SIX

 

JACK

She shied away from me, shuffling up the bed as best she could in the bonds. “I know you,” she said, looking at me with such hatred, it was overwhelming. “You’re…”

“I’m your new neighbour,” I said. “Lovely to meet you again.”

“What are you going to do to me?” The fear was evident in her voice. It emanated from her in waves. She was terrified but angry at the same time, in a rage that would have cost me a few lacerations if her hands were so tightly bound in place.

She was still trying to move away from me. It was amusing to watch her efforts. “Don’t look so worried,” I said. “If I wanted to fuck you, I’d have done it by now.”

“Please let me go. I won’t tell anyone what I’ve done. Please.”

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“I just can’t. I’ve got to keep you here. For a while at least. But don’t worry. If you behave, things will be fine. You’ll be fine.” My eyes went to her ass again. Would she be fine?

“I’m cold,” she said, shivering as she did so. “Please let me put some clothes on at least. I’m so cold.”

“In a minute. If you’re good. Now listen, Bella. If I undo your wrist, will you eat your sandwich like a good girl? Or do I have to feed you like a baby?”

She looked at me, not saying anything for a moment. “I’ll be good,” she said at last, speaking in a tone of voice that gave me an instant hard on.

“Good girl.”

I reached across and undid the rope holding her right wrist in place. I watched her like a hawk the entire time, ready to grab her arm if she tried to lash out at me.

She kept still, flexing her fingers as I moved back, leaving her to shake the rope away from her. “Here,” I said, sliding the plate across to her.

“Why are you doing this?” she asked, her voice pleading with me for an answer I couldn’t give.

Instead, I said, “To keep you safe.”

“You’ve kidnapped me to keep me safe?”

“Eat your sandwich.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“You will be.”

“How long are you going to keep me here?”

“For a while. Eat.”

“No.”

I frowned. “You either eat it or I spank you again.”

She reached slowly towards the plate, her fingers resting on the edge of it. “You’ve poisoned it, haven’t you?”

“No, I haven’t. You might not be ready to hear this yet but I have no intention of killing you.”

“Then let me go.”

“I can’t. I have to keep you here.”

“But why?”

“I just do,” I said in a raised voice. “Now eat.”

She picked up a quarter of the sandwich, looking down at it. “How did you know?” she asked, her eyes narrowing.

“How did I know what?”

“How did you know what type of sandwich I like?”

“A lucky guess.” She didn’t need to know that I’d made them for her before, a long time ago.

“Who the hell are you?”

“I told you. Jack Rutherford, your friendly neighbour.”

I watched her eat. She took tiny mouthfuls, pausing between each one as if waiting to see if her body reacted, if it really was poisoned. She had to twist her body to eat, still laid partially on her front. “Will you untie me at least?” she asked when half the sandwich was eaten.

“Eventually. If you’re good.”

There was a thud upstairs. I whipped my head in that direction.

“What was that?” she asked.

“Wait there,” I said, already on my feet and crossing to the stairs. “Make a sound and you’ll pay the price.”

I ran up the stairs, pulling open the door and slipping through it. I locked it behind me before pinpointing the thud as it came again. It was someone knocking on the front door. I listened. If Bella was screaming, the sound wasn’t audible up here. Maybe she was keeping quiet. I should have gagged her, I should have tied her back down but it was like a trust exercise. If she passed this test, she’d get a reward. Fail and she might not survive the night.

I opened the door. It was the girl who’d been asking after her. “Hi,” I said, putting on my best smile. “Can I help?”

“Yeah, hi,” she replied, looking worried. “I don’t know if you remember me. I was here earlier.”

“Sure I do. Parrots bar, right?”

“Right. Well, I just wondered if you’d seen Annabelle at all.”

“No, sorry. Is she still not home?”

“No, and she’s not answering her phone. It just keeps ringing.”

“Sorry, I can’t help. Maybe she left her phone at home?”

“Maybe. Look, would you mind taking my number and if you see her, give me a ring. I’m a bit worried about her.”

“Course I will.”

She handed me a slip of paper with her phone number scrawled across it.

“If you hear anything at all…”

“I’ll ring you. Sorry, what was your name again?”

“Claudia. And you are?”

“Jack. Jack Rutherford. I’ll keep an eye out for you.”

“Thanks.”

We were both silent for a moment, her glancing around her, me keeping the smile fixed on my face.

“I should go,” she said at last. “Anything at all.”

“I will,” I said, waving as she went. “Don’t worry, I’m sure she’s fine.”

I knew she was fine. She was waiting for me in the cellar. Once the front door was closed I tossed the slip of paper onto the side before looking out of the window, watching her walk over to her car. She looked at Bella’s house, phone clamped to her ear for a few seconds. Then she put her phone down and drove away slowly. Only when her car vanished round the corner did I relax. I headed to the cellar door. When I reached it, I unlocked it and pushed it open.

The door was barely open before Bella appeared out of nowhere, crashing into my side, trying to shove her way past me, her mouth already open ready to scream.