Page 76 of Mine

“The door will lock behind you automatically.”

“Okay,” she said softly. She stood up to leave. I didn’t watch her go.

In the bathroom, I splashed water on my face. I rubbed my eyes and stared into the mirror. Who was the person staring back? Some idiot in love. Some fool who thought he could keep a real girl in a fake prison. How had I fallen for her so bad? I sighed. One mistake, and all my life’s work was in jeopardy. One stupid, beautiful mistake.

Sara

I went back into the library, the sheet draped around my shoulders. My head was spinning. I had told Rien I loved him. He wouldn’t let me out, though. Wouldn’t let me out unless—

He had to know where Susan Steadhill was. Okay. I had an idea. It wasn’t a great idea, but it was a start.

I pulled on the green dress. Rien had slit through the strap, so I tied it back together. There. I wasn’t presentable, but at least I wasn’t buck naked. The silk fabric fluttered against my ankles.

I opened the bookcase and tiptoed through. Outside of the window, the lights of Los Angeles twinkled in the night.

Mr. Steadhill was sleeping on the operating room table. I took a deep breath and pulled off his gag. He yelped, and I shoved the gag back in, putting my finger to my lips. He stared at me with one good eye, then nodded. I eased the gag back up.

“Listen,” I whispered. “I think I’ve figured out how to get out of here.”

“You have?”

“There’s another way, through the front,” I said, making every detail up as I went along. If he believed me, he might tell me how to reach his wife.

“Untie me and we’ll go.”

“I can’t. He—uh, he’s got your vitals hooked up to one of the alarms. If you take them out, it’ll go off.”

“Who cares? I want to get out of here!”

“Anyway, the door to the library is locked.”

“Library?”

“Shut up and let me talk!” I hissed, trying to make it seem like it was urgent. “I can’t get back in. He’s the only one with the key.”

Mr. Steadhill frowned, and the scab above his eye twitched. My dress strap fell down and I pushed it back up.

“So what? You can’t leave either? Why’d you even bother—”

“Wait. He lets me sleep in his bedroom. I can sneak out at night. I can’t get you out right away, but I can get the police to come and get you.”

“Alright.”

“First,” I said, hoping to God that he would play along, “I need to know where your wife is.”

He fixed his eye on me, and the half of his face that still remained twisted into a scowl.

“I killed her.”

Rien

Stupid me. Stupid girl.

I followed her to the library after a minute, just to make sure she hadn’t tried to escape; it was silly of me to have let her out of my sight in the house. Even with the remaining barbiturates swirling in her system, she might have managed to lie.

Behind the wall, I could hear her moving around, and the door was locked tight. I considered opening up the door to talk to her again, but I didn’t know what I’d say to her. There wasn’t anything else to say, was there?

No. I had to go find Susan Steadhill.

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