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“Do you know where my phone is? I want to call Emmy,” she said, sliding her legs under the covers. “I haven’t talked to her in a few days, and I just want to hear her voice. Can you please give me back my phone?”
He gave her a puzzled look. “What are you talking about? I don’t have your phone.”
She ran her fingers through her short hair, frustrated. “I always keep it on my nightstand. It’s not there, or in any of the drawers.” She might be forgetful lately, but the phone had not disappeared on its own. Either he or Athena had taken it. They were trying to keep her isolated so they could kill her.
“I’ll ask Athena to come help you find it. I have to be on my way soon. I’m driving to Richmond today, remember? To make sure the final inspections go okay on the new shelter?”
She wanted to yell at him every profanity she knew. He’d never mentioned any trip to Richmond. He was trying to confuse her. But she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of thinking he was upsetting her. At least he’d be gone, and then she could call the police without him stopping her. “Have a safe trip.”
He leaned over to kiss her. She wanted to pull away with every fiber of her being, but she kissed him back. “I’ll call you later. Love you,” he said.
Go to hell,she said to herself.
“I’m going to lock the door until Athena comes up, just to be safe.” Whit had had the lock reversed the same time that the chime was installed.
“What? That’s ridiculous. I’m not going to do anything! Youcan’t lock me up like a prisoner. Besides, you’d hear the door chime if I opened the door. I thought that was the whole point of it.”
“Sloane, you just admitted you had another hallucination last night and pushed the chair against the door! And you almost leapt to your death the other day. If you have another hallucination, you could hurt yourself before we got up here. It’s just until Athena comes up.”
He hadn’t seemed to worry about that last night when the two of them had left her alone. But then again, he had probably hoped shewouldjump to her death. Seeing it was useless to argue, she simply nodded. Once Athena came up, she’d get her phone back, and then she’d call for help. If he was going away, that meant she had time before they tried anything.
After he left, she got out of bed to keep searching. Fighting waves of dizziness, she bent down to look under the bed and the dresser, thinking maybe she’d dropped her phone. After thoroughly searching, she still hadn’t found it. Despondent, she sat on the bed and rang for Yvette on the intercom.
Athena’s voice came through instead.
“Where’s Yvette?” Sloane asked.
“Whit gave her the day off. Is there anything I can do for you?”
They had thought of everything. There was no one here to help her. Sloane wrapped her arms around herself and rocked back and forth, a terrifying sense of helplessness filling her. “I need my cellphone. I have a call to make.”
“I’ll be right up.”
Sloane squeezed her eyes shut, holding her breath to keep herself from sobbing. She had to appear calm. She couldn’t let Athena see that she knew what they were planning. She heard a loud thunderclap and walked to the window. Rosemary’s car! Thank God!
Why were they just sitting there?Look up, look up!she wanted to yell. She’d go downstairs. She turned from the window and went to the door, but when she turned the knob, it didn’t open. Of course he’d locked it. Shit! Running back to the window, she banged on itwith her fists, but a loud clap of thunder muffled the sound. And then it began to pour.
Whit hadn’t let them in the house. Tears of frustration rolled down her cheeks as she pounded on the window in vain. She watched, desolate, as the car drove away until it disappeared from sight along with her hope of being rescued.
A few minutes later, the door opened, and Athena walked in, smiling at Sloane.
“I brought you a protein shake.”
As Athena sat on the bed with the drink in her hand, a hot stab of pain radiated across Sloane’s chest, constricting it so tightly that she thought she would suffocate.
She stared at the drink, wondering if Athena had poisoned it. She stalled. “Thanks, I’ll have it in a little bit. Have you seen my phone?”
Athena shook her head. “Sorry, no.”
“May I borrow yours, then? I’d like to call my daughter.”
Athena hesitated. “Um, sure, I’ll get it in a few minutes.”
Tears of frustration spilled onto her cheeks and her voice rose. “I want to call my daughter.”
The look on Athena’s face told her everything she needed to know. She was never going to talk to her daughter again. Sloane felt as though all the air had left her body as she tried to take a deep breath. She was going to die in this room. She’d never see Emmy again; never see her get married or have children.
“Please, Athena. You don’t have to do this. I need to call my daughter.”