Page 44 of Crazy In Love (Secrets of Suburbi 3)

"Okay. Try not to watch the news tonight. At least alone. The vultures are out for blood." Detective Torres' hand slowly fell from my elbow, his fingers trailing down my forearm for a second too long.

I tried not to glare at him. First the whole pretend being worried about me thing. And now the lingering touch? Detective Torres was trying to play me. Could he be any more transparent? It was like he was waiting for me to say, "I wouldn't be alone if you joined me." How about you just sign me up for an orange jumpsuit and prison cell tonight. Vomit. I didn't need another stupid guy hitting on me constantly. I already had Noah shirtless and tied to a chair downstairs. That was enough. "Try to find my husband." My tone was icier than I meant for it to be.

He nodded. "Just two more questions for you and I'll be on my way. You have Christmas lights strung outside, but not a single decoration inside. Not even a red and green hand towel. Nothing. Why is that?"

To fool you. "Christmas is the last thing on my mind right now, detective."

"But you still decorated outside?"

"Weeks ago for the silly neighborhood lighting contest." I stared at him for a moment, waiting for him to call me out on my lie. But he didn’t. Such a bad detective. And I doubted Sally would blab that I was decorating just hours ago. It seemed like she had my back. Kind of. "Noah and I always get a real tree closer to Christmas. We like decorating it kind of last minute to really feel that Christmas spirit, you know? Actually, we probably would have gotten it today if he was here." I sniffled.

He nodded and then stepped around me. "Final question before I head back to the precinct. What do you keep down there?" He nodded at the door behind me. "It's a little unusual to have a deadbolt on your basement door."

Keep breathing. Stay calm. I'd had an answer for this all along. And it wasn't even a complete lie. "Just storage. I've always been scared of basements ever since I was a little girl. I had terrible nightmares. I always made Noah go down there for me. Actually, that's probably one of the reasons I haven't decorated too. All the decorations are down there." The words slipped out of me. And as soon as I said them, I knew it was a mistake. A terrible, horrible mistake.

"Well, let me grab them for you real quick," Detective Torres said. He was already walking around me. "I think a little Christmas magic is just what we need right now."

Why? Why on earth would I tell him my Christmas decorations were down there? That my lovely missing husband couldn't grab them for me? That I was basically a damsel in distress when it came to basements? "That's not necessary."

"It's no problem at all. Your house could use a little Christmas cheer, don't you think?" The deadbolt clicked as he turned it.

"Really, Detective Torres. You're already doing so much for me. You don't have to." Don't do it. You'll regret it.

The door squeaked as he opened it. "I don't mind, Ensley." He flicked on the lights.

Fuck. Me. This was it. I was going to have to tase him. But my hand didn't reach for my taser. I remembered the feeling of waking up and believing my hands were covered in blood. The warm sticky feeling on my palms. The way the blood soaked into the wooden steps. The feeling of relief. Maybe it was a premonition. I knew what kind of damage these stairs could do. All I had to do was push him. If I was lucky his skull would crack open. Not only would I get Detective Torres out of my hair, I'd also scare the shit out of Noah. He'd tell me anything I wanted. Kill two birds with one stone. A pretty sick saying for the sick thing I was about to do.

But my body didn't move as Detective Torres took the first step. It was like I was frozen in place. I watched him take another step. And another. My heart was racing too fast. I felt like I was going to faint. And for some reason Baby it's Cold Outside started running through my head at a super slow pace. It almost sounded like the song was skipping on an old record player. The eerie scratching echoing around me, like the song was dying slowly. Detective Torres kept descending the stairs as the rendition of Baby it's Cold Outside haunted my reality. In a few seconds he was too far away for me to push him to his death.

"Cute reindeer," he called from the bottom of the stairs. "Do you want me to bring him up?"

I waited for his reaction to seeing Noah tied up. A scream. A curse. Anything.

And I waited.

And I waited.

"Ensley?" he said. "Did you hear me? Do you want me to bring the reindeer up? What other decorations are down here?"

Snuggle Muffins barked. An actual bark. Not a whimper or a sigh. It was like he was trying to pull me out of my trance. Like he was trying to save me. I shook my head, trying to get the haunting tune out of my head.

What the hell? Why wasn't Detective Torres talking about the fact that I had Noah tied up shirtless to a chair in the middle of my basement? Next to a litter box and a plate of bacon? For a second I considered slamming the door and locking it. But Detective Torres would find a way out. He wasn't tied up like Noah was.

I'd missed my chance at pushing him down the stairs. I had to suck it up and tase his ass. Before I ran out of time. And I was definitely running out of it. He was probably down there radioing the police station this second. Whispering so I couldn't hear him. I couldn't let him get that call through. I needed to end this. Now.

My feet finally started to move. Snuggle Muffins whimpered from behind me when I didn't bring him along for the show. But I didn't want him to see me do this. I didn't want him to look at me like I was a monster too.

I put my hand in my back pocket and gripped the taser. My plan was to tackle him from behind and then tase the side of his neck before he could react. I was ready to jump off the stairs and fly through the air. But when I reached the bottom of the stairs I knew why Detective Torres hadn't said a word about my hostage. It wasn't because he was secretly calling the police station.

No. Detective Torres hadn't said a word because there was nothing to say. The chair that Noah had been tied to was empty.

Chapter 16

Sunday

I blinked. Something must have gone wrong with my brain. A faulty wire somewhere. Maybe something had short-circuited. I blinked again, but the chair was still empty. Noah was nowhere in sight. The chair was also pushed against the wall instead of in the middle of the basement. It looked like it hadn't been used in years. I swore it even looked a little dusty. The plate of bacon was missing. It was like it had never even existed. Even the litter box was pushed to the side. Out of sight, out of mind.

I tried to take a deep, steadying breath, but it felt like I was hyperventilating. There was no way I'd imagined kidnapping Noah and trapping him down here. So...where the hell was he? I glanced at the small window above the shelves. Noah's shoulders were so broad. There was no way he could fit through that. Right?

---