“Yes. I’ve been called away on urgent business, I’m afraid.”
“Well, that is a shame.”
I hadn’t moved, I couldn’t. This was my last chance to get help.
“Hurry, please, Amelie.” There was an edge to Ned’s voice. “If we delay any longer, you won’t be able to see Carolyn.” He took out his phone. “Maybe I should phone ahead.”
I found my voice. “No. That won’t be necessary.”
I walked to the pool house and dressed quickly, a knot of dread in the pit of my stomach. There was nothing I could do. I couldn’t risk Carolyn’s life. I was trapped.
Ned appeared, gripped my arm. “I hope you’re grateful that I saved you from yourself.” He paused. “You, and Carolyn.”
Outside, Lukas extended his hand to Ned. “I hope I can be of help to you.” He turned to me. “Goodbye, Amelie, it’s been a pleasure.”
He picked up his phone. Thinking he was going to give it to me, right now, in front of Ned, I forgot to breathe. But he didn’t, he just held it in his hand and I realized that his focus wasn’t on me, but on Hunter, waiting at the side of the pool to escort us to the car.
I let out the breath I’d been holding. Lukas hadn’t given me away. That had to mean something.
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
PRESENT
The sound of the door in the basement being unlocked rouses me from my apathy. Pushing the mattress aside, I lie on my front to listen.
“Good news, Ned. Your father has decided to pay the ransom.”
“Thank God.” Ned’s voice is shaky. “Today, will it be today?”
“That’s up to your father. Did you work out how much he’ll have to pay to get you back?”
“What do you mean?”
“Come on, Ned, I told you how it worked, I told you that for every day your father refused to pay, we doubled the amount of the ransom. You’ve been here nearly four weeks; today is day twenty-six. If he paid today, how much do you think he’d owe us?”
“I don’t know—a few hundred thousand, a couple of million?”
I can almost see Ned shrugging his shoulders at the unimportance of such an amount.
“More than that, Ned, much more. Have another guess.”
“Ten million?”
“More.”
“It can’t be more, it’s not possible, not just from that doubling thing.”
The man laughs. “I tell you what, Ned, take the time to work it out. I’ll come back in a while for your answer.”
The door closes, Ned curses. And then I hear it, Ned counting, doubling, trying to hang on to numbers, cursing when they slip away from him.
I give up listening, pull my knees to my chest. If Ned’s abductor is telling the truth, they’ll be releasing him soon. What about me? Ned thinks I’m dead but that doesn’t mean they’ll release me somewhere else. Maybe they want to play a trick on him, say, “Look, she’s alive, we just made you think she was dead.”
Anxiety gnaws in the pit of my stomach. If that is what is going to happen, I don’t want to be released. I am safer here, in this pitch-black room, than I am in the outside world with Ned.
CHAPTER FIFTY
PAST
On the way back to Ned’s house, I stared straight ahead. Ned was riding up front next to Hunter, and I was sitting behind Hunter.
Had I done enough? Would Lukas call the police? My heart was racing, terrified that he might phone Ned and tell him what I’d said. But the car stayed silent. Perhaps, at this very moment, Lukas was phoning the police.
“There’s an accident on the A31,” Hunter said from the front of the car. “I’ll take the back roads to avoid it.”
“Whatever, you’re the driver, just get me home.” Ned’s tone was so dismissive that my hatred of him deepened. The thought of going back to his house made me breathless. I felt my panic rising and desperately tried to focus—when we arrived, I’d refuse to get out of the car. I’d wait until Ned had gotten out, I’d lock my door from the inside, then lock his so that he wouldn’t be able to get to me.
There was a sudden screech of tires and I saw a flash of black, a car overtaking us at tremendous speed. Our car swerved violently; I flew forward and was snapped back against the seat by my belt as the car braked to a stop.
“What the fuck!” Ned cursed.
“Sorry about that, Mr. Hawthorpe. I don’t know what that idiot—”
Hunter’s voice broke off, and looking through window, I saw that the car that had overtaken us had pulled in front of us, blocking our way. My heart leapt. It’s the police, Lukas must have phoned them, they’ve come to arrest Ned. But a man, dressed all in black, a balaclava over his head, got out of the car and walked toward us. He had a gun in his hand.