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Lukas raised his eyebrows. “So soon?”
“Yes. I’ve been called away on urgent business, I’m afraid.”
“Well, that is a shame.”
I hadn’t moved, I couldn’t. This was my last chance to get help.
“Hurry, please, Amelie.” There was an edge to Ned’s voice. “If we delay any longer, you won’t be able to see Carolyn.” He took out his phone. “Maybe I should phone ahead.”
I found my voice. “No. That won’t be necessary.”
I walked to the pool house and dressed quickly, a knot of dread in the pit of my stomach. There was nothing I could do. I couldn’t risk Carolyn’s life. I was trapped.
Ned appeared, gripped my arm. “I hope you’re grateful that I saved you from yourself.” He paused. “You, and Carolyn.”
Outside, Lukas extended his hand to Ned. “I hope I can be of help to you.” He turned to me. “Goodbye, Amelie, it’s been a pleasure.”
He picked up his phone. Thinking he was going to give it to me, right now, in front of Ned, I forgot to breathe. But he didn’t, he just held it in his hand and I realized that his focus wasn’t on me, but on Hunter, waiting at the side of the pool to escort us to the car.
I let out the breath I’d been holding. Lukas hadn’t given me away. That had to mean something.
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
PRESENT
The sound of the door in the basement being unlocked rouses me from my apathy. Pushing the mattress aside, I lie on my front to listen.
“Good news, Ned. Your father has decided to pay the ransom.”
“Thank God.” Ned’s voice is shaky. “Today, will it be today?”
“That’s up to your father. Did you work out how much he’ll have to pay to get you back?”
“What do you mean?”
“Come on, Ned, I told you how it worked, I told you that for every day your father refused to pay, we doubled the amount of the ransom. You’ve been here nearly four weeks; today is day twenty-six. If he paid today, how much do you think he’d owe us?”
“I don’t know—a few hundred thousand, a couple of million?”
I can almost see Ned shrugging his shoulders at the unimportance of such an amount.
“More than that, Ned, much more. Have another guess.”
“Ten million?”
“More.”
“It can’t be more, it’s not possible, not just from that doubling thing.”
The man laughs. “I tell you what, Ned, take the time to work it out. I’ll come back in a while for your answer.”
The door closes, Ned curses. And then I hear it, Ned counting, doubling, trying to hang on to numbers, cursing when they slip away from him.
I give up listening, pull my knees to my chest. If Ned’s abductor is telling the truth, they’ll be releasing him soon. What about me? Ned thinks I’m dead but that doesn’t mean they’ll release me somewhere else. Maybe they want to play a trick on him, say, “Look, she’s alive, we just made you think she was dead.”
Anxiety gnaws in the pit of my stomach. If that is what is going to happen, I don’t want to be released. I am safer here, in this pitch-black room, than I am in the outside world with Ned.
CHAPTER FIFTY
