Captive Read Online Free PDF Page A

other pitcher, sniffed and then held it under her nose. This time she smelled nothing. “This one’s for drinking. Don’t get them mixed up.”
    He set the drinking pitcher down and, taking the other one from her, led her to the “flowerpot.” His large, warm hands positioned hers over the pot before he poured liquid over them. “Rub them together and let them air-dry. There’s your sink.” He pressed the button, and the noise ripped through the awkward silence.
    “Umm...how about a hairbrush, toothbrush, deodorant?”
    “None of that in here. You can take a swig of this, gargle and spit. Kills the germs pretty good.”
    “But you said not to get the two pitchers mixed up.”
    “I said spit, not swallow. Relax. It won’t kill you or anything. It’ll just give you the— er...stomach problems?” He raised an eyebrow.
    “Gotcha. So what else can you tell me?” If she pumped him for information, maybe she could figure a way out.
    He set the pitcher down. “How about you tell me something.”
    “Like what?”
    He shrugged one shoulder. “Where in Northern California are you from?”
    “We’re trapped in a box together against our will, and you want to chitchat?”
    “Would you prefer sex?” His devilish grin set his vivid eyes twinkling with lust.
    Adrenaline surged within her, but she didn’t retreat. She held his gaze. “I prefer to get out.”
    “You don’t find me attractive?” His wounded tone tugged at her heartstrings.
    Manipulative bastard. She decided not to answer. Instead, she crouched by the fireplace. “What’s that?” Addy pointed to a glowing red cube the size of a die behind the dark embers. It was so small she hadn’t noticed it before now.
    He crouched next to her, invading her personal space. “Furnace.”
    “That little thing’s a furnace?”
    “You’d be surprised,” he said, not taking his gaze off her, “how one little thing can heat up an entire room.”
    Addy had a sudden need to clear her throat. She peered up inside the fireplace.
    “There’s no flue,” he said, though he hadn’t been looking up.
    “I can see that.” What kind of fireplace had no flue or at least a vent? She pulled her head out and scanned the barren walls. “If we got in, there has to be a way out.”
    “There isn’t.” Max threw a log into the fireplace. It immediately ignited without help from a match or lighter.
    What was with all the high-tech gadgetry? And why did he need a fire if the furnace was red-hot? “Then how did the food get in here this morning?”
    “There’s a door—” Max stood and pointed to the wall behind her “—but it’s controlled from the outside.”
    She ran her hand along the wall and down its corners, looking for a crack where the door might be.
    He crossed his arms over his chest, leaned back against the wall and looked at the ceiling, bored. “Do you seriously believe I’ve been stuck here this long and haven’t already tried everything you’re thinking? I’m telling you there’s no way out of this room unless they let you out.”
    “Has anybody ever escaped?”
    “Not from this—”
    “I mean from out there. You said we’re only in here until we—” she gulped “—you know.”
    “Yes. I know.”
    Ignoring his deep, sexual tone, she pointed to the wall. “So has anyone ever tried escaping from out there?”
    He let out a heavy sigh. “Yes.”
    “And?”
    Max’s eyes hardened. “He failed.” He strode to the other side of the space with fists clenched. She heard his intake of breath and the slow release before he started singing to himself, “A little patience, mmm yeah, yeah.”
    “What happened to him?”
    “You don’t want to know.”
    “If I didn’t want to know, I wouldn’t have asked.”
    He rubbed his palm heels over his eyes.
    Good. If he wasn’t going to help them get out of here then let him be frustrated.
    “You want to know what happened? He escaped. He got caught. He was killed. That’s it.” Again he