“Didn’t say.”
“Thanks.” The neighbor left to finish cooking and Hunter went to the rear door, finding it open. She pushed it and slid inside, then looked around for any clue that might tell her where Suretta and Paco took the children.
A noise made her turn, and Kelly came inside. “I’ll help you look.”
They checked every location in each room, and it was Kelly who found the slip of paper. She hurried to catch Hunter in another room and held out the paper, torn from sheet of hotel stationary. “I found this. It was in Paco’s room.”
Hunter took it and read the note. sonora bEEchcraft king s. Kelly said, “This is Paco’s handwriting. I recognize it because he prints, and always makes the e like a capital E.”
“What else have you seen that he wrote?”
“Notes to us.” Hunter sat up straighter at that.
“What did they say?”
“He told us we needed to escape, all of us.”
“Why would he do that?”
“I think he liked us.”
“I thought he was with Suretta.”
“He is, but he’s not like with her. He’s there, but I don’t think it’s because he really wants to be there.”
“He almost killed my friend, hit him in the head with a log, out at the ranch.”
“I found him taking medicine for his stomach, that pink stuff, and saw him crying when he thought no one was looking.”
“That’s something I’ll keep in mind. So, you think he left this as a message to us?”
“Or to anybody that might help.” She took a deep breath to relax and to control her still raw emotions, “I think he wants to be good, he just got mixed up with the wrong people. He’s kind of like Snape.”
“From the Harry Potter stories?”
“Uh-huh. It says it better in the books, but the movies are really good, too.”
Hunter liked this young girl, a lot. “I agree.”
“I watch them every time they come on tv. It’s faster than reading, but I read all of them again, almost every year.”
“I do, too.”
“You do?”
Hunter looked at her, “I’m not that old, so don’t be surprised.”
Kelly hid a grin, “That’s not what I was thinking.”
“Sure, it wasn’t.” Hunter tousled her hair. “Let’s go get Ike from the hospital and see if we can get to Sonora in time.”
“Are you going to call the police?”
Hunter thought about it, then said, “No, I’m worried Suretta will kill everybody if she notices police around. If she sees me, she’ll want to take me on face to face.”
Kelly looked at her with an oh no expression. “Don’t do that, please. She’s a terrible person, she’ll kill you.”
“I don’t plan on giving her a chance.” She thought a moment, then said, “Did you ever hear Suretta talk about her boss?”