I decided to take a chance and start climbing.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Alex
I could hear Victor talking on my phone outside the door of the room. It was muffled, but when I moved over and put my ear to the door, I knew he was talking to Cam. I listened and tried to gather information that would help me get us out of here, but after listening to the argument, I knew Victor had no intention of letting us go.
"You two need to come out into the living room," Victor ordered as he threw the door open and stood staring down at us. "Help her get up."
"What is going on?" I asked.
"None of your damn business," he said as he turned and walked half way down the hallway. "Get up and get your asses out here now!"
I shook Liz and tried to rouse her, but she was out of it. I put one of her arms around my shoulder and lifted her up off of the mattress. It wasn't easy getting her down the hallway because her body was like dead weight, but I knew that if we could hang in there long enough, I'd get her out of there and off whatever drugs Victor had given her.
"What are you doing?" I repeated as I pulled Liz toward the sofa and lay her down. "This makes no sense whatsoever."
"What do you know?" Victor sneered. "You're just some stupid girl who’s fallen for Mr. Big Shot. You know nothing about him."
"Wow, you really have a grudge against him, don't you?" I said shaking my head in disbelief.
"You would too if he'd tried to ruin your life the way he's ruined mine," Victor shot back. "He's a destroyer of worlds."
"I find that very hard to believe," I said raising an eyebrow. "But why don't you fill me in. Maybe I'll see your point."
"Why the hell do I care what you think?" he sniffed as he walked into the kitchen and opened a cabinet. I could see several large red cans lined up inside the cabinet, but it didn't dawn on me what they were until Victor pulled one down and opened the lid.
"Is that gasoline?" I said as I realized that he'd stocked the cabinets full of it.
"Indeed it is, Sherlock," he said sarcastically.
"What the hell are you doing with all that gasoline?" I asked. "That's enough to burn an entire building down!"
"Indeed," he said with a malevolent smile as he grabbed the can and began pouring gasoline along the outer edges of the room. "You've got quite a mind, Miss Pierce. It's really too bad that it's not going to survive the fire."
"You're going to burn us to death because you've got a grudge score to settle with Cam Connor?" I said incredulously. "That's about the stupidest thing I've ever heard in my life!"
"Who are you to judge, bitch?" Victor said in a voice that suddenly sounded nasty and vicious. "I've had enough of being pushed around by that asshole. He's taken everything I ever wanted away from me and now it's my turn to take something away from him."
"Me and Liz?" I asked. "You think he's going to care if you harm me and Liz? Oh man, you're more deluded than I thought! You really don't get it, do you?"
Victor's eyes narrowed as he looked at me, then he gave me a questioning look as he continued pouring gasoline around the room. The fumes were strong and made stronger by the fact that the windows were sealed shut and the afternoon sun was streaming through the balcony door.
"He doesn't care about me," I continued as I tried to muster all of the anger and resentment I had felt upon discovering Cam had paid my bills this morning. "He cares about owning things. He doesn't care about whether those things care about him; he just wants to be in charge. Case in point, he paid my rent and tuition this morning without consulting me, or even asking if I wanted him to. It's because Cam Connor wants what he wants when he wants it."
"Yes, he's selfish that way," Victor nodded as he stopped pouring and looked at me. "He wants what he wants."
"And Liz? What the hell does he care about her?" I laughed. "She won't sleep with him like I did, so she's nothing in his book. You killing her will have absolutely zero effect on him, so you might want to recalculate the cost/benefit value of that choice before you commit to it."
"Oh, he'll care all right," Victor grinned. "He'll care when all the evidence points to him as the suspect."
"Now that's just ridiculous," I said. "You're not going to be able to pin this on him!"
"That's where you're so very wrong, my dear," Victor smiled. I felt a chill run up my spine as I looked into his eyes and saw nothing there. "I've spent a long time planning this out because I knew a day would come when I would get my chance to exact revenge on the man who has ruined my life!"
"You're pretty stuck on that message, aren't you?" I asked. I felt something moving next to me and realized that it was Liz. She was awake and aware of what was going on, but she knew better than to let Victor know that so she pressed her fingertips against my thigh to let me know she was with me. "It's understandable, of course, but the way in which you're going to play your hand makes zero sense to me. Why don't you explain it?"
"You're not going to trick me into that, little lady," he grinned looking more maniacal by the minute. "Let's just say that evidence I've planned to plant around his house, at the station and in your friend's apartment will all lead directly to the one and only, Cam Connor."