Chapter 176: Pretending and Equivocating (2/2)

He was clearly not in control but he wanted to be.

That gave me great pleasure.

He grew eerily silent.

Actually, the idea to get the female assailant to open my phone and find the exact medication was an attempt to give out a signal to Sebastian. He would be looking for my cellphone and where the last signal was. If they brought it with them, they would surely open the phone and give out a signal to our location.

”How long have we been here?” I asked.

”According to the meals… it's been more than twenty-four hours since you arrived,” Gene commented. ”Are you feeling better?” she asked.

”When you see the insulin bottle, you'll be able to recognize if it is the right one, right?” I coaxed her to respond.

She nodded. ”I know how to administer the shot, too. My parents taught me,” she said quietly.

I squeezed my eyes shut. ”I don't know if they drugged you, but if they did, I don't want your medication to clash. Look at the bottle, confirm with me. I will take care of the rest, okay?”

I waited for her to respond. She nodded hurriedly.

”Why don't you try to save yourself and leave us to care for ourselves?” Jade asked, perplexed.

I shot a look at Benny. ”I've been in this position before. I survived it once, I know I will survive again. The others who were with me didn't have the same luck because I was inexperienced back then. Now that I can help you, I won't sit around and watch you be killed. Understood?” I barked.

I had to be hard on Jade. She had gotten used to being treated poorly, so I couldn't give her sympathy. She would be more suspicious. Indeed, no one understood the pain of others, so she would assume that I was being ingenuine. I could only be commanding and allow her to feel secure in my rationale.

Gene on the other hand saw me as her shield, as a protector. So, I had to grit my teeth and make sure not to show her pain or confusion, or fear. If she was reassured, she wouldn't make any comments that would hurt the three of us.

This was managing the scene.

Nothing else.

More time passed and the daughter was finally back. She indeed had a bottle of medicine in her hand. She came over to me and showed me the bottle. It looked like the same one I had seen, so I looked at Gene.

”Show it to the little girl,” I asked. She did as she was asked. The bottle was passed to Gene and she looked disappointed.

”Evie, this is not the same dose,” Gene informed me. I turned to glare at her.

”You're a nurse, don't you know how important the right medicine is?” I reprimanded her lightly.

”Are you going back on your offer?” she hurried to ask. ”Your cellphone… we didn't bring it. So, I found the medicine that would work for her. I will give her the right dose,” she promised.

I blinked and looked at Gene. She nodded slightly.

”Okay. Leave the bottle at the center of the room. I'll tell you what you need to do.” She gingerly placed the bottle at the center of the circle and stepped back. ”The first step is to ensure that none of the hostages die. If any of them are hurt, they can pin the blame on you. You were the one who kidnapped them so the police will point their finger at you. Your father might go scot-free. Say that he wasn't even at the scene.”

Her eyes burned. ”He could do that?” she choked.

”To save himself? Sure. He used you all his life. Why can't he continue doing just that?” I smiled at her sadly. ”Don't let him come down. He's still mad and if he hurts any of them, you'll get into trouble. He's used you enough. No more,” I insisted.

She shuddered and nodded.

”You'll be okay, right?” I asked sincerely. I needed her to be reserved for this plan to work. I was treating her like another hostage because I could easily place her in that victim mentality. She succumbed to me easily and I couldn't help but smile as she left the room to bring us another round of food.

This time, I tasted my plate and Gene's carefully before handing it to her.

Gene ate. She breathed the food down.

When the daughter was gone Gene whispered to me.

”Why didn't you let her give me the medicine?” she asked.

”You need to take it tomorrow. Right now, we need to make sure there is no residual drug in your system. So… eat properly and take care.”

The problem was… how long could I keep this up? Sebastian… how long will you take to find me?