| |
I woke to an empty room. Again.
The digital clock on the nightstand read 7:52 a.m. in bright red numbers.
After using the restroom, I appraised my bleary eyes in the mirror. If being knocked out for nearly fifteen hours was what I had to look forward to when I ate, I’d reconsider taking another bite. I washed my face, brushed my teeth, tied my hair up into a tight ponytail then returned to the bed.
I found a new note left by Newbie.
If you’re reading this, it means you woke up before I got back. I needed coffee, assumed you might want some too. It’s 7:41 right now. Hopefully, you won’t be up long before I return.
Newbie
I debated what to do while I waited. I hadn’t spoken to Andy since the night we checked in. I wondered how he was doing. I picked up the phone and pressed the number that connected me to the office. Newbie wouldn’t be gone much longer. If I wanted to talk to Andy, without Newbie flying into a jealous rage, there wasn’t much time left to do it.
“Good morning, this is Ashley. How can I help you?”
“Oh, um, I was looking for Andy?”
“Was he expecting you, ma’am?”
“Well, no, he checked me in a couple of nights ago, and I...well, I just wanted to talk to him for a minute.”
“Is everything satisfactory with your room?” Her voice was high pitched as if she was talking to a small child.
“Yes, everything is fine. Is Andy going to be working tonight?”
I checked the time on the clock. 7:55. Newbie could walk in at any second.
“I’m sorry to say that Andy quit.”
“Oh? That was sudden.”
“Yes, surprised us all, but that’s how these things go.”
I heard the key card in the door.
“Thanks anyway.”
“Sure. Have a gr—”
I hung the phone up just as the door opened.
“Oh, good, you’re awake.”
I stretched my arms high over my head. “Yep, just woke up.”
Why am I lying?
“Did you sleep well?”
“Too good. Why did you let me sleep so long?”
“I figured you’d wake when you’d had enough. If you weren’t exhausted, you wouldn’t have slept as long as you did. Besides, it’s not as if we have a full calendar.”
“That reminds me.” I snapped my fingers. “I have to call the police station. Do you have a direct number for the lead detective?”
“I do, but it won’t be necessary.” He sat a carrying tray holding our coffee onto the nightstand.
“What do you mean?”
He faced me from Kris’s bed. “I called already.”
“Why would you do that? When did you do it?”
“While you slept. I wasn’t sure when you’d wake up, and I knew you’d want an update. I hoped you’d get up when you heard me talking, but you didn’t budge. I’m sorry I didn’t wait.”
“Are there any updates?” I asked. My face flushed with irritation and anger. He had no right to continue excluding me from these conversations.
“Something is up, but the detective wouldn’t share what it was while in the middle of investigating the lead.”
“So, how much longer are we supposed to stay here?”
“He’s not sure.”
“I need to call my mom then. I should have called her the second we checked in. I thought it was safer to wait until we had some answers, but at this rate, that’s never going to happen. She must be worried sick.” My hand gripped the phone.
“You can’t do that.” Newbie swatted my hand away.
I cocked my head and raised a brow. “Okay, what’s really going on? Why can’t I call my mom?”
He took a deep breath and straightened his spine. He wrapped both hands around a steaming paper cup of coffee.
“Come on, tell me,” I pleaded. His eyes stared into mine, but he didn’t speak.
He took two sips of his coffee, deep in thought. I sipped my coffee, waiting for him to find his words.
“I haven’t been entirely honest with you.”
I swung my legs over the side of the bed to face him. Hot coffee dribbled onto my lap. I discarded the cup on the nightstand then gripped the edge of the bed like it was a life preserver keeping me afloat.
He ran a hand through his disheveled hair. “Joe and Doris are in custody right now.”
“They’re what? You kept this from me because...?”
“The detective has nothing on them. He’s holding them for as long as legally allowed. If they find nothing to arrest them for, they’ll be set free. I didn’t want you worrying about this. By tomorrow I hoped I’d have good news to share with you.”
