He pulled out a chair. “I’m not much of a cook, but this will do for tonight.”
Once they were seated, he forked a sausage and put it in his mouth. She hated Vienna sausages, so she ate a little of the mac and cheese. While his attention was on his food, she studied him. He was an average-looking man. Brown hair, brown eyes, slender in build, and medium height. If she passed him on a sidewalk, she wouldn’t pay any attention to him.
It was his eyes that disturbed her. There was a darkness in them, a hint of madness. What was the best way to deal with a man who she was coming to believe was mentally ill? Try to humor him, to make him think she was agreeable to being here with him? That felt like the best option. Until she could get that key from him, anyway.
“I can be a generous man when I want to be,” he said, breaking the silence. “But you must understand that disobedience will not be tolerated.” He set his fork down. “Lisa didn’t learn to be obedient. She was always testing father. Then one day she pushed him too far, and he taught her a lesson.”
“Lisa was your sister?”
“Yes.”
“What happened to her?” she asked, but she didn’t think she wanted to know.
“She was bad again and made father angry. He hurt her, and she cried. She wouldn’t stop crying, and when she begged me to make it stop hurting, I did.”
“How did you make the hurt stop?”
“I put my hand over her mouth and nose until she stopped breathing. I made her an angel and sent her to a beautiful place where she wouldn’t hurt anymore.”
She barely managed not to gasp. Dear God. He’d killed his sister.
He massaged his forehead. “Stop making me talk about this.”
While he had his eyes closed as he rubbed at his head, she eased her fork off the table and slipped it down the front of her dress. It wasn’t much of a weapon, but it was something she could use to fight back if he tried to hurt her.
“I need to think,” he muttered, more to himself than to her.
She reached over and picked up his plate, putting it on top of hers so he couldn’t see that she hadn’t eaten any of the food. “Why don’t you go sit in the living room and think while I clean up?” Maybe there was a knife in the kitchen she could hide on her. She grabbed his fork, setting it on top of his plate, then picked up the dishes as she stood.
“Leave them.” He pulled the plates from her hands and dropped them onto the table. “Come in the living room with me.”
She breathed a sigh of relief that he didn’t notice there was a fork missing. Unfortunately, she wouldn’t be able to look for a knife. He gestured for her to go first. She didn’t like having him behind her, but she walked ahead of him. In the living room, she perched on the edge of an upholstered chair, and he dropped onto the sofa. She clasped her hands in her lap and waited.
The fear she was trying to keep at bay threatened to consume her as she sat there, waiting for him to speak. Her dread intensified with each ominous tick of the clock on the wall until it took everything in her power not to snatch that clock down and smash it to pieces.
His head bobbed, and she wondered if he was falling asleep. If he did, she could sneak the key out of his pocket and make herescape. While she waited for him to say something, she thought about what he’d revealed.
It sounded like his father had physically punished Lisa. She had the impression it hadn’t been the first time he’d done so. Had he hurt her so badly that she’d begged her brother to end her life, or had she just wanted him to do something to make her feel better? If it had happened as he’d said, Kendall thought Lisa was only asking for relief. Maybe an aspirin or something like that.
“I’m glad you escaped so I could find you again. Now I can keep you for me and not give you to Lisa.”
Because it had been so quiet for a good ten minutes, she startled when he spoke. He reached into his pocket, pulled out the key and turned it over and over. That was her freedom, and her gaze locked on that silver piece of metal, mocking her with how close it was, yet out of reach.
Even if she managed to get it from him, she wouldn’t be able to get the door unlocked before he tackled her. Unless… If she stabbed him in the eye with her hidden fork, would it wound him enough to give her time to escape?
It was so tempting to at least try, but if she failed, he would have her only weapon. And she didn’t even want to think about how he would punish her for that. She needed to be patient, take him by surprise when he least expected it. She yawned widely. “I’m really tired. I’d like to go to my room.”
After one last twirl of the key, he dropped it back into his pocket. “I’ll give you tonight, but it’s the last time you’ll sleep alone.”
Time was running out. She had tonight to think of a way to get the key. Without waiting for permission to leave, she stood and headed forherroom. She closed the door, not happy that it didn’t have a lock.
A shower would be great, but she wasn’t about to get naked and risk his coming into the room. And these clothes he’d made her change into had to go. She quickly took off the dress and put the jeans and T-shirt she’d arrived in back on. The fork she’d stolen went under the pillow, where she could easily reach it if needed.
She did get in the bed since there wasn’t a chair she could curl up in, but no way was she going to go to sleep when the door didn’t lock. She lay there, listening for any noise outside the door. When she heard footsteps in the hallway, she reached under the pillow and grasped the fork. He stopped outside the door, and she slipped her hand holding the fork under the covers.
The door swung open, and he stood in the doorway, his silhouette outlined by the dim light filtering in from the hallway. For a long time after she was kidnapped, she had nightmares about a monster coming into her room to get her. Now, the nightmare was real.
“Where is it?” he said.