The Hostage (A Delia Mariola Novel) by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Epub3
Publisher: Penzler Publishers

CHAPTER TWENTY

ELIZABETH

I found an addition to my basement prison when Tashya followed me down the stairs, an extra blanket on the mattress, compliments no doubt of the other or others involved in Tashya’s scheme. A lesson too. Even if I succeed, an attack on Tashya will not result in my freedom. Others are watching and who knows if they’re committed to Tashya’s branding strategy, committed to the life of a girl more trouble than she’s worth.

“I do not know if you will see me again before ransom is paid. This will take two days at minimum. Time will seem very slow to you, unable to tell night from day. Anxiety, yes? You are sure to be anxious, maybe thinking nobody will come, that you will be left here to die. The mind plays many tricks when you are afraid. I know this from my own life. But this is your final test and you must endure.”

And how should I have labelled this attitude? Maternal? Concerned? The compassionate kidnapper anxious to reassure, so sorry but my hard, hard life justifies all, and you’d do precisely the same if you were in my shoes?

But there’s no more to be said and, a moment later, Tashya’s climbing the stairs with the door shut and bolted behind her and then there’s just me. Me and my bucket.

It’s morning, Wednesday, three days after I was taken, but it might as well be three years. So much to consider, a future of choices based on missing pieces and no way to fill in the gaps. Still, I’m compelled to make the attempt, not least because I can’t allow myself to dwell on the eyes, on Quentin’s, on the Trooper’s, on my own if Tashya’s been lying all along. I open a bottle of water and drink, then shut off the lantern for a moment and look up at the light at the top edge of the window furthest away. Still there.

My uncle is a very rational man, despite the bluster and the bad temper. He once told me that his displays of temper were purely indulgent, but he didn’t give a damn. He enjoyed the role of bully, especially because no one had the courage (or the integrity) to confront him. But all that—the self-indulgent displays, the cowed subordinates—was beside the point. Uncle Henry wasn’t out to make friends, or enemies for that matter. Uncle Henry was out to make money, an end that could only be achieved by carefully measuring costs and benefits, risks and rewards. Underbidding can turn a profit into a loss. Overbid and the contract goes to someone else.

“Success in life often depends on outcomes that cannot be determined in advance.” We were celebrating Christmas in Louisville when Uncle Henry sat me down for this particular lecture. It was about an hour after dinner and he’d been drinking pretty hard. “The best you can do is estimate the costs of failure and the benefits of success, then put them on a scale.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.