Chapter 12
Chapter twelve
No, no, no.
We have to get out of here.
I have to get to Lee. I have to save him.
Rationally, I know this is probably just some prank, but what if it’s not?
What if it’s not?
My thriller girlie brain can’t help but immediately think the worst, though. I have to save him from whatever twisted form of torture our captors have planned for him.
My palms are sweating like crazy, and I hastily wipe them on my dress as I spin in circles to see if there’s another way out of this tiny, red prison.
My late father’s words come back to me as I feel myself start to spiral.
Stop. Breathe. Assess the situation.
I take a deep, shuddering breath to calm my nerves before I jump into action.
Someone has to take charge here, and it might as well be me since I have the most to lose if this isn’t just some twisted game.
“Teagan, go up the stairs and check to see if that door is locked,” I snap a bit more forcefully than I should.
“Lexi, start feeling around the wall with the clock. Maybe there is an escape hatch somewhere.”
Lexi scoffs loudly while shaking her head at me. Teagan nods and takes off running up the stairs, disappearing out of sight just like Lee did only minutes ago.
“No, I’m not entertaining this,” Lexi spits back at me. “This is stupid. I didn’t come all the way to Scotland just to be accosted by a man who thinks he can use and abuse us for his own pleasure. I don’t care how famous he is.”
“Fine!” I shout at her. “Then get the hell out of my way so I can check. I don’t care if you think it’s a game. I will not risk my husband’s life over your stubbornness, Lexi.” My tone is as sharp as knives as I lecture my best friend. “Also, we don’t know that Pierce is a man. Now do we?”
“I assure you, ladies. I’m a man,” the voice coos from above.
“Whatever. Man! Woman! Does it really matter? This isn’t some sort of escape room, Capri!
It’s a sick, twisted game that our host finds funny, and I’m not playing.
” Lexi leans against the wall and crosses her arms over her chest, causing the green sequins on her dress to glitter in the muted light like the rage boiling inside me.
Defiant as always when she doesn’t get her way. Usually, I find this trait of hers endearing, but right now I want to punch her square in the face, especially when my husband’s life might be on the line.
We are alone in a foreign country. We don’t know a single soul here. Even worse, nobody knows precisely where we are because the travel plans didn’t have an official address. All it said was that we’d be collected at the airport in Glasgow.
This might just be a game, but it also might be real.
I ignore the panic clawing up my throat and start searching the walls surrounding us.
What am I looking for? I’m not even sure.
But I know that there has to be a way out of here, and I’ll stop at nothing to get back to Lee and make sure he’s okay.
I’m pushing and pulling on every inch of the stone walls as Teagan reappears on the staircase.
“Holy hell, T!” Lexi shouts. “I didn’t hear you coming down the stairs!”
Teagan’s face comes to life in the red lights above us, and a small kernel of hope blooms when I see that she looks excited.
“Sorry, I took my heels off,” she explains. “But look! This was hiding on one of the steps!”
She hands me a glass bottle. As soon as I bring it to my face, I realize that it’s the same bottle of liquor that Lochlan was holding when we ran into him. I also notice the bottle is empty, but when I shake it, I hear something moving inside.
“So that creepy man with the lizard shoes is in on this?” Lexi scoffs. “I freaking knew it. Nobody trustworthy wears hideously disgusting shoes like that.”
“Shut up, Lexi!” Teagan snaps.
My jaw drops open in surprise as I look at her.
Teagan’s never talked to Lexi that way. The two of them have always been closer and shared a much closer bond than I have with either of them.
I’ve always tried my best not to let that closeness flare up that small kernel of jealousy that resides in my heart over it.
But hearing the venom in Teagan’s voice and seeing the anger radiating from her eyes toward Lexi shocks me to my core—it almost feels like she’s choosing me this time.
I glance at Lexi and see a flash of hurt and possibly regret in her expression.
As much as I want to ease the tension between us, I also know we don’t have time to waste, so I return my attention to the bottle.
The red light above us doesn’t do much for me as I try to peek through the glass. “I think it might be a piece of paper.”
Teagan reaches out and gently takes the bottle from my shaking hands. The room is freezing, and my dress is made up of useless scraps of fabric, letting the bone-chilling air seep through my skin.
“I know this is about to sound so stupid, but does anyone have a wine opener?” Teagan asks. “I don’t want to break it unless I have to.”
Lexi steps away from her spot on the wall and pulls her necklace off.
“It’s not a wine opener, but maybe we can use it to pry the cork out?
” Teagan brings the necklace to her face and inspects it.
It’s gold and features a relatively large dragonfly pendant.
I’m surprised I didn’t notice it right away, but Lexi’s natural beauty tends to distract from the minute details of her fashion choices.
“The tail is thick and long and curved just enough that it might actually work,” Teagan says in a rush before she turns and sets the bottle on the steps behind us. “Here, you two hold the bottle still while I work on prying the cork out.”
Lexi shrugs and sits next to me on the steps. Her hands are above mine on the bottle as we work to keep it steady so Teagan can do her part.
