Page 158 of You Found Me

When? This morning?

How long had she been here?

Where was here?

A soft, high-pitched moan escaped as she fisted the panic button with both hands and squeezed.

Nothing happened. It wasn’t supposed to make noise. She knew that.

She’d pushed the button before, hadn’t she? She thought… Yes. More than once.

Ward hadn’t come.

Was it broken? If it was, did Ward even know she was gone?

Icy fingers of terror squeezed her from the inside out. She rocked back and forth to make them go away, but it did nothing to soothe or comfort. It made her feel out of control and lost, like a child.

She forced herself to stop. To breathe. To think.

Annie had told her that if she were ever taken to look around and reallysee. Every room had weapons. Every room had a way out. Even prison cells had a weakness. She’d said it like she spoke from experience.

Della looked around, this time taking in the details.

Lamps on both sides of the bed cast a warm glow, but they were too small to use as weapons. No phone. No TV.

She didn’t see a clock or other dust-catchers. There was nothing she could pick up and throw except pillows.

The curtains were closed. She couldn’t tell if it was day or night. It had been late morning when she left Wires Crossing, but she’d have to look out the window to get an idea of how much time had passed.

There was a single red rose lying on the pillow next to her. Like the one on her bed at Piper’s house. Like the ones in her dressing room.

The icy fingers of terror she’d been trying to ignore tightened their grip on her lungs.

Focus. She had to focus. Any detail could help. That’s what Annie had said. Don’t ignore your other senses.

Della sniffed. The air smelled clean, like her apartment always did after the housekeeper had gone. Like…lemon furniture polish. No dust on the furniture. No stains on the covers or trash on the dresser. It was pristine.

Della listened, hard, but there was nothing to hear. There was no TV playing down the hall. No footsteps. No murmured conversations through the wall. Nothing.

What kind of fancy hotel would be totally empty? What kind of stalker would kidnap someone and then leave them alone?

A stupid one.

She knew from everything Ward had told her that her stalker…her kidnapper…wasn’t stupid.

There were probably cameras. The psycho could be watching her right now like Ward watched his security monitors.

That thought made her teeth rattle. She balled her fists around the covers and pulled them up.

She didn’t think hiding in bed was what Annie had in mind when she said look around. Annie would pound on the walls and the windows. Annie would knock holes in everything until she found a way out. Annie was a badass.

Della wasn’t. She was an entertainer. A party girl. She didn’t have any skills that didn’t involve a stage.

Jesus, she was useless.

She pressed her lips together against the tears that welled up. That was silly talk, as Lizzie would say.

Ridiculously self-indulgent, Piper would tell her. Piper focused on the work. It was what Della had always admired the most about her. Lizzie was the calm one. Piper was the dedicated one. Mattie was the kind one.