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The day passed by, filled with frustration.
I stayed busy, working in the yard until my muscles strained and my back ached. I wanted my father to think I was fully occupied and so wouldn’t be considering anything to do with Catalina and Torres. But the whole time I was watching, noting the pattern of people’s movements, hoping to see a crack I could use to my advantage.
I needed to get into my father’s office and try to find something that would lead me to Torres and where he was keeping Catalina. He kept the room locked when he wasn’t there, but I knew where he kept the spare key hidden. It wasn’t something I’d used for many years, not since I’d been a child, and I didn’t even know if it was still in the same place. If I could get him out of the office, and I had the key, I’d be able to get access to his desk and files.
Trouble was he had someone watching me at all times. If I was even able to get the key, someone would see me near the office and report back on me.
Learning Catalina’s location was only one piece of the puzzle. I also needed to get free of the compound—something else that wasn’t going to be easy. The place was guarded to ensure people didn’t escape, and because we’d lost the girl a couple of weeks back, and then Catalina and I had also managed to give them the slip, they were on high alert. Plus, now my father was here, and people generally didn’t make mistakes when he was around.
I needed to create a distraction, but I had to be smart about it. Whatever I did would only buy me a matter of minutes, and if I wasted that time, I doubted I’d get another chance.
Bianca worried me as well. I’d revealed too much of how I actually felt about this situation to her, and my rejection had clearly pissed her off. Would she go to my father and tell him I couldn’t be trusted and that I was still hung up on Catalina? It seemed crazy to me that he might think I could have just gotten over her so quickly, but he had a hard heart and didn’t understand how it was possible to love someone else more than yourself.
***
NIGHT FELL.
I’d eaten with the others, keeping my head down, and not getting into conversation, if I could help it. I noted my fall in position, no longer looked up to as the master’s son and highly regarded, but as someone who’d brought shame to the family. It was only in the eyes of the women that I caught some kind of understanding. Yes, I’d put someone they loved at risk, but they, far more than my father, understood why I’d done what I had. Perhaps it was a risk they even wished they could take themselves, and again I was hit by a pang of guilt that I hadn’t done more to free the other women. That they’d come from lives of homelessness and prostitution wasn’t a good enough reason to keep them locked up here, earning money for someone else.
The house quieted down after dinner.
It seemed the women weren’t due to have any visitors this evening, so everyone went their own ways, the women slinking off to their rooms, either alone or in pairs, while I snuck away as well. I needed to get down to the library and check for the key to my father’s office. It was the only way I was going to get inside the room without him also being there. He was already suspicious of me, and there was no possibility of him allowing me to be in there alone with him knowing about it.
I visited my room first and picked up the item I planned to use as an excuse. My stomach was clenched with nerves—partly because I didn’t want anyone to see me and ask too many questions, but mainly because if I discovered the key was no longer there, I didn’t exactly have a backup plan.
Clutching the item in my hand, I put my head down and made my way back through the house. So far, so good. Everything remained quiet. I approached the big wooden door that led onto the wing containing the library, thinking I was actually going to make it without anyone challenging me, when a voice came from behind me.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
I turned to find Rufus standing in the hallway, his hands on his hips.
I bristled. I didn’t like my father’s men talking to me that way. Not since I’d been a small child did any of them speak to me with anything less than respect.
I lifted the book I was holding into the air. “I’m going to the library to change this for something different. I assume that’s all right with you.” I couldn’t help the sarcastic tone to my voice.
“We’ve been told to make sure you don’t get up to any trouble.”
“How much trouble do you think I’m going to get into in the library? It’s not like there’s a secret passage down there, hidden behind one of the bookshelves, that I can use to make my escape.”
Rufus snorted.
“Or maybe you think I’m going to use a book as a weapon? Or stack them high enough to allow me to climb over the compound wall.”
“Okay, okay,” he said, lifting his hands in the air. “I get your point. Go and change your fucking book.”
I gave him a cold smile. “Thanks.”
Putting my head down, I kept going. I knew Rufus was still mistrusting of me. While he hadn’t followed me directly, he’d be lurking somewhere behind, ready to make a move in case I tried something. He wouldn’t want to explain to Silas why he’d let me just walk away. But I had no intention of trying to escape—not yet, anyway. First, I needed to get into the office. I hadn’t given any thought to what I’d do if I managed to get in there and was unable to find out where Torres was keeping Catalina.
