The fourteen-day cruise boarded in Spain and disembarked in Italy. Margie must have been going on the cruise alone or, if not alone, the person she was traveling with hadn’t expected her to go. Otherwise, she would have been reported missing.
It also explained why Arnold felt comfortable entering this woman’s apartment. He’d expected her to be away. Had Margie been tied to the bed for two weeks?
Dante tried not to imagine the woman’s terror, but if she’d remained out of the soundproofed room, then Jasmine probably kept control of her mind. Hopefully, Margie didn’t know what was happening to her. If Jasmine kept Julie in that room, she wanted the girl terrified.
This whole thing was getting weirder, and somehow Julie was caught in the middle of it. Was she still alive? If Jasmine took her out of here alive, she would have taken control of Julie’s mind to ensure her cooperation, or had she slaughtered Julie to keep her quiet? But then why would she risk taking Julie’s body with her?
Whatever she was doing, he had no doubt her motivation was to get back at Preston for breaking up with her. If she’d kept Julie alive this long, then she probably had something bigger than this disaster planned. He had to find her before then.
Striding away from the table, he returned to the ruined front door. He edged it aside before poking his head into the hall to make sure no one was around. He left the apartment and swiftly descended to the first floor.
Jogging down the hall, he checked his watch before knocking on the door of the woman with the toddler. He was cutting it close, but he had to talk to her before leaving here.
Locks turned on the other side, and the door cracked open. The safety chain remained in place as she peeked out at him.
“Yes?” she asked.
“Do you know Margie Dalton?”
“No.”
“She has an apartment on the third floor.”
“I’m sorry, but the name doesn’t sound familiar. I don’t know many of the people who live here.”
“Does Arnold ever let himself into people’s apartments without their permission?”
“Of course not! Arnold’s a great guy. He wouldn’t do that unless it was an emergency.”
As Dante suspected, Arnold assumed Margie was on her cruise when he got the parts for the light. He probably believed it would be nice for her to return to a fixed switch. Instead, he stumbled across poor Margie, who was most likely Jasmine’s food source.
Dante didn’t know Jasmine, but when he found her, he would kill her.
“Is something wrong? Is Arnold okay?” the woman asked nervously.
Dante stepped closer to the door. “Everything’s fine,” he said in a soothing tone as he took control of her mind. “I was never here; you never saw me. Do you understand?”
The woman’s eyes glazed over. As much as he disliked using this power on others, he couldn’t deny it came in handy.
“I understand,” the woman said.
“Go back inside and lock the door.”
The woman closed the door, and the locks turned as he left out the back exit.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Dante tuckedthe rag into his pocket as he stepped onto the small roadway running along the back of the building. The narrow lane was more of a service road and, thankfully, was empty. As he walked, he pulled out his phone and pulled up Preston’s name. He hit the button and waited for Preston to answer his call while he maintained a casual pace that wouldn’t draw anyone’s attention.
He kept his head down and his face averted from any possible cameras. He couldn’t take the chance of someone seeing and identifying him later. Or worse, security cameras catching him.
“Hello,” Preston greeted after the third ring.
His drowsy voice alerted Dante that he’d been sleeping.
“Do you know a Margie Dalton?”
There was a pause as blankets rustled across the line and a click sounded. “Dan?”
