Page 102 of Close Your Eyes and Count to 10

Where was she? What was happening? She grappled for the night before. Had they partied too hard? Was this some kind of brutal hangover from a debauched evening out?

The smell of rot, of mold tickling her nose, her throat. Concrete all around her. The sound of water endlessly drip-dripping. The sweet, metallic taste of blood in her mouth. This was not a hangover. It all came back in a sickening rush.

The island. The game. Alex dead. Tavo, his face filled with hate. The dark path. The blow to the side of the head. Someone else.Whowas there? Her memory churned, murky and gray. A face she knew.

“No,” she croaked, forcing her eyes open.

It was dark except from some dim obviously battery-operated light source over in the far corner of the room,and even that was flickering. Was someone standing there? Still. Watching.

“What’s happening? Who’s there?”

Maybe this wasn’t real. Some kind of dream. And she’d wake up with Maverick in their bedroom back in the city. She loved the way the light washed in their big windows in the morning, and the city was spread out around them, the day waiting.

Graffiti on the wall. Debris on the floor. Everything tilting, groaning. The basement of Enchantments.We just ask that you limit your time in the hotel itself. We can’t guarantee your safety.That’s what Anton had said when he delivered the permits.The building is slated for demolition.She’d totally blocked that part out.

“Who’s there?” she said, forcing her voice deeper.

She oriented herself. Bound to a rusting metal chair, arms behind her, her ankles were tied. Angeline struggled against her bindings, grunting, the metal legs scraping against the concrete floor.

Fear. Thick and hot in her belly, her throat. That feeling of being powerless, at the mercy of someone stronger.

“Do you think he’ll come for you?”

A voice in the darkness.

“Or do you think he’ll find a way to run?”

“Who?” she asked. But she knew.

“He’s slippery. If there’s a way out, he’ll find it, right? With or without you. I think you understand that. You know him better than anyone.”

“Tavo,” she said, although it didn’t sound like him. “Don’t do this.”

Angeline experienced a moment of clarity, the fog in her mind clearing. This was about Maverick. Something he had done. Of course it was. It was always going to come to this, wasn’t it? With Angeline paying for things that Maverick had done.

“Do you know what he has in those bags he’s been hauling around?”

She’d had her suspicions. After they’d dumped Alex’s body over the wall, and Tavo had stormed away from them, Mav had grabbed her arm.

“Let’s go,” he’d said, eyes wild, desperate. “Right now. Let’s get in the Range Rover and take the jet. We can go anywhere. Just the two of us. Just like you wanted.”

“What about the challenge? The company?”

“Fuck it,” he said. “It’s just us. Just you and me, that’s all that matters now.”

And she could see that he meant it. And that he was terrified of what they’d done, and what would happen next, and of whoever was trying to hurt them. It lit up something primal in her, as well.

“We can’t,” she said.

“Wecan. I can take care of us. I made sure of it.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just…trust me. Ange. Get in the car with me. We’ll get off this rock. Wheels up in an hour. Anywhere in the world you want.”

She didn’t say anything, just let him take her by the hand and lead her back to the lot. Her mind was ticking through possibilities: go, stay, go to the police.

But when they arrived at the lot, Tavo was in the other Rover, the one Maverick had been driving. From the driver’s seat, Gustavo cast them a look that Angeline couldn’t read, then tore out, gravel spitting behind him.

---