Page 53 of Kept in the Dark

I cover my mouth in time to stifle the gasp. Take care of—murder—the witness—me? No, I must be jumping to conclusions. Taking care of things has multiple meanings, and I’m sure I’m not the only witness he knows. Or the only one who knows Kyle…

Yeah, that’s a Venn diagram that’s just a circle. Me.

Fuck.

“Da, I have it. It is a USB drive; it could contain anything.” There’s a long pause. “She knows nothing. I agree. I will finish up here and bring it.”

I’m going to be sick.

Dimitri got what he wanted. It’s always been about that fucking USB. Now that it’s out, he doesn’t need me anymore. I’m the only witness to his crime, and he’s going totake care of me.

He starts moving around, grumbling into the phone too low for me to make out most of the words. Bile rises in my throat from a roiling stomach.

I need to get out of here. I need to get away from him…

Even if I’m wrong—even if what he’s saying doesn’t mean exactly what I think it does—he’s still a murderer. Kyle is dead.

I scramble back towards the bed and start feeling around for the phone I hid under the corner of the mattress. It powers up so slowly that my hands tremble as I clutch my only lifeline.

Fuck. No service.Fuck. Low battery.

I curse myself for not charging it before I left for the wedding.

My thumb presses nine, then hovers over the one. I know I’ll be able to make an emergency call regardless of the service issue, but I can’t exactly tell them where I am. They’d probably ask me to stay on the line while they pinpoint my location, but what if the battery craps out before they can find me, and he moves theboat?

I didn’t realize quite how screwed I was until this exact moment.

Fighting back would be stupid—I’m so outmatched, it’s laughable.

I don’t know where I am. I know nothing about this boat—does it even belong to Dimitri? I know nothing about Dimitri. Is his name Dimitri, or is it Lev, like he originally told me? What if he catches me making the call? What if he figures out that I heard him or that I have a phone stashed away?

Dumb doesn’t begin to cover it. I’ve been life-threateningly stupid.

The urge to cry hits me like a freight train. So many horrible, sour emotions are swirling around that I might throw up. Among the fear and self-loathing is an inescapable kind of sadness and disappointment. It’s the literal least of my worries, but I can’t help mourning the fact that last night was a lie.

I can’t believe I trusted him. I can’t believe I backed the wrong fucking horse.

I don’t know why I wanted to believe he would help me so badly. Just because I’m attracted to him? Of all the terrible, piss-poor evolutionary impulses... Attractive people are not innately more trustworthy, though we, as a species, tend to think they are.

Okay, trying to make myself feel worse about what I’ve done isn’t going to help. I did what I thought was best in the moment; it just ended up being the wrong thing to do. I won’t make that mistake again.

Dimitri’s moving around in the upper cabin. When the engine starts up, I feel the anxiety creep up my neck. Battery at 4%. I shut off the phone so I'll have enough juice to make that call once we stop moving.

But what the fuck do I do about him in the meantime?

16

Dimitri

Something is wrong

The two men in charge of digital security the night of the wedding have gone missing, and Wesley suspects they were interrogated and killed for “losing” all the camera footage. The police continue to search for the murderer of Ivan Minnov, thebratokI killed, and now suspect his murderer is also responsible for the gunfire. No one was shot, but three people were hospitalized after being trampled in the panic that ensued.

Felix is also missing. Though, in his case at least, it is possible he is only temporarily unreachable—lying low, as I am.

And Kyle is dead. The family is keeping it quiet, but a report from the coroner’s office confirmed it.

My chest constricts as I consider the implications, and find only questions with perplexing possible answers.