Then I turned to Gary.
“You want everyone to help you save your
daughter? Right?”
He crossed his arms and didn’t answer.
The relatives relaxed a little and stepped inside.
I got straight to the point.
く
“You need to trust the police. Negotiating with
those guys is dangerous, and we can’t even be
sure they’re telling the truth.”
Gary snapped, “Are you serious? They’ll kill
her!”
I shrugged. “You can pay, but why are you
staying here? I can’t afford too much.”
Gary sneered. “Your mom helps me, why won’t
you?”
Aunt Karen stared daggers at me, “If Tiffany
really is acting like you say, we would never ask
you for help. But Tiffany is innocent, and you
got her kidnapped! We won’t stop until she’s
safe!”
I said, “She asked to go to the desert, and I told
her not to. I remember you calling and making
me take her with me.”
<
“About the boyfriend, Tiffany wasn’t that
innocent, she told me she dumped him because
he was boring in bed.”
Aunt Karen screamed, trying to hit me, “You’re
lying!”
I pushed her away. “Want to bet on it?”
She blinked, and I laughed, “It seems like you
don’t know Tiffany as well as you thought.”
She said, “Fine, what are we betting?”
I thought. “OK, you guys conned my mom out of
money over the years, and it’s worth 500
thousand. If I win, you give us 500 thousand, if I
lose, I’ll give you 500 thousand?”
Aunt Karen and Gary looked at each other.
They needed money.
They were calculating.
“OK, do you have proof?”