Clearing her throat, Valerie shrugged. “So I stopped eating. I drank the water, because that was in bottles and didn’t seem to be drugged. But I kept dumping the food in my jacket and pushing it into the corner of my cage.”
“And this Igor didn’t notice?” Leigh asked with interest.
“No, though he would have in another day or two; it was starting to stink.” Valerie fell silent. She’d left out quite a bit, including the fact that the other women had told her they were sure Igor could read their minds. Because of that she’d made sure to recite song lyrics in her head every time he’d come around. It had been hard to concentrate enough to remember lyrics by the end. She’d been so hungry . . . and trying to figure a way to escape with one part of her mind while reciting lyrics with the other had been difficult. The only thing that had kept her going was Bethany and Janey. Their continued silence had worried her. But she’d also counted on their worsening state making Igor skip them that time around, and he had. He’d also skipped Laura, who wasn’t as bad as the other two, but was starting to flag. That was probably the only reason her plan had worked. She wasn’t sure if she’d have been strong enough to pull it off had she had to go another night without food.
“So you escaped by not eating the drugged food,” Leigh said with a nod. “Very clever.”
“That and taking him by surprise. And a lot of luck,” Valerie said dryly, thinking that if that bench hadn’t shattered under her, giving her a weapon, or if he’d tossed her just to the side of it, or if her aim had been off . . . Really, it had been a heck of a lot of luck and now she told them about shooting the shampoo into his face and using the broken bench leg to stab him.
“How did you end up in the bushes?” Anders asked when she fell quiet again.
Valerie glanced his way, noticing only then that while he’d brought food and drink for her and Leigh, he had neither. She was frowning over that as she answered, “I put down the phone and went out the window when Igor’s boss came home. But I was injured and the best I could do was crawl ten feet or so away along the house and roll myself under the bushes before passing out.”
“Okay, enough of this unpleasant business,” Leigh announced abruptly. “It’s time to relax and—” She cut herself off and frowned as she saw Valerie’s soup bowl. “You didn’t finish your soup.”
“I’m afraid I’m full,” Valerie said apologetically, and then quickly added, “But it was very good. Thank you.”
Leigh nodded, but gestured to her barely touched milk. “Not a big fan of milk I take it?”
“No. Sorry. Never cared much for it. Even as a child,” Valerie admitted.
Leigh nodded and stood. “Then let’s go down and find you something else to drink. We need to replenish your fluids as much as we can and we can have it on the verandah. After being stuck in a cage all that time, some fresh air will do you a world of good and we have a lovely shaded verandah where we can enjoy this sunny day.”
Valerie stood and reached out to collect her bowl and glass, but froze when her hands collided with Anders’s as he reached out to do the same thing. She stood completely still for a moment as a strange sort of charge sparked through her hands from the point of contact, then sought out his eyes. But his head was bowed, his gaze focused firmly on the tabletop. She couldn’t tell if he was experiencing what she was or not. Biting her lip, she withdrew her hands, breaking the contact, and he quickly set the items on the tray and picked it up.
“Come on,” Leigh said cheerfully.
Valerie swallowed, and moved quickly to follow as the other woman led the way to the door.
“To tell you the truth, I could do with some fresh air myself,” Leigh added dryly as she started into the hall. “My husband is fussing over the baby and hasn’t let me out much the last three weeks. He’s afraid I’ll go into labor in the car or something.”
She said it as if the idea were ridiculous, but as Valerie followed her up the hall, she decided she didn’t blame the man for his worry. Leigh did look ready to pop. She didn’t say as much though, but asked, “When are you due?”
“Last week,” Leigh said dryly, one hand moving to her stomach. “Little one here is as stubborn as her daddy though, and taking her own sweet time.”
“You know it’s a girl?” Valerie asked with a smile.
“Yes,” Leigh answered even as Anders said, “No,” behind them.
When Valerie raised her eyebrows and glanced over her shoulder at the man following them, Leigh drew her attention back by admitting, “We didn’t know what an ultrasound would do so didn’t want to risk it, but I’m sure it’s a girl.”
“I’ve never heard that ultrasounds are bad for babies,” Valerie said with surprise as they reached a set of stairs.
