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Looking all around, my shoulders drop. No windows, no indication of where I am. It’s a simple half bath with a bar of soap and a towel beside a small sink. My face is pale and dirt is on my cheek when I look in the mirror, so I take a minute to splash water on my face and scrub it away.
I take the full five minutes to use the restroom, clean up as much as possible, and try to calm my nerves. I’m a pawn, but I don’t know the game we’re playing.
“Time’s up.” A loud banging on the door makes me jump, and I reach out to turn the knob with trembling hands.
The door shoves inward quickly, and he grips my upper arm again, dragging me into the hall and in the direction of the stairs to the balcony again. He doesn’t speak, and I decide to take a chance.
“Stan?” I sound so small, and he doesn’t flinch. “Are you Stan Roswell?”
We’re at the door, and he pulls it open, shoving me inside. Our eyes meet at the last minute, and the black evil holding my gaze freezes my bones.
“The one and only.” He slams the door shut, turning the key in the lock.
* * *
“Wake up and eat.”The sharp voice jerks me awake, and I scramble across the twin bed, pressing my back to the wall.
A plate of fried eggs and toast sits on the bedside table, and my stomach growls. I haven’t eaten in twenty-four hours, and I’m desperately hungry.
Stan’s back is to me, and he looks out the glass balcony door at the ocean.
My voice is so dry I can barely speak. “How do I know it’s not poisoned?”
He exhales a huff, turning to me. “I still need you.”
It’s not very reassuring, but I reach for the glass of water beside the food and take a sip. My stomach turns painfully, and I lift a triangle of toast, carefully nibbling the corner. If this is my last meal, I want answers.
“Why did you kill Gary?”
Stan’s lips purse, and he considers my question before answering. “I caught him communicating with your mother.” His black eyes are on mine again. “He betrayed me, so he had to be killed.”
His easy confession scares me. He doesn’t care if I know the truth, which means he doesn’t expect me to survive this imprisonment. It shakes my confidence so hard, I almost drop the plate.
Roaring is in my ears, and I struggle to calm my survival instinct, my need to run or scream. I have to think like a scientist. I have to summon my training and force my brain to think through what I know, to remember what I’ve learned about these types of situations.
Breathing slowly, I tell myself to be calm.Think, Britt…
I can’t escape this room. The door is bolted below. I’m too high for anyone to hear me if I scream, I don’t have my phone, and I didn’t see a way to climb down.
He could leave me here to die, and no one would ever find me. Only, reflecting on his actions up to now, that isn’t his style. Stan Roswell is a showman, and when he’s ready to kill me, he’ll turn it into a production, the same way he did with Gary.
My only hope is to buy time. I don’t know if he sees me as a human. I don’t know if it would matter if he did. If my mother can be believed, this man has pursued his vendetta against my father for decades.
“Why did you terrorize the town and frame Gary for it?”
His eyes are on the ocean again, and he answers absently. “To create a distraction.”
“You broke into my mother’s house. What were you trying to find?”
“Her.” He turns, looking down at me. “When someone steals your life’s work, knows every trick you’ve ever done down to the last detail, they keep a record. The proof is in her possession, but Gwen is very clever. She’s hidden it too well.”
Realization flickers to life in my chest with every word he speaks. Like the sun breaking across the ocean at dawn, the truth flashes in my brain. I thought she was obsessed, but all along it was him.
Stan Roswell murdered my dad, and he’s been hiding ever since.
“Or it doesn’t exist because he never stole from you.” My voice is calm, my fear slowly being replaced by the need for justice.
Stepping forward, he rips the plate from my hand. “Don’t test me. I’m happy to let you starve.”
