Chapter 34
They were at Jump’s place, sitting around his table or on his couch as they looked at computer screