The Prisoner by B.A. Paris
Author:B.A. Paris
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
PAST
Ned came to my room. I kept my eyes closed, my body still.
âYou need to get up,â he said. âWeâve been invited to lunch.â
I didnât reply and he moved nearer to my bed. My skin crawled.
âDid you hear what I said?â
âI canât,â I muttered. âI canât eat lunch.â
âToo bad, I need you there. Itâs a potential business contact and he wants to meet my new wife. Besides, you havenât eaten in days.â
I lapsed back into silence. He had brought me food, Iâd heard him place trays on the table next to my bed. But I hadnât touched any of it. I couldnât.
I sensed him bending toward me and my body flinched in response.
âYou want this to be over, donât you? It would be a shame if it had to drag on for more than a month.â
I heard his threat, and something withered inside me.
âBe ready in thirty minutes. And bring a swimsuit.â
I heard him leave, the click as he locked the door. I fought down the ever-present nausea and tried to push the memories of Lina from my mind. They were always there; her feet scrabbling on the ground, her head twisting and turning as she tried to break free, her eyes as she looked back at me when I was crouched down beside her. She had been alive at that point, I should have sprung up, attacked Ned again. But Ned had been quicker than me.
I pushed the bedcovers off, suddenly desperate to be under a scalding shower. My head spun and I gripped the chest of drawers, closed my eyes a moment. I didnât want to go to this lunch, I wanted to hide, block everything out. I couldnât even begin to think of Justine. I was so scared for her. Nedâs words to the man on the other end of the phone, the man he had addressed as AmosâWe need to be more thorough this timeâplayed on a loop in my mind. Lina had said that Justine had disappearedâand now that I knew what Ned was capable of, I was filled with dread that she hadnât been paid off, she had been killed. I felt so helpless, so powerless. Without a phone, unable to get out of the house, this room even, I couldnât do anything.
A sob pushed up from inside me. I needed to warn Carolyn that she might be in danger. I took a breath. Maybe, at this lunch, there would be other people there. I would play along for now, then find a phone, find a moment to escape.
I showered, dressed, squashed the red bikini that Iâd bought in Las Vegas into my bag.
I heard Ned opening the door and as always when he was near, my body started its terrible shaking. I fought it down, walked down the twenty-four marble steps, aware of him close behind me. We arrived at the front door; Ned opened it, and when I saw the car waiting, I instinctively stepped backward. But he reached out, gripped my wrist tightly, and walked me through the door and down the three steps to the car.
Download
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.
Kathy Andrews Collection by Kathy Andrews(11323)
The remains of the day by Kazuo Ishiguro(8393)
Paper Towns by Green John(4797)
Spare by Prince Harry The Duke of Sussex(4787)
Industrial Automation from Scratch: A hands-on guide to using sensors, actuators, PLCs, HMIs, and SCADA to automate industrial processes by Olushola Akande(4599)
The Body: A Guide for Occupants by Bill Bryson(4583)
Be in a Treehouse by Pete Nelson(3647)
Machine Learning at Scale with H2O by Gregory Keys | David Whiting(3621)
Harry Potter and the Goblet Of Fire by J.K. Rowling(3608)
Never by Ken Follett(3524)
Goodbye Paradise(3446)
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro(3138)
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer(3131)
The Cellar by Natasha Preston(3077)
The Genius of Japanese Carpentry by Azby Brown(3038)
Fairy Tale by Stephen King(2947)
Drawing Shortcuts: Developing Quick Drawing Skills Using Today's Technology by Leggitt Jim(2939)
120 Days of Sodom by Marquis de Sade(2938)
The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman(2807)
