I look at Dario in horror. “You knew what he was doing?”
A beat later, I realize the lunacy of what I just said. This guy justkidnappedme. Of course he wouldn’t care about Ken filming me.
“I did. And I found it entertaining enough. Not as entertaining as what I do, but—” He shrugs. “If it made him happy.”
His sleeve moves, revealing a watch underneath. I try to catch a glimpse of the time to figure out how long I’ve been gone. I texted Webb around six-fifteen this morning, just as I was leaving my apartment. And I parked my car maybe five minutes later. So if I was taken before six-thirty, Webb would have still been in Seattle, most likely at the airport waiting for his seven-thirty flight.
I almost burst into tears again, remembering Webb telling me how he was going to fly back from Seattle instead of driving.“I don’t want to be away from you any longer than absolutely necessary,”he said.“Paying extra to fly is worth it.”
I only catch a flash of a ten on the face of Dario’s watch before it disappears beneath his sleeve again. So four hours, give or take. Long enough for Webb to get back to Blade and Arrow. But long enough for him to find me? That I’m not sure of.
“I asked Ken if I could have you,” Dario continues. “He’d helped me find other actors, after all. But he refused to give you up. And I’d known him so long, I grudgingly agreed.”
“But,” I whisper, “Ken’s dead.”
Dario flashes me the most frightening smile yet. “I know he is.” After a brief pause, he asks, “Who do you think killed him?”
My heart stops.“What?”
“I had to,” he replies defensively. “After you quit, he went off the rails. I heard what he did, blackballing you like that. And I saw him in Portland last month. He was ranting about how he was going to punish you for leaving.”
Dry-mouthed, I whisper, “Did you know about the gun?”
Dario blinks. His forehead pinches. “No. He didn’t mention that. But he was clearly unstable. And I couldn’t take the chance he’d get caught and turn on me. We had an agreement, you see. I kept my end of it for as long as I could. But…”
“But?”
“He knew too much. You know that saying about keeping secrets, don’t you?”
I nod. “Yes.”
“Besides that, I couldn’t stop thinking about you. Imagining you in the role I’ve been wanting you to play since I saw your first video.” A dreamy expression moves across his face. “You’ll be perfect in it. Your face. Your hair. Your body.”
Leaning close, he tucks my hair behind my ear, then trails his fingers down my neck.
Bile burns the back of my throat.
Tears spill down my cheeks.
“Please,” I plead. “Please. Just let me go. I won’t say anything. I’ll just go home, you can?—”
A sharp burst of laughter interrupts me. “Noelle. Come on. I know you’re not stupid. I can’t let you go now. Not after I’ve told you all this.”
“I won’t tell. I haven’t seen anything. I don’t even know if you’re telling the truth about Ken. They think he died from natural causes.”
“Do they?” Dario smiles. “Good. Not that they’ll be able to tie it to me, anyway.” His voice dips conspiratorially. “I used arsenic. Fitting, isn’t it?”
“Arsenic?”
“Yes. I sent him a bottle of whiskey laced with arsenic. His favorite. He would drink a glass every night while he’d watch his videos. I told him it was a gift to celebrate our years of friendship.” With a sigh, he shakes his head. “I admit, I feel a little bad poisoning him like that. Although I think he’d appreciate the method I used.”
I stare at Dario in horror. “So you killed your friend so you could do the same thing he did?” Glancing around, I search the room for cameras. “Are you?—”
He grabs my chin, tipping my head up to look at him. “No. I’m not going to record you like that. I’m not a voyeur, like Ken. I prefer everything to be out in the open.”
Still holding my face, he pulls me across the room and takes the dressing gown off the hook. Then he hands it to me. “You’re the newest member of my cast, Noelle. And I’m so thrilled to have you as my new leading lady.”
“Yourleading lady?”