“Oh, I’m sure they aren’t for mort—”
“Leigh.” The warning growl came from Anders and stopped the woman abruptly.
She blinked once or twice, then forced a smile and said, “Oh dear, I forgot. The men insist I hold onto the rail when I go down the stairs,” as if that was what the growling of her name had been about. She then made a show of grabbing the rail and started down the stairs saying, “I’m sure ultrasounds are fine, but you know how modern technology is. They say one thing is good or bad for you one minute, and then change their tune the next. Butter was bad and we should all eat margarine and then it turned out margarine was bad and we should use olive-oil-based spread and so on. And then there’s that drug that was supposed to be fine and then got pulled off the market because pregnant mothers were miscarrying or having mutant babies or whatever. It’s just better to be safe than sorry.”
Valerie followed the woman, amusement curving her lips. Leigh had babbled that all out in one go and without taking a breath. Amazing, she thought.
In the next moment, her attention was diverted by her surroundings. The bedroom she’d woken up in had been nice, and the hallway had just been a hallway, but halfway down the stairs she noted that dead ahead of her was a two story wall of windows around a set of double doors. Beyond the glass was a huge yard with trees, ponds, pagodas, and gardens. It was gorgeous, and a far cry from the dark, dank basement she’d spent ten days in.
“It is beautiful, isn’t it?” Leigh said, pausing two steps below her to look outside herself. “I’ll never tire of this view.”
“I don’t imagine you will,” Valerie said softly, noting that beyond the manicured lawn was what appeared to be a forest of trees. “Is this the back of the house?”
“No, the front,” Leigh said. “The road is beyond those trees and the driveway is just out of sight to the right there.” She gestured with her hand and then explained, “What looks like a forest is only about twenty or thirty feet deep. The true forest is behind the house. It goes for miles there.” She continued down the stairs, adding, “There are trees lining the sides of the yard too, so you don’t have to worry about the neighbors seeing you in my nightgown.”
Valerie glanced down at herself, suddenly aware that she’d been sitting around in the thin cotton for the last half hour or so with two complete strangers. She should have been uncomfortable. She hadn’t been. Although, now Valerie glanced self-consciously back at Anders and felt herself flush when she saw the way his eyes were skating over her figure in the thin material.
Turning abruptly forward, she hurried after Leigh, who was already stepping off the last step and turning right. Valerie had reached the bottom step herself when a doorbell suddenly chimed out, seeming to echo through the house. She stared at the large double doors before her, able to see a young man in black leather through the glass windows of the door.
Anders slipped past her with the tray. He set it down on a table beside the stairs, and then moved to unlock and open the door to the tall, smiling man carrying a suitcase and overnight bag that looked remarkably like hers.
“Justin!” Leigh returned to stand at the foot of the stairs beside her. “Are those Valerie’s clothes?”
“Yes ma’am,” he said cheerfully, stepping into the house and smiling at Valerie. His eyes traveled appreciatively over her in the nightgown as he set down the cases. “Everything from skivvies to shoes. Marguerite came along to do the actual packing,” he added with a reassuring smile for Valerie as he straightened and looked her over again. “I’m just the beast of burden.”
“Better known as an ass,” Anders muttered and Valerie gave a startled laugh.
“Marguerite?” Leigh asked, moving to the door to look out. “Where is she?”
“Julius called as we pulled up. She stopped to speak to him and told me to come on in without her,” Justin said. “She’ll be along in a minute.”
“Oh.” Leigh turned to smile at Valerie. “I should make tea. Do you like tea?”
Valerie nodded.
“Good, we’ll have tea then,” she decided and headed toward the back of the house, adding, “You’ll like Marguerite. She’s my sister-in-law, well, Lucian’s sister-in-law really, and just the loveliest lady. Oh, this will be nice . . . tea and a visit on the verandah.”
“She doesn’t get out much,” Justin said with amusement when Valerie stared after her babbling host.
She glanced to him, noting the smile of appreciation was still on his face and he was looking her over again in the nightgown. Her gaze then shifted to Anders as he suddenly bent to pick up the bags Justin had put down.
