Chapter Thirty-Five SCARLETT

Chapter Thirty-Five

S CARLETT

Then

Ninety or so days in the basement

He’d pulled Della out the door, then shut off a breaker controlling the lights. Upstairs, the radio blared continuously, and I estimated I’d been in the dark three days.

The dark room wrapped around me, squeezing the air from my lungs. He knew I hated the dark. He knew it made me feel entombed. I’d been trying to relax, smile, and not resist, but for some reason he had decided to punish me.

When I finally heard footsteps in the hallway, I was happy and relieved. I’d not been left or abandoned. He’d come back.

However, reassurance faded as the realization of what was going to happen sank in. I pressed my back to the wall. Keys rattled and the lock turned. Light from the hallway streamed into the room, assaulting my sensitive eyes. I winced, turned away, and raised my hand against the one thing I craved more than anything.

Della stood in the doorway, a Mike’s take-out bag in her hand. He pushed her inside and closed the door. The lights in the room clicked on.

“You look rough.” Her tone was light.

I blinked against the light that reflected on her pale skin peppered with dark-blue bruises. “Where is he?”

She grinned just like she had outside the theater that first day we met. “Gone on a date.”

“A date?”

“With the girlfriend. She’s kind of a dud.”

The smell of burgers drifted around me. “You saw her?”

The smile faded. “I saw her. From the holes in the box.”

I’d never been in the box. But the imagined cramped darkness wrapped me in a suffocating shroud.

She reached in the bag and jangled keys. “Look what I found.”

“How did you get those?”

“He keeps spares. I saw where he put them.”

I scrambled to my feet. “Do the keys work on all the locks?”

“No. Just the front door. We’re still locked in here.”

“Are you sure?”

“Pretty sure. You need to eat.” She tossed the bag at me.

I caught it, savoring the scent of french fries and burgers. Prying open the bag, I found a wrapped burger and a half-empty container of fries.

“I ate a few,” she said. “Hard to resist when they’re fresh.”

The cold fries were tough and greasy, and I couldn’t eat them fast enough. “He never leaves you alone upstairs. How will you get a chance to use the key?”

“I have an idea.”

“What idea?”

She leaned against the doorjamb, watching me as I ate. “Tanner is going to take you to Mike’s Diner, and you’ll help him get another girl. There’s a redhead he has an eye on. He can’t stop thinking about her. He wants to bring her into the fold.”

“I don’t want to help him.”

“If you do, then he’ll leave me alone in the house.”

“He’ll lock you down here,” I said.

“He might not.”

Convinced she’d lost her mind, I ate the last half of the burger even as my stomach coiled. I had no idea when I would eat again, and I didn’t have the luxury of righteous anger.

“Imagine being outside,” she said.

I tried to envision sunshine, people, and the smell of food. Freedom. “He’s never going to let me loose. And you can steal all the keys in the world, but Tanner’s not going to leave you upstairs alone.”

Her gaze grew distant. “But if he did and he took you to the diner, would you get the redhead to save me?”

“I’ll never help him grab another girl.” My hands trembled as I raised the fry to my lips. Was I as strong as I pretended to be?

“Yes, you will. Everyone reaches a point and breaks. Just like I did.”

I crumpled the wrapper.

“It’s going to be soon.” Della folded her bruised arms over her chest.

“He’s going to take you,” I said. “Not me. It’ll be another chance for you to escape.”

“Remember, Tanner has wired this entire house with bombs. He’ll blow it sky high if he doesn’t get what he wants or is caught. If I ran, you’d die.”

My gaze looked up toward the ceiling, imagining it falling on my head. “The house isn’t wired.”

“Yes, it is. I’ve seen the bombs made from gas cans.” Della smoothed her hand over my arm. “Would you miss me if I died?”

“Why do you care?”

“I just do.”

I stared into liquid brown eyes that reflected my own.

“Would you miss me?” she whispered.

An impossible truth bubbled to the surface. “Yes.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I couldn’t leave you here.”

She smiled. “I knew you liked me.”