“Gemma, stop,” I say sternly. “I’m not mad at you.”
“You should be! I’ve thought about it a lot since I’ve been down here. I’m an awful person. I believed Marissa because I wanted to be included. Do you know who does that? Terrible, shitty people.”
“No. People do that. All kinds. I believed you were my friend when you weren’t because I wanted you to be.”
Shit, that came out wrong.
“My point is,” I say after she coughs again. “We ignore truths when we’re desperate, and having friends…feeling like we’re part of a family…we’re all desperate for that.” I tug on the ropes, blood pressure rising. I’m not one hundred percent sure I can control the fire. The kerosene drips a trail from the chair to the stairs of the root cellar. I could light this whole place up without meaning to, killing myself and Gemma.
“How long have you been down here?” I ask.
“Since I left the hospital. I thought it’d be nice coming back here for a while to recover…you know, take a break from it all. But only for a week. No one knows I’m here, Ace. They’ve kept me hidden away this whole time.”
I yank my foot against the ropes. “They’re fucking crazy. No better than the fucker who tied us up last time.”
“They don’t want to kill me,” she says dryly. “Just get the devil to do them a favor.”
“That’s not any better. They’re killing you in the process. You sound like shit.”
“I feel like shit.” She moves to the edge of her bed and I can only see the outline of her frail body through the dark. “They could be shunned if the others found out about this. I left…I shouldn’t be here.”
“Oh, right. I’ve heard about the whole shunning thing. That’s rough.”
“It is. They won’t let me out until they think I’ve been saved. And the same for you.”
“My disappearance won’t go unnoticed.”
“Right. You’re a cop.”
I’m a cop on vacation, so not showing up at the office tomorrow won’t raise a red flag. But once the sun sets and my guys wake up, they’ll know something is up when I don’t come home. They can sense when I’m in danger, though I’ve never been this far from them before.
“Do you see my purse?” I ask Gemma, madly twisting around. The chair is bolted to the floor and isn’t budging.
“No. They know enough not to leave your phone around, though. Probably tossed it in a field a few miles from here.”
“Fuckers. I just upgraded to the new iPhone—that’s not the point.” I squeeze my eyes closed.
Don’t panic…it won’t do any good.The guys will be able to sense my fear. They know when I’m in danger. They’ll be here. I know it.
I have hours before the sun sets. Squeezing my eyes closed, I think of Jacques’s face, trying to get him the message in case I can’t later. Though I don’t let myself think about it. I’ll get us out of here, one way or another.
“I have to say, waking up tied up is not as kinky as I thought it’d be.”
Gemma laughs. “I missed you, Ace. As much as I know I don’t deserve you in my life, I missed you a lot.”
“Everyone deserves a second chance.”
“You really think so?”
“No, actually I don’t. Some people cross a line and there’s no coming back.” I turn my head, looking at her. “But you didn’t cross the line. Marissa did. But not you,” I reiterate, needing to say it again to help myself believe it.
I want to forgive her. I want to believe she acted only out of desperation. I know how much it hurts to lose your family at a young age, to grow up with people who are only taking care of you out of necessity.
To be unwanted.
To not fit in anywhere.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice…