I felt like I was stepping back in time, a boy again, getting a key even though it might get me in trouble. Only this time I knew exactly what kind of trouble I’d get into if I was caught. It would be rapped knuckles or a few days in the hole. A second betrayal wouldn’t be forgiven. I’d be punished with a bullet to the head.
My mouth was dry, my heart beating hard. The distinctive musty scent of old books filled my senses as I stepped inside the dark room, between the multiple shelves stacked high with books. The windows in this part of the house were narrow and set high in the walls, deliberately done to avoid sunlight damaging any of the books. There was always a different atmosphere in here compared to the rest of the house. It immediately calmed me, soothed my soul.
Aware Rufus was lurking somewhere behind, I didn’t go straight to the old encyclopedia inside which my father had always hidden the key to his office. I didn’t want to make it obvious I was focusing on that one point. Instead, I browsed, randomly sliding books out from their positions on the shelves, reading the back blurb and flipping through the pages as though checking out the story. Mentally, though, I was pinpointing the spot where the book was located. Would it even still be there? It had been years since I’d last seen it. I didn’t even know if the book would be there, never mind the key.
A creak came from behind me.
I spun around, certain Rufus or my father would be standing there, but the space was empty. It had just been the shelves, perhaps, creaking after I’d changed the weight by disturbing the books. I sucked in a breath, not liking how jumpy I was, steadying my nerves.
I trailed my fingers along the spines of the books, keeping going until I reached the place the book I was looking for had always been. I stopped, my muscles tense. It was still there, in the same spot it had been ten years ago. A thin layer of dust coated the cover. I didn’t want to disturb it, knowing I’d leave my fingerprints in the dust. It would be easy enough for someone to see that the book had been moved, but the fact it was covered in dust meant no one else had been here recently.
Holding my breath, I pulled out the encyclopedia. The big tome was heavy in my hands. Carefully, I opened the front cover. I almost couldn’t believe what I was seeing. The key was still there, in exactly the same place it had always been.
Certain at any moment someone would shout at me to ask what I was doing, I tipped the key out into my palm. Moving fast, I slammed the cover shut and shoved the book back into its spot on the shelf. My pulse raced, the metal key warming in my hand. I couldn’t just slip it into my pocket. While I didn’t think I was going to be searched, I didn’t want to risk it. But I didn’t want to worry about it falling out of anywhere else either, if I tried to hide it in the waistband of my jeans, or even under my arm. Feeling like time was running out, I bent and slipped the key into the back of my boot then pulled the cuff of my jean leg over the top of my boot again.
I straightened and sucked in a deep, shaky lungful of air. My fingers fluttered at my side, and I calmed myself by counting quickly in my head. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. A good number. A safe number. My father must have forgotten about the key. It was the only explanation for it still being here. Or perhaps he’d simply gotten so cocky that he didn’t believe anyone inside the compound would dare to enter without his say-so.
Disbelieving I’d actually managed to achieve what I’d come here to do, I put my head down and walked at a quick march back toward the door. I wanted to get back to my room now, and figure out how I was going to put the next part of my plan into action.
At the last moment, I realized I hadn’t changed the book I’d used as my cover story. Just before I stepped out of the library and into the hallway beyond, I reached out and grabbed the nearest book off the shelf.
I kept going. The key I’d slipped into my boot was a hard lump against my heel. It didn’t matter if I walked awkwardly or with a limp. It was the same leg I’d caught in the bear trap, and while it was a hundred times better than it had been when I’d first sustained the injury, I still couldn’t put all of my weight on it. No one would suspect anything.
Rufus was still lurking outside.
“Whatcha got there?” Rufus asked, nodding down at the book.
I’d been so focused on the key I hadn’t even thought to check. I lifted the book up, showing him the title and seeing it for myself for the first time.
Rufus snorted laughter. “Little Women? Really?”
“It’s a classic,” I snapped.
“Sure it is,” he scoffed, but he stepped out of the way and let me pass.
I clutched the book tighter like a talisman, holding it close to my chest as if the tale of the four sisters could give me safe passage back to my room.