Lies Inside (18 page)

They drove for another half hour through the middle of nowhere until Viktor turned off onto a dirt road. Once they broke through the trees, a huge estate appeared. The house rivaled Finn and Lucy’s homes. There was a huge garden out back next to a large swimming pool and two-story mansion with a wraparound porch. Finn looked at Lucy and grimaced. It was still a prison no matter how luxurious it was.

“Where are we?” Finn asked Viktor as they unloaded some bags onto the porch.

“Montana. We’ve been building this place for about three years. We knew this is where we’d want to be when we started over.”

That was when Finn noticed a tall pale man walking toward them from the side of the house.

“Don’t get any ideas,” Viktor warned before turning to the man. “George, I don’t know how to thank you for getting everything ready for us so quickly.”

“It’s no problem, Mr. Allen. Glad it’s finally finished.” George shook Viktor’s hand.

“George, you know you can call me David. I’d like to introduce you to my brother-in-law. George, this is Frank.”

“Nice to meet you, Frank.” George shook Finn’s hand.

“You too.” Finn gave a quick smile as he picked up another bag.

“He’s Lisa’s husband; you know, Amy’s little sister.”

A look of realization swept across his face. “Yeah, right.”

“We figure we have more than enough room up here. Them being newlyweds and all, they’re going to help out.” Viktor clapped his hand on Finn’s shoulder and gave it a firm squeeze—a warning.

“Well, there’s not much to do out here, but I think with everything you’ve got in there, you guys can keep yourselves entertained. I won’t keep you any longer. I guess I’ll just say, welcome to the neighborhood.”

Finn looked around in every direction. He didn’t see another building in the surrounding countryside.

“Neighborhood? There doesn’t seem to be another house for miles.”

“Yeah, about ten. The nearest town is about fifteen miles north. You all picked a perfect spot out here though. Be sure to call if you guys need anything.”

“Thanks, George.” Viktor shook his hand again before he walked off and jumped into a pickup truck.

“You did very well. See, if you behave, we won’t have any problems.” He gave Finn a wink. Finn swallowed hard to keep the hate buried inside a little longer.

He sauntered over to Lucy, who was holding Olivia. He gave them each a kiss on the cheek as his slipped his arm around Lucy’s waist.

Camille and Viktor gave them the grand tour. The house was already fully furnished. The girls had their own rooms and even a large playroom full of toys. Hours of tea parties and dress up were already flowing through the girls’ minds.

Viktor got the girls settled in their playroom while Camille showed Finn and Lucy to their room. It was very large with a king sized bed in one corner and decorated in various shades of blue from the walls to the pillows on the bed to the carpet. Just like the last room they had given them, the décor and furnishings were sparse. There was a walk in closet next to a small bathroom. In the opposite corner from the bed was a chaise lounge. Mounted on the wall was a flat screen TV.

“We need to go over the ground rules.” Camille pulled out the infamous cell phone and brought up the house security feed. “We’ve got cameras stationed throughout the house including in here. I’ve already given Lucy the lecture on the ankle monitor.” Finn saw Lucy had something peeking from beneath the hem of her jeans. Finn pulled his pant leg up and found he had one too. “That’s to make sure we know where you are at all times, and if you decided to be naughty, then...” Camille pushed a few buttons, sending an electric jolt up Finn’s leg and through the rest of his body. He fell straight to the floor, his body shaking uncontrollably. “You wouldn’t want to be naughty, would you?”

Still a bit disoriented, Finn shook his head and rolled to his side. He saw the tears well up in Lucy’s eyes as she rubbed his back.

“Good. We also have those familiar shackles if we need to keep you in place. I’ll let you two get settled in, then I’ll need Lucy to help me with dinner.” Camille walked out, closing the door behind her.

Lucy let the tears fall as she helped Finn to the bed. He lay back as she snuggled next to him.

“There is only one word for her...bitch.”

Finn laughed as he turned to look at Lucy. Even with her tear stained cheeks and puffy eyes, she was radiant. She knew exactly how to make him smile.

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.” She smiled as she ran her fingers through his hair, her chin resting on his chest. “This bed is certainly more comfortable than that other one.”

Finn’s body ached for reasons other than the shock he had received. He rolled Lucy onto her back and crawled on top of her. He kissed the hollow beneath her ear as he felt her fingers tangled in the hair at the back of his neck. The sound of the door creaking open caused them to pause. They turned to see Viktor at the doorway. Finn rolled off Lucy onto his side.

“Don’t stop on my account. I’m all about a good show.” He adjusted himself as he walked over to the bed. “I’m sure you two will be very…” His tongue slipped out and moistened his lips. “Entertaining.”

