The Stranger's Captive by Leliz Andiz

Author:Leliz Andiz [Andiz, Leliz]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Teal Moon
Published: 2022-12-17T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 14

A week later, the cameras were finally installed. I felt like a girl at a candy store, just waiting to catch whoever was making my life miserable. When I discovered more missing things, but the cameras showed no sign of trespassers, my assumptions of Alex as the culprit intensified. It would make sense. He would grab the items before he left for work.

Over dinner, I brought my suspicions up. While he got a thrill out of his pranks, his antics were ruining my life. “Are you the one taking things?”

He finished chewing a mouthful that lasted over a minute. “You’re joking, right?” Taking a huge breath, he turned to me with a glum look in his eyes. “I think you should get some help. Before it gets out of control.”

I gritted my teeth. I knew this was coming. “I’m not crazy, Alex. I don’t need to see a shrink.”

“I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about your memory. Something is going on with your brain. You’re becoming too forgetful. You have signs of cognitive decline. Your depression must be—”

“I’m not depressed.”

A vein twitched in his temple, but he kept his voice calm. “I can recommend you to a specialist.”

“Alex. Do you hear yourself? I’m not going to see anyone. I’m not making things up. Things have gone missing.”

Taking a napkin, he wiped his mouth, but it looked as if he was covering up a smile. I shrugged it off at that time, but in retrospect, he took gratification in seeing me distraught.

The more I resisted, the worse it got for me.

Although I sensed Alex was the culprit, it was hard to justify my suspicion when he was supposed to be at work. I convinced myself that he would come home to terrorize me and then drive back to the hospital. It was only a seven-minute drive and much less than that given there was no traffic in the middle of the night when he worked the late shift.

I felt hopeless. But there was one thing I could do. I took the piece of paper where I wrote down Constance’s phone number, which I grabbed from Alex’s phone when he wasn’t looking. The call rang and went straight to voicemail. I hung up, not leaving a message.

When I called a second time a few hours later, she picked up.

I mustered the strength not to hang up. “It’s me, Magdalena.”

“Yes? Is everything okay?” she asks in a worried tone.

“No. It’s not. I need help.” I swallowed the ball forming in my throat. Maybe it was Alex who asked her not to attend our wedding. He’d purposely wedged a wall between me and his family.

“What is it?”

“I wanted to call because I’m worried about Alex.”

She drops her voice to a whisper. “Alex? Why? What’s going on?”

I stood still, unable to speak. How do I explain to a woman who I’ve only met once that I think her son is deranged? I dug through my mind, searching for a decent explanation.

“That day of your husband’s birthday, it looked like you wanted to tell me something.

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