Daisy knew that running from an unfriendly dog would only infuriate the dog and eventually attack her. “Befriend or back away.” That was the survival mode she learned in school.
“Respect her!” An invisible voice commanded.
“Daisy! In here!” Daisy looked up and saw her doctor. “That dog will eat you alive. Dr, Alistir Finch. The brother of Dayton Pierce.
“Call your mother, Daisy and tell her you’re safe with a friend. Dr. Finch picked up a needle. Daisy watched him. He didn’t even have to speak of a threat she knew would happen.
“And no coded words. Do you understand?’
Daisy nodded. “Dr. Finch, Please. You’re scaring me. You took an oath to never harm.”
“Oh, my pet, what you’ll never know about me is worldwide.” Daisy grabs the phone. Dr. Finch knocks the phone out of her hand. “Nice try. I saw the look in your eyes. You aren’t going anywhere.”
“Do whatever you do to me, Dr. Finch, but eventually you’ll make a mistake and when you do, I’ll be free.”
Dr. Finch for a moment runs the syringe along Daisy’s face. “Lock the doors, Daisy.”
Daisy knew she had no choice but to obey if she wanted to survive. Daisy locked the door. “I should like you in the basement, but I won’t because I like seeing the fear in your eyes. My brother made a classic mistake by locking Cherry down there, didn’t he? But Cherry.. She was a coward.”
“A coward? She used her own brillaince against your brother and I. I know how to escape your clutches. I’ve watched all those true crime documentaries, Dr. Finch. You either play their game or act crazy but which one I’ll do, you’ll never know.”
Dr. Finch cackled. “You’re trying to turn the tables on me. Dayton. He liked the psychology of it all. I-? Well, I think of victims of test subjects.”
Daisy backed away. “Dr. Finch, you’re scaring me.” She was acting.
“You know, I’ve always found Checkers superior to Chess. How would you like to play with me?”
“I’ll play, but I will always beat you at the game.”
They play. “King me!” Daisy looked him right in the eyes.
He didn’t get mad. He calmly walked over to Daisy and chained her legs and hands to the chair.
“This way you can’t go anywhere.”
“You’re eventually going to make a mistake,” Daisy countered.
“How so?”
“Think about it! You lose your license and you’ll end up right next to Dayton, Dr. Finch.”
“Fine,” Dr. Finch unchained her.
“How would you like to guess my career, Dr. Finch?”
“I know about your careers, Daisy. You’re a teacher by day and thriller writer by night. That’s why you’re so calm in danger like this.”
Daisy looked around. The toolbox. She hit him over the head and ran. Her broken phone might still work. “Cherry! Dr. Finch. He tried to lock me in his home. He’s a doctor. He- he knows my address.”
Cherry took a deep breath.
“Don’t go home. Understand? What do you see?”
“I see a gas station!”
“Go there now!”
Daisy ran into the gas station and demanded the clerk call the cops. It felt like hours before the cops got there.
“Miss Mason?”
Daisy ran into the officer’s arms. “You’re safe now, ma’am.” Daisy watched Alistair Finch being arrested with a sastifed smirk on her face.
The cops threw Finch in the jail cell.
“Hello, brother,” Dayton grinned at him.
The End