“Let me get this straight.” I scratched my forehead. My eyes were pulsing with a dull ache. “The police need a reason to charge them with a crime. Do you think I’m not enough of a reason? Shouldn’t I be invited to identify them as my assailants? With my testimony, charges could easily be brought against them.”
“You’d think, but it isn’t that easy.”
“And why not?”
“There’s no evidence linking them to you.”
“Where were they found?”
“What?”
“Joe and Doris. Where were they when taken into custody?”
He sat his coffee cup on the nightstand. “I don’t...” He cracked his knuckles. “That is, I’m not...” He rolled his head in a circle between his stiff shoulders.
I clapped my hands in front of his face. “Snap out of it. Spit it out already.”
“In your house.”
“No proof, huh?” I jumped to my feet.
“Joe told the police you’d invited them in.”
I paced the room. My arms hung with fisted hands at my sides. “That’s all it takes? This is quite the revelation. You’re telling me, I can forcefully enter someone’s home, hold them against their will, do unspeakable things to them, and then, when the police come to get me, all I need to say is the homeowner invited me in and they’ll be on their merry way?”
Newbie stood. “It’s not like that.” He blocked my path.
“I can’t wait to hear you tell me how it really is then. This is going to be epic.”
We stood feet apart from each other, yet it felt like inches. His heat, his presence suffocated me. I could no longer trust him. Maybe I never could.
“Joe had paperwork saying you were their granddaughter.”
“Paperwork? What kind of paperwork?”
“The detective didn’t say. But, you see, this adds credibility to their statement that you invited them to stay with you.”
“I must say, if our lead detective is stupid enough to believe a ridiculous piece of forged paperwork over a verbal statement, which I will swear to if given a chance, then we might as well give up now. There will be no justice for us.”
“He doesn’t trust Joe or Doris, that’s why he’s holding them while he searches for proof that Joe is lying about his relationship with you.”
Every vein in my body was boiling with rage. “How dare you hide any of this from me?”
“Erin, I was trying to help.” He held up his hands in surrender.
I stepped closer. His breath stalled. “You want to help?”
His hands rose higher. He exhaled in a series of short breaths. “Yes.”
“I want you out of here.” He took a wide step back as if my words had slapped him across the face. “You said the police are paying for our room so, tell them we need separate rooms.”
“Erin, I’m sorr—”
“Zip it. I’ve heard enough. I accept that some of this is my fault. I trusted you, a stranger I met under dire circumstances. But no longer.”
“You’re not safe by yourself.”
“I’m not safe anywhere!”
“Please understand, I was trying to protect you.”
“You were...” My tongue grew heavy in my mouth. “You lied...to me.” I stumbled into the wall like a drunk on a Friday night. “What is—"
“Erin,” he said, wrapping me in his arms, “it’s okay.” He cradled my head against his chest. “I’ve got you. You’re under too much stress. You can’t cope with everything you’re experiencing.”
“This...isn...stress.”
“Shh, don’t try to speak. I’ll take care of you. You need to rest for a little while.” I collapsed in his arms. He lifted me with ease and carried me to the bed. “You’ll feel better after a good night’s sleep.”
A good night’s sleep?
The room, bathed in the morning sunlight, left me curious as to how long I was going to be asleep.
He leaned down to tuck me in. His face blurred like a funhouse mirror. “Sleep. When you wake, your emotions won’t be so irrational. I promise you nothing is as bad as it seems.”
I fought my free fall into nothingness long enough to stutter, “You worse than Joe.”
“Now, can you see what I’m saying?” He tsked. “Sleep deprivation can warp a person’s thoughts until they no longer think clearly, like even suggesting any similarity between myself and Joe. We’ll discuss this later. Good night, Erin.”
My mind resisted his kiss on my cheek. My body, on the other hand, laid numb, paralyzed, and completely at his mercy.
An image of Doris standing beside me with a half-empty animal tranquilizer as I slumped down onto my kitchen floor was like a low voltage shock to my brain. I’d been in this position before, only now it was Newbie. He’d drugged me. The one person I thought I could trust had betrayed me. I didn’t dare imagine what he’d do to my body now that he had full control. Whatever happened, I hoped I still had my tongue when I woke.