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Russo pointed at the couch and told us to sit, then tied our wrists and ankles together. “Don’t tug or pull at the ropes. I don’t want you to chafe your pretty skin.”
“What if we have to use the restroom?” Heather asked Russo as he pointed the remote toward the DVD player. “If you leave us untied, we won’t go anywhere.”
Russo placed his hand on top of her head and looked down at her, speaking in a singsong voice meant for a small child. “I wish I could believe you, but your big brother’s no fool. You’re under the spell of the world, and I have to break you of it before I can fully trust you. It hasn’t been long enough for me to deprogram you from the addiction of your phones and media. If you prove yourself over the next weeks and months, then we can talk about it. For now, you need to be a good girl and stay put.”
He brought us two glasses of water and set them on the coffee table before driving away. The moment he was gone, I turned down the sound on the movie so Heather and I could talk.
“This guy’s a total nutjob,” Heather said. “What the hell?”
“I know. It’s sad, actually.”
“He shot your boyfriend. Don’t tell me you’re going soft on him.” Her brown eyes glittered like polished stone.
“I’m not. It’s just…he’s obviously gone through a lot and lives in a fantasy world. We’re part of his dream world. We’re a replacement for the cousins he once adored.”
“Which is totally and completely sick, right?”
“Yes, it is. Of course it is.”
“Should we run?” Heather asked.
“If we try to make a run for it all tied up like this, I doubt we’d get far before he got back. Plus, we have no idea where we are. The woods are dangerous.”
“Wait. Does that remote allow you to turn on regular television?” Heather asked.
Awkward because of my bound wrists, I managed to pick the remote up again and looked to see if there was a button for a different input. “I think so.” A quick dab changed the input to television. Only one station, a local affiliate of one of the network channels. At the moment, a talk show played, with the hostess interviewing some celebrity I’d never heard of.
“Keep it on there with the volume down,” Heather said. “Maybe it’ll show us local news when this is over and we can see if there’s anything about our disappearances.”
“Good idea. You’re a smart girl.”
She didn’t say anything for a few minutes, perhaps lost in thought.
I leaned my head against the back of the couch and tried to come up with an actionable plan. Unfortunately, I had nothing.
“Elliot, turn it up,” Heather said. “There’s a police news conference.”
I straightened and picked up the remote and increased the volume. It was a press conference, with someone from the Bozeman Police Department giving an update on the kidnapping of two women.
“They’re talking about us,” Heather said, excitedly.
“We have reason to believe the two women who were abducted have been taken by the same man. We’ve found a connection between the two women that would explain why they were taken, but we’re not at liberty to share the details at this point or risk jeopardizing the investigation. However, we believe the kidnapper is a man named Mike Russo and are treatinghim as a prime suspect.” A photograph of Russo flashed on the screen. “If you have any information or you see this man, please contact the Bozeman Police Department immediately. We believe he’s responsible for the abduction of Elliot Young, a Bluefern chef and resident, as well as Heather Douglas, a nurse from Boise, Idaho. If you have any information about these women, please call the number on the screen. There are officers waiting to take your call.”
“They’ve figured out it’s him,” Heather said. “How did they know?”
I knew. It was Caspian. He’d lived, at least long enough to tell them who he saw take me. I told as much to Heather. “He got a good look at him, and I’d told him about the man who had stalked me in Seattle and driven me to find work out here.”
“This means he must be well,” Heather said, smiling. “Someone found him and got him help.”
Relief and gratitude flooded me, as did love and a deep longing to see Caspian. “This is good. Very good. They’re going to find us.” For the first time since this ordeal started, I began to cry.
“Maybe someone at that store will recognize him. Especially now that it’s on television.”
I nodded, turning down the volume as the channel returned to its normal programming. “This means the police know more than we’d hoped. And they said there was a connection between us, which means they know we’re sisters.”
“And that he’s our brother.” Heather shuddered. “As disturbing as that is.”
“They must have figured it out through DNA,” I said, talking out loud. “Because how else would they have pieced this together? If they had Russo’s already, they could easily have gotten samples of ours to test. If they locate his aunt and ask if she’s seen him, she’ll tell them the last time she saw him was atthe cabin years ago. They’ll think to check here. They’re going to find us.”
