Page 64 of The Captive Missing

“More like a thousand.” He came over and flopped face first on the bed. “But I don’t care, I’ll watch them all again.”

So they did. And it took all day. There were chick flicks and action movies, black and whites, and full color. Val couldn’t remember the last time she had been so completely lazy. For lunch they brought heaping sandwiches with bags of crunchy chips right into the bed. By the time dinner rolled around, her eyes were strained from the effort of watching and her body ached from the lack of movement.

“I’m gonna hop in the shower,” Charlie announced, and shoved off the bed.

Alone, Val wandered back out into the kitchen and sighed. Was it really time to cook another meal? She hadn’t realized just how spoiled she was. Jason kept a full staff and Cambric had a cafeteria. Thinking back, the only time in her life where she had to cook was with Granny Ida back in Indiana, and then again at Javier’s ranch.

Suddenly, Val’s heart squeezed tightly inside her chest. She hadn’t let herself think of Jace in a long time. Thinking of those places brought him fresh to her mind. What sort of mother did that make her? How could she be here and function without him? How could she go so long without saying his name?

“You alright?” Charlie padded quietly over, white towel wrapped around his waist, hair still wet from the shower.

“Yeah,” Val croaked, then covered her face with both hands. “Just let myself think too much.”

Charlie nodded somberly once before reaching behind her and yanking open the freezer. The push of cold air had Val stepping away, wiping tears from her eyes. He busied himself collecting bowls and spoons, then plunked an entire pint of ice cream down on the counter. It was double chocolate fudge.

“You can’t be serious.” Val huffed a bit, fighting a pitying smile that wanted to play on her lips.

“Don’t make me eat this all by myself,” Charlie chided.

Moving to the couch, they sat huddled together. The bowls, they decided, were unnecessary. Because… ice cream. As their spoons dipped over and over again, they talked quietly about their old friends. Their voices were low, barely audible, even to each other.

Val told him about the life Gabe led now. How he made it to that anonymous island somewhere in the vast ocean. How he caught fresh fish and lobster and barbecued it on his very own deck. They shared gossip about Bee and her antics back in the day. Charlie laughed about how Gabe used to sneak back in their room in the mornings. How worn out he had looked after a night in Bee’s bed. How that had never stopped him.

Then they talked about Gabe’s sons. The ones who played by the pool. Charlie said it was hard to keep track of just who belonged to who, but Gabe’s boys resembled him so it made spotting them easier. Val asked for their names, hoping that someday she could share them with Gabe. If she ever made it out. If she ever made it back.

They talked that way together into the dark of night. They talked until every last bite of ice cream was gone and the fake window had a full moon shining brightly inside of it.

Chapter 20

The following day, playtime was over. After Charlie downed his first cup of coffee, and was actually able to speak without frowning, he put Val through her paces. According to him, they had eaten far too much and done far too little over the past two days. The calorie count alone had his inner fitness buff twitching.

Cambric still hadn’t supplied Val with any additional clothing, so Charlie lent her his shirt and an extra pair of boxer-briefs. The underwear sagged just a bit, hanging low on her hips.

Breakfast was lean, scrambled eggs and toast. Then the stretching began. They jogged in place, did sit-ups, leg-lifts and various other cardio exercises that ended with Val sweating profusely and clutching at her side. Charlie was all on fire for it though, the sheen on his brow barely glistened.

When he released Val to stop, he just kept right on going. She left him in the living room, doing push-ups between the sofa and the coffee table. Veering towards the bathroom, she turned on the shower and let the water run.

Everywhere else in Cambric, the showers were tepid at best. Even in the dead of winter they never raised the temperature above a miserable lukewarm. Down here in Breeding, however, the hot water flowed and flowed, seemingly without end.

Val was sticky and uncomfortable already, so she kept the water on the cool side and lingered under the spray. Halfway through her washing, she heard a gentle knock on the door. Charlie let himself in and Val raised her eyebrows at him through the glass partition. Angling her body slightly away, she continued to scrub shampoo into her hair. He came over to lean against the wall next to her, keeping his eyes focused on the wall.

As quietly as possible he murmured to her through the sound of the running water.

“They came in just after you left,” Charlie said. “Looks like our time is running out.”

Val’s stomach dropped and her hands stilled a moment in their careful rinsing. She was afraid of what came next. Afraid because of what she had shared with Gabe. Afraid because of the new rumors of the missing. Swallowing down her fear, she dipped her head once in acknowledgement before continuing in her routine.

“They gave me pills to give you. They want me to offer them to you if I think you’ll take them, or slip them in your drink if I think you won’t. I’m not going to, obviously.”

“What are we going to do?”

“I don’t know, but at least we have one more night.”

Reaching for the shower door, Charlie opened it a crack and held his hand under the spray. Val glanced down into his open palm and saw the tiny red pills cupped there. Eyes darting up to him once, she placed her hand in his and took what he offered. Down the shower drain they went, slipping away in the mix of steam and spray, unnoticed.

* * *

The whole rest of the afternoon was tense. Val tried to keep reading in her book, but struggled to focus. Her mind would drift off, forcing her to re-read the same page again and again. Finally giving up, she tossed the paperback down on the floor and sat up with a frustrated huff. Running her hands through her mass of hair, she let it fall around her shoulders to shield her face.

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