Chapter 18
Devon’s POV
The car was weird. It smelled like old leather and something spicy that made my nose twitch. Diana sat beside me, her legs too short to touch the floor, swinging them back and forth as she stared out the window. I could tell she did not trust these guys any more than I did.
The driver kept glancing at us through the mirror. He had dark hair and a beard that made him look kind of like one of the bad guys from the cartoons we were not supposed to watch. His friend, sitting in the passenger seat, was older, with white hair and a face that scrunched up like he was always thinking too hard.
“So,” Beard Guy started, his voice a little too cheerful, as if trying to be less suspicious, acting so likeable to a children. “What are your names, kids?”
Diana and I exchanged a look. Mom always said not to talk to strangers. Diana gave him her best unimpressed face and said, “We are not supposed to tell strangers our names.”
I nodded, crossing my arms. “Yeah. And we do not know you.”
Beard Guy chuckled like we had said something funny. “That’s fair. You’re smart kids. But you’re sitting in my car, so maybe we are not strangers anymore.”
“We are not friends either,” Diana shot back, her nose wrinkling like she smelled something bad.
White Hair Guy laughed, turning around to look at us. His eyes crinkled at the corners like he wanted to be nice, but I did not trust him. “I’m Mr. Bennett, and this is my friend Ethan. Better?”
Diana shrugged, not answering.
“What are you kids doing out here, anyway?” Ethan asked, his voice softer now.
I looked at Diana, and she looked at me. It was like we could talk without saying anything. We had been practicing that. Finally, I said, “We are looking for our mom.”