“I think tomorrow could be August fifth,” Priya. “I’m not positive, but I’ve been counting sunrises since I got here.”

I’ve tried hard not to dwell on days and dates. It’s too depressing to tick by days while being stuck in here. I don’t want to know exactly how long I’ve been in captivity.

But I think it’s coming up to a week.

My parents have been looking for me for almost a week. Are they now fearing the worst? Do they believe I ran away?

I’m a homebody. They know that. They have to know that I wouldn’t take off.

“Tomorrow it is, then,” Lucie says, pinning her gaze on me.

I frown. “I’m not against this, Lucie. I just want the best chance. The event starts at midday. They begin at the country club with golf and tennis, then onto the formal part in the evening of speeches and thank-yous to the donors. They’re always present for that.”

Theo snorts. “They wouldn’t miss the praise.”

“Psychos,” Hazel grumbles under her breath.

“You’re sure they’ll all be there?” Theo asks.

“Hazel and I are forced to go to these things by both our parents.”

“Caleb and Owen have been to them all before. I don’t remember seeing Matt with his friends there, but he could have been with them,” Hazel confirms. “This is our chance.”

Maybe. It’s a chance. Albeit a slim one. We don’t know what other security they have here, if any. We don’t know if they watch us from an app on their phone. I would imagine so, but we would still have enough time to escape. I hope.

“Is everyone in agreement?” Theo asks.

Lucie, Priya, and Hazel agree immediately.

But no one has thought about one other issue.

“Before I agree, what do we do about Kevin?” I ask. “If we escape, they might find out and come back here before we can get help.”

Priya’s face falls. “They’ll kill him…if they haven’t already.”

“They’ll either do that, or they’ll run to avoid being caught. Do you think they would risk coming back?” Hazel asks.

“Yeah, I think they would come back to try and stop us. We can’t use the road, but we can’t be too far from it or we’ll get lost.” I reach across and grab the remote. My shoulders feel lighter as I turn it off and the room disappears. Who knows how long that will last before Caleb, Matt, and Owen switch it back on?

I don’t need to watch them clean up after torturing me and Lucie for hours.

“We can’t leave Kevin,” Priya says.