Page 13 of My Crazy Killers
Now… it is an option. I just need to open the locked window somehow. I study the latch; if I had a small, thin metal object, I could probably push the latch free. I move around the room, looking for something to help me, not for the first time.
I open the closet, hating the fact that Wren is probably having to look at one the whole time she’s in her room. I hope she isn’t having constant panic attacks on top of everything else.
The closet’s empty, save for some metal hangers. I tilt my head as I look at them. That could work. I snatch one up and start bending it to the shape I want as I move back to the window.
I push it between the frames, and it’s a tight fit, but I make it work by pushing up the latch and letting me pull the window open a fraction. Peeking out, I see a guard strolling through the back of the yard.
I close it and watch as he moves out of sight around the right side of the building. I glance around and see another guard moving to the right and out of sight, then I count.
It’s almost a full minute, fifty-three seconds to be exact, before one of them comes into view on the left. The one on the right comes into sight fifteen seconds later.
I keep watching, counting the gaps, and when they both disappear again, I risk sticking my head out to look down. Just as I’d hoped, there is a small ledge that runs along the back of the house, a few feet below my window. It’s only a few inches deep, but it’s enough to stand on.
Pulling my head back, I settle in to start counting. I had already mapped out the time between guards here yesterday, but if we are going to get out of here, we have to be smart about it, and I want to make sure nothing has changed before I risk it.
One thing was certain: I was getting her out of herebefore Ivan could hurt her again. I wouldn’t allow her another evening in his reach, another moment where he could use her to break me.
She was mine, and I’d already let her suffer more than she ever should have. I’d give everything—what little I had left—to keep her safe now.
CHAPTER SEVEN
WREN
As soon as I get back to my room, I remove my dress carefully. In the bathroom, I try to look at my back in the mirror. What I see looks terrible, but I have no way to clean it without standing under the spray of water.
Deciding I can’t deal with that sort of pain right now, I find a black cami and pull it on so I don’t have to walk around naked. I pull open the drawer where I found the tights and start pulling everything out, hoping to find something more opaque to wear as pants. Luck comes in the form of a pair of fleece-lined black tights. I pull them on and check myself out in the mirror.
I’m not going to win any awards for best dressed, but I’m covered and as comfortable as I can be. I need to be ready in case Jagger makes a move.
It’s driving me nuts, not knowing what his plan is, or how he’ll even get past the guards that I know are stationed outside our rooms.
There were four more on the ground floor between usand the front door. Outside, there were probably even more. We’d be best to wait until dark to escape; that’s probably what Jagger’s waiting for.
That means we have to sit through another dinner and… I swallow the lump in my throat as I start pacing. Ivan is unpredictable; who knows what he has planned for us tonight. We might get lucky, and he’ll send us back to our rooms after we eat, or he might plan to repeat the same game as last night.
I rub my arms as they prickle with unease.We are so screwed.
A soft scraping sound has me turning to the window. I move closer and look out, but don’t see anything. Suddenly, a large body moves in front of it, and I jump back with a gasp. My hands fly to cover my mouth and stop any sounds from escaping when I realize it’s Jagger.
I try to open the window, but it’s locked. He pulls a wire hanger from the back of his pants and shoves it between the frames. I grab the other end and help him push it up, dislodging the latch so I can pull the window open quickly, afraid he’s going to fall or get caught at any second.
Silently, he jumps in and shuts the window, taking a second to scan the yard. When he seems to feel like he hasn’t been spotted, he turns and grabs me by the upper arms, leading me away from the window to the middle of the room.
He holds my cheeks, and I place my hands over his as we stare at each other. “You came,” I whisper as a tear of relief rolls freely down my cheek. He leans down and kisses me hard. He’s not slow or chaste; he pours everything he has into that kiss, making me moan in approval.
Eventually, he pulls back, and we both pant heavily, staring at one another, unable to look away.“Let me see your back,”he signs, and I turn to show him. He doesn’t touch the wounds, and when he tries to pull my cami away from my skin, I hiss in pain, and he stops, turning me back to face him.
“There’s nothing here to bind it with. I think it’s best to do it after we escape, so we don’t leave a trail of blood.”
“Can I see yours?” I ask, moving around him. His shirt is stuck to his back, blood staining the entire thing. I realize he has the same problem as I; his shirt is stuck to the wounds.
Moving back to his front, I nod, then ask the most important question right now. “How do we get out of here?”
Lifting his hands, he signs,“The window. But we need to wait for dark since the biggest gap is only fifty-three seconds. That’s not enough time to get down and out of sight.”
I’m shaking my head before he finishes. “No, there’s a bigger gap when they do a shift change; it’s just over three minutes.”
His eyes widen in surprise.“When?”
