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Well, whatever. She’d worked with Eden, helping her train some of the dogs she had at the kennel at Ty’s. She knew how to be calm and assertive with dogs.
    “Let her go,” Bess ordered. “It’s her funeral.”
    “I’ll send back help,” Fiona told the girls.
    “Don’t bother,” Bess said.
    Fiona frowned. “This is no way to live.”
    “It’s better than living on the streets,” the girl at the table said. “Here at least we have food.”
    Fiona looked at the two open SpaghettiOs cans. She remembered feeling sorry for herself after Alan died, having no family, no home. No one. But she did have family. People who loved her and cared for her. She had her friend Mandy, then the whole team, and Eden and Ivy and Casey and Zavi. And Kelan. Tears filled her eyes. They had to be worried sick. Kelan especially.  
    She gave Haley a reassuring smile as she gently pushed her aside. “I will send help. I promise.”
    She turned the doorknob, and was glad it wasn’t locked. She opened it. The dogs were not out front. Maybe they wouldn’t even know she was outside. She glanced around the yard, looking for a gate. It was off to the side, by the drive. All she had to do was get from the front door to the gate—and through it—before the dogs caught up to her.  
    She couldn’t tell from where she stood if the gate was locked. If the dogs really were crazed beasts, she took a significant risk trying to leave without knowing if the gate was kept locked.
    She closed the door quietly so as not to rouse the dogs. “Is the gate locked?” she asked the girls behind her.
    Bess shrugged. “Never tried opening it.”
    “It probably is. We’re completely locked in here,” the girl at the table said.  
    Fiona didn’t look at Haley, who was watching her with enormous eyes. Fiona crossed the room to the backside of the house. There was a small alcove off the kitchen. A glass door with iron bars taunted at the freedom beyond. The window was filthy, smudged by years of accumulated dust and wear.  
    One of the dogs saw her at the door and ran up the steps, snarling. She could just see its big teeth flashing through the grime on the window. When his big body slammed against the window, she was instantly grateful for the bars that kept him from coming through the glass.  
    Nevertheless, she tested the doorknob. It was locked.
    She returned to the kitchen through the short, jumbled laundry room. The girl at the table was eating her canned pasta. Bess leaned against the counter, a bowl in hand.  
    Fiona went to the garage door. It was made of steel and was also locked with a deadbolt.
    The only way in or out for them was through the front door…and into a yard that may or may not have a locked gate. Haley hadn’t moved from her post by the front door. Fiona looked at the girls. Bess appeared mildly irritated, the others utterly hopeless.  
    “Give me a knife,” Fiona said to Bess.
    The girl shook her head, then opened a drawer and took out a standard dinner knife.  
    “No, I mean a real knife.”
    “Don’t have any.”
    Fiona didn’t accept that answer. She went over to the drawers and started pulling them out, looking for any kind of sharp knife, hopefully longer than a paring knife. Bess hadn’t lied. Fiona sent her a dark look then checked the cabinets. There was a large iron skillet. It would have to do. She could use it as a club or a shield.  
    No one tried to stop her. She paused in front of Haley. The girl reached out to grab her forearm. “Don’t do this. Please, don’t do this. They will tear you apart.”
    Fiona didn’t give in to that hysteria, though she fully believed the girl was right. “I need your help.”
    “No.” Haley vigorously shook her head.  
    “Go to the back door and keep their attention.” Fiona took her arm and led her across the room. “Make noise. Keep them occupied. Buy me some time to get to the gate—and back if it’s locked.”
    “And then what?” Bess asked. “You