“So. What’s going on at the university?” Sheila’s tone was casual. She could have been asking what movies were coming out next weekend, or whether it was cold outside. “Have they replaced me?”
“Not permanently. Dean Simmons sent out a department-wide memo the Monday after you left him the voice mail. It said you were taking an indefinite leave of absence due to stress, just as you told him in your message. But there are some weird rumors floating around.” There was a smirk on Ethan’s face. “Rumors that you’re going to rehab for sex addiction. Heard it from the dean’s secretary herself, the gossipy little twat.”
Sheila stopped breathing. “That’s not possible. How could she know? Nobody could know, unless you…” She saw the glint in Ethan’s eyes. He was messing with her. “You asshole.”
His laugh was cruel. “I’m amazed you’d even care.”
She did care. It might seem trivial to worry about her reputation, but she didn’t want to die with people knowing her secret. It was the absolute last way she wanted to be remembered. She blinked back tears, not wanting to show weakness around him.
At least he was talking. That was the important thing.
He smiled. “Nobody’s looking for you, if that’s what you’re wondering. Nobody’s even talking about you.”
“Why are you doing this?” she said softly. “Ethan, talk to me. Whatever it is you’re going through, whatever’s caused you to do this, I can help. You know I can. There’s still time to fix this.”
She had tried this tactic several times over the past few days, using her best psychologist voice to varying degrees of failure. Individual therapy wasn’t Sheila’s specialty and she was running out of ideas.
Ethan looked away, his jaw tightening. Then he stood up and began pacing the room.
She had agitated him with her question. She watched him pace, waiting. When he slowed down, that would be the time to ask another question.
His pace slowed, and she pounced.
“Have you thought about the consequences of this?” she asked.
Ethan didn’t quite break stride, but he did glance her way.
“Like after I’m dead, what will you do with my body? You can’t just get rid of a dead body, Ethan. There are a million ways to get caught.”
He looked surprised at the question, one she hadn’t asked before. “You don’t think I have a plan? I’m very good at what I do.”
“I believe you.” She did believe him. She’d been here for days, which wasn’t a feat any amateur could pull off. “I just want to know what you’re thinking. Do you have impulses? Urges? Do you hear voices?” He didn’t reply, so she tried again. “Are you acting out a revenge fantasy? Do I fit some kind of… profile? Were you abused as a child?”
Ethan’s eyes glinted with amusement. “What else? Any more theories?”
Her mind working fast, Sheila said, “Do you care about me at all anymore?”
He looked away again.
She’d touched a nerve. She leaned forward, her chains clanking against the side of the bed. “If you care about me, you wouldn’t do this to me. You’d let me go. It’s the right thing to do, and you’re a decent person-”
“Don’t talk to me like I’m a nut job.” He turned back to her, glaring. “You don’t think I know what I’m doing? If I let you go, I get arrested. I go to jail. For life.”
So he understood that his actions had consequences. He didn’t want to get caught. Which meant he wasn’t completely psychopathic. He knew there were rules.
“Bet you’d like that, wouldn’t you?” His tone was scathing. “I’m sure you’d love to see me locked in a tiny little cell, away from civilization. Wouldn’t you just love to get me out of the way, so you can go and live your happy little life with Morris?”
Morris again. Sheila watched his jaw work in anger. Such irony in his words, considering he’d locked her away from civilization. “I’m sorry I implied that, Ethan. I don’t believe you should be locked away.” The lie almost stuck in her throat. “I’m just scared. You can understand that, can’t you? And if it makes you feel any better, Morris knows everything. I told him about my sex addiction, and the affair. There won’t be any happy little life, even if you do let me go.”
Ethan looked genuinely surprised. He hadn’t expected that. “Yeah, but you had an appointment to finalize wedding plans. He was still going to marry you.”
“I don’t know if the wedding would have happened.” She was being truthful now. “He was so disgusted. It would be a miracle if he forgave me.”
“Did you tell him it was me?”
“Of course not. I didn’t want him to be able to picture it. I’ve already ruined everything.”
Ethan’s jaw finally relaxed. “I’d tell you I’m sorry, but I’m not. The thought of you and him together-” He turned his head away again.
Sheila stared at him, incredulous. She waited a moment but he didn’t continue. “Ethan, you don’t want me to be with him? Is that what this is about?” She tried to process this new revelation. “I’m here because you’re jealous?”
He pulled something small and silver from the back waistband of his jeans and walked toward her. It was the gun. She flinched at the sight of it. She hadn’t realized that he’d been armed this whole time. Her wrists burned as she reflexively strained against the cuffs.
He frowned at her reaction. “Relax. I’m just taking it out so you don’t try anything stupid. You want answers, right?”
She nodded, afraid where this was going. “Yes.”
Ethan clicked the gun. “There. I just took the safety off. This gun has a particularly sensitive trigger. I’m going to uncuff one of your hands, so I suggest you don’t do anything to make me shake or jerk.”
“I’m not stupid.”
“No, but you’re desperate.” Ethan leaned in toward her, his face only inches from hers. “I’ll tell you what you want to know. Hell, I’ll show you. But to do that, I’m going to have to take the handcuffs off. Don’t do anything stupid. I won’t think twice about shooting you in the face.” His cinnamon breath wafted over her. To think she’d once found that alluring. Now it made her nauseous. “Do you believe me, Sheila?”
She nodded. He put the gun to her temple gently. The cold steel felt like fire.
“This is how we’re going to do it. I’m going to unlock your right hand first. Don’t move until I tell you. You do, and your brains will be splattered all over Anderson Cooper’s pretty face. Still with me?”
She was afraid to nod under the pressure of the gun, so she simply said, “Yes.”
“If you’re good, I might even let you take a bath and brush your teeth. Wouldn’t that be nice?”
There was a bathroom here? Then why the fuck was she in this diaper?
“Now where was I?” Ethan said. “Oh, right. After I uncuff your hand, you can do the other one, then you can do your legs. Once that’s done, we’ll walk over to the next room, and I’ll show you what it is you’re so eager to know. Capiche? ”
“Capiche.” She was beginning to wonder whether she even wanted to see what was in the next room, but she sure as hell wanted to get out of this awful bed.
He pulled a key out of his jacket pocket, the gun never leaving her forehead. Leaning over her, he unlocked the cuff of her right hand. She could smell the cologne he always wore and couldn’t stop herself from shuddering.
Was it really only a few weeks ago she’d had fantasies about being draped in his scent?
“Take the key,” Ethan said. “Move slowly. No sudden movements.”
“As if I could overpower you.”
“The gun keeps you from trying. Which makes it easier for both of us.” He held out the key. “This ain’t my first time at the rodeo.”
It was something Morris would have said.
She took the key from him with an arm that was practically numb. Her shoulder muscles screamed when she moved her left arm toward her right. She bit her lip in pain.
“I guess I could give you longer chains.” Ethan had a funny expression on his face. He looked almost sympathetic.
“How about no chains?” Sheila wanted to cry. “It’s not as if I can beat you up.”
She finally got her left hand free, then attempted to bend forward to her ankles. Every muscle and nerve in her back was instantly on fire.
