RebeccaRyan Evans has gone from concerned father to murder suspect. He has not helped himself either by holding the five people in the room hostage while he makes his escape. However, people under emotional pressure do not always make the best decisions. But now he must elude not only the local police, but the FBI. While they are convinced that Ryan is the BoneMan, he must do everything in his power to convince them that he is not. Bethany is gone, and he must do whatever the BoneMan asks to get her back. While he understands the message that the BoneMan left, no one else does. But his career has given him an insight that others do not have. As an intelligence officer, it has been his job to discern and dissect all information brought in. He is now caught in a deadly game, one where the chance of survival is severely diminished.
While he hides in the Texas countryside, out of sight from the police, Ryan plots his next move. He must get a message to BoneMan, but figure the most effective way, especially when he is suspect #1 and plastered all over the news. As dark settles over the region, he makes his move. Going into a radio station, he forces the employees into one room, and then broadcasts his message to the BoneMan. While he makes his escape, he must wait for the BoneMan to now find him. Bethany is foremost on his mind, and he replays through all the times that she has asked him to do things, and that he has brushed her off each and every time. For the father, this becomes a form of torture, playing into his mind. He reverts back to the desert and the mind games that Kahlid inflicted on him during his captivity.
Meanwhile, the FBI is convinced that Ryan Evans is their man, and DA Burt Walsh is right there confirming their every suspicion. But the DA has another motive on his hands, and while its not outright in words, his motives are clear – he wants the ex-wife of Ryan at any cost, and will go to any length to keep her. But when Ryan kidnaps him from his home, on the orders of BoneMan, Burt vows his revenge, especially as Ryan begins breaking his bones as instructed if he wants to save Bethany. But Ryan is not able to complete the work, and when the FBI follows the information given to them by Father Hortense, they find Ryan curled up and crying, while Walsh is tied to the bed. But what will it take for Ryan to convince the FBI that he is NOT the man they are looking for…
This week we are reading Chapters 19-28
Questions:
- Ryan effectively moved himself to the top of the list after his escape from his wife’s house. Was there another way that he could have handled the situation?
- Does the DA have tunnel vision where Ryan is concerned? Do you think Celine has contributed to this factor? Was she being truthful or exaggerating the facts to fit her needs?
- Bethany knows that she must play to the BoneMan in order to save herself. Do you think that she has a chance of survival without her father?
