Chapter 38
LEARNED YOUR LESSON
Meredith’s head was swimming. Aching on top of it. She wasn’t sure which was worse.
She smacked her lips together to get rid of the dry mouth and bitter taste.
Her eyes popped open as she looked around the room she was in.
She was on a bed, the color on the walls almost exactly the same as her room.
As her head moved slowly around, the artwork she saw hanging on the wall also matched up with hers.
Was this some kind of a joke?
She sat up fast and gagged, then put her hand in front of her mouth.
Meredith didn’t know where she was, but she was alone. That much she knew.
The bottle of water next to her was tempting, but she was piecing everything together.
Karl coming to her house with coffee. Them talking, something about her horrible taste in men and that he knew what she needed?
Was she imagining that part?
It was hard to gather her thoughts, but she remembered the camera now. He’d been watching her. Doing chores in the house when she wasn’t there.
She wasn’t losing her mind!
But she obviously lost her judgment to not have suspected any of this.
She put her feet on the floor and stood up slowly. She’d been drugged. That much was obvious.
Her legs were a little shaky but not horrible.
She made her way to the door, holding onto the wall just in case. It was locked. She expected as much.
She pulled on it as hard as she could, then pushed, pulled some more, her hand slipping off the knob and her stumbling back into the bedframe where she slid to the floor.
Her hands covered her face and she sobbed.
Why was this happening to her?
How could she have seen none of it before?
Karl was always so nice and helpful. It didn’t seem possible he could have kidnapped her.
And why would he?
When the door handle moved, she got up and ran to the other side of the bed, putting it between her and whoever was coming in the door.
She looked out the window close to her. No way out unless she jumped. It looked as if she was three stories up easily. Was she in some attic?
“Morning,” Karl said. He had a tray in his hand. There looked to be toast on it and her floral cup. What the hell? “I’ve got your breakfast. Coffee in your favorite mug and peanut butter toast just like you like it.”
She backed against the wall as he moved into the room. There was no use asking how he knew she ate that for breakfast. He’d been watching her for months.
“Why am I here?”
“There is no reason to be afraid,” Karl said calmly. Nothing at all like the man who drugged and kidnapped her yesterday. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
That was a joke. “You drugged me. And brought me here. Wherever this is!” she yelled, her arms moving around.
“Calm down. You’re going to give yourself a headache like you do when you’re upset.
” Karl put the tray on the bed and moved back toward the door.
“You’re safe here. Safer with me than any of those other men in your life.
I know what you need and want. I’ll make sure you get it.
It’s just going to take time for you to adapt, but you will. ”
“Why are you doing this?” she asked, the tears rolling down her face.
“I hate to see you crying. So upset. You were crying yesterday when you got home so early in the morning. I knew then that it was time. Time was running out and I couldn’t risk you moving before I had to.”
“Time for what?” He was talking too much for her to comprehend it all. The sweet helpful neighbor she’d had for years was completely mad.
“For you to see there is a man out there that can be perfect for you. You need someone to take care of you. I can do it. You’ve just never seen it fully before, but you will now. Once you get used to being here, you won’t be crying like all those other men made you.”
Her head was shaking side to side. Big mistake as it made her want to vomit.
She had to stay calm to figure a way out of this. “Karl. Where am I? Whose house is this?”
“It’s mine. I bought it a few months ago planning our future when the time was right.
Things progressed so quickly that I knew it was now.
Fredrick was a horrible person, but you didn’t believe me.
He had to hurt you deeply for you to see his true colors.
Now we can be together away from those townhouses that have such horrible memories for us both. ”
“You wanted to date me? I thought you were gay.”
“No,” Karl snapped. “Everyone thinks that, but it’s not true.
I just struggled to find the right woman for me.
Once I did, I took time for you to know how perfect we’d be together.
Time for me to learn what makes you happy and for you to learn what I need and want.
What you can give me. It doesn’t take long to learn, I know.
My mother taught me all I needed to know about discipline and control. You’ll catch on quickly too.”
She never thought Karl thought of her that way. As anything more than a neighbor or nice person.
But she knew he watched her. She just didn’t know he did it this carefully.
As if he was prepping her. Bringing her different foods. Asking her questions about hobbies and TV shows.
“We are friends. That’s it. That’s all it was ever going to be for me.”
“Because you never gave me a chance to show you everything I could do for you.” He wasn’t yelling, but his voice was almost menacing.
That control and discipline he bragged about.
She hadn’t even known his mother was alive.
He’d never talked about her. “I’ve been the shoulder you’ve leaned on when you’ve had men trouble.
When you picked losers and they broke your heart over the years.
Just like Clay. You came home early and you were angry at him.
I saw it in your actions. Angry and upset.
You were crying. That’s when I knew. That’s when I made my move. ”
She realized that in the past he always asked her about her relationships and she offered more than she should have. Most times he just asked so many questions of her life and she’d hoped by answering he’d leave.
