Chapter 16 #2
The man who took me stands inside the doorway, glowering.
Behind him, a hallway beckons. But before I can make a run for it, he slams the door shut.
Then he locks the doorknob and pockets the key.
“Don’t do that again,” he warns. His gaze moves from me to the mirror and back again.
“You can’t break it, anyway. It’s plastic.
All you’ll end up doing is damaging your hand. And that just won’t do.”
Scuttling backwards, I press myself flat against the opposite wall from him. My voice wobbles as I say, “Let me go. Please.”
He shakes his head. “I’m afraid I can’t do that, Noelle. I went to a lot of effort to bring you here. There’s no way I’m letting you go now.”
As he advances towards me, he pulls a gun out from beneath his shirt.
Panic claws at me. I cast a desperate glance at the hook on the wall, wondering if I can pull it off, somehow use it as a weapon. Or if he’d shoot me before I made it two steps across the room.
He tuts at me. “No, no, Noelle. That won’t work.
It’s anchored into the wall. You’d have to be very strong to pull it out.
” His gaze drags across my body, his eyes flaring with approval.
“And while you’re very beautiful, you don’t look particularly strong.
Even if you have been carrying those heavy trays around for the last couple of months. ”
Did I think I couldn’t be more scared than I was already?
Wrong.
I stammer, “How… Why…”
The stranger moves even closer, bringing with him the aroma of leather and citrus.
The scent reminds me a little of the cologne my grandfather used to wear.
But my grandfather was funny and patient and could make the best s’mores I’ve ever tasted.
This man, on the other hand, has an air of menace about him.
There’s a glint of malevolence in his eyes.
And his smile reminds me of a snake poised and ready to strike.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” he says. “Not unless you make me. So you can stop cringing like that.” Once he’s close enough, he brushes his fingers across my cheek.
“And stop crying. It’ll make your eyes all bloodshot and your face all swollen.
That won’t work for the beginning of the show.
You need to save the real emotion until the end. ”
I’m so creeped out by his touch, it takes a second for what he said to register. “The show?”
He pulls a handkerchief from his pocket and wipes my face, either not noticing or caring how I cringe away from him.
“Stop crying, Noelle,” he repeats. “It’s going to make your voice all hoarse.
” Tucking the white fabric away, he lifts my wrist to inspect it.
“I fear I may have restrained you too tightly. Fortunately, the costume should cover the marks.”
My skin crawls. Instinct shouts at me to pull away from him. Run to the other corner of the room. Hide under the cot. Fling myself at the window. Anything to make him stop touching me.
His gaze follows mine to the window. Then he chuckles. “It’s double-thick plexiglass. You won’t be able to get through.”
As his thumb grazes across my skin, I shudder again.
Webb, I beg silently, please come. I need you. Please.
“I… I don’t understand,” I reply. “Why am I here… What… A show? What do you mean, the end?”
He smiles. “Noelle. I’d have thought you’d know, given your profession.” Then his smile drops. “Or I should say, your previous profession, thanks to what Ken did.”
The mention of Ken steals my breath. “Ken?” I gasp. “Do you—”
“Know him? Or rather, knew him? Yes.”
The tremors running through my body intensify. “What… You…”
Straightening, he lifts his chin and says, “Oh. My apologies. With all the confusion, I didn’t have a chance to introduce myself. I’m Dario Accetta. It’s truly a pleasure to finally meet you in person.”
My heart sinks. Now, not only have I seen him, but I know his name. And I’ve seen enough crime procedurals to know that’s never a good sign for the victim.
On the heels of that, I hear Webb’s voice in my head, whispering, “You can use this, Noelle. Engage with him. If he wants to have a conversation, do it. The longer you drag this out, the more time we have to get to you.”
So I swallow back my panic and reply shakily, “It’s a… pleasure… to meet you, too. But… I don’t understand. Why did you kidnap me? Was it the videos? Or—”
“No, not the videos,” Dario interrupts. “Although I must say, the few Ken showed me were quite something.” He strokes my cheek again. “You’re even more stunning in person. I can understand why he was so taken with you.”
I bite my tongue to keep from screaming at him to take his hand off me. Once I trust myself to speak, I ask, “You saw them?”
“Some.” He rocks back on his heels. “Ken and I… We didn’t see each other often.
Maybe a few times a year when we’d end up at the same conference.
But we started out in the industry together.
It must have been… thirty years ago?” He gives me a can you believe it look.
“Anyway. It must have been ten years ago when he showed me the first video.”
Dario’s gaze moves up and down my body in a way Jaz would refer to as eye-fucking. “She wasn’t as pretty as you. None of them were. That’s why I wasn’t interested in them for my own production.”
“Your production?”
He ignores my question as he continues, “Ken knew about my little hobby. And I knew about his. So we would share the… results of our labor, sometimes. He was so pleased with his footage of you. She’s gorgeous, he told me. The best yet. And I must say, I agree.”
