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Thump!
No dust!
I sag, feeling as though my legs cannot carry my weight. In my head, I feel around for Amanda, needing her to come forth and take over.
As clearly as if he was standing right next to me, I hear Mark say, “Never give in, never surrender!” A mantra he drilled into me at the gym. The ghost-like message gives me the strength I need to straighten my spine and grind my teeth.
“Baby is a tidy person, so what?” I hear Alec ask with bewilderment palpable in his voice. “Honestly, we have more pressing matters to deal with.”
Ignoring him, Kas asks, “Sweets, are you okay?”
“Do you need to sit down, Mia?”
All three of my guys ask the questions at once, and I shake my head to keep my thoughts straight. Looking around between them, I get the feeling that Kas and I are the only ones fully grasping the magnitude of what he just said.
“Follow me,” I croak, walking into the living room. “Sit!” I know I’m vague and abrupt, but I don’t know how to explain this.
As I look toward one of the shelves, inspiration hits me. I let a finger trace over the surface of the furniture, studying the pad of my finger. “Look,” I say as I hold up my dust-covered pad for them to see. “When was this place last cleaned?”
“Umm, probably a week ago?” Even though Alec doesn’t sound sure about the timeline, it’s close enough.
Nodding, I agree. “Yes, that sounds about right. Say it was a week ago, there’s already dust. What Kas is saying is that there was no dust in my apartment, even though I haven’t been there for weeks.”
“Fuck!” Coen exclaims so viciously I almost jump. “Someone’s been in your apartment?”
Being a spectator to Alec and Coen losing it is horrifyingly funny. Their reactions are so far apart that even if they were identical twins, this would give away who’s who. Alec is all movement and angry shouts, magmatic actions to his brother’s icy inactions. His spine is ramrod straight, and his jaw barely moves as he sneers.
“What the fuck do we do?” Kas asks, and I smile viciously.
“We get answers!”
“Now, what do you say?” I’m intensely following every single movement Coen makes. “If you don’t communicate with us, we won’t know if you’re hungry, thirsty, or need something else. Personally, I don’t care, so don’t think you’re doing it for my sake. I actually couldn’t care less, so it’s better for me if you stay quiet.” With a calculating smile, Coen kicks Neil’s left foot.
As soon as I said I wanted to get answers, all three of my guys agreed. But instead of rushing down here as I wanted to, they wanted to come up with a plan to get me moved in as quickly as possible. Kas and Alec decided that instead of joining us down here, they’d go to my place to get a handle on how much needed to be packed. Then, they’re going to Martin’s to clue him in.
Since I have nothing to hide and don’t want to be anywhere else, I saw no need to go with them. Let them roam through my stuff if they want. Not that I think they’d do that, I just don’t mind if they do.
When they even talked about looking into renting storage space for my furniture and stuff like that until we decide to start afresh in another house, I lost what little patience I had left.
“Can we discuss this later?”I hissed, itching to get down to the basement. But when I saw the sad looks on their faces, I relented and gave them another half-hour to talk about the move.
I know I’m twisting their words and intent. It wasn’t about us moving in together for romantic reasons, but about getting me out of that place as soon as possible now that we know it isn’t safe. I didn’t tell them, but that frankly pisses me the fuck off.
There I was, all excited to move in with my guys—for us to begin our next chapter. Then some fucked up, and nameless psycho ruined it. Even though I already know I’m not focusing on the right thing, it’s the only thing I can let myself dwell on.
Alec barely closed the door behind himself and Kas before Coen and I went down to the basement to spend time with Neil.
As much as I loathe to admit it, I’m impressed by how well he’s holding on. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that Alec’s supposedly secret visit is to blame, and that’s annoying. Since Lila and I aren’t aware of any addictions Neil has, Coen’s suggestion was to let him starve and thirst until he speaks to us. However, any progress goes out the window the second Alec is down here, since he can’t avoid giving him food and water in an attempt to gain his trust.
In other words, we’re working against ourselves—that’s why Coen came up with a new idea he wanted to test.
“We’re getting nowhere because we have done nothing. Sure, we’ve chained him up, starved him, and taunted him—but that’s it. Why would he be afraid when Alec is there to make it better by sneaking him some food? We need to make an example so he knows he’s in deep shit and needs to answer our questions. It might even help Alec. Once Neil realizes he needs him, he’ll probably be more likely to strike a deal.”
“Fuck it! I don’t need him. Do what you need to do so we know what’s going on, Baby’s safety is all that matters.”Despite fear clutching my heart in its icy grasp, Alec’s words made me feel better.
I know it makes sense, and I’m excited and nervous to see what Coen has come up with.
Kicking Neil’s foot again, Coen says, “Well, if you won’t talk, you don’t really need your tongue, do you?”
