He smiled, his eyes, too, already glistening with tears.
“Ah’ve always been yours, Catriona. Ah live ainlie fer ye. Ah needed ye tae see it.”
He kissed her the way she remembered he could.
And always would.
Chapter Thirty-Two
On day three, Rune unsnapped the cuffs from Fiona’s ankle and allowed her to wander around the house. It wasn’t ideal, because if she thought the living room was small, dirty and depressing, the rest of the house only further soured her mood.
Joseph was rarely home. Rune stayed close, but even he had to go to the bathroom, and when he did he insisted she sing to prove she was still nearby, signaling like a cat with a bell around her neck.
In some small way, Fiona felt her singing was payback for her imprisonment.
She sang like a wounded frog.
Still, she could have left. She could have found a way. But she’d become more intrigued by Rune and Joseph’s plans to rule the world.
Maybe winning an Oscar had been too small a dream. Maybe it was time to think big.
Fiona insisted Rune make them coffee and bacon shortly before Joseph left at his usual time, around ten a.m. She guessed Joseph had a job, because nothing about the man implied he was interesting enough to have a life outside the house for any other reason. He’d even reduced recruiting an army to conquer the world down to keeping a spreadsheet, sending out emails and trolling chatrooms.
Rune appeared surprised she wanted coffee and bacon, but didn’t seem suspicious. If anything, he looked pleased. He didn’t seem to eat as often as normal people, but he loved his coffee and she’d seen him devour a pound of bacon. Maybe he ate out. Although the last time he’d left the house while Joseph was there to watch her and she’d asked if he’d eaten, he just smiled. He’d been flushed and happy and had a woman’s scarf around his neck.
The fact that he looked somehow younger gave her hope.
The bacon hadn’t made him look younger.
She imagined she had her father to thank for her slight figure, which she was able to maintain with very little dieting. Rune never seemed to gain an ounce, so she concluded eating people’s energy didn’t pack on the pounds.
Bonus.
If cutting out carbs and sugar made her lose weight, imagine cutting out food.
But her bacon request was less about Keto and more about the effect it had on Rune. The last time they’d had it, he’d stayed in the bathroom much longer than usual. Something about the grease, she suspected.
They made idle taking-over-the-world chit-chat as they sipped their coffee and munched their crispy pork products, until Rune set down his plate and stood.
She’d timed it perfectly. Joseph left almost the exact moment her father stood.
“Start singing,” he said, heading for the bathroom, a twinge of panic in his eye.
She smiled. “Twinkle, twinkle, little star…”
The moment Rune disappeared into the bathroom, Fiona leapt to her feet and scampered toward Joseph’s bedroom. He’d locked the door, but the key hovered above on the trim. She’d seen him stand on his tippy-toes to reach it.
Idiot.
She grabbed the key, trying to lower her volume so it wouldn’t be so obvious she’d moved into the hall as she opened the door.
Joseph’s laptop sat on his desk, the lid open.
Oh please, oh please…
She tapped the return key and the screen lit. She sat staring at the desktop. She’d caught it in time. The computer hadn’t yet gone to sleep and she didn’t need to enter the password.
Bingo.
“Up above the world so high…”
Fiona navigated the laptop until she found a spreadsheet filled with the emails, usernames and real names. The name of the file was minions.
Not too obvious.
She emailed the file to herself at her personal and work email addresses and then deleted her message to herself in his sent folder. Poking around, she found a few more files: several drafts of a manifesto, a few to-do lists and a smattering of other files with names like kill list and enemies. Things she thought might be important. She sent them all to herself. After about the fifth kill list she almost found herself wishing she’d found a cache of porn. Something to make the little creep seem human.
He might have been single-minded, but he wasn’t terribly bright. It would be a cold day in Hollywood before Joseph ended up in charge of herself and the others. Fiona felt a trill run through her body.
I think I’ve found my calling.
Rune hadn’t been able to turn her, like he hoped, but he had helped her realize her destiny. She’d even all but forgotten about her acting career. For the first time in as long as she could remember, she wasn’t so worried about her fading looks or the crow’s feet beside her eyes.
After all, adoration came in many forms.
Fiona ran back into the hall, pressing in the lock on the knob as she slipped through the doorway. She eased the door shut and replaced the key in its lofty spot.
She’d just returned to the sofa when she heard Rune flush.
A moment later, he entered the room looking sheepish.
“I wouldn’t go in there right away.”
She smiled. “No problem.”
The back door banged and Joseph appeared, looking flustered.
“We’ve got trouble.”
Rune’s eyes widened. “What is it?”
“My cameras went off out front. There are people coming.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know. The cameras are a little fuzzy.”
Fiona leaned forward to look out the window and spotted movement outside on the street. A couple was headed for their house. She had to admit, they were much too good-looking to be from the neighborhood. The man had a delectable
