Chapter 786 Chapter 786
Calla watched Liora cut up the meat. Other than asking if she’d reached her friends when she got back, very few words had been spoken. She placed the containers of cut-up potatoes into the plastic clothes basket, turned around, and looked at the other three women. All of their postures were stiff; something was definitely going on.
Calla went over to the sliding glass doors and looked outside. “It’s really coming down out there.” She glanced back at the others. “It’s better than mud, right?”
Edda paused and looked at her. “Until it melts and creates more mud.”
Calla scrunched up her face. “Right.” She went back over and grabbed the kettle. “Anyone want tea? I think this is tea-drinking weather.”
“I’ll take some,” Bianca said quietly.
“I’m glad I got back before the storm,” Liora said as she scraped the meat from the cutting board into a container.
Edda wiped the dough off her hands and placed a lid on the bowl. Taking it over to that basket, she set it on top of the containers Calla had put in.
Filling the kettle, she put it on the stove. “You guys are really quiet. Did I miss something?”
Edda shook her head, and Bianca shrugged.
Calla looked at the door and then went over and leaned on the island so she could talk quietly. “Listen, after my call to my friend, Ellery did something odd.” The women paused and looked at her. “He sent a message to not bring women here.”
All three of them exchanged looks with each other.
“What’s going on?” Calla straightened up.
Bianca put the lid on the ingredients she had prepped and looked at her.
Edda made a hissing sound and jerked her chin toward the entrance. She shook her head.
Before Calla could ask, the door opened, and a snow-covered Kumar stood there. Edda had crazy good hearing.
“It’s getting bad out there. You better bring it over now.”
Bianca set hers in the basket.
Liora picked it up and carried it over to Kumar and handed it to him.
Edda opened the door to her room. “We’ll be right behind you.”
Kumar nodded, balanced the basket, and opened the door.
Calla turned the stove burner off and put her hands on her hips.
Bianca glanced at Liora and then looked at the door really quick. “Don’t ask questions. We will explain it later.” She whispered and then hurried to the stairs.
Liora held Calla’s look for a second. She could tell by the expression on her face that she wanted to say something.
“Not right now, Liora.” Edda came back into the kitchen, holding her jacket. She looked at Calla. “Kumar doesn’t trust you. Please keep your head down and be invisible.” She gave her a warning look and then put her jacket on.
There was a lot more going on than Calla had first thought. These women, who she had believed were here because they wanted to be, were suddenly acting like they were prisoners. That made no sense. Both Bianca and Liora had been out on their own. They could have taken off any time they wanted to. She went over and grabbed her jacket off the chair, and shoved her arm into the sleeve. Unless there was a reason they couldn’t take off, her mind went in two directions almost at the same time. Children and a tracker. One of those reasons would be the only way she would have stayed somewhere she was afraid to be.
Blowing out a breath, she turned around. Now she just had to go rip some wires out of a box in a room she didn’t know how she was going down to without being seen.
~
The meeting was underway and not what Calla had thought it would be like. The women sat silently at the table in the dining room while the men stood, lounged, or leaned in the sitting room. She had learned a few things so far. The two men who hung out close to the door were Bran and B.G. They normally stayed at the end of the street to watch for anyone trying to enter. Either the storm or the meeting had brought them inside.
Calla looked at the doorway of the sitting room, the only place anyone would see if she went into the basement. Zuri was leaning in that right now. The man who always seemed to be near him, once again, wasn’t far away from him. His name was T. She didn’t know what it stood for. T didn’t have any scars on his neck, so she suspected he hadn’t had the life that Zuri had.
The one that had been with Leon and Kumar at the mall was there. She hadn’t seen him since they’d arrived here, which made her wonder where he’d been. His name was Guy. She wasn’t going to have a hard time remembering any of their names at all.
Edda got her attention and then shook her head slightly.
Calla moved just her eyes and looked at the basement door. She wasn’t sure if Edda understood because her response was to turn back and look at the men.
“I need to start the food.”
Leon glanced at her and nodded his head once.
Edda stood up. “Come watch the meat while I start the biscuits, Missy.”
