“I wouldn’t criticize you,” Karl argued. “I didn’t want to fight about it. But you learned your lesson that what goes around comes around.”
The guy was certifiably nuts.
“I don’t have to justify my actions to you or anyone else.”
“No,” Karl said. “But you were quick to accept my help to clean up the flowers. Getting rid of the dead fish and flies. You brought me cookies and we had dinner together. And how do you thank me for everything I’ve done? You fuck some other man.”
He’d never talked like this to her before. Never swore in her presence. Always had a smile. Almost robotic and now his parts were malfunctioning. It was the best description she could come up with.
He also was the same person who just drugged her and locked her in a room.
Getting him angry might not be smart, but it didn’t appear as if doing the smart things was working for her either.
“What I do in my life is my business,” she said. “I’ve never known how you’ve felt. You’ve never said a word. That just reeks of being a coward to me. Putting cameras in my house? Spying on me. You think I want to be with someone who does those things to me?”
His face turned crimson, his eyes almost bugging out of his sockets, his fist clenched.
It reminded her now that she’d called him out on that action in the past with his fists. He made some excuse that his hands were tight and he was stretching. What a fool she was to believe it.
“You need to learn that I can care for you just as if you were doing it yourself. I’m the one who asked around about the damage to your car.”
“That you caused!”
“You were supposed to be upset over the dent and then I was going to show you I could be there for you. That I cared. But then there were scratches too so I had to ask around. I’m the one who watched and caught the guy who was going to attack you. It’s always me and you never see it!” He was almost twitching with the need to pace but trying to control his movements.
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “Clay did. Not you. He put a camera on the front of my house. He knew when the guy showed up. He’d called me to lock myself upstairs before I got your message. Help was already on the way. Faster than your call would have gotten them there.”
“No!” Karl yelled. “It was me. I’m the one who has been watching out for you, studying what you do each day. And whenyou’re stressed and behind, I’m going over and taking care of your chores for you. You haven’t thanked me once for it!”
“Because I didn’t need your help!” she yelled back. “You’re nothing but a creepy old man.”
“I’m not old. I’m thirty-nine!” he screeched.
Whoa. Hit a nerve there. She’d thought he was much older. His head was shaved; she knew it was because he had little hair on top. He had no facial hair either. He dressed frumpy, closer to the way her father did.
Pleated tan cotton pants, wide bottoms with penny loafers on, a yellow button-down shirt with a white T-shirt visible underneath.
Karl was only five years older than Clay but looked more like twenty.
“I don’t care how old you are. You kidnapped me. I don’t want to be here. Let me go.”
Karl took several deep breaths. His hands waving in front of his face, his eyes closed. She just watched as he transformed again, the squeaking of his shoes on the hardwood floor stopped as he stayed in place now.
He was calmer when he opened his eyes. His voice softer again. Polite. “I’m sorry for hurting you, Meredith. It’s not what I wanted to do. You’ll see that and we’ll be happy together. Just give it some time. I came around to the rules in my household and you can too.”
“You’re joking, right? Do you plan on keeping me locked in this house forever? People are going to know I’m missing. They are going to look for me. I should be at work right now. Without me calling in, they are going to worry.”
“We’ll deal with that when we need to,” Karl said. “Eat. Drink. Your coffee is getting cold. I didn’t drug you today. I promise.”
“Like I’m going to believe anything you say.”
He marched over and picked up her cup, took a sip, then pulled off two pieces of her peanut butter toast. Some from each slice and ate it. “Happy now?”
He turned and left her in the room alone, locking the door behind him.
Shit! She was being held captive by her neighbor who had lost his mind.
“I’m so sorry, Clay. I shouldn’t have left mad at you yesterday,” she said to the empty room. “You’ve got to save me again. Please, save me.”
