Chapter 64

SIXTY-FOUR

Victoria is startled awake by something dropping beside her. She didn't hear anyone come in.

"Put those on."

Victoria uses her feet to push herself into a sitting position. She cradles her injured arm against her bare chest and looks up at the slight figure of a woman standing in the doorway.

The woman says, "You don't have all day. Get dressed. There's some food in the bag too. Don't eat the wrapper."

Victoria recognizes the woman but doesn't remember her name. If her captors think she can identify them, she won't get out of here alive. A black trash bag is by her feet. Inside are a blouse and jeans and sandals she had brought to the resort. Underneath the clothes is a sleeve of crackers that have been crushed into crumbs. The woman watches and laughs.

"I know they're not gourmet crackers, but at least you've got your own clothes. Now get dressed or stay naked. I don't really give a shit." The woman is holding a bottle of water. She tosses it across the room and leaves.

Victoria retrieves the water and crackers and resists the urge to devour the cracker crumbs. She isn't going to give this woman the pleasure of seeing how degraded she feels. Awkwardly, still trying to adjust to doing everything with one hand, she struggles into the jeans and top. It seems to take forever, but when she's finally clothed, she takes a measure of comfort in the feel of personal privacy, of not being subjected to nakedness like an animal. She slips her feet into the sandals. The small feeling of normalcy brings tears to her eyes. Maybe they weren't going to kill her. Why would they feed her and let her get dressed if they intended to harm her?

Her hunger overcomes her pride, and Victoria sits against a wall tearing the plastic sleeve open with her teeth. She shakes cracker crumbs into her mouth and struggles to get the cap off of the bottle of water. She'd done her best to ration the water that was in the pail, but it is gone. Between gulps of water and cracker she wipes her mouth with the sleeve of her shirt and looks at the stain on the arm of her Ravella silk blouse. Jack had bought the blouse for her on a trip to Rome many years ago to celebrate the opening of his first law firm. The blouse is soft to the touch, and Jack told her it was beautiful, like her, and it matched the color of her eyes.

That was back when he still knew she was alive. Back when he respected her as a partner, a mother, and a wife. Back when he still loved her. He told her Ravella is the Italian word for rebel. He said she was his beautiful Italian rebel and he loved her for being so headstrong. She laughs at the comparison of that woman with this one and tears stream down her cheeks.

She'd kept the blouse even though Jack had told her to get rid of it. He said it was old. She could afford a new one. She'd translated that to mean "she" was old and he could afford a new wife. A prettier one. Maybe one with the spine to stand against him. She'd stopped wearing the blouse in front of him but would never dispose of it. It held remembrances of past happiness. A life full of love.

Victoria wishes the woman had turned the lights off. She doesn't want to be visible. The only value she has to Jack is that she is his and he will never allow anything to be taken from him.

"Oh, Jack," she says, and her voice echoes in the emptiness. "What happened to us?"

She loves him and probably always will. If only he still loved her. She vows that if she gets free—when she gets free—things are going to be different. She will become the woman she was before meeting him. Her daughters need to see the strong side of her. They should never be anyone's property. Ronnie has already made that happen; made her own place, not relying on the family name, not relying on Jack. Rebecca is oldest but slowest to rebel and so, Jacks proudest achievement. He always said he loved both of his daughters the same but that was a lie. If you didn't do what he thought should be done, he resented you. He had warmed to Ronnie lately, but he still resented her for disobeying him and refusing to study law and join the family business. He didn't come right out and say it but Ronnie knew it was true. She was intuitive. She'd started coming home less and less over the last few years. But she called her mother and sister in between visits. They were Marsh women. They shared a bond.

As famished as she is, she puts the remainder of the crackers down. It's hard to eat when your heart is in your throat. She wonders if she'll ever see her daughters again. She didn't tell Rebecca she loved her their last night together. She'd intended to tell Rebecca about the divorce on the horizon but had lost her nerve and now it was too late. The family is already broken. If she had told Rebecca about her intentions, Rebecca would feel responsible; take it as a personal injury.

She leans her head back against the hard wall and closes her eyes.