Soundkeeper by Michael Hervey

waterfront community. He ate the last bite of the biscuit and pointed his boat toward home, into the setting sun.

Chapter Fifteen
    Gale used the bezel on her dive watch to mark the time when Arnold left. So far he had been gone for forty minutes. During that time she had explored her prison as much as her chain would allow. Before he left Arnold had closed the window by nailing a piece of plywood over the opening. It was dark inside the building, but her eyes had adjusted and there was enough light coming under the door and through the holes in the roof for her to see. The light was orange from the sunset, and she knew the weather was going to be good tomorrow.
    Her restraint was simple, primitive, and escape proof. There was no way for her to free herself unless she amputated her foot. The heavy chain that was connected to the handcuffs was bolted to a steel girder that ran the length of the building. She considered trying to climb the chain to get to the bolts, but she could see that they were rusted in place and doubted that she could loosen them, even if she had the proper tools.
    Arnold had been gone for two hours when she heard his small boat return. He burst through the door as if he expected her to be gone, breathing hard from his effort. She purposely sat facing away from the door and didn’t turn toward him until she heard him approach.
    “I got you some things,” he said. He dropped two grocery bags on the floor in front of her and waited for her to look inside them. Gale made no effort to see what was in the bags. Arnold blinked first and went over to his lawn chair, opened a can of beer and turned on the small television set.
    Gale opened the bags and found some clothing, a package of baby wipes, a towel, a stick of deodorant and a few other items. There were two warm up suits, sweatpants with matching tops. She must really smell bad for Arnold to have gotten her some clean clothing. She held the top against her body to see if it would fit.
    “It’ll fit.” Arnold startled her when he spoke. He was close to her and she hadn’t even heard him move across the room.
    “You look like you’re the same size as my sister and that’s what I got her for Christmas last year.”
    What a lucky girl, Gale thought.
    “Thanks, I appreciate it.” She wanted to stay on his good side but didn’t want to do anything he might misread.
    “You can change clothes now,” Arnold said.
    He stepped toward her and she stiffened. The lid, her only weapon, was wrapped inside her blanket and every time he got close to her she realized how enormous he really was. He bent in front of her and took the handcuff off of her ankle and she saw that he put the key in the front pocket of his grimy blue jeans. He threw the empty beer can on the floor on his way out the door and closed it behind him.
    Between the plywood covering and the window frame Gale could see his shadow. He was watching, waiting for her to take her clothes off. She felt the hot tears in the corner of her eyes and clenched her fists. No problem, asshole. She’d changed out of wet bathing suits on the beach so many times she had it down to a science. She draped the blanket over her shoulders and changed out of her shorts without taking her shoes off. The sweat pants were a little loose around her waist but she tied them with the drawstring. The she pulled her shirt over her head without unbuttoning it, left her sports bra on and slipped on the sweatshirt. When she was finished changing she turned around and glanced at the window. He was still there. The door was several feet from the window. If she rushed toward the door she thought she could make it before he knew she was trying to escape. She could dive off the end of the dock and swim to shore or to the shallow marsh where he couldn’t follow her in his boat. She took too long to decide.
    Arnold burst through the door so quickly she screamed, and her scream scared him so badly that he screamed back at her. She