Page 44 of Wayward
Haley hasn’t moved from the chair next to where Easton stitched Sam back together. Dante’s wiped down the counter around the hot plate with some rags they’ve boiled. I’m resisting the urge to mop the floor. Instead, I sit in Sam’s chair and hold Haley’s hand. “You all right, Little Bird? Forget that. None of us are okay. But we will be. We’ve got cash and an IOU.”
She wraps her arms around my neck and hugs me. “Thank you, Zane.” She squeezes me tightly. There’s a squeak, and Haley jumps in my arms. Her chair clatters to the ground.
Holloway’s frame fills the dark doorway. “Let’s move out.” He waits for all of us to exit the building before locking the door behind us. “Keep quiet and move quickly.” He stares at Sam, who returns the decisive nod.
Holloway leads us up the path a hundred yards or so, and we end up walking alongside a more modern building. He’s not a good tour guide, but from the looks of the building, it’s what replaced the building we’ve been sitting in for the last few hours. A lit crisscross path through the manicured jungle eventually runs up to the side of the mansion.
He holds open the hearty-looking wooden door until we’re all through. It’s clear that this isn’t the main entrance of the mansion. But it’s also not the staff entrance; the trail we were on continues upward to a utilitarian door, forty feet up the path. “Turn to the left when you get in and wait for me.”
I’m the third one in behind Calvin and Haley. The corridor smells like incense or jasmine, a relief from the stench we’ve been sitting in. And it’s a lot cooler. The walls are dark, polished wood, and the floor shines. You can tell there’s money here. Even though there’s no impressive art on the walls, the architecture itself is enough to stand out. This is exactly the sort of place that, if we weren’t running for our lives, I would like to explore. Once everyone’s in, Holloway takes the lead and we’re down the hall and up half a flight of stairs, down anothercorridor, then left. I catch a few glimpses into some rooms. They’re all inspired by Thailand, not like so many rich people who want their mansions to look like a London flat. It makes me mad that I’m having positive thoughts about the Zed family at all.
Holloway leads us down a long, narrow dark corridor. The walls, ceiling, and floor are all the same polished dark wood. Identical doors pepper the corridor every twenty feet. He stops at the end of the hallway and opens a door on the interior side of the building. “Stay here until I come get you. I’ll see if I can find some food. And no noise, nothing at all. Try not to breathe if you can.” He pulls the door tightly shut behind him. The handle rattles.
Calvin tries the handle, but it doesn’t turn. “Locked.”
“Had to try,” I agree.
Haley finds the light switch, and a hanging brass lantern illuminates orange velvet cushions scattered around the middle of the room. On the far wall, there’s a single long shelf with leatherbound books. The right-hand wall has a small horizontal window at shoulder height, and across from it there is one sleek modern recliner. It could be worse.
Haley pulls a few cushions together. “Here, Sam, you take the chair.”
“I’m good. I don’t want to put any pressure on the new stitches.”
“I could hold your legs up,” Haley says with a laugh in her voice.
“Thank you.” Sam kisses the top of her head. “But I’ll stand for now. You take the chair.”
Calvin and Dante are right at the corners of the room, running their hands along the wall, looking for cameras.
Easton’s at the bookcase. “Did you catch what Holloway said?”
“Zambrano,” Haley says, pushing up onto her elbows on the cushions.
“That’s what Zed must stand for.” I sink onto the floor next to her.
Easton’s got his back to us, flipping through some books. “It feels like I should know that name, for some reason.” He turns, holding the book open in his hand. He looks like a preacher the Sunday after a rock festival.
“There’s a Zambrano’s Pizza in my old neighborhood.” Sam takes a book and flips through it.
“It’s not that uncommon of a name. But Rocky knows Thayer’s dad. So maybe you heard it from him.” Haley’s rubbing her calf again. She should never have been in that chest for so long.
“I don’t think there’s any surveillance in this room,” Calvin says after a good few minutes of searching.
“Zambrano’s Pizza? Bet the crust was limp.” Dante drops on the cushion on the other side of Haley.
“It was hit or miss,” Sam says.
“That tracks.” I take over, rubbing Haley’s calf. Because just when I think Z’s a decent guy, he shits on us again.
The door eases open. “Remember, I said no talking.” Holloway places a tray in the middle of the floor. There’s a loaf of bread and a half dozen water bottles. Sam stops his pacing behind Holloway, the book behind his back.
“Bread and water,” Dante says with a cock to his head.
“That’s all I could get quickly. The kitchen is super busy. Listen, I don’t like this any more than you do. I don’t want to have to shoot you, so don’t make me. Esmeralda would kill me after she got the bloodstains out of the floor.”
“I’d like to meet her,” Sam says.
“No, you don’t.” Holloway shuts the door.