It’s a slow, agonizing task. The only sounds in the room are the sounds of us breathing and the dragonfly pendant hitting the glass lip of the bottle while Teagan uses it to break the cork apart.
After what feels like hours, she gets the cork shredded enough and uses her thumb to push the rest of the broken cork into the bottle.
“There! We did it!” Teagan’s eyes are alight with excitement as we all stand. She flips the bottle upside down and gives it a good shake.
Lexi puts her hands under the bottle as Teagan tries to shake out whatever is waiting for us inside.
I glance up at the clock. My stomach turns leaden. “Guys, we only have six minutes left. We need to hurry this up!”
“We got it!” Lexi shouts. She unrolls the paper, and we all squint to see the words.
TRUTH OR DARE?
“What is this?” Lexi says incredulously. “Truth or dare? Are you serious?” She walks over to the door and bangs on it several times with her fist. “Let us out of here, you damn psychopath!”
The speaker crackles above us again, and the distorted voice greets us. “Truth or dare? Clock’s ticking, ladies.”
“This is bullshit! Let us out!” Lexi screams again.
Teagan meets my gaze and looks back at the clock. We now have five minutes left. Who knows what will happen to us, or to my husband, if we don’t play along.
I can’t risk it. I won’t risk Lee.
“TRUTH!” I shout to the ceiling. “Truth! Truth! Truth!”
The crackle of the speaker starts again before that same demented, sinister laugh booms out. “Good girl, Capri.”
Teagan reaches over and grabs my hand, squeezing it tightly as we wait for the speaker to continue. Lexi crosses her arms and scoffs, but thankfully stays quiet this time.
“If you answer this honestly, Capri. You and your friends will be free to go,” the voice explains. “If you lie, you stay—and you don’t want to know what happens then.”
My heart races in my chest as I wait to hear what could be the question to gain my husband’s freedom.
I can do this, I can do this.
“What dark truth have you been hiding from your friends?”
Lexi and Teagan look at me, both confusion and curiosity alight in their eyes.
I feel my face getting hot. My hands are sweating again as I race through what this stranger might know about me.
There’s no way they know about my past? Right?
Nobody knows the truth about what I did all those years ago. Do they?
No. There’s absolutely no way this person knows about my daughter.
But then what truth are they talking about?
I glance at Teagan and then at Lexi and swallow hard.
Because I do know one truth, but it’s not my truth.
Lexi’s eyes are wide as she looks at me, almost as if she knows I’m about to blow her entire world up for the sake of keeping mine whole.
“Lexi,” I say, my voice breaking entirely as my eyes shift to Teagan’s. “I’m so sorry.”
I look up at the clock again. Three minutes left. The guilt I feel nearly swallows me whole as I open my mouth again. “My dark truth is—” I swallow hard again as tears slip down my face. “My dark truth is that I know that Lexi is having an affair with Josh.”
The speaker says, “Thank you for your honesty, Capri.” Then we hear a click of a lock.
I risk a glance over at Lexi and Teagan, knowing I’ve just ruined everything. But I can’t help the slight rush of relief I feel when I realize that my own, true dark secret is still safe. My child is safe.
I’ve broken my best friends to keep myself whole.
What kind of person does that make me?
The door before us opens, and we are met with a round of applause and bright lights.
Lochlan and Lee stand at the doorway with sheepish smiles as they offer us glasses of champagne.
I rush forward, my body full of fury, and slap Lee hard across the face. The sound reverberates through the entire room, causing all our onlookers to go silent.
“What the hell was that, Lee?!” I scream at him before I bury myself into his chest and break down.
“I thought they were going to kill you. I was so scared!” I pull away as the fire in my veins flares.
“And this whole time you were out here, what? Just playing with your new friends instead of trying to help us?”
Lee rubs at his cheek after handing Lochlan his glass.
“Baby, no. I didn’t know what was happening until the door opened.
I got locked out as soon as I walked through the door to the hallway.
Lochlan found me wandering the halls like a lost lamb.
He invited me for drinks and said we would go around and meet you here. We walked in a second ago.”
His voice sounds so sincere that I believe him.
I fall back into his arms and cry into his chest. “I’m sorry.
I’m so sorry.” I cling to him as hard as I can and let myself breathe in the fact that he’s okay.
He’s actually okay, and this was all just a twisted joke like Lexi guessed as soon as we got locked in.
The soft muttering of voices around us finally pulls my focus. I realize that we’re not as alone as I assumed we were when we came out of the dark room behind us. We have an audience of about a dozen people who are dressed to impress, just like the rest of us. These must be Pierce’s other guests.
“You ladies did amazing!” a woman wearing a tight-fitted dress tells me.
“The dragonfly necklace was genius!” Another guest chimes in from somewhere in the back.
I flush as I take in everyone’s eyes on us.
“How did they see us?” Lexi asks through tear-stained cheeks.
Lee grabs my hand and points to the giant television behind us. “I only saw the last bit,” he admits. “But I’m guessing everyone was able to watch the entire thing on that.”
Everyone just watched me turn on my best friends for their own amusement. What kind of twisted place is this?