Such a good read! Something to know about me is I watch a lot of crime shows but I don't read a lot of crime novels. But this story really captured my interest because of the character Cheyenne.
3 years before: Cheyenne and her mom were walking on the shoulder of the road, just talking. When two cars came speeding down both lanes racing, when the one in the wrong lane swerved to avoid hitting an oncoming car it hit Cheyenne's mom as well as her. While he mom died on impact Cheyenne was thrown into a sign where the impact injured her brain causing her to lose her sight.
Now after 3 years she is very independent and moving forward despite her blindness. Around Christmas while everyone else at the strip mall is shopping for last minute gifts Cheyenne and her stepmom are picking up a prescription to treat Cheyennes pneumonia. Cheyenne stayed in the car with the keys for the car to stay warm when someone - who isn't her step mother - gets into the car and drives away.
Griffin, brought up into a life that doesn't hold many options. After dropping out of highschool to pursue Roy's (his dad) career in running their farm house chop house, though he rarely boosts the cars himself, the keys in the brand new Escalade was just too tempting. Until he realized their was someone else in the car.
Both under the initial shock, Cheyenne pleads for her life asking for him to let her go. He thinks he can't because she's seen his face...but she hasn't. Unsure of what to do he takes the car and Cheyenne back to his place, meeting up with his dad and 2 of his workers. After tying Cheyenne in his room he and his dad discuss what to do when they hear about the kidnapping report on the news. They also find out from the news report who Cheyenne Wilder really is. Daughter of Nick Wilder, president of Nike.
After confirming who she is Roy comes up with a plan to demand ransom in trade for the girl. Demanding 5 million but settling on 1 million they set up a meeting. Throughout all this Griffin and Cheyenne have bonded, swearing he will keep her safe and despite what they both know may happen he promises that he won't let them kill her.
On the night of the drop off Cheyenne makes a break for it. Knowing what she knows from days of being locked in that house she finds her way out, only after knocking (and thinking she killed) Griffin unconscious. After a few hours of travelling through snow filled woods Cheyenne is freezing and still feeling the effects of her pneumonia Griffin finds her. Confessing that he had planned to help her get away, his alarm was set to go off a few minutes after she hit him and left. As they make the journey together he uses his eyes to guide her, forgetting about himself he ends up stumbling and breaking his ankle.
With freezing temperatures but some sunlight Griffin tells her which direction to go in and that he will wait here. She promises to return. Only when she gets to the road she runs into a cop, or so he claims to be. Changing his voice to confuse her, but her other senses are working, smelling the familiar disgusting smell of Roy she feels around for a weapon and finds a gun. After firing a shot at him-unsure where she hit- she tries to make her escape, forcing him out of the vehicle and calling the cops while trying to drive blind. He continues to chase her slow moving car while thrusting a rock hard on the glass. Sirens blare from multiple directions and as Roy nearly gets her a real cop stops him. Finally free.
Back where she left Griffin he now lies with 2 guns and a dead man. the two workers from his house after getting their share of the cash get in a fight after finding Griffin, debating weather or not to kill him, it ends with one of the two shooting the other.
Two weeks later, it's new years eve. Cheyenne's home phone rings, upon answering she hear Griffin's familiar voice. Questions of new beginnings and resolutions, the book ends as Griffin asks if he can talk to her again sometime, which is left to our own imagination.
I like to think she said yes.
"Sometimes people did this, closed their eyes for a few seconds and imagined it gave them insights into what it was like to be her. Only, at the end, they could still open their eyes and see.”
― April Henry, Girl, Stolen
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