Page 7 of When She Unravels
Which means I need a plan, and I need itfast.
My surroundings come into sharper focus as I come to terms with what I’ll have to do.
Lazaro must be neutralized.
I prowl to the drawers along the wall and start flinging them open one by one.
“What are you doing?” the girl asks.
“Helping you. Be quiet.” I find a knife and tuck it into the back of my skirt. It’s not hard to find weapons down here, but it would be nice if there was a…
Gun. I pick it up from the bottom of a drawer and check to see if it’s loaded. I’ve been to the shooting range three times. Papà thinks it is a basic skill everyone in the family should know, even the girls. I thought it was progressive of him, but that was before he married me to a sadistic killer.
“What are you going to do with that?” the girl asks.
“Shoot him.”
She swallows. “And then? How do we get out of here?”
That’s a great question. If we can get past Lazaro, she can escape out the back entrance. It’s never guarded when Lazaro is around. No one is crazy enough to try to attack Garzolo’s main executioner in the comfort of his home. If she runs across the backyard, she can cross through the narrow wooded area and end up outside the neighborhood, on the side of the road.
And then what? No, she needs a car. But Michael, the guard at the entrance of the neighborhood, is on Lazaro’s payroll, and he’ll sound an alert if he sees some unknown woman driving one of our vehicles.
He won’t if it’s me who’s driving. I can say I’m going to the grocery store to pick up something for dinner. That will buy us an hour at least. Is that enough time for me to get the girl to safety?
I swap the knife tucked into my skirt with the gun and rush over to start cutting the rope binding her hands. She’s breathing hard, but there’s a spark in her eyes now.
“Do you have anyone in New York who can help you?” I ask.
“No. My friend was the only one who came with me, but if I get my phone back, I can call someone.”
“They’re going to be after us quickly,” I tell her. “You need to be far away before they realize you’re gone.”
My thoughts race. I’ll put her in the trunk and get as far away as possible, but she needs to flee somewhere farther than where a car can take her.
“I need to get to the airport,” she says, as if sensing my thoughts. “I need to get home to—”
“Don’t tell me,” I interrupt. If I’m caught, it’s better I don’t know where she went. “Do you have your passport?”
“It was in my backpack,” she says. “But I don’t have that anymore.”
The backpack on the counter must be hers. “I know where it is.” I finish cutting through the rope, and the girl staggers into me.
“You’ll be okay,” I mutter, even though I have no idea if that’s true. “I’m going to knock him out when he returns, and then you need to follow me upstairs. We’ll grab your things and take the car out. You’ll get in the trunk. I’ll drive directly to the airport. From the moment I drop you off, you’re on your own.”
Relief and anxiety dance across her face. “Okay.”
The gun’s cold, but it burns through the clothes on my back. I take it into my hand and motion for her to move behind me.
The minutes that we wait for Lazaro to return are agonizing. My guts move so loudly I’m afraid he’ll hear them as soon as he opens the door to the basement. But I also know that my husband will never expect this from me. In his eyes, I’m powerless. Hardly a threat. I can use that to my advantage.
Finally, the door opens with a muffled creak. We’re standing out of sight, so when he gets to the bottom of the stairs, it’s his back I’m looking at. There’s no time for hesitation. I can’t allow him to process the fact that the girl is no longer tied up. My finger presses against the trigger, and just as he whirls around, I shoot.
CHAPTER3
VALENTINA
The gun recoils.Lazaro falls. The sound of the shot vibrates my eardrums. The moment expands, absorbing more and more observations until it finally bursts, and I jump into motion.
