Page 12 of Dangerous Deviance
There was a black and white picture on the office wall. It was a family portrait, with three sons fully grown, one of which I recognized as Wil, the other two looked related. But the father made me stop. Black hair with flakes of white. Dark eyes. He seemed familiar, like I had met him before, but I couldn’t quite remember why. Maybe he just had one of those faces. Or maybe I saw Wil in him. The same eyes. The same lips.
Where is he?the voice started.Find out where he is. He’s the key.
“The key to what?” I said aloud, frustrated with the voice. I was met with silence. I groaned. “The key towhat?”
I closed my eyes, expecting the voice to fill me again, but nothing changed. It was like having a guardian angel who only spoke when he wanted to, and not when I desperately needed him.
In the back of the hall was another door that led to a separate staircase. The walls were concrete, and the staircase wrapped around to the rooftop. An enclosed fire roared in the wall, and the patio furniture was arranged so that it looked like a courtyard. A long sofa was near the edges of the roof, and I took a seat, looking down at the ground, letting the fresh air and smog whip against my face. The cars looked like thumbprints from this height, the people like specks of dust. All it would take was one leap over the edge and I could be done with this. This voice. This lack of memory. The lack of purpose.
No. Ididhave a purpose. It was her. My sister.
But he knows, the voice said.He knows where she is. Your sister. Find her. Save her.
I blinked away the voice and raced down the staircase, threw open the door to the penthouse, and turned through the hallway until I found the front door, but it was already open; Maddie adjusted the bags on her wrist, a plastic bag with styrofoam containers, and a reusable one with pink flamingos on it.
“Going somewhere?” Maddie asked, laughing. “Good. You’re awake. I was hoping to catch you this afternoon.”
This afternoon? “What time is it?” I asked.
“Noon. A little past, maybe,” she shrugged. “Why? You got somewhere to be?”
There was a smirk on her face, showing that she knew my predicament. “I—” I started, then stared past her, seeing the lobby with the elevator doors. “What floor are we on?”
“The thirty-sixth.” She motioned to the dining table with her free hand. “Have you eaten yet?”
I touched my stomach, the hunger pangs instantly attacking me at full force. “No.”
“Good. I brought some lunch.” She motioned towards the kitchen. “Let’s eat.”
She set the bags on a dark wooden table, off to the side of the kitchen. It seemed like a dining table, but one that wasn’t used that often. Maddie brought plates that looked like stone slabs from the cupboards, easily finding them. How often did she clean this house? How much did she know about Wil?
“Little bakery place down the way. Does half sandwich, half soup or salad deals. So I got one with soup and one with salad. What do you want?”
Besides the circular container of soup, everything was tucked into rectangular boxes, making it all look the same.Don’t trust her, the voice said.She knows more than she’s letting on. Eat the food, but then figure a way out. You don’t have much time.
But I needed to eat. Escaping on an empty stomach wouldn’t leave me at my best, and if Maddie saw where I was going, then I needed her to think I was obeying the rules.
“I guess the one with soup.”
She pushed forward one of the boxes and the soup container.
“So tell me about your night,” she said, stuffing a forkful of salad into her mouth.
“What about it?”
“How was Wil?”
“I don’t know.” I shrugged, slurping a spoonful of potato and cheddar.He sent her. Don’t tell her anything, the voice said. But what was there to tell? “We talked about his rules, then he left.”
Maddie pressed her lips together, then nodded. “And the rules?” She ate another piece of lettuce.
“I’m his,” I looked down at the food, rolling my eyes, “Whenever he wants.”
Maddie whistled, then ate another crunchy bite of lettuce. “You okay with that?” I lifted a brow. Was she seriously asking me that? As if I had a choice. She laughed, reading my reaction. “You’re right. Fair enough. I shouldn’t have asked,” she said. “But he’s really not that bad. Of the three of them, he’s the most fun, to be honest.”
“The most fun?” Because I always wanted a date to the carnival.
“Out of the brothers, yeah. He’s always ready to enjoy himself. I guess that’s why he runs Jimmy’s.”