“Sure.” Calla got up.
Kumar turned and watched them move away from the table. When Edda turned on the oven, he moved back into the other room.
The women were not here because they wanted to be. She knew that without a doubt now.
“Go down and get the map, Ellery,” Leon said loudly. “We’ll plan out a route to Louisiana. I am not going to Panama.” He growled.
Ellery hurried through the dining room and went downstairs.
Calla waited for Edda to put the meat in the pan and then shoved it around when she went back over to get the dough out of the basket.
Ellery came back up. He looked at Calla, and it was the first time he hadn’t seemed nervous. She wasn’t sure what had changed, but he was up to something.
She looked over her shoulder at Zuri’s back and hoped he continued to stand exactly where he was. When she turned back around, she saw that Edda was assessing her with a knowing look on her face.
“Bianca, why don’t you take some beer in for the men.” Edda sprinkled flour on the counter.
Bianca stood up.
“I’ll have coffee.”
She heard Leon say.
Bianca came out and opened the fridge. “There’s only four up here.” She looked at Edda.
Edda didn’t look away from what she was doing. “Missy, run downstairs. At the bottom, there’s a door on the left; bring up more beer, please.”
Calla flipped the meat around and nodded. “Okay.”
Had Edda known she needed to get downstairs? She hurried down the steps and turned at the bottom. Opening the door, she saw a fridge and a freezer. Going over, she opened the fridge, grabbed a six-pack, and set it on the bottom step.
Running over to the corner of the office, she climbed up on the table and looked at the box. Wires leading out—she nodded and grabbed all of them. She jerked on them and then didn’t pull free. Tapping into her animal strength, she pulled again. Hard. They all came out, almost knocking her balance off. She grinned and tucked them behind the corner of the box in case anyone came down. Then they wouldn’t be noticeable.
Hopping down off the table, she reached for the phone at her back when goosebumps prickled along her arms. She looked over at the stairs, and Kumar stood there looking at her. He looked happy.
He glanced down at the beer beside his feet and then looked back at her. With a grin, he started walking toward her. “After I enjoy my beer, we’ll have a conversation where you explain to me why you’re standing on the other side of the room.”
She hid her reaction. He hadn’t seen her on the table. That was the good part. The bad was that he looked far too pleased to have caught her down here. “Curiosity.” She shrugged, hoping he’d buy that.
His smile was slow, and that’s when she saw it. This man was a sadist. His eyes practically screamed it. He grabbed her wrist so fast she didn’t have time to evade him. The way he squeezed it made her understand that he could break it without even trying.
“Hey.” She tugged on it.
“You know what they say about curiosity?” He dragged her across the room. If she struggled, he would definitely break her wrist. He opened a steel door and shoved her into the room. “It killed the cat.” He smiled and shut the door.
She heard bolt locks sliding in place. Turning, she looked around. It was too dark to see anything. Pulling the phone out, she turned it on, made sure it was on silent mode, and then used the flashlight to look around. The scent of blood and sweat registered at the same moment she saw the chain and cuffs hanging down the wall. “What the hell—” She spun around and shone the light at the back of the door. There were scratches in the metal, not from anything rodent or human.
Her cat growled inside her. “I’m looking.” She whispered and turned the light on the window. It was too far up for her to reach. She looked around and saw a stool in the corner. Grabbing it, she set it under the window and got on it.
The window was big enough that she’d fit out it; of course, the bars covering the space were going to be a problem. She looked at the phone. No signal. “Shit.” She took a deep breath. “They need to come now.”
Turning back around, she looked at the phone again. “Light.” She nodded and held the phone up to the glass, so the flashlight shone out through it. She flipped it so it was facing the ledge. “One flash.” She whispered and repeated the action. “Please see this, Beck.” Without telling them the wires were disconnected, would they still come at the same time they planned?
She kept doing it over and over. It was the only thing she could do. Looking over her shoulder at the door, she decided one way or another she was not having that conversation with Kumar. Flipping the phone again, she leaned her forehead against the cool wall. Someone had to see it. They just had to.