“I’ve never leaned on you,” she said. Her eyes were darting for any escape, but there were none.
“You have,” Karl snarled. “The thing with Fredrick. I told you he wasn’t worthy of you, but you didn’t believe me. He brought the worst out of you. I was sad and disappointed over your actions toward him. Angry also. So angry I kicked your fender.”
“That was you? Richie admitted it.”
“No,” Karl said. “He scratched it, but I kicked it in one day. You didn’t even notice I was upset over something.
You didn’t ask. Sometimes my temper gets the best of me.
Mother’s lists of order and cleanliness gets confused in my brain and I lose it for a minute before I can reel it back.
But you see none of those things. Ever!”
“You laughed with me,” she said. “Over those things I did to Fredrick.”
“I wouldn’t criticize you,” Karl argued. “I didn’t want to fight about it. But you learned your lesson that what goes around comes around.”
The guy was certifiably nuts.
“I don’t have to justify my actions to you or anyone else.”
“No,” Karl said. “But you were quick to accept my help to clean up the flowers. Getting rid of the dead fish and flies. You brought me cookies and we had dinner together. And how do you thank me for everything I’ve done? You fuck some other man.”
He’d never talked like this to her before. Never swore in her presence. Always had a smile. Almost robotic and now his parts were malfunctioning. It was the best description she could come up with.
He also was the same person who just drugged her and locked her in a room.
Getting him angry might not be smart, but it didn’t appear as if doing the smart things was working for her either.
“What I do in my life is my business,” she said. “I’ve never known how you’ve felt. You’ve never said a word. That just reeks of being a coward to me. Putting cameras in my house? Spying on me. You think I want to be with someone who does those things to me?”
His face turned crimson, his eyes almost bugging out of his sockets, his fist clenched.
It reminded her now that she’d called him out on that action in the past with his fists. He made some excuse that his hands were tight and he was stretching. What a fool she was to believe it.
“You need to learn that I can care for you just as if you were doing it yourself. I’m the one who asked around about the damage to your car.”
“That you caused!”
“You were supposed to be upset over the dent and then I was going to show you I could be there for you. That I cared. But then there were scratches too so I had to ask around. I’m the one who watched and caught the guy who was going to attack you.
It’s always me and you never see it!” He was almost twitching with the need to pace but trying to control his movements.
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “Clay did. Not you. He put a camera on the front of my house. He knew when the guy showed up. He’d called me to lock myself upstairs before I got your message. Help was already on the way. Faster than your call would have gotten them there.”
“No!” Karl yelled. “It was me. I’m the one who has been watching out for you, studying what you do each day. And when you’re stressed and behind, I’m going over and taking care of your chores for you. You haven’t thanked me once for it!”
“Because I didn’t need your help!” she yelled back. “You’re nothing but a creepy old man.”
“I’m not old. I’m thirty-nine!” he screeched.
Whoa. Hit a nerve there. She’d thought he was much older. His head was shaved; she knew it was because he had little hair on top. He had no facial hair either. He dressed frumpy, closer to the way her father did.
Pleated tan cotton pants, wide bottoms with penny loafers on, a yellow button-down shirt with a white T-shirt visible underneath.
Karl was only five years older than Clay but looked more like twenty.
“I don’t care how old you are. You kidnapped me. I don’t want to be here. Let me go.”
Karl took several deep breaths. His hands waving in front of his face, his eyes closed. She just watched as he transformed again, the squeaking of his shoes on the hardwood floor stopped as he stayed in place now.
He was calmer when he opened his eyes. His voice softer again. Polite. “I’m sorry for hurting you, Meredith. It’s not what I wanted to do. You’ll see that and we’ll be happy together. Just give it some time. I came around to the rules in my household and you can too.”
“You’re joking, right? Do you plan on keeping me locked in this house forever? People are going to know I’m missing. They are going to look for me. I should be at work right now. Without me calling in, they are going to worry.”
“We’ll deal with that when we need to,” Karl said. “Eat. Drink. Your coffee is getting cold. I didn’t drug you today. I promise.”
“Like I’m going to believe anything you say.”
He marched over and picked up her cup, took a sip, then pulled off two pieces of her peanut butter toast. Some from each slice and ate it. “Happy now?”
He turned and left her in the room alone, locking the door behind him.
Shit! She was being held captive by her neighbor who had lost his mind.
“I’m so sorry, Clay. I shouldn’t have left mad at you yesterday,” she said to the empty room. “You’ve got to save me again. Please, save me.”
Meredith sank to the floor, putting her head on her knees. Then she lifted her head and looked around to see if there were cameras in here.
She wouldn’t put it past Karl. “There is nowhere you can hide from Clay,” she said loudly. “He’s going to find me, and when he does, there is nowhere in this world you’ll be safe.”