With that one comment, Viktor ruined the one thing they actually enjoyed by making it sound dirty.

“I’ve heard that Lucy is quite the cook. I look forward to sampling some of your best recipes. We’ll expect you down shortly.” He ran his fingers across Finn’s cheek before leaving the room.

“We’ve got to get out of here.” Finn flopped on his back and put his forearm over his eyes. “How did we even get here?”

“I know why the FBI couldn’t find us.”

Finn turned on his side to face her. “Why?” He swept her hair from her face as she turned to him.

“Viktor sealed off the door to the basement. It’s like it was never there. After he gave you that shot, he made me help him carry you out. There was a door hidden in their bedroom closet. We pulled you out through there. Once we got in the car, he put the ankle monitors on both of us and made me drink something. Next I knew, it was daytime, and you were still sleeping in the seat behind me.”

“I can see they’ve gone to a lot of trouble to keep us here.” Finn pulled her close so he could whisper in her ear. “We’re going to have to be careful, but I know, somehow, we’re going to get out of here.”

The first few days, Viktor and Camille left them alone, for the most part. The Karpovs seemed to get some sort of sick pleasure out of watching Finn and Lucy together. Sometimes Camille would shackle their ankles at night but let them sleep in the same bed just to see what they would do.

Finn and Lucy spent plenty of time with the girls. Chloe and Olivia were actually their salvation. Lucy couldn’t believe that those two monsters made those perfect little angels. She tried to keep one of the girls next to her at all times. She had a feeling that they wouldn’t try anything in front of the girls. It was a relief because it made her believe they hadn’t been abusing them. As sick as they were, Lucy thought they loved their children and were trying to be good parents.

In the meantime, Finn and Lucy watched and waited for any opportunity to escape, but nothing presented itself. With their every move watched, the only time they were alone was at night in bed. That’s when they’d risk whispering their sweet nothings to each other. One night, they made a decision that would change everything.

“There’s something I’ve been thinking about ever since we got here.” Lucy’s voice was so quiet she could barely hear herself.

“What’s that?”

Lucy pulled the covers over their heads to give them a little more privacy.

“The girls...”

“You’ve gotten attached to them, haven’t you?”

“It’s hard not to.” Lucy ran the tip of her index finger across his bottom lip. “We have to take them with us.”

“I know.” Finn kissed each of her fingertips. “It’s going to be difficult. If it was just you and me, we could make a run for it. With the girls, we’d need to get the van, money, supplies. I haven’t figured out how to do it yet.”

Lucy kissed his nose as her thumb began rubbing the apple of his cheek. “We should start with getting the ankle monitors off.”

They spent the next few nights pretending to wrestle under the covers, positive Viktor would enjoy the show. They tried to work on the locks, but nothing worked.

One night, after a combination of liquid soap, shampoo, and Lucy’s ankle joint moving in a way God never intended, she had the thing half way over her heel. Instead of slipping it off, she actually triggered the damned thing. It shocked her for what seemed like an eternity before she passed out from the pain radiating throughout her body.

When she woke up, Finn was gone.

“You’ve been a very bad girl, my little Lucy.” Viktor was caressing her cheek as the room came back into focus. “Now, Finn will have to be punished.”

For three days, she hardly slept or ate. The girls had been told Finn was sick and he’d be able to play with them when he was feeling better. Chloe even wanted Lucy to help her make a get well soon card. She kissed her forehead before taking off for the bathroom so she could cry in private.

During those days, Camille watched Lucy’s every move. She slept next to her. She watched her take care of all the girls’ needs. She even watched her in the shower, yet she never touched her. Camille left that to her husband.

On the third day, Camille had gone out into the backyard to play with the girls while Lucy stayed inside to work on dinner. She felt safe enough knowing Viktor was out, but she couldn’t resist the urge to look for Finn.

She had slipped the pork roast into the oven and was about to sneak off to do some snooping when Viktor surprised her from behind.

“I’m glad we finally have some alone time together.” He roughly yanked her skirt up, ripped her underwear down, and threw her over to the kitchen island.

“Please. Don’t do this.” Lucy tried to get the words out as the tears filled her eyes.

He bent her over the island until her chest was pressed flush against the cold countertop. She squeezed her eyes shut tight, the fear overcoming her, causing her entire body to shake. She bit her lip to contain the scream welling up inside her as he groped her.

“Oh, my little Lucy. You’re even tighter than my Finn was.”

“Don’t you dare!” Lucy screamed but Viktor pushed her down so hard, she hit her nose on the hard tiles covering the island, making her eyes tear up even more.