Held by Edeet Ravel Read Free Book Online

this place with a spoon.
    In any case, the door was locked with a combination lock. Very clever! I couldn’t escape, even if I knocked him out.
    “Why are you giving me this food, and the wine?”
    “There’s no reason for you to suffer more than necessary.”
    “Then let me go!”
    “Freeing my friend is more important.”
    “Are you terrorists?” I asked recklessly.
    “No. Not terrorists and not any other euphemisms that are used.”
    Euphemisms … he was smart. That was a good thing—you could reason with a smart person, you could make them see things from different angles. On the other hand, a person could easily be intelligent and cruel; the most sadistic girl in our school, Rik, was a top honor student. “I thought …” I muttered.
    “Yes, it’s the obvious conclusion to draw these days. But no, I’m not a terrorist of any kind.”
    “But if you were … I mean … would you admit it—would you use that word, I mean, does anyone say, ‘I’m a terrorist’?”
    “What I mean is that I don’t believe in killing civilians to make some point.”
    Civilians. Wasn’t that something a military person would say? Ordinary people didn’t divide the world into civilians and non-civilians. “Are you British?” I asked.
    “The less you know about me, the better for everyone.” Since I had not answered his question about the wine, he opened the bottle and filled the two glasses.
    “I don’t know what to do, I don’t know what to think,” I said frantically. It made no sense to turn to him for direction, but there was no one else.
    “It will be better for everyone if you accept the situation. We can both try to make the best of it.”
    “I don’t seem to have much choice! Does my mother know I’m okay?”
    “Yes.”
    “Can I write to her?”
    “Yes, but only a few sentences.”
    “You won’t get what you’re asking for. I’m not important enough. If you’d kidnapped someone from the government, that might work. But no one cares about me. What a stupid idea!” I was very angry suddenly.
    “You may be right,” he said in the same even voice. He didn’t seem to care whether I was angry. He didn’t appear to be at all violent or aggressive. But what he’d done—abducting me, holding me here—these things were aggressive. His calm demeanor was only a facade.
    He arranged the food he’d brought on the table.
    “Who prepared all this?”
    “I did.”
    “You cooked it yourself?”
    “Yes.”
    “Where did you learn to cook?”
    “I picked it up.”
    “Are you vegetarian? My friend Angie is.”
    “If there’s something specific you want, let me know.”
    “What’s your name? I mean … you can give me a fake name.”
    “I’d rather not.”
    “I’m Chloe,” I said. “But you know that.”
    “Yes.”
    “Poor Angie. She’s going to blame herself. You have no idea how much anguish you’re causing. To my mother … and everyone. Only Mom’s dad won’t know. He has Alzheimer’s.”
    He didn’t answer. He served himself and began to eat. He’d brought the same sort of food: dips, salads. There were some cheese and spinach pastries too, and peach pie and vanilla pudding and a loaf of homemade bread.
    I sat down at the table but I didn’t join him.
    “Why should I eat with you?” I said. “You’re not my friend. Did you threaten to kill me?”
    “Yes.”
    “But it’s just a bluff.”
    “Yes.”
    “Or you might be lying to me, so I won’t panic. You might shoot me and film it on video, like they do in Iraq.”
    “I’m not going to shoot you. And we are not in Iraq.”
    “Well, that’s one country down, a hundred and ninety to go. Though I guess I can rule out Iceland too.” I realized I was chatting with him as if we were in geography class and he wouldn’t give me the answer to question B. It was loneliness.
    He didn’t smile, but he seemed amused—I could tell by his shoulders, somehow, and by the slight tilt of his head. Maybe he was amused by my