AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You took your time,” I sniffle. “I was scared.”
“I know. That much is obvious.”
“I can’t stay here. Please, don’t leave me here.”
“Okay.”
“I need to be out of here. It’s too small, too…closed in.”
“I get it. I’ll move you.”
“I—” Did I hear him right? “You will? Truly?”
“Truly. I’m sorting out a room for you upstairs.”
“A room?” A flicker of hope flares. “Is there a window?”
“There is. And a toilet and a shower. Will that do for you?”
I’m calming now, daring to believe I might after all see daylight again. I swipe my hands across my eyes. “Yes,” I whisper. “I want to get out of here now.”
“Do you think you can stand?”
I could fucking fly if that’s what it takes. “Yes.”
He gets up and lowers my feet to the ground. “Come with me.”
I don’t need telling twice. I pull the blanket tight around myself then stumble after him, through the open door and into the space beyond. Three men in hazmat-style overalls are working in the corridor, mopping the floors and wiping down the stonework. The bodies have been removed.
“What…? Who…?”
“Just a spot of cleaning up.” He gestures for me to make my way past the men, towards the narrow staircase.
I climb the stairs and step through the door at the top, emerging into a bright foyer. The walls are painted a soft shade of cream. Plush carpet is beneath my bare feet. I curl my toes in it and take in the clean scent of furniture polish and fresh air. The sound of male laughter drifts from a room close by.
“This way,” the blond man instructs.
I follow him across the soft Axminster to the foot of another flight of stairs. This staircase is more ornate, more formal. It sweeps up to the next floor in a gentle curve. I reach the third step, my captor right behind me.
“So, is this her?”
I turn quickly and would have fallen but for the firm hand at my waist.
“Steady,” he says.
I hug the blanket closer and try to focus on the two men regarding me from across the foyer. They are both tall and dark-haired, handsome but forbidding. They appear vaguely similar. Brothers, perhaps.
One of them approaches me, his gaze appraising, interested. “She does have a look of her,” he states. “In the right light.”
The other man hasn’t moved. He leans against the doorjamb of the room where the laughter came from, observing the proceedings. “We’ll wait for the DNA results,” he says, before turning and going back into the room.
“Ruth?” The man beside me gives me a gentle nudge. “Upstairs.”
I obey, beyond any form of protest by now. I just want to be somewhere quiet. And safe.
He leads my along the upstairs hallway to a door where another man kneels on the carpet outside. He straightens as we approach.
“Lock’s on, boss. Not too pretty, but effective.” He slides a large bolt back and forth by way of a demonstration. It’s on the outside of the door.
