First Family

CHAPTER 32

YOU COULD'VE KILLED YOURSELF," snapped Quarry as he sat across from Willa back in her "cell."

"I'm a prisoner here and prisoners have to try and escape," she said right back to him. "It's their job. Like everybody knows that."

Quarry drummed his long, thick fingers on the tabletop. He'd confiscated Willa's lock-picking tools and removed all the canned food too. He'd also had Daryl and Carlos install additional security on the door.

"Who's Diane?" Willa asked.

"A lady," Quarry said gruffly.

"That I already know. Why is she here?"

"None of your business."

He rose to leave.

"Thank you, by the way."

Quarry turned looking surprised. "For what?"

"You saved my life. But for you, I'd be at the bottom of that mountain."

"You're welcome. But don't try anything like that again."

"Can I see Diane again?"

"Maybe."

"When?"

"I don't know."

"Why don't you know? It's a pretty simple request."

"Why do you ask so many questions when I'm not answering any of them?" Quarry said, evidently both frustrated and intrigued by the girl's tenacity.

"Because I keep hoping that sometime you will start answering them," she said brightly.

"You're not like any little girl I ever met before. I take that back. You do remind me of somebody."

"Who?"

"Just somebody."

He locked the door behind him and slid the thick board into place on the outside of the room. Even if Willa somehow managed to pick the lock once more, she would not be able to swing open the door.

As he walked along he pulled the pieces of paper out of his pocket. These papers were the reason he had flown here today. He reached the door and knocked.

Diane's tremulous voice said, "Who is it?"

"I need to talk to you," he called through the door. "Are you decent? Cleaned up after your little trip outside?"

"Yes."

He unlocked the door and walked in.

Like Willa's they'd set the space up with a cot, small table, a lantern, portable toilet, water and soap for bathing, canned food and water, and some clothes. Diane had exchanged the dirty clothes she had been wearing when trying to escape with another pair of slacks and a white blouse.

Quarry closed the door behind him. "I just talked to Willa."

"Please don't hurt her for what she did."

"I'm not planning on hurting her." He added in a grim tone, "Unless you two pull something like that again. There's no way out of here even if you do get out of the mine."

"Why are you doing this?"

He sat down at the table and held up the pieces of paper. "This is why." He nodded to the only other chair in the room. "You want to sit down?"

"I want to go home."

"You need to look at this."

Gathering her courage, Wohl moved forward slightly. "If I do will you let me go?" Her voice was pleading, her eyes filling with tears. It was as though she desperately wanted to hear something from him that would allow for her eventual freedom.

"Well, I'm not going to keep you here much longer, that's for sure."

"Why did you bring me here? And Willa?"

"I needed you both," Quarry said simply. "None of what I need to do was gonna happen without you." He held up the papers. "I sent the blood I took from you in to a place that ran a bunch of tests on it. DNA tests. I could've just done a swab from inside your cheek but my reading on the subject made me believe working with the blood was just as good if not better. I didn't want any mistakes."