I look at Dario in horror. “You knew what he was doing?”
A beat later, I realize the lunacy of what I just said. This guy just kidnapped me. Of course he wouldn’t care about Ken filming me.
“I did. And I found it entertaining enough. Not as entertaining as what I do, but—” He shrugs. “If it made him happy.”
His sleeve moves, revealing a watch underneath.
I try to catch a glimpse of the time to figure out how long I’ve been gone.
I texted Webb around six-fifteen this morning, just as I was leaving my apartment.
And I parked my car maybe five minutes later.
So if I was taken before six-thirty, Webb would have still been in Seattle, most likely at the airport waiting for his seven-thirty flight.
I almost burst into tears again, remembering Webb telling me how he was going to fly back from Seattle instead of driving. “I don’t want to be away from you any longer than absolutely necessary,” he said. “Paying extra to fly is worth it.”
I only catch a flash of a ten on the face of Dario’s watch before it disappears beneath his sleeve again. So four hours, give or take. Long enough for Webb to get back to Blade and Arrow. But long enough for him to find me? That I’m not sure of.
“I asked Ken if I could have you,” Dario continues. “He’d helped me find other actors, after all. But he refused to give you up. And I’d known him so long, I grudgingly agreed.”
“But,” I whisper, “Ken’s dead.”
Dario flashes me the most frightening smile yet. “I know he is.” After a brief pause, he asks, “Who do you think killed him?”
My heart stops. “What?”
“I had to,” he replies defensively. “After you quit, he went off the rails. I heard what he did, blackballing you like that. And I saw him in Portland last month. He was ranting about how he was going to punish you for leaving.”
Dry-mouthed, I whisper, “Did you know about the gun?”
Dario blinks. His forehead pinches. “No. He didn’t mention that. But he was clearly unstable. And I couldn’t take the chance he’d get caught and turn on me. We had an agreement, you see. I kept my end of it for as long as I could. But…”
“But?”
“He knew too much. You know that saying about keeping secrets, don’t you?”
I nod. “Yes.”
“Besides that, I couldn’t stop thinking about you. Imagining you in the role I’ve been wanting you to play since I saw your first video.” A dreamy expression moves across his face. “You’ll be perfect in it. Your face. Your hair. Your body.”
Leaning close, he tucks my hair behind my ear, then trails his fingers down my neck.
Bile burns the back of my throat.
Tears spill down my cheeks.
“Please,” I plead. “Please. Just let me go. I won’t say anything. I’ll just go home, you can—”
A sharp burst of laughter interrupts me. “Noelle. Come on. I know you’re not stupid. I can’t let you go now. Not after I’ve told you all this.”
“I won’t tell. I haven’t seen anything. I don’t even know if you’re telling the truth about Ken. They think he died from natural causes.”
“Do they?” Dario smiles. “Good. Not that they’ll be able to tie it to me, anyway.” His voice dips conspiratorially. “I used arsenic. Fitting, isn’t it?”
“Arsenic?”
“Yes. I sent him a bottle of whiskey laced with arsenic. His favorite. He would drink a glass every night while he’d watch his videos.
I told him it was a gift to celebrate our years of friendship.
” With a sigh, he shakes his head. “I admit, I feel a little bad poisoning him like that. Although I think he’d appreciate the method I used. ”
I stare at Dario in horror. “So you killed your friend so you could do the same thing he did?” Glancing around, I search the room for cameras. “Are you—”
He grabs my chin, tipping my head up to look at him. “No. I’m not going to record you like that. I’m not a voyeur, like Ken. I prefer everything to be out in the open.”
Still holding my face, he pulls me across the room and takes the dressing gown off the hook. Then he hands it to me. “You’re the newest member of my cast, Noelle. And I’m so thrilled to have you as my new leading lady.”
“Your leading lady?”
Dario presses the dressing gown into my hand. “Yes. You’ll be perfect in the role. Your face is so expressive. I’ll see every emotion—the despair, the agony, the resignation—when you take your life at the end.”
Confused, I ask, “You kidnapped me to play a part in your play? Why? I’m not an actor. And if you wanted one, there are so many people who would love a starring role. You don’t need to—”
A rolling laugh echoes in the concrete room. “Oh, Noelle. This is a special production. All of mine are.” A blink later, his expression shifts from friendly to threatening. “Now. Change into the dressing gown and fix yourself. I’ll be back in ten minutes.”
I clutch the dressing gown with both hands, as if it could somehow protect me. “Ten minutes?”
“Yes.” He strokes his finger down my cheek. “Ten minutes. Then I’ll show you the theater. Curtain call is at noon.” Turning, he heads back to the door. Before he unlocks it, looks over his shoulder. “And don’t make me wait.”