“You’d probably like to dress,” he said as he straightened.
“Oh, yes,” Valerie said at once.
Nodding, he moved past her to the stairs with the bags. “I’ll take these to your room.”
As Valerie followed, he added over his shoulder, “Make yourself useful, Bricker. Help Leigh with the tea.”
“I
’ll wait in the hall,” Anders said, setting her bags on the table they’d been seated at just moments ago.
Valerie almost said he needn’t wait for her, but then realized that if he didn’t she might have trouble finding the others when she was done. She didn’t know this house, and judging by the length of the upper hallway she’d traveled twice now, it was huge. So she nodded and said, “Thank you,” as Anders left her alone.
She had her suitcase and overnight bag open and was examining the contents before he’d pulled the door closed behind him. It was strange to see so many of her personal items neatly packed inside. Valerie recognized them, they were all hers, but they seemed somehow alien after her experiences. It made her wonder if everything would strike her that way.
Shaking her head, Valerie picked out underwear, a bra, a T-shirt, and jeans and began to dress. As she did, she recalled Leigh saying the man who went to fetch her clothes would check with her neighbors about Roxy, but the dog hadn’t been with Justin. He hadn’t found her with one of the neighbors then, Valerie realized, and frowned. She’d have to call about having Roxy’s chip tracked. That thought uppermost in her mind, she finished dressing and then hurried out into the hall to find Anders waiting patiently, leaning against the wall, legs crossed at the ankles and arms crossed over his chest.
“That was fast.” He complimented her as he straightened.
“Yes,” Valerie agreed with distraction, starting up the hall. When he fell into step beside her, she said, “Roxy wasn’t with that fellow Justin or Bricker or whatever his name is.” Leigh had called him Justin, but Anders had called him Bricker. She wasn’t sure how she should refer to him.
“His name is Justin Bricker,” Anders said quietly. “But, no, he didn’t have a dog with him. I’ll ask him what he found when we get downstairs. If he’s still here.”
They were both frowning at that afterthought as they started down the stairs. But they needn’t have worried, Justin Bricker was still there. Valerie could hear the murmur of a male voice as they started up a hall toward the back of the house.
“There they are,” Leigh said brightly as Anders led Valerie into a combination kitchen/living room.
It was a large open area that appeared to take up the entire back half of the main floor. The kitchen was on the left, separated from the sitting area on the right by a long, granite covered island with chair-backed stools around it. Both sides were decorated in wood and earth tones. Like the front of the house, the outer wall here was more glass than anything else with French doors on both sides leading out onto a covered verandah. And Leigh hadn’t been kidding about a nice shady verandah. Vines grew thick and healthy up the posts and along the edges, adding to the charm and providing more shade. The view beyond was as incredible as the view out the front of the house, only here there was also a pool.
“Come meet Marguerite, Valerie.”
Tearing herself away from the view, she moved into the kitchen, where Leigh and a second woman were leaning against the counter on either side of a steaming teakettle. Valerie peered at the newcomer curiously as she approached. Marguerite was almost a head taller than Leigh, with a figure most women would kill for. She wore a summery red dress that looked lovely with her pale complexion and long flowing auburn hair, and she had quite the loveliest face Valerie had ever seen. Like Anders, the woman could have been a model. Also like Anders, she looked to be in her mid- to late twenties, but then so did Leigh and Justin.
“Hello, Valerie,” Marguerite said smiling widely and offering her hand as Valerie came to a halt before the two women. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too,” Valerie said politely, shaking the offered hand.
“I’m sorry we didn’t find your dog,” Marguerite said apologetically as they finished shaking and released each other’s hands.
Valerie’s shoulders slumped. It was what she’d expected, but was still disappointing. Forcing a crooked smile, she said, “Thank you for trying.”
“Actually, I didn’t,” she admitted wryly. “That was Justin. I was packing your clothes while he checked with your neighbors. But not everyone was home. He’s going to go back tonight, so he may yet find her,” Marguerite said encouragingly.
“Actually, there were more people not home than home,” Justin Bricker said, entering the kitchen through the French doors. “Middle of the afternoon, most people were working. The only people I found home were two houses close to the corner and—”