Page 93 of Sullivan

My heart sank. Sully had been right. Alan was more devious than I had given him credit for.

Alan glared at me. “Then you fucking disappeared, and I had to wait. But I heard them discussing you at lunch. Saying you’d be back. So I waited again. I saw you with that pompous English ass, you know. Watched you in the hospital. At the home.”

“How?” I gasped.

“People don’t look for something different from what they’re told to look for. I changed my hair. Grew a beard. Wore the same uniforms as everyone else and blended in.”

He was starting to look even angrier, then became triumphant. “But the ass left you, didn’t he? Gave you an inept guard to soothe his guilt and returned to his life. Poor baby,” he mocked. “And now you’ve disappeared on him.” He waved his gun. “Only this time, he’ll never find you, even if he came looking.”

I wasn’t going to argue with him. He was already on the edge. My mind raced. I needed to calm him down. I remembered how often he’d told me he liked to help people. He’d bragged about it a lot. I needed him to want to help me. I needed to remind him he wanted me. Even if it made me ill.

“Um, Calvin, I really need to use the toilet.”

“What?”

“I have to use the toilet. Please. Could you help me? Please?”

He cursed and went behind me, yanking on the tight ropes. “You try anything, I will shoot you. I have nothing to lose,” he warned me.

Tears sprang to my eyes as the feeling returned to my hands, the pins and needles intense and painful. My shoulders sagged in relief as the tautness released. He grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet. I gasped in pain, but he ignored me, half dragging me to a door beside the room I had been locked in. I barely had time to look at the rest of the cabin, the image of one room, mostly empty, flying past me. He pushed me into the vanity. “Go, then.”

I stared at him. “I can’t go with you watching.”

He narrowed his eyes. “You have five minutes.”

He pulled the door, leaving it partially open. I heard him stomp away, and I quickly used the toilet. I scanned the room for a weapon, but I found nothing. Not even toilet paper or a towel rod. As I stood, the hoodie I was wearing slid back into place over my legs, and I felt the small item in the pocket bump my thigh.

It hit me. Lynn’s alert watch. As quietly as possible, I pulled it from my pocket and pushed the buttons, not recalling which one did what. But I was sure the side button was the key. I pressed it repeatedly.

I had no idea if it was working. I needed to figure it out, but I heard Calvin or Alan or whatever the fuck his name was coming back, so I slid it into the folds of the sleeve on the hoodie, determined to try.

The door opened fast, slamming against the wall.

“What the fuck are you up to?”

“Waiting,” I replied. “You told me to wait.”

He frowned, trying to determine whether he had indeed told me to wait.

“Good,” he huffed. He grabbed my arm again, dragging me back to the room. He pushed me into the seat, yanking one arm behind me and tying it to the chair.

“Please, Calvin,” I pleaded, making my voice soft. “Not so tight. It hurts.”

“Do you think I’m stupid? Like you won’t try to escape?” he roared.

“I won’t. I don’t know where I am. It’s so quiet, it’s like we’re in the forest.”

“We are.”

“So where would I go? It’s not like I can call someone to help me.”

He held up his phone, as if to torment me. “Nope. Your phone is useless to you where it is. I have service. You, bitch, have nothing.” Then he slid it back into his pocket.

Before he could grab my other arm, I took a deep breath for courage and leaned into him, the simple act of touching him making me want to vomit.

“I’m so thirsty, Calvin. Please could I have some water?”

He froze, and I forced myself to relax into him. He smelled of unwashed skin and unclean clothing. I nestled closer. “It’s so cold.”