
She nodded.
“Good girl. If he calls, tell him they have men watching down near the farm.” From the corner of her eye, she saw Zara look over at her in alarm, tears clouding her eyes. “He needs to know.”
“Okay.”
“And no matter what happens, don’t let them see you. I want you to hide.”
Nasha looked at the other girls, then Remi, her chest rising in defiance. “No. I won’t. I might be just a girl, but I want to fight.” She lifted her chin, daring Remi to refuse her.