Page 68 of Relentless Oath

I felt like he was keeping a secret from me, but how could I approach that topic when I was keeping a huge secret from him? It was a secret that would reveal itself in no time. I was running out of time.

“Can you consider taking some of the cameras down? I don’t want to feel like a prisoner in my own home.”

“I’ll consider it. Was there anything else?”

Again, with that formal tone that made me want to rip my hair out.

Feeling defeated, I shrugged, “I guess.”

He lingered for a second and seemed ready to say something else but then just turned and left.

“Well, that wasn’t awkward at all,” I mumbled to myself. I flopped down on a chair that sat next to the windows and stared out at the expanse of lawn on the side of the house.

I noticed then that the camera in this room rotated. Interesting.

The next day Dario was gone again.

I pretended to read books in the sitting room, but instead, I was paying attention to the cameras, memorizing when it would pause and exactly where.

By that evening, I had a plan.

The window in the sitting room wasn’t too far away from the ground. If I could just get the window open while the camera was turned away, I would have an escape route.

The only problem was, I didn’t know if there were alarms on the windows themselves. I figured now was a good time as any to find out. I went to the window unlocked it, and tried to muscle it open.

It didn’t work. I tried again, but it barely moved.

Angry, I tried again and this time, it opened just slightly, letting in a hint of the cool air from outside.

Feeling like a million bucks, I was about to close the window, when I heard someone say behind me, “What are you doing?”

It was Ivan. I didn’t really know him, but I didn’t like the way he had looked at me on the boat. He seemed to naturally dislike me.

I didn’t understand why. I’d done nothing to him.

“I just needed some air.”

He stood there for a long moment, staring at the window and back at me. “If you need some air, I can arrange for Joseph to take you for a drive.”

I nodded, just wanting him to go away. He gave me the creeps. When he was finally gone, I absently reached for the little slip of paper that I kept in my bra.

It was Dr. Kali’s number. I kept it there, close to my heart, just waiting for the right moment to use it. My whole escape plan was dependent on Dr. Kali’s help.

I pondered how I had been swinging back and forth between trusting the doctor and trusting Dario. I still believed that Dario was more likely to be able to keep me safe, but there were so many things I didn’t trust about the situation around me.

I wanted to find out what had happened to Jason, needed to be able to figure out what was going on in Dario’s world, and I couldn’t do that while I lived inside this prison.

It actually broke my heart to think about leaving Dario. I knew he would never forgive me.

But I knew that we were both in danger now, and I couldn’t let him take me down with him.

I was outside the US, but something told me that it wouldn’t stop Dr. Kali from being able to help me when I needed him.

The rest of the day, I spent vacillating between boredom and jumping at every new noise I heard in the house.

It was clear that I was dealing with a little post-traumatic stress from the island incident. I sincerely hoped it wouldn’t impact the baby.

My hands rested on my stomach which was now definitely starting to grow thicker. Whether I wanted to admit it or not,I was running out of time. I kicked off my shoes and started massaging my feet.

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