over.
I wondered where we could go next. Though there were a few doors and rooms coming off of the hallway, it wasn’t exactly smart to start opening each one and asking if Gus was there. We’d have to spy, observe, hunker down somewhere until we knew what was what and who was where.
I placed my hand on Camden’s arm as a way of telling him to stay put then quickly crept back into the laundry room. I gently closed the door to the outside, closed the door to the linen closet, hiding the pieces of the broken panel underneath some towels, and then closed the laundry room door. If we were going to be spending a few hours in the house, then everything had to look exactly like it was. We had to go undetected.
If Camden was confused by my actions he didn’t show it. Now we just had one thing to do and we had to do it right. We had to find a place to hide. Because the laundry room had access to the back, it would be a high traffic area. We had to find something that was more out of the beaten path.
I took Camden’s free hand in mine and started leading him down the hall, away from the light at the end. He had said this end looked completely dark from the outside and we needed to be heading away from the people who lived here.
The second room down the hall was dark but there were large windows that had the outside lights streaming from in between the curtains, casting some illumination into the room. It was a library. Lots of leather couches, chairs, tables and bookcase after bookcase. In the beam of light I could see layers of dust on the tables and motes floating in the air – a room that was rarely used. It’s not like Travis started a reading habit in his spare time. This place would have to do.
I brought Camden into the room and did a quick sweep of the area. Where to hide? We had to be close enough to the hall to hear people but we couldn’t be visible. Taking a chance, he brought out his phone and flashed its weak glow around the room. Then he aimed it upward. There was a whole other level up there, a small balcony that wrapped around the room. A sturdy-looking ladder led up to the loft. We both eyed each other. If we lay low up top, just above the door, we wouldn’t be seen and we could hear everything.
We quickly climbed up the ladder, wincing when it scuffed a bit against the hardwood floor from our movement and crept along the balcony until we were above the door. Like below, it was lined with more and more books.
I lay down on my stomach as flush against the bookcase as I could muster and Camden did the same, our heads facing each other. We both brought our guns out and laid them on the floor beside us. Another advantage we had – if someone did come in the room and discover us, we could pick them off easily.
I rested my chin on the floor and Camden did the same. I leaned forward and kissed him, then took his hand in mine. We stared at each other, eyes shining in the darkness, and waited. Waited for signs of life. We waited until we fell asleep, Travis’s house lulling us into dreamland.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Scattered Spanish entered my dreams until my brain somehow figured out that this was reality and I needed to wake up. Camden’s hand on my face helped too.
My eyes flew open and I immediately froze as I remembered where I was. I was lying down on my stomach on the loft of Travis’s library. Camden was across from me, his head inches from mine, one hand stroking my face, the other on his gun. He implored me with eyes not to make a sound or panic. I swallowed hard, trying to still my heart, and listened.
A bunch of men were yelling in Spanish to each other. It was coming from outside the room, most likely from outside the house. My suspicions were cleared up when I heard the front door slam and someone stomped inside.
“Idiots,” a man yelled angrily.
Travis.
I knew that voice too well. I had to fight against the urge to pick up my gun, leap off the balcony and hunt him down. It would be so simple. I’d probably die in the process but for a split second I didn’t care. I only wanted him dead. Then I realized how badly the revenge still ran through me, the pain his presence still brought me.
Knowing this, knowing everything about me, Camden brushed the hair off my face. And my thoughts went to him. How silly we both looked in the daylight, dried mud caked on in splotches all over ourselves.
There was someone else walking out in the hall, the footsteps going past the library and stopping not too far away. Perhaps by the laundry room. I prayed they wouldn’t need any towels.
“Is everything all right, sir?” the person asked in a near perfect American accent.
“No, it’s not fine,” Travis answered rather snidely. “I don’t understand how they haven’t been found yet. When was the last time they were spotted?”
“Aguascalientes,” the man answered. “Still nothing different. We are trying—”
“They should have died. They should have been in that car. I don’t understand how something so god damn simple can go wrong.”
“At least they were heading north. Not coming here.”
“I couldn’t give a shit if they were coming here or not. I want them fucking dead so I don’t have to worry about them fucking things up again. They made me look like a damn idiot. The whole cartel, we looked like damn idiots. All of us.”
“If you don’t think they’re coming here, then why don’t you just …”
A pause. “Just what? Kill her? What kind of barbarian do you think I am? She’s my wife.”
The word wife stabbed me. My eyes flew to Camden. He couldn’t have been talking about my mother. Could he?
“I don’t mean any disrespect,” the man said quickly. “I just figured from the way you were … talking … the other night. From what she’s gone through … that it was on the agenda.”
Travis chuckled maliciously. “Agenda? There is no agenda. I will deal with Amelie when I am ready to deal with her. Until then, keep her down there.” He grunted, his footsteps echoing down the hall. “Fix me an omelette, would you? It would be nice if someone here wasn’t completely incompetent.”
Amelie. My mother. A bunch of thoughts flew into my head. My mother was Travis’s wife, even though that made no sense at all. I never saw a wedding ring on her finger and my father had died. But he had mentioned she was “down there” which I had to assume meant someplace in the house like a basement. That at least gave us a direction to go in and I could try and make sense about all the other shit later.
Then there was the fact that he didn’t once mention Gus.
At least Este’s hunch about Javier not being expected here was true. Then again, if he said the last place that we’d been spotted was Aguascalientes, then whatever happened to Javier and the crew out there in the jungle wasn’t orchestrated by Travis.
Which meant … oh fuck.
My eyes widened and judging from the way that Camden narrowed his eyes into a steely gaze, he was realizing the same thing. Nothing had happened to Javier.
We were set up.
They had planned for us to come here.
And here is exactly where we were.
Motherfucker.
I was pretty sure my blood was boiling over. I could feel my veins pulsing at my temples, my face growing hot and red. I was ready to go fucking apeshit. I was ready to lose my fucking mind.
Camden let go of his gun and put his other hand to my face and held me firmly.
“Hey,” he whispered softly. “It’s going to be okay.”
I tried to shake my head but his grip increased.
“Ellie. It’s going to be okay. We know your mother is here. We can get her out.”
“We were set up,” I hissed harshly. “And Gus?”
“We’ll get him too.”
“Where is he?”
