A Girl Undone Read Online Free PDF Page B

pan on the stove, metal tongs in her hand.
    “Anything more about Salvation?” Luke said.
    “Not yet. Why don’t you wash up? I’ll call you if there is.”
    Luke ducked into the bathroom, and I lingered by the table, where chicken legs were stacked on a plate, ready to be dipped in buttermilk and rolled in corn flakes. “Can I help?”
    “That would be nice.”
    Vera tended the frying pan while I dunked and coated the chicken legs. The lead news story was Congress’ new Open Arms policy: an invitation to women from foreign countries who speak fluent English to come to the U.S., surrender their foreign passports, and receive automatic citizenship.
    “Open Arms, now that’s interesting,” Vera said, waving her tongs at the screen. “What do you think about that?”
    “I think it sounds like a way to get women to come here and prevent them from ever leaving.” I speared a drumstick on a fork. “Sorry, I don’t have much faith in politicians anymore.”
    “You don’t need to apologize to me. I bet you’re right. I’ll be interested to hear what Radio Free America says about it later tonight. Those Canadian reporters always seem to know things about the U.S. that folks here don’t.”
    “Really? Like what?”
    A familiar face popped up on the screen. The air emptied from my lungs, and I dropped the leg I was holding. Buttermilk splashed across the table.
    Jessop Hawkins sat in an armchair across from an interviewer. Hawkins was bent forward, his hands clasped as if a PR person had briefed him on how to look concerned.
    “Do you know him?” Vera said.
    “He owns my Contract.”
    “ That’s the man you were supposed to marry?”
    I hadn’t seen Hawkins since I’d left L.A. But even if his highly paid PR consultants coached him on how to act caring and distressed, they couldn’t change how his eyes were the color of cold, rust-stained cement.
    “Aveline is a victim in this tragic story,” Hawkins said. “She’s like many girls, young and na ï ve, who put their trust in someone who then takes advantage of them.”
    “So you contend that Aveline, who is currently wanted for treason—”
    A shiver shook my shoulders.
    “Aveline is not a traitor! She was kidnapped by a member of Exodus and brainwashed into becoming an active member of the organization.”
    “You’re referring to the young man currently in police custody.”
    I edged closer to the TV. “No, Yates—”
    “Yes,” Hawkins answered. “Yates Sandell.”
    My temples began to throb. I shouldn’t have left him.
    “But as I understand it, Sandell’s not talking,” the newscaster said.
    “He’s critically ill, but the doctors expect him to recover.”
    “Meanwhile,” the newscaster said, “despite evidence that points to your fianc é e as a willing participant in the shootout with federal agents, you believe that charges against her should be dropped.”
    “Aveline is an innocent, and she needs to be found and returned home. I promise you the truth will come out and her name will be cleared.”
    “And you’ve offered a $250,000 reward for information leading to her return.”
    Return? Don’t you mean capture? I began to feel floaty, disconnected.
    “Yes. Here’s the hotline: 1-800-AVE-LINE.”
    I wrapped my arms across my chest as the number scrolled across the screen. “Oh my God.”
    Vera guided me onto a chair. “Come on now. Lean over. Head between your knees. Yes, good girl.” She rubbed a circle on my back. “You don’t look anything like that picture. Not now with your new hairdo.”
    “Some might say, Mr. Hawkins, that your search for Aveline is actually an attempt to clear your campaign of the scandal associated with your fianc é e’s actions.”
    “I understand that people doubt my motives for defending Aveline, but what happened to her could happen to any young woman in America. This is why Paternalists fight to protect young women, because any girl can become a victim.”
    “Well, thank you for