He wanted her to watch it.
The prospect didn't seem as frightening without him in the room. She had heard it so many times, seeing it couldn't be that disturbing. Slowly, she slid from the bed and stepped onto the floor. The room was black, but she knew the way from memory. She took small steps, almost sliding her feet across the room. She groped with her hands in front of her until she felt something. It was the television screen. She poked and probed until she found the on-off switch and hit it. The screen lit up with snow. She quickly muted the volume so that no one in the hall could hear. The set wasn't hooked up to a cable or antennae, of course. It was a good source of light, but up until now she had been afraid to use it for fear of breaking the rules. Curiosity, however, had emboldened her. It wasn't so much that she wanted to see the tape. She wanted to know why he wanted her to see it.
She hit the Rewind button and waited as the tape whined to the beginning. It took only a minute. Then she hit PLAY and stepped back. She stared at the screen as the image appeared. A woman was seated on a chair, facing the camera. She seemed nervous, but it wasn't her demeanor that struck Beth.
"My name is Alicia Santiago," she said.
Beth shut it off, her hand shaking. Ten seconds into the video and she had seen enough. The woman was gone, but the television screen was glowing with a dark blue background. It enabled Beth to see her reflection in the glass. She hadn't seen her likeness since her arrival. She brought a hand to her face and felt the contours of her cheeks, the curve of her mouth. She touched her hair. The short, dark hair. It was obvious now why they had cut it. The resemblance was chilling.
Beth looked almost exactly like the woman in the video.
She switched off the television and returned to darkness.
Chapter Sixty.
Monday was slipping away, and Gus had yet to hear from Meredith. He had the money for Blechman's manuscript, twenty-five thousand dollars. He found it hard to believe she would just walk away from that much cash. She had warned him not to call, but he was beginning to worry. From his home office he dialed her number.
No answer. That could have meant any number of things--none of them good.
Again he picked up the phone and hit speed dial. "Carla, it's Gus. Can you come over and watch Morgan? I need to go out for a while."
Andie was alone in her unit when she heard a knock on the door. Felicia had gone to some kind of meeting. It was Tom, and he looked angry.
"We need to talk, Willow."
She felt threatened by his tone. "Okay," she said, but she didn't invite him in.
"Inside."
"Is there a problem?"
"You know what the problem is." He quickly had her by the arm, led her inside, and nearly pushed her on the bed. "What are you doing?" she asked.
He was pacing, getting more worked up. "You got Felicia in one hell of a lot of trouble, you know that? Steve is giving her what-for right now."
"What are you talking about?"
"Don't deny it," he snapped.
"I--deny what?"
"That phone call you made from the grocery warehouse. You were being watched."
Watched was okay. It was listening that Andie worried about. "So . . . they heard?"
"We don't have to hear. We know you weren't calling for the time and weather. Who was it? Your mother again?"
She struggled to contain her relief. She lowered her head. "Yes," she peeped, as if ashamed. "I promised Mom I would call home first chance I got."
"I knew it."
"I just didn't want her to worry." She flashed her repentant, sultry look. It worked.
He stopped pacing. His voice lost its edge. "Darn it, Willow. You have to stop worrying about people and things you've left behind."
"I've only been here a few days. You can't expect miracles."
"A clean break is the only way. If you try to wean yourself a little at a time, you'll never make it."
"Is that how you did it?"
"That's how we all did it."
"Didn't you miss some things?"
"Yeah. My pickup truck."
"You had to give up your truck?"
"That was my contribution when I joined the group. We all make contributions to keep the cause financed. One woman gave over her house."
"I wish I had something to contribute."
"That's not important. Right now all that matters is that you follow the rules. Phoning your mother . . . well, that's a lot worse than sneaking a cigarette now and then."
He cracked a faint smile to make her feel better.
She returned the smile, then turned serious. "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"I've been wondering about something for a while. That talk we had this morning only made me more curious." "What is it?"
"It just seems I hear a lot of talk about sacrifice and giving up earthly desires. The purpose is to get to the next level, right?"
"Right."