Page 20 of Wayward (Wrecked #4)

Set a Course

Easton

I grab Zane by the arm and give him a firm yank into the room.

Calvin moves on his own, even though I’m holding on to his arm as well.

I don’t even check what’s in the room behind us.

It could be full of guards, Holloway, or Z himself.

It doesn’t matter. It’s better than being exposed to whoever is coming down the stairs.

Calvin shakes me off his arm and closes the door with a silent click. The room’s dark, and it takes my eyes a minute to adjust. There’s a massive antique desk facing into the room, with a green-shaded lamp. Behind the desk is a wall of bookshelves.

It’s different from the other rooms we got a glimpse into on the way in.

It’s all western decor, leather furniture.

On the far wall, there’s a low sofa with a table behind it.

The light’s pretty dim, but there are at least thirty framed photographs in different sizes.

I pick one up. It’s a view of Central Park from a building, the balcony’s cement railing in the foreground.

The scrape of a shoe on the floor spins me around.

“Sorry,” Zane whispers. He’s by the desk.

Calvin’s by the door, on guard, waiting for it to open to choke whoever is behind it to death with his bare hands.

Zane moves behind the desk and motions us over. “Come on. If someone comes in, we should hide.”

Calvin glares and puts his finger over his lips. He’s listening to whoever is moving around in the corridor. We all freeze until he nods. “Anyone who comes in here, we’re going to need to fight them,” Calvin whispers back. “We’ll stay here for a few minutes, see what you can find.”

Zane clicks on the desk lamp. There’s no computer, but a collection of fountain pens in a case sits in front of other supplies. Zane tries the drawers, but they’re locked.

With the light on, I can see the pictures behind the desk more clearly. They’re all landscapes. A few are artsy black and white; others are color.

My stomach twists. I can pick out exactly where most of them were taken.

I don’t like being anything like the Zambrano family.

But I can’t change that I was raised in privilege.

That’s the past. I pick up a picture. It’s definitely London, Oxford maybe.

Another one is a ski resort in Switzerland.

I’ve been there once. One of the times that Emily dragged me along to go skiing.

I grab another. I’ve definitely seen this one before.

Maybe it was thinking about the ski resort and Emily, but this is Emily’s high school in Vermont, a picture of the main building.

It’s like a stone castle. I’d know it anywhere.

In the background is the mountain that the freshmen climb on their first day, and then the seniors climb again down the other side of the mountain the day they graduate. And that’s when it hits me.

Zambrano. Thayer Zambrano. He’s that asshole boyfriend of Emily’s.

The one she had her freshman year. He was a senior.

Fuck me. How could I have forgotten . . .

I was training in Utah, but still. He told her he loved her and then dumped her when he graduated.

Just like I said he would. Because Thayer and I were―are―the same age.

And I know the type. Because I was the type.

Damn. She sent me links to sad YouTube videos the entire summer.

Dad took her to Europe to cheer her up. But she wanted to go to Thayer’s apartment in London and convince him to not break up with her.

He wouldn’t see her . . . fucking hell. That’s how my dad met Ed. That’s how this whole hell started.

“Whoa, mate,” Zane says, not in a whisper.

“What?”

“You’re bleeding.” Zane takes the broken picture frame out of my hand and turns in a circle. “I need to stash this somewhere.”

“Give me that picture,” I say.

He puts the frame on the desk and hands me a tissue. “Stop the bleeding first.” He raises his eyebrows at me.

It’s not a big cut. I’m able to wrap the tissue around my finger and slow the bleeding.

“What makes you so mad about a castle? Not even a bloody good one. Well, I guess it’s bloody now.” Zane’s working on extracting the picture from the broken frame.

I ignore his joke. “That’s how the Zambrano family met mine, or rather Emily. It’s her boarding school. Their school, I guess. Thayer’s an asshole she dated in high school. He broke her heart, and my dad took her to some estate in Switzerland―no, Albania.”

“Well, at least we know now why he’s not killing us. He's still got a thing for Emily,” Calvin says. “We don’t need to worry about it now. The coast is clear.” He has the door cracked.

I can’t look away from the array of photos behind the sofa. I step back over to look at them again.

“Here.” Zane hands me the scratched photo, then crouches down and shoves the broken frame under the desk. “Hold up. There’s something down here.” Zane pushes on something, and a wood panel drops, clanking loudly to the ground.

“What is it?” Calvin asks.

“Not sure. A file.” Zane puts it on the desk, flipping through it. “Why do rich people think that paper is more secure?” Zane’s forehead creases in his code-breaker stare.

“Because it usually is. What did you find?” I tuck the picture in my pocket.

“This is Ed’s office. And this is a list of people with marks next to each name.

Pound signs, check marks, and downward arrows.

I’m not sure what they mean. Should I take it?

Fuck that, I’m taking it. The head asshole has tried to kill me at least three times now.

I might as well give him a reason. The wanker.

” Zane tucks the file into the back of his pants.

“Are you two ready?” Calvin glares at us.

“Yeah.” I nod. “No, wait.”

“Wait? Why?” Zane asks.

I take a couple more of the framed pictures and bring them over to the light on the desk.

I can’t shake the feeling that there’s more here.

“This one. This one is the same cross that was in the black and white photo we found on the Rock Candy .” The picture is of the inside of a simple cathedral.

But the rustic cross matches the one in the other picture.

“Maybe? It’s clear that Ed is the one who set up the sabotage of the Rock Candy . Though I’m still not sure he’s the one who ordered it.” Zane takes the photo from me and hands it back. “Creeps me out, mate.”

This time I slide the photo out of the frame. I fold the photograph and put it in my pocket next to the other one of Pine Green Academy.

“We need to get going. I don’t want to stay anywhere for too long,” Calvin says.

“Agreed.” Zane moves to the door next to Calvin.

Calvin puts his hand on the door handle. “Up or down the stairs?”

“Down. The kitchen is definitely down, and that’s where we’re going to find Esmerelda.” Zane turns and asks, “Your finger good?”

“It’s fine.” It’s mostly stopped bleeding.

“You’ve got some rage in you. Save it for Zambrano’s men.

” Calvin opens the door and walks out into the hall like he belongs here.

We’re down the worn wooden stairs. The hallway here steps away from the hillside.

But Zane was right―this is the direction of the kitchen. And my stomach is turning traitor.

The corridor opens up into a small commercial-style kitchen. There’s a lot going on. Four Thai males hustle around. A tall woman with gray hair in a chef’s jacket and floral scrub pants is chopping so fast her fingers are a blur. She’s absolutely not from here.

She turns and glares at Calvin. “You new? Ed’s man?” She puts one hand on her hip, a knife in the other one. And I’m wishing Dante was here to speak to her, chef to chef.

Calvin raises his chin in an affirmative.

I widen my stance and act like any of the security guards my dad has hired over the years.

“What the fuck? You’re not due until midnight.

All twenty of you are already here? I’m not going to have enough dinner for you.

I have to feed everyone on the Rosewood too.

Along with all the regular staff. And Mr. Z.

” She shakes her head. Her accent is odd.

American, maybe, but twisted from years of living abroad.

There’s a high-pitched bark, and Penny comes running from across the kitchen. She’s in full play mode, barking and jumping, first on Calvin. But when he ignores her, she moves to Zane, who has never ignored her. Zane rubs her behind her ear. Her foot starts thumping.

The thump of Penny’s foot matches my heart. I scan the kitchen for a weapon. There are lots of options, but no knives near me.

Esmeralda says something in Thai, and the four men scurry out of the kitchen. “You’re not Ed’s men. You’re the ones who’re supposed to be dead. The crew of the yacht that was lost last year.” She looks from Calvin to Zane to me. She holds up a chef’s knife.

“Yes,” I say. “We have a note.”

“A note?” She laughs. “A note? You think that’s going to keep me from calling the guards in here?”

“Why didn’t you already?” I ask. “You could have. Instead, you let the kitchen staff take a smoke break.”

“I like your dog. Cat’s okay. A bit of a demon. But she’s coming around. And my sous chefs? They would have knocked over my broth on their way to get out of a fight anyhow. Now, what’s on this note that makes you think I’m not going to call someone who won’t run away?”

Penny nuzzles my hand until I start petting her, even though I’m not looking at her but at the knife Esmeralda’s holding.

“The note.” I cock my head at Zane.

“Right.” He pulls it out of his pocket. “Here.” He hands it over to her.

She reads it and purses her lips. “Well, I guess that answers my question about what I’m going to do.

” The knife drops to the counter with a clatter, and she takes long steps over to a disheveled desk in the corner of the room.

There are stacks of paper and open cookbooks mixed with receipts and at least ten open energy drinks.

She grabs a piece of paper. “I’ll give you the information, but it’s up to the lot of you. Aren’t there more of you?”

I nod.

“Right.” She draws a map on the paper. “This is the staff path to the main dock. There’s a boat in there. Keys are in a locker on the wall.”

“Where’s Pepper?” I ask.

“You’re going to take the dog and cat with you?”

“Yes,” Calvin says.

“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. You’re going to get them hurt. No, they stay. You go. You know the way?” She shakes the map at Calvin.

“Yes,” Zane says.

“Right. I’m not letting you keep this. But here’s my email address. You actually get yourselves back to the states, or England, or wherever the hell you want, contact me. I’ll find a way to get you your animals. Because they don’t need to die with you. Okay?”

I’m about to go to town on her when Calvin puts his hand out. “I have your word?”

“I swear to the Philadelphia Eagles that I will take good care of your pets until you let me know you’re safe.” She shakes his hand.

“I expect you to stick to your oath even though you’re an Eagles fan,” I say.

She laughs. “So, what are you going to do? It’s up to you. But if it were me, I would get the hell out of here.”