Page 66 of Mason

She yawned and stretched, sitting up.

And came crashing back to her new reality.

She was in the same room as before.

Only this time, she had blankets.

And a gallon of water sat by the door.

The note she’d noticed earlier lay beside the water.

Getting out of the bed, she made her way over to it.

Hey, baby,

I know you’re upset and scared, but don’t be. I had a big event planned for your birthday, but you spent the day at the police station. I couldn’t take the chance that you’d figured out who I was and were telling them about me. I always planned to sweep you off your feet, but that moved our timeline up. I’m sorry it had to be this way.

It’s cold. I know, but you had to be punished, and I know how much you hate the cold. It was the best and easiest way to show you that when you misbehave, bad things will happen. I don’t want to hurt you, but if you make me, I will. This little experiment into your punishments will pale in comparison to what I can do if you force me to.

For now, get some rest, and I’ll bring you more food in the morning. I also left you a change of clothes. I’m sorry there’s no bathroom, but there is a bucket in the corner for you to use. Once you calm down and we get acquainted, I’ll take you somewhere better, but for now, this is home.

Sleep well, baby. I love you.

Jo balled up the letter and threw it. It landed by the bucket he’d told her about. She needed to pee in a bad, bad way, but peeing in a bucket just seemed wrong.

But was it worse than peeing on the damn floor?

Groaning at her choices, she opted for the bucket and gathered the jug of water and crawled back into the bed. She wanted to scream, to beat at the walls, to do something, but there wasn’t anything useful she could do.

Except stay warm and hydrated and wait.

***

Another day and a night passed without her captor returning. Jo had been careful with her water, only drinking enough to keep her hydrated. Who knew when he’d be back? He could leave her here for a week or more.

She’d tested the door. It was thick and well-built. She’d tried to slam her shoulder into it, to break it down like they did on TV, but all that did was make her shoulder vibrate with pain. She had nothing to attempt to pick the lock with. Not that she’d know how, but at least she could have tried.

Jo was growing desperate. She’d been here for four days. She was hungry and cold. The blankets helped, but the temperature was dropping outside, especially at night. More snow had fallen this morning. Even if she managed to escape, how long could she last out there in the snow? She had no idea where she was, how far from civilization he’d taken her.

And just who was he?

She’d gone over and over it in her head. No one she knew would do this. She hadn’t had any weird fan emails or messages. Sure, she had kooks on her channel, but none of them seemed capable of this.

Kidnapping and practically starving her.

She knew Mason thought it was Ray, but she couldn’t wrap her mind around that. It wasn’t in Ray to do something like this.

And her thoughts turned right back to Mason. Where was he? Was he scared? He had to be going out of his mind. He always worried about her, made sure he knew where she was all the time. It irritated her, usually, but right now she’d give anything for him to know where she was. And if she got out of this mess, she’d never complain about him always wanting to know her whereabouts. She’d give him a detailed accounting every single day for their rest of their lives.

Being away from him, not knowing if he was okay, had convinced her of one thing. Mason was it for her. She couldn’t imagine her life without him. That much, she was sure of.

She heard the heat kick on and sat up. Stumbling her way to the vent, she put her hands out, and sure enough, there was the first sign of air stirring to life. Granted, it was cold air, but it would warm up.

The bastard finally gave her heat.

When she heard him at the door, she didn’t bother going over there. The cut-out in the bottom of the door slid open, and more food was shoved through. This time it looked like a container of food.

And another note.

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