Raphael's Captive

Chapter 24

SHE HEARD them coming. 

Tami heard the footsteps coming up the stairs like a mighty army ready to whisk her away from paradise. She had seen when they pulled up to the house through her bathroom window, and she knew it couldn’t have been anything good. 

How had they known that she was there? It’s obvious that they were there for her. But how? 

It didn’t matter. She knew she had to hide. If they were here, that meant they suspected Raphael, and seeing her in the house wouldn’t yield great results for him. 

If only her mother had believed that she wasn’t kidnapped, then this all wouldn’t have been happening. 

Even though they were on another Bahamian island, the news didn’t just stay within Nassau, but it had been spread over all the networks of the Bahamian string, including Grand Bahama. 

Tami hurriedly switched off anything that could be a giveaway that someone was in the room. She used a bath towel to furiously wipe the water from the shower that she just had. 

The police weren’t stupid. The shower didn’t just run itself, and this room didn’t look like it belonged to Raphael. She didn’t know if he told them that he lived alone or not, but she couldn’t take the chance. 

In a haste, Tami shoved her laptop under the bed and straightened the sheets so the bed seemed unused. She placed the TV remote neatly on the nightstand as if it was never touched, and pulled all the drapes across the windows and balcony doors to emit all existence of life from the room. 

Finally, she grabbed her phone and locked herself in her gigantic closet. Luckily for her, it could be locked from the inside. Hopefully they won't insist on Raphael opening it, or else it would’ve been a dead give away. 

Tami crouched in the far end of the tiny room, ensuring she didn’t make a peep as she waited. 

Minutes passed, and they felt like hours before the sound of the door opening caught her attention. She stiffened and held her breath, as if the very sound  of her breathing would cause her to be discovered. 

She could hear the sound of hush voices as the filed in and one in familiar she recognized. 

“This is a woman’s room,” a foreign voice said as he walked past the closet. 

“Yes. I keep it for my female guests whenever I have them over,” Raphael explained, sounding nothing in the least worried in comparison to Tami who was having a panic attack. 

Raphael’s words also evoked a new feeling in her chest that she identified as jealousy. ‘Female guest?’ 

Her subconscious had tried to make a big deal out of it, but she had to keep reminding herself that he simply had to make this believable. He didn’t even live here a few months ago! Surely this room has never belonged to anyone else. 

“We’re all clear boss,” a new voice spoke, and Tami rejoiced internally until she heard the lock on the door shuffling. 

“Hold on.” The rattling continued as the officer tried to open the door. 

Tami’s nerves only grew worse as she squeezed her eyes shut. She was well aware that the closet door was locked from the inside, but the way the man was twisting the lock made her believe would actually succeed in breaking it open. 

“That had been locked for quite some time now,” Raphael interjected bored. “I should get someone to come and check it out. It won't budge.”