Page 11 of Oh, Hell No

Giving in, I took the light with me, and I headed to that dang bucket. I should probably save the one napkin that was in the bag in case I did have to visit this thing for something much worse. I tore off some of the bag and did my business with my ears solely focused on sounds of footsteps. I did not want Oz walking down here and seeing my bare bum over this stupid thing. Who was going to empty it anyway? Him?

A groan of relief escaped me, and I finished up. Used what I needed to in order to dry myself, then scowled down into the bucket. I wished there were something to cover it with. I moved it farther away from me, then went back to the chair and sat in it with my sole source of light beside me.

If only I knew what time it was.

I let my thoughts go over all that Oz had accused Perry of and wondered why he thought my brother was involved in this. And was there really a Mafia in Mississippi? That was so bizarre. I had a hard time believing it. Not a real mob, organized-crime kinda thing at least.

Footsteps perked me up, and I stood quickly, waiting. He had a flashlight this time. I watched as it moved while the sound of a key and metal from the prison door opened.

Who had a jail under their house? The Mafia…they would. Maybe. I mean, could this be that kind of Mafia? And if so, why had Perry chosen them to place bets with? Weren’t there legit websites for that?

Once he came and got me, I had a load of questions that he was going to answer.

The light moved closer, as did the footsteps.

That man’s utter perfection didn’t hit any less hard than it had the first time. Which made me mad. At myself. For noticing. He’d left me down here, in a basement, to sleep on the concrete floor, thirsty, starving, and I’d had to pee in a bucket. There was my fury, demolishing how his godlike appearance affected me. No more attraction. Just anger…mostly.

He tossed me another small bottle of water. That was it. Nothing else. There wasn’t a bag in his hand with food he planned to eat in front of me.

“Are you going to starve me to death?” I asked.

“Are you going to tell me where Perry is?” he replied.

“I can give you his address. Is that what you want?”

He had state-of-the-art security on his apartment. They’d never get to him.

He smirked and rubbed his jaw. “I have the address to his apartment and office building. Those were the first places we went. But they had all been wiped clean. No sign of him.Nothing. Not even a trace of his DNA left behind, and that is fucking impressive.”

My hand gripped the lid of the water bottle, but I didn’t turn it. I stood there, frozen. What did he mean, there was no trace of Perry? That wasn’t possible. He wouldn’t leave like that. Disappear.

I shook my head. “Yeah, that’s not Perry. Whoever you are looking for is not my brother. Perry—”

“Is a fucking criminal, darlin’. The smart kind. The high-IQ kind that can erase himself so that he can’t be found. The kind we hire to do shit for us, like, well, this. What you think you know about him, you don’t. Either that or you are a fantastic liar. But what we do know is, Perry only cares for one person. You. And you are our leverage to getting him and our four million dollars. It’s time you start telling me every detail you know about Perry and what he owns, things that might not be known or could possibly be under the radar. Something.”

I took a deep breath, then let it out. I wouldn’t panic. There had to be a reasonable explanation. I was a second-grade teacher at a Christian school in Mississippi. This kind of thing did not happen to me. My life was boring. I did not live in an episode ofCriminal Minds.

Wait…

“Am I dreaming?” I asked aloud.

Oz looked annoyed by my question. As if he had the right to be annoyed. I’d just peed in a bucket and wiped with a piece of brown paper bag. I was the one who got to be annoyed. Besides, that was a legit question. It made more sense than anything else had so far.

“Don’t gulp down your water. That’s all you get today. Unless you have something to tell me that is worth another one,” Oz said, then stared at me, as if waiting for me to unleash the exact whereabouts of Perry.

I had nothing. If he was really gone…then he could be guilty of this. I knew Perry was a genius. I’d known that way before he was tested at twelve years old. But this other stuff sounded nothing like the man I knew. The boy I had grown up with, protected.

Would he have told Marley where he was?

Marley Luneze had taken both Perry and me in after my mother was found dead at the bottom of the apartment staircase one morning. She’d left in the middle of the night to go get more alcohol, and she fell. It had broken her neck. Instead of Perry and me being placed into the system at twelve and fourteen, respectively, our elementary school counselor, Miss Luneze, stepped in. When she had heard about Mom’s death, she had used her brother-in-law—the county judge—to help her get custody of us quickly.

I owed my college degree to her, even if my brother was the one who had paid off my loans. She’d helped me apply for a partial scholarship, cosigned my loans with me, taken me shopping for my dorm room. Marley was also the one who’d had Perry’s IQ tested, already guessing, like I had, that he was brilliant.

Oz turned then and began to walk away.

I gripped my water tighter. This was all I had for the day? I was so thirsty. I could drink this in three long gulps.

“I’m hungry!” I called out after his retreating form.

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