Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 128083 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 640(@200wpm)___ 512(@250wpm)___ 427(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128083 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 640(@200wpm)___ 512(@250wpm)___ 427(@300wpm)
Cami lifted the computer and brought it closer to her. “He’s being subtle. But . . . I don’t know. It’s like he’s doing something between the bed and the wall.”
“What could be on the wall? It’s all wooden planks.”
“Maybe one is loose, and he’s planning on using it somehow.”
“As a weapon?”
Cami chewed at her lip, suddenly anxious. She brought her eyes to Cyrus’s face. He looked so focused. Yes, he was up to something. And it caused fear to rocket through her. You can’t fight that man, Cyrus. He’s more than twice your size. The boy’s hand appeared to have stopped fiddling with whatever he had against the wall, though. For now, at least. “I don’t know,” she said to Rex. “Maybe he’s just fidgeting.” She kept her eyes on his face for a moment, as though she might be able to read his intentions if she stared hard enough. “That expression reminds me of Hollis,” she muttered. “Each time I see it, it convinces me more that he’s mine . . . ours. I see myself in him. But I also see his father.”
“Wait, Hollis is his father?”
She nodded. She understood the surprise in his voice. He, like so many others in town, and the nation probably, assumed that her rapist was the father of the baby she’d given up. “I took a positive pregnancy test in the hospital.”
Rex gave his head a small shake. “So, wait, then why did Hollis assume you’d become pregnant during your attack? Did you not tell him about the timing?”
She glanced out the window at the gray, rocky shore that stretched below the cliffs. “I told him. I believe he did know the baby was his but used the attack as an out. He claimed I was confused or lying about the timing as a way to cope with the reality. I offered to take a paternity test, but once he left for college without a word, and once I’d decided to give the baby up, it didn’t seem necessary to push the issue. And so I didn’t list a father on the forms. I said I didn’t know who it was. My father knew the truth. And I let everyone else assume what they wanted.”
“Shit, Cami. I’m so sorry.” He gave his head another small shake as if trying to realign his assumptions with the reality she’d just shared. “I see his ads on TV. I was kinda happy for the guy, even though he was always kind of a dick in high school.”
She breathed out a laugh. “He was, wasn’t he? I wish I’d seen it sooner. It was just so seductive to be taken in by that crowd.”
“You would have grown beyond them,” he said. “I saw it then, and I’m sure of it now.”
She smiled over at him. “You give me more credit than I deserve, but again, thank you. I feel like I can’t say that enough to you.”
They both glanced at the computer to ensure Cyrus was in the same spot, and then Cami looked out the window again, watching as the gray water churned below, her stomach tightening at the knowledge that somewhere close by, her little boy sat alone in a cabin in the woods.
Can you hear the same waves that I’m listening to now?
I’m trying to find you, Cyrus. I’m on my way.
She only prayed she would arrive in time, if she arrived at all.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Cyrus had worked the metal bedpost free. It hadn’t been too hard. The challenge was accomplishing it without making it obvious to the man outside this room, watching him on camera. He doubted the guy was staring too hard, though. He probably used it to make sure Cyrus wasn’t trying to pick the lock or break the window or something. He hoped anyway.
The piece of metal headboard had been worked free of the piece beneath it, but Cyrus didn’t remove it yet. His best weapon was going to be the element of surprise. Anyone trying to trick a bad guy nose picker knew that.
Cyrus had also been sneaking food that the man brought under the mattress. When the time was right, Cyrus was going to put the handful of dried-up fries, half a flattened hamburger bun, and smashed chocolate bar into his pockets or stuff them in his pants.
That way he wouldn’t starve if he made it out of this room and into the forest.
At least not right away.
Maybe he could even distract a bear by throwing half a chocolate bar at him.
Cyrus would like to take a bottle of water, but he wasn’t sure he could stuff that under his clothes without the man noticing right away, and he couldn’t hold it because he’d need both his hands to swing the metal bedpost. So instead, he’d drink as much as he could before it was time.