Page 26 of Warped

Chapter Fourteen

V

Sitting up slowly in bed, I glanced across to the single bed on the other side of the room. The shape of my sister lay below the blankets, and I held my breath to make sure her breathing was slow and regular. I didn’t want her to wake and start questioning what I was doing.

Business in Tony’s house appeared to be a twenty-four-hour, seven-day-a-week operation. I needed to get to a telephone or computer to try to contact the number or email address on the card the man who’d been with X had given me. I knew I should be focusing on the trial right now, but I couldn’t get X out of my head. Besides, my desire to find him wasn’t only because I cared about him. I also knew my time was running out. As soon as I stepped into the courtroom, and the guilty verdict was read, Tony would have no more use for me. Either he’d have me killed himself, or he’d toss me out and let my father’s men on the outside do the job for him.

X was the one and only person I’d ever felt safe with. If anyone was going to help protect me, it was him. I’d like to think I was strong enough to protect myself, but even I wasn’t pig-headed enough to believe such a thing. It was me against a city full of armed men who wanted me dead.

Truth was, I was pretty screwed.

Even though people were coming and going most of the time, during the early hours of the morning, things did get quieter in the house. Despite being exhausted, I’d forced myself to stay awake, waiting for any voices to die down, listening out for anything I should be cautious of. Every so often, my head dropped, and I jerked myself back awake again. Despite my nap that afternoon, I was exhausted—more than I normally would be at pulling an all-nighter. Whatever had hit me during my interview at the court had really taken it out of me.

I still had the business card in my bra, though the card was now softer from my sweat and body heat, and battered around the edges. As long as it was still legible, it didn’t matter what sort of state it was in.

Tony didn’t lock us in our room at night. He had no reason to think I would want to run away—after all, he was the one who was supposed to be protecting me. He obviously hadn’t given any thought to how I would react after my ‘punishment’ and thought I would just take it, like everyone else. He didn’t know I had a plan.

When everything had gone quiet, I climbed out of bed and padded silently across the wooden floorboards of the bedroom to the door. Slowly, I edged open the door and looked out into the hallway. It was in darkness, lit only from the moonlight streaming in from the window at the end of the corridor. The stairs were along the hallway, so, when I didn’t see anyone, I let myself out and tiptoed toward them. I hoped everyone had taken themselves to bed by now. Even assholes like Tony needed to sleep.

I crept down the stairs, freezing and cursing internally when one of the steps creaked under my weight. When no one burst out in front of me, demanding to know what I was doing, I continued my descent. I stepped into the entrance hall, the tiled floor cool beneath my bare feet. My heart pounded, and I willed it to slow, purely so I could hear above the tribal beat drumming in my ears. I knew Tony’s office had both a landline telephone and a computer. I hoped the place was empty, and that he hadn’t bothered to lock the door. It was a lot to hope to be on my side, but I figured it must be my turn for a bit of luck.

Tony’s office was the heart of this place. It was where everyone passed through upon being brought to the house. It had two doors leading onto it, one from the front of the house, the other from the rear, and even had its own bathroom attached.

I ran over to the door and stopped right outside. So far, everything was quiet. I listened hard, but couldn’t hear any voices coming from the room. I considered knocking quietly, to cover my bases, but I also didn’t want someone else to hear me and come to investigate.

I swallowed and tried to steady my breathing.

The room was empty, I was sure of it.

I tried the handle and carefully pushed open the door. A table lamp was still lit, as was a free standing lamp in the corner of the room. They offered enough light to allow me to ascertain the room was most definitely empty. I held back a little whoop and a fist pump. It wasn’t over yet.

My gaze alighted on the desk, where both the computer and the phone sat.

Slipping inside, I gently closed the door behind me. I strode across the room, reaching into my bra to pull out the card. I’d be glad when I didn’t have to keep it there anymore. My poor breasts were tender from being poked and stabbed by the cards edges for so long.

With my hand trembling, I grabbed the phone from the stand and punched in the cell phone number listed on the card. It was three in the morning, and I doubted the owner of the number would be awake. I could only hope he’d wake to the sound of the phone ringing and answer a number he didn’t recognize.

The phone rang and rang.

“Come on, come on,” I pleaded under my breath. My gaze flicked back to the door I’d entered through, half-expecting someone to burst through and demand what I was doing.

I’d almost given up hope, but then someone answered.

“Y’ello?”

“You don’t know me,” I started, “but my name is Verity Guerra. I’m a friend of X’s. You gave me your business card in the street yesterday.”

I heard him shuffle, perhaps sitting up in bed, and he cleared his throat. “Yeah, I remember. What did you say your name was?”

“Verity Guerra. I’m being kept at Tony the Hound’s house—Tony Mancini. It’s somewhere in Park Slope, only a few blocks from Prospect Park, but I don’t know the exact address. I’m here with my sister.”

“I know that name,” he replied. “Both of those names, in fact.”

“Please,” I said. “Is X with you? Can I speak with him?”

“He’s asleep, as far as I know.”

“Wake him up. I don’t know how long I have.”

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