Free Uncovering You 10: The Finale by Scarlett Edwards

for,” he says, thickly, nudging it with his foot. “Look.”
    I bend over, pick up the newspaper up and unfold it.
    It’s the San Jose Mercury News . On the front page, taking up the entirety of the sheet, is my picture. A bold headline at the top:
    MISSING WOMAN.
    Below it:
    $10 Million reward for information of whereabouts.
    A miniscule seed of hope comes to life inside me. Jeremy’s offering ten million dollars as a reward!
    “Too bad,” the Big Man says, “that nobody will ever claim the prize.”
    The three of them laugh at me.
    Their leader steps forward. “Ten million dollars for her pussy,” he jeers. He touches my chin. I’m too exhausted to jerk away.
    He shakes his head. “Some men are insane. I sampled it last night. It’s worth no more than the pussy of my bitch dog!”
    More laughter. Callous. Loud. Crude.
    “I want to see this,” Big Man says. He lifts up the bottoms of my robe.
    I’m too spent to defend myself.
    “Ten million dollars! The man must think there are diamonds hidden there, eh?”
    Laughter. Mocking, cruel, hard laughter.
    The leader snaps a command in his mother tongue. Big Man grins at me and steps back. “Time to put on a show,” he says.
    I’m taken by both arms and led out of the room back through the hall, and into the stark, white sterility of the operating room.
    In place of the table I was strapped to last is a single high stool. Also white, also sterile. The camera and the tripod are in front of it.
    I’m shoved down. I blink, not knowing what to do, what to think.
    I am entirely at the mercy of these men.
    Esteban enters the room. He looks at me and smiles. His eyes still have that insane glint.
    “Hold her,” he says simply.
    I jerk as my arms are twisted painfully behind my back. Esteban turns the camera on.
    The flashing red light stares me straight in the face.
    Esteban comes beside me. He walks a circle around me, tapping his lips in thought.
    My breathing is loud and desperate. It is the only thing that breaks the cold silence.
    All of a sudden, without warning, Esteban jumps at me. He presses his cheek to mine and addresses the camera with a hysterical intensity.
    “Hello, Mr. Stonehart,” he says. “Do you see who I have here?” He turns to me and grins. “It is your precious Lilly. Is it not? At least, that is who I think she still is. All of California knows her face, knows her name, thanks to your advertisements .” He holds the newspaper to the lens. “But,” he sighs very deeply. “Only I know where she is.”
    He breaks off, picks the camera up, and starts walking around the room. He aims it at his face and continues to talk.
    “You might wonder how you can get her back. You might wonder what it will take for you to claim her. Keep thinking. In time— if she’s good—you will have the chance. But for now, Mr. Stonehart, I advise you: Consider your sins.”
    Esteban starts to giggle. The sound transforms into maniac tittering.
    He puts the camera back on the tripod pointing it at me. He comes to my side and strokes my hair. “Such a fragile thing. Such a precious thing. Such an…” He grabs my roots and pulls tight.”…unexpectedly valuable thing.”
    He holds up the newspaper again and consults the front page. He looks at the picture, then at me, and then back at the camera.
    He taps his lips. “Yes,” he says, “this woman…is definitely one and the same. And ten million dollars?” He whistles. “That is quite the sum for her safe return. It’s enough,” He begins to sound thoughtful now. “Enough, perhaps, to even tempt one of my men.”
    A buzzing sound starts up behind me. I try to jerk back to see what it is.
    Immoveable arms lock me in place, confining my movements.
    “But we can’t have that. Can we?” Esteban ask the camera. “No. No, no, no, no, no. Good thing,” he says, holding up one finger,” that I know how to stop that temptation”
    The buzzing gets louder. I see what it’s from out of the corner of my