Chapter Twenty-Six
Amie paced the bedroom on the second floor. What was going on? Why would her uncle have a witch here? And how was she personally involved? No matter how she tried to look at it, it was all bad.
She stood in front of the barred window. Bars on a bedroom window. She really shouldn’t be surprised. And to think that all the years she lived here growing up, she never came into this room. The second floor was always off-limits to the kids. She never questioned it; same with so many other things. Just accepting what she was told. Not finding answers on her own.
The sun brushed the top of the trees. Soon it would be dark. Would Frank be able to get with Detective Freeman in time to gather a posse and rescue her from this place? She didn’t think her uncle would hurt her, but she doubted that anyone who threatened to testify against a Ragusa would go unpunished.
She had to get out of here on her own. If Frank came through, great. If not, she was on her own, like she’d been the previous four years.
Slipping off her shoe, she headed for the door. After studying the hinges, she hit the bottom of one, making a nasty noise. She dumped a pillow on the bed from its case and padded the bottom of the hinge and struck again. Much quieter. After all three pins were removed, she pried the back side of the door off the hinge.
Hurrying back to her purse, she pulled out Joey’s gun, then tiptoed down the hall toward the stairs. No one was around, which was strange. Then she remembered the witch wanted the men to help her with something in the ballroom. The woman couldn’t possibly be having a party, could she?
Heart pounding, she rushed through the downstairs hall toward the kitchen at the back of the mansion. If she could get out the back door, she might have a chance at getting out of there.
“Miss Amerella?” She jumped and almost peed her pants.
“Chef Louis,” she said, slamming a hand on her chest, “you scared the crap out of me.”
“So sorry, mademoiselle. I did not know you vould be joining us for dinner.”
“No worry, Chef Louis. I just dropped by. Don’t plan on staying long.” She kept the gun behind her back to not frighten the man. He did notice her feet, though.
“Vere are your shoes, girl? You cannot valk around vithout shoes.”
Amerella wiggled her toes. “Uh, I left them outside and am going to get them right now.” She stepped toward the door leading outside. “Thank you, Louis. See you later.” She slid out to the man’s shaking head. He rattled off in Italian like he always did when going on about kids nowadays. She loved the man. His good cooking was most of the reason for her curvy body. The man had a way with a spatula.
Outside, she stepped through the grass to the back corner of the rectangular house and peeked around the side. The sun shone on the other side of the yard, putting her in darkening shadows.
Rubbing her body along the shrubs, she hoped to put her smell where Frank would find it and follow. When she got to the tall ballroom windows, she ducked before someone saw her. Security guys were carrying in boxes, a few tables, chopped wood, candles, and all kinds of weird shit.
Two men leaned the tallest ladder she had ever seen against the wall with the fifteen-foot windows. Behind them, three more men carried in a long black roll of material. They laid it at the foot of the ladder, then one of the guys grabbed a corner and walked it up the ladder.
After he fiddled with the material at top of the window, she realized he was hanging a curtain. A fifteen-foot-tall velvet blackout curtain. No wonder it took five men to hang the thing. It had to weigh fifty pounds.
Squatting under the windowsill, she dragged her hand along the wall, leaving more scent. From here, she could see the side gate mostly hidden in overgrown shrubbery. She’d have to make a run for it. Careful to wrap her hand around the gun’s handle, away from the trigger, she stepped away from the building.
Her movement drew the attention of the valet, who hollered to a guard. Goddammit. She took off as fast as she could across the yard. Quicker than she thought possible, arms wrapped around her upper body. She leaned forward and shifted her hips to the side, then swung her arm down, grabbed his balls, and squeezed. Just like Frank showed her in the park. And it worked like a charm.
The guy dropped her and clutched his groin, rolling on the ground. Unfortunately, other guards were behind him. She sprinted for the iron-bar gate. Breathing hard, she reached out and snagged a bar, then yanked. It was locked or stuck. Repositioning the gun in her hands, she fired two shots at the locking mechanism. Something popped and the gate loosened from its hold.
Pain tore through her scalp as her head snapped back. One of the men had grabbed her hair and kept her at arm’s length. He must’ve seen what she’d done to the other guy. One of the others snatched the gun from her hands.
Amerella screamed in frustration. She was so fucking close. They once again marched her back to the house and into her uncle’s study. He looked up from his desk when she was pushed through the doorway.
With a disapproving arched brow, he scanned her up and down. She was hot, sweaty, barefoot, and dirty from crawling under the ballroom window.
“What are you doing, child?”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “Since when am I not allowed to walk around in the yard on my own?” A man laid her gun on her uncle’s desk.
He eyed the gun and pulled a piece of material from the top desk drawer. “Wipe your prints off the gun. I have no idea where it’s been. I don’t need one of my guards associated with it.” The guy did as instructed.
Giuseppe turned his attention back to her. “You have not been free to roam the grounds ever since I put you in a room with bars on the window. There was a reason behind that.”
This scared the shit out of her, but she wouldn’t show it. Never before had he locked her in a room. She must’ve really pissed him off. Well, he’d really pissed her off, too.
Behind her, the ballroom doors opened and the witch slinked in, all smiles. “The sun is down. We are ready to begin.”
Giuseppe rose from his chair behind the desk. “Fabulous.”
“Begin what?” Amerella asked.
Her uncle looked her squarely in the eyes. “Your sacrifice for the family.”