Page 43 of The Summer Request
He shrugged. “I guess you had a misunderstanding.”
“You can’t keep us here,” Michelle insisted. “It’s illegal.”
He smiled the confident, easy smile of someone who believed consequences were only for others. “And it was illegal when you broke into Lou’s homes.”
Val took a step back.
“Oh, you thought we didn’t know? Talk about breaking the law. Tsk tsk.” He wagged a finger at Val.
She narrowed her eyes. “We were guests.”
“Yes, right, of Chloe. Lou is taking care of her, too.”
Val turned around, her big eyes stretched, and mouthed, “Taking care of her!”
Michelle shook her head and took a step closer. “I would love to talk to Lou. Where is he?”
One of the security guards stepped between them, bumping Michelle with his shoulder and knocking her off balance.
Lisa had seen enough. This whole thing was ridiculous. Real police didn’t act like this. They weren’t allowed to. Lisa had first-hand knowledge of how real police questioned people, because she had been questioned before she was fired.
She walked up to the security guards and said, “Excuse me. I need to use the ladies’ room.”
The two of them looked at each other, puzzled, then back at Keith.
He shook his head. “Lou’s going to make time in his schedule to deal with you three.” With that, he turned and walked out the door, locking it behind him.
Michelle turned to Val. “Is it me, or does he seem like a guy who’s still loyal to Lou?”
“I don’t know,” Val said, exasperated. “Or does he just enjoy a power trip?”
Lisa let out a sigh. “Oh yes. Looks like a power trip to me.”
Michelle spoke again, her voice low, her tone cautious. “Did Chloe set us up? What if it was wrong to trust her? Maybe she’s just as big of an Emerald as the rest of them.”
“Definitely not.” Val stopped her pacing to look at them. “He made it sound like Lou killed her, don’t you think? ‘Took care of her?’”
Michelle shook her head. “No. He didn’t kill her. They probably pulled this off together.”
“That doesn’t make any sense. She’s a nice girl caught in a bad situation.” Val straightened her posture. “Honestly, if she was on Lou’s side, she could’ve had us arrested red-handed at the cliff house.”
Michelle frowned. “That’s a good point. What are we going to do if he decides to keep us for a week?”
Lisa listened to them going back and forth without saying a word. They couldn’t keep them in this room forever. The week-long thing was a bluff, probably to keep them from calling the police the first chance they had. As was the break-in accusation.
It was all a Lou game, like the ones he’d played on Justine for years. That was what the diary documented – years and years of Lou putting Justine down, making her question herself, and keeping her afraid.
Lisa, however, wasn’t blinded by years of Lou’s alternating love and abuse. She wasn’t going to let him win.
When Lou finally arrived, Michelle and Val were ready. Not for the extra security he brought – a grand total of six guys – but they were ready to yell at him.
As soon as the door opened, they started shouting, finger pointing, and telling him how badly he was going to pay.
He watched them, a solemn look on his face and waited until they were done. Finally, he spoke. “Ladies, I consider you all friends. Why so much anger?”
“You’re going to let us out of this room,” Val said.
He looked over his shoulder at Keith. “There must have been some kind of misunderstanding. Of course you can leave. You’ve been free to leave this entire time.”
