Janine

Sitting in her room, Janine fumed. Tom was gone. She knew there was no way he could have slipped passed her at the bathroom, which left only three options. Option one, the little bugger was holed up somewhere in her room, but she had scoured it and there was no trace. Option two, he came up the hall and snuck into the office and had found himself a hiding place there, or lastly, option three, he went down the hall to the only room there and was in her mother’s room. She had checked the office and found no trace of him and her exploration of her mother’s room was cut short by her mother. Where the hell are you Tom? Face a storm cloud. Other thoughts began to slowly seep into her consciousness, other possibilities. What if the housekeeper Marta had come upstairs and into her room and had seen Tom? Did she take him?

Flinging herself onto her bed, she pulled a pillow over her face and screamed. Throwing the pillow aside, she sat upright. Time to start eliminating possibilities. Jumping off the bed, she made her way downstairs to find Marta.

Marta was of Guatemalan descent, a half dozen years older than Janine, she was several inches shorter than Janine and of slender build. She kept her long dark hair bound back and was wearing the customary uniform for her position.

“Did anyone call on the house here tonight?” Janine asked, eyes intense and she approached Marta.

“No missus, no one came her tonight,” replied the housekeeper, voice slightly accented, shaking her head from side to side.

Janine stared at her. Did you find Tom and are keeping it a secret from me? “Were you in my room in the last hour?”

Marta shook her head no. “Do you need me to change your linens?” she asked.

Janine frowned. Nothing in the demeanor of the housekeeper led her to believe the other woman had stumbled upon her little Tom. “No, it will be fine,” she instructed. If he was holed up in her room, she didn’t want Marta snooping around up there.

Marta nodded. Janine waved her away. Returning upstairs, she walked passed the bathroom and went into her father’s office.

“If you’re in here tom, I just want you to come out,” she said, voice sweet, “I’m worried about you is all.”

A warm smile on her face, she got down on hands and knees and checked all of the places she thought he might possibly have access to. No sign of him. “Tom, come on, let me get you something to eat and we can go back to my room, what do you say, huh?” Nothing. Her face darkened. “Tom, get your butt out her now.” Nothing. She sat back on her feet, hands on her thighs and closed her eyes, teeth clenched as she tipped her head backward.  Opening her eyes, she pushed herself up onto her feet and circled in around behind the desk. Pulling open the pen drawer, she spied what she was looking for and removed a roll of scotch tape.

Closing the drawer, she returned to the middle of the room. “If you’re in here Tom, come out right now, and I won’t be too mad. If you are in here and you don’t come out, then you are probably going to die because this is my father’s office when he is here, which is never and I’m going to seal the door in such a way as you won’t be able to get out. Death by starvation. I’m going to count to three. One, two, three, okay, that’s how we’re going to do this,” she said, nodding her head, blonde hair bobbing.

Exiting the office, she closed the door behind her. She knew Marta’s instructions were to only dust the office once a week on Sundays, which meant he would be trapped without food or water for nearly a week. Getting down on her hands and knees, she used the tap to cover the gap under the door. Sitting back, she examined her handiwork. If he was in there, it would take a Herculean effort to get out and she would know. She would know he spat at the opportunity to come out willingly and if that was the case, she would make him suffer dearly.

Returning to her room, she looked toward her mother’s door. She would have to wait until her mother left before going back in, and even then, if she got caught again, there would be some consequences, loss of privileges, car, phone, credit card, et cetera. She frowned. She wondered what her mother might do if she found Tom. First, he would probably tell her the little games they’ve been playing. Whatever, she could always say he initiated the play or that he was into it. Second, and more concerning, her mother would more than likely would return Tom to his family and her little plaything would be gone and that was unacceptable.

Climbing back onto her bed, she lay on her stomach, arms folded under her chin as she listened for any stray sounds in her room. If he was in here, she would find him.

Her thoughts drifted to Tess. Could Tom’s sister have crept into the house and snatched him back? Marta had said no one came by and there was no way Tess could’ve known where Tom was or snuck upstairs at the exact right moment to liberate him. She frowned, supposing though highly improbable it was theoretically possible. Hopping off the bed, she crossed the room and took her phone out of her purse and returned to the bed, sitting on the edge, long legs dangling over the side. Should she call her? Calling up Tess’s contact info, she touch the green phone icon and put the phone to her ear.

“Hey Janine,” Tess answered.

“Hi Tess, just wondering what you got going on tonight?” Janine said.

“Not much, just me and Sam taking it easy in our room,” replied Tess.

“Hi Janine,” came Sam’s voice in the background.

“You guys are at the school?” asked the blonde.

“Yep, you thinking maybe we should get together, still pretty early,” offered Tess.

“Mmm, probably not, but I’ll see you guys tomorrow,” Janine replied.

“Okay,” answered Tess.

They said their goodbyes and disconnected the call. Janine considered. No way Tess came and got her brother. He was still somewhere inside the house.