Page 125 of Kept in the Dark

While his two goons look on in confusion, Felix spins and strides away, shoulders hunched with agitation. Leaning close to the windows, he peers out, looking back and forth rapidly, as though checking for something, and mutters to himself in Spanish.

He rubs his eyes with one hand, spinning back to face us. “Fuck.”

When he shifts his focus to me, I go rigid. This emotional swing doesn’t feel particularly safe. There’s no heat or anger or violence of any kind in his assessment, but I do catch a flash of recognition and well-hidden fear.

He crosses, uncrosses, then recrosses his arms, poking his tongue into his cheek and sighing. “I take it that means the Russian guy that stabbed Kyle is… Dimitri?”

He knows Dimitri? I guess if he knows James, it’s not that big of a leap, but… what the hell is going on?

“And… let me guess. You’re Dimitri’s woman.”

The act of looking at Eleanor for guidance is all the confirmation he needs. He heaves another huge sigh. “This payout was gonna be so fuckin’ good. Fuck. All right. Go get the car. I’ll meet you down there in five,” he instructs his men.

“Boss?”

“Do it,” he replies, not lifting his voice but hardening it.

The two of them look at each other, then hustle towards the elevator. While it dings its way down to the lobby, he moves across the room to the chair where Eleanor is tied. Grabbing something from his pocket, he squats next to her. I hear a mechanical snap, then a sawing noise like he’s cutting through the tape. It takes a few long seconds, then he rises and lays a heavy hand on Eleanor’s shoulder that makes her flinch away from the contact. “Up you go, babydoll. You’re coming with me.”

I open my mouth to ask what the fuck is going on, but there’s a loud shout from behind the closed door of the bedroom. “Ah! What the fuck?! You fucking bitch! You cunt!”

Bang! Bang!

My heart leaps into my throat.

“Yup, time to go,” Felix grinds out, lifting Eleanor from the chair with a firm grip under her armpit.

Locking eyes filled with tears on me, she struggles against him as he pulls her towards the elevator. I open my mouth to urge her to go, to save herself.

At that exact moment, Kyle emerges from the bedroom, face red and jerking at the buttons on his shirt with one free hand. The other has a gun. He tears off the fabric and throws it furiously onto the ground. “Fucking cunt,” he growls, wiping at a spot on his bare stomach where I recognize the color and consistency of vomit. “Fuckingcunt! Fuck!”

I flinch at his scream.

He sees me, pauses, then glances around until he finds Felix, before turning his attention back to me.

I know, then; this is real evil. Felix may have an air of malice, but Kyle is insane. One look and I know he tortured animals when he was a kid.

I’d hoped to go my entire life without ever seeing his horrible face again. My stomach is in knots. I might vomit all over him next.

“You found the cunt. Turns out you’re not totally useless, eh,amigo?” Kyle asks, butchering the pronunciation of the last word so badly that it sounds like a hate crime. His eyes fall on Eleanor, and he frowns. “Who the fuck is that? Another hostage?”

“Boys thought I’d like to play with her,” Felix replies, sounding bored. Just then, the elevator dings and opens behind him. I think I see him flinch.

Kyle scowls. “Where the fuck are you going?”

Felix rocks on his heels, considering the other man. After a beat, he tosses Eleanor towards the open elevator and steps into the doorway, preventing the doors from closing without him. She hits the back wall and nearly goes down, but recovers.

“Thatcabrónwho had you shitting out a bag for four weeks... Did he have a big fuckin’ scar all down his face like this?” He gestures, miming a curved line with the side of his hand.

“Maybe. It was dark,” Kyle shrugs. “What does that have to do with anything?”

Felix nods a few times, mostly to himself. Then he straightens. “I’m out. Keep the money.”

This is obviously not what Kyle was expecting to hear. He clenches his fist around the gun, staring at Felix with bewilderment that quickly shifts into anger. “What? You’re backing out now? You’re the one who told me that signal was a trap! And my backup is nearly here—”

“Ain’t no amount of backup that’s gonna save your white ass.”

Felix’s eyes flick to me, and Kyle follows the movement, frowning. “What the fuck are you talking about?”