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Chapter Seven
Phoebe
Sitting outside in the hallway beside the bathroom door while Josiah showers is weird, but I'm the one who basically asked for it, so I’m sitting here anyway. Steam is escaping through the sliver beneath the door and wrapping around me. It would be a lot nicer if I could do something with my phone to pass the time, but Josiah won’t let me have phone service.
What he said, despite my best efforts to be upset, makes sense. I definitely remember my phone asking me if I wanted to allow certain apps to have access to my information, and I just clicked through saying yes to everything so I could get to the app. I’ve probably got thousands of apps and websites with the ability to see everything I do on my phone and every location I have ever visited.
When Josiah opens the door to the steam-filled bathroom, I ask, “Is that how he found me?”
“I’m not a mind reader, Phoebe,” he says in an exasperated voice. He’s only wrapped himself in a towel around his waist and I stare at the wall ahead of me to avoid looking at him, but he’s half naked and wet, so it’s hard not to. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“The location of my phone. Is that how?” I don’t understand how a prisoner would have the ability to track my location through my phone, no matter how available I made that information to the world. It just doesn’t seem possible.
“I don’t know. Would you like me to ask him when I hunt him down?”
I force myself to my feet and frown. “I’ll handle it.” I haven’t told anyone about what happened for a reason. A total stranger doesn’t need to know, especially not one that has his own enemies that are apparently so scary he hides himself away in this confinement chamber outfitted like a prison.
“Okay.” He strides right past me into a door at the end of the hallway. He doesn’t even try to argue with me. That does something to my brain- something ugly. I follow him and wind up right inside his bedroom with him.
“S-sorry! I’m sorry!” I back up and hit the door frame. I groan and tilt my body sideways to escape the pain in my side. That’s twice in one day I’ve made a fool of myself by following him. Now I’ll just sit on the couch and twiddle my thumbs and spend my time avoiding him instead of following him.
My phone doesn’t work, so I can’t entertain myself with that. I’m too scared to leave. I’m going to be bored out of my mind here and I get the feeling, based on the way they’re set up, that Josiah isn’t going to let me play on his computers. He’s going to keep me here without any entertainment.
I’m already bored. And there’s only one bed. I’ve been through this entire house and there’s only one bedroom. “I’ll take the couch,” I say when he comes downstairs, and he makes wide eyes at me. I have such a bad habit of speaking the last half of my thoughts without giving the full thing. Most people get used to it in time, but it might be really confusing for Josiah right now. I just get so lost in my thoughts.
“Uh, there’s only one bed,” I continue, trying to explain myself, “and you’re too big for the couch. So, I’ll take it. To save you any feelings of obligation you might have to… give up your bed for me or something. You don’t have to do that.”
He squints at me and raises one of his eyebrows. “Okay.”
Fuck, I sound insane. He must think I’m insane. “I ramble when I’m nervous,” I mutter angrily, pulling my knees against my chest on the couch and picking my phone up. It may not have service, but surely I have at least a few games that will work without it. They can’tallrequire an internet connection.
Josiah sits down at his desk and each of the monitors light up with camera views of the area outside the house as he slides his glasses back on. They’re in color and sweeping side to side. My jaw drops at the sight of it. This guyreallytakes his home security seriously. He clicks something and the center screen in the bottom row switches to what looks like a regular computer monitor prompting for a password.
What the fuck did Rhett let me walk into? I’m not sure if I’m in awe of the masterful way Josiah put this place together or afraid that I’m now inside a cage with a man that could very well be a hungry lion. Gulping, I stand slowly and keep my feet quiet as I look at the place with new eyes.
The windows are thick, likely unbreakable, and none of them look like they can be opened. The gate outside has a security code keypadon the insideand there’s barbed wire around the top of the fence. The only way into or out of this place is through the double-doors and that gate, but I don’t have a code, or know the code, and I’m not sure the doors will even open for me.
I wasn’t awake when we arrived so I didn’t see any of this before. Not that I think it would have made much difference, but at least I would have known. Even when I looked around before it didn’tclickin my head. This place is just as capable of keeping me here as it is keeping people out.
And the cameras… He has to be able to see every inch of the property here. I’m running from something. It’s why I ended up here. But what the hell is Josiah running from?
What would convince a man of his physical stature to hide himself away like this? He could’ve changed his name and moved to a new city if he was just trying to escape an ex-girlfriend butthis? This level of protection from the outside world means there’s something infinitely more dangerous on the outside- for him. Which is probably the most terrifying realization I’ve ever had.
I press my forehead to the window, trying to get a better vantage point to look down the road we must’ve come down to get here. I can’t even see anything else but sand and mountains. The city disappeared behind us at some point and I missed it because I was unconscious. I should have listened when he told me to breathe.
I don’t have phone service. I don’t know where I am. I have no clue who Josiah is or what could possibly be dangerous to him. And despite what he said, I couldn’t leave if I wanted to. I don’t have the code. I’m stuck here with this giant man, at his mercy, and probably at risk of encountering whatever the fuck the big predatorinsidethe house is afraid of on the outside.
Dust stirs up down the street and it draws me back to reality. Metal glints in the sun through the sand being thrown around the motorcycle and I take a big step back, then another. “S-someone’s coming.” My back hits Josiah’s chest and I start to fall, hyperventilating again, but his arm wraps around my waist and he puts me back on my feet.
“They’re bringing your stuff,” he says in a grumpy-sounding voice as he releases me. He opens the first door and I watch as a red light kicks on beside it, matching the red light now glowing at the second door. The first door shuts as Josiah walks through the room in between and gets to the second door, and both lights turn yellow.
What the fuck is happening?
Both lights turn green and Josiah pushes through the second door. The lights turn red again and I can hear a lock clicking in the one closest to me. What. The. Fuck.
I step away from the windows and find myself overwhelmed, backing away further. There are only a few things that I fear. One of them is the person who said the words to me in that note. The fate that Tony would give me, if he were able to get his hands on me, would be far worse than death. The other is currently being in this ‘safehouse’ without the guard that actually makes it safe. Because I’m feeling very exposed with all these giant windows, and I don’t know where to hide.
Chapter Eight
