Page 39 of Dancing With Doubt

“Fuck, please don’t squeeze that trigger by accident. I think I’d rather lose my life than my balls.” Lincoln said, placing his tied hands over the general area as if to protect it.

“What? Fuck you, man. I’ll be back.” Nathan walked out, closed the shutter, and locked it before Lincoln could do anything.

That junkie was going to fuck around and find out what Lincoln could do with or without his fists, Lincoln thought, as he relaxed against the wall once more. Mention of information didn’t phase Lincoln one bit, he knew who she really was, even if dickhead out there didn’t. He’d string him along, however, promise him the moon if it meant he’d get out of here and back to Roxie, where he belonged.

The sun started to rise and the little room started to warm up, but not too much. Lincoln sprawled out on the floor and let sleep take him at last. It was obvious Kai had some kind of plan, otherwise he’d be out of here already, but if not, Lincoln had one of his own.

He woke up again around midday if the light coming through the crack at the bottom of the shutter meant anything. He needed to pee, and he hated to do it, but he had to go. In a moment of spite, he moved to the spot where Nathan would have to touch to open the shutter and relieved himself there. The thought pleased him and kept him going as the hours passed and nothing happened.

He had no idea what was going on out there, or if anything was happening at all. He was hungry and thirsty, but he’d manage if this didn’t take too much longer. He couldn’t imagine why it would. Nathan would find a way to contact Roxie, she’d eventually relay that information to Kai, who’d be at her side if he knew what was good for him, and Kai would sort the rest.

Roxie certainly didn’t have that kind of money, but Kai would be there to help. And if Kai wasn’t there, and he’d better have a damned good reason if he wasn’t, then June would be, and she’d figure out what to do. Lincoln didn’t want Nathan getting away at all, he wanted to use the man as a punching bag before turning him over to the police, but he’d let him dream for a little while that he was rich.

For a moment, Lincoln almost felt sorry for the man. Almost. Lincoln was born into a rich family and he’d never known what it was like to go without. He’d never had to worry about paying bills or delaying medical attention because he couldn’t afford to pay for the care. He’d never had to worry about how to buy food or tried to pass a check he knew would bounce until payday to get food. None of that had ever happened to him. But he had known what drugs and gambling could do.

Even private schools told them about drugs, and Lincoln had seen a friend or three go down that route. He’d avoided anything harder than alcohol for recreational purposes, especially since he was an athlete throughout his academic career. Later, he’d had too much to live for to get hooked on shit like meth or crack cocaine. Which might just be more of his pampered life showing, but he couldn’t help the fact that his family was rich and didn’t feel guilty about it.

If the man had gone to Roxie and asked for help a long time ago, none of this would have happened. She might have been able to help him before it got too bad. She wouldn’t have been in Lincoln’s bed now, but Nathan’s life wouldn’t have turned to shit.

He tried to remind himself that he shouldn’t judge people, but Nathan had assaulted Roxie twice and now he’d kidnapped Lincoln. He wasn’t feeling very charitable towards the guy. Besides, we all had to make tough choices, whether that choice was softened by a huge nest egg or not.

Fuck it, he thought and got up to pace again. The beam of light from the crack didn’t illuminate much but Lincoln could see enough to know there was fuck all in the room that he could use to get out of here. He settled back down on the floor when he grew bored with pacing and thought about the ways he could make Nathan pay for this bullshit.

Time passed, he grew thirstier and hungrier, but nobody came for him. The more time that passed, the more he got pissed off. Okay, maybe doped up Nathan had forgotten about him, or passed out in his car somewhere, high off the profits from Lincoln’s watch no doubt, but Kai should have come for him by now.

Surely, they hadn’t all abandoned him.

Lincoln’s thoughts turned dark as the sun started to set and he was still locked away in the storage building. What if nobody came for him?

Would he be found by whoever rented the building next? A shriveled-up corpse that nobody cared for.

That was just stupid, he told himself. Kai cared. June loved him. Roxie adored him. They must all be out there searching for him. Even if Nathan was slumped over dead in his own piss somewhere, somebody must be looking for him?

Roxie would have wondered why he’d disappeared, especially when he’d only gone out to get his phone, and someone would have gone out to look for him. Right? But what if they’d assumed he’d jetted off for some business deal or something? They’d try to call him, but his phone was still in the car.

Roxie might be so pissed off that she’d get somebody to take her home. But she knew him better than that didn’t she? What if she didn’t?

Common sense would prevail, though, right? She wouldn’t assume he’d just run off and left without an explanation, she was too smart for that. But things had been rocky for them not long ago. Would that be enough to keep her from looking for him?

His family would assume, of course, that he’d vanished due to some business thing. He’d done it often enough before Roxie came back into his life, that they just might. But Kai knew there was danger. He’d know to look for Lincoln, wouldn’t he?

The sunlight disappeared completely, and Lincoln’s thoughts only grew worse. He was going to die in this shitty little empty building, and everyone would go on with their lives. Maybe it was the dehydration making him think like that, or hunger, or it could be shock even, but whatever it was, Lincoln had settled into a very dark place where he could imagine just what would happen if Nathan had overdosed and nobody came looking for him.

Maybe his PAs would notice his lack of communication, he thought with a bright spark of hope that died. No, they would assume he was just incommunicado again. He’d done that before too. But what about his business? People would start to notice he wasn’t responding to calls or emails. How long would it take for someone to notice he was missing?

Too long, he was afraid.

If he managed to get out of this mess alive, he was going to have to change some things about his life. Not just for Roxie, but for himself and his family. He’d been alone so long, a peripheral on the edges of most of his family’s life, that they might not notice he was gone at all before it was too late.

He'd need to build bridges back to them somehow. And make sure that Roxie knew he needed her in his life. That he wanted her in his life. A fancy ring and a bracelet on which he’d spent what amounted to pennies to him, didn’t prove anything. Sure the thought behind each gift should show he cared, but would it?

Roxie was used to being treated badly, would she assume that he was doing the same thing? That he’d grown tired of her after her birthday party and moved on to someone else?

He couldn’t picture it, couldn’t see how it made any sense, but in the dark, alone, thoughts crept in that he couldn’t get rid of. His tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth and that made everything worse. The human body could go without food for a long time, he knew that, but it needed water.

At least it wasn’t hot outside anymore. Maybe he’d last a little longer since he wasn’t sweating. Lincoln closed his eyes again, trying to call Roxie’s smile to mind. He wanted to be with her again so much it hurt. Please, don’t give up on me, he thought, just before sleep took him again. Please, look for me.