Chapter 109

Now, I waited.
I went to visit Nana and the kids early the next morning. A team of three FBI vehicles traveled with me. We were hoping that Kyle might take the bait¹ and follow. Not surprisingly, he didn’t show.  No one really expected that he would, but we were willing to try anything at this point.
Aunt Tia had a small clapboard house that was painted yellow with white aluminum² shutters³. It was located on a quiet street in Chapell Gate, which she called ‘the country’. As I drove up to the small house, I saw no evidence of the FBI, which was a good sign, I thought. They were doing their job well.
The special agent in charge was a man named Peter Schweitzer.  He had an excellent reputation. Schweitzer met me at the front door and introduced me to the six other agents inside Tia’s house.  When I was fully⁴ satisfied about security⁵, I went to see Nana and the kids.’Hello, Daddy/’Hello Dad/’Hello, Alex.’Everybody seemed especially glad to see me, even Nana. They were having a big breakfast in the kitchen and Tia was busy making pancakes and hot sausages. She put out her arms for a hug and then everybody grabbed⁶ hold of me and wouldn’t let go. I must admit, I liked the attention; I needed the hugs.
‘They can’t get enough of you, Alex/Tia laughed, and clapped both hands, just the way she’d been doing for years.  ‘That’s ‘cause we don’t see enough of him,’ Damon taunted⁷.
‘The job’s almost done,’I said, hoping that was true, not completely believing it/At least you’re all getting three squares a day/I laughed and gaveTia an extra hug.
I ate some breakfast and stayed at Tia’s for more than an hour. We never stopped talking the whole time, but only once did anyone bring up the current difficult and scary situation. ‘When can we go back home?’ Damon asked.
They all stared at me, waiting for a good answer. Even little Alex
held me in his gaze⁸.’I won’t lie to you,’I said finally.’We have to find Kyle Craig first. Then we can go home.’
‘And it can be just like before?’ Jannie asked.  I recognized a trick question.’Even better than that,’I told her.’I’m going to make some big changes soon. I promise you.’

1 bait   

n.饵，引诱物；vt.用饵引诱，折磨，奚落

参考例句：

• The fish took the bait.鱼吞饵了。
• They are too knowing to bite at such a bait.他们很老练，不上这种当。

2 aluminum   

n.(aluminium)铝

参考例句：

• The aluminum sheets cannot be too much thicker than 0.04 inches.铝板厚度不能超过0.04英寸。
• During the launch phase,it would ride in a protective aluminum shell.在发射阶段，它盛在一只保护的铝壳里。

3 shutters   

百叶窗( shutter的名词复数 )； （照相机的）快门

参考例句：

• The shop-front is fitted with rolling shutters. 那商店的店门装有卷门。
• The shutters thumped the wall in the wind. 在风中百叶窗砰砰地碰在墙上。

4 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

5 security   

n.安全，安全感；防护措施；保证(金)，抵押(品)；债券，证券

参考例句：

• A security guard brought him down with a flying tackle.一名保安人员飞身把他抱倒。
• There was tight security at the airport when the President's plane landed.总统的专机降落时，机场的保安措施很严密。

6 grabbed   

v.抢先，抢占( grab的过去式和过去分词 )；（尤指匆忙地）取；攫取；（尤指自私、贪婪地）捞取

参考例句：

• He was grabbed by two men and frogmarched out of the hall. 他被两个男人紧抓双臂押出大厅。
• She grabbed the child's hand and ran. 她抓住孩子的手就跑。

7 taunted   

嘲讽( taunt的过去式和过去分词 )； 嘲弄； 辱骂； 奚落

参考例句：

• The other kids continually taunted him about his size. 其他孩子不断地耻笑他的个头儿。
• Some of the girls taunted her about her weight. 有些女孩子笑她胖。

8 gaze   

v.凝视，盯，注视；n.凝视

参考例句：

• Her cheeks grew hot beneath the gaze of so many eyes.在众目睽睽之下，她的脸红了。
• He fixed his gaze on her.他凝视着她。