He picks up an empty water bottle and throws it across the room. “I knew he knew you. He’s baiting me. Drops little comments about you every time he walks in the room. And then when he was kicking me, it felt personal.” He looks up at the grate. “Be careful around him. I think he’s got a thing for you. He’s psycho.”
Yeah, I definitely don’t need to tell him we dated.
“Ethan, don’t fight with him and give Thomas a reason to get rid of you. He’s not worth it.”
Ethan stares at the ground for a few minutes before looking back up. “How’s Teeny?”
“She’s okay. She broke down yesterday but I think that’s good. She doesn’t need to hold it all in.”
Ethan nods and asks, “How about you? You okay?”
My throat gets tight and it takes a few seconds to answer. “Yeah. Definitely better than you.” My voice sounds all funny.
“I’ll survive.” And then he smiles. “I was thinking about that hammock and how I wish more than anything we were back there. I miss kissing you.”
I get warm all over and that desperate, crazy feeling rushes through me.
“Me, too. Maybe we can go back there when this is all over. Just the two of us.”
“It’s a date.”
I hate having to talk to him like this. If I could be near him or touch him, I would feel so much better, but I’m stuck in the ceiling and he’s stuck in his room.
“You’ve figured out where we are and who the masked guy is, opened your shutters, discovered Agent Williams’s grandson next door, and found out how to escape your room. I’m just lying around over here.”
A giggle escapes and it feels good to have something to laugh at. “I took what you said to heart. It’s the only thing keeping me going,” I finish in a whisper. “I’ve had some help. We found some girl’s letters from like two hundred years ago. She helped us figure out where we are and about this attic space up here.”
Ethan falls back on the mattress again. “Anna, I don’t want you to stay up there too long. You never know when they’re gonna pop in the room. If you can, come back tonight and bring the plunger.”
“I will.” I hesitate before crawling away, but he’s right. I reattach the air duct and move away from his room. On my way back, I can’t help but check out a few more grates.
What’s in the room next to Ethan? It takes a few minutes before I can remove the air duct since I’m trying so hard to be quiet. It’s darker in this room but all I can make out are filing cabinets. Lots of them.
I follow the big white worm to the next room. My clothes are completely covered in filth and dirt at this point, but I’ll worry about that later. Muffled voices filter through the white fabric so I remove just one corner of the duct. It’s the room with the shower. And there is Thomas, sitting at the desk shuffling through some papers. He’s dressed as a priest again and has an open bottle of bourbon next to him. He doesn’t bother with a glass, just takes a shot straight from the bottle.
I watch for a few minutes. He shuffles papers and curses, over and over.
Things don’t seem to be working out for Father Thomas.
Glancing around the room, I spot Tyler kicked back on the bed, looking at a device, maybe a phone. He seems completely at ease with Thomas, and my blood boils.
“Is Hammond in town yet?” Tyler asks in English. Do they only speak Spanish in front of us because they know we won’t understand them?
“No,” Thomas answers. “But I don’t need him here until tomorrow.” He stops shuffling papers and turns to look at Tyler.
“I’ll be at the other location tonight so you’ll need to handle things around here.”
Other location?
Thomas turns away from Tyler just as Tyler whispers, “I think Anna is on to me.”
Tyler stops digging through the papers and looks back at Tyler. “And why would you think that?”
Tyler shrugs. Obviously I’m more than a little on to him. He must be feeling Thomas out to see how bad it will be if he finds out that I know who he is. I definitely have a little something to hold over him now.
“Does she seem like she’s up to something?” Thomas asks. “I mean, other than that ridiculous banging around she’s doing?”
He knows. And he doesn’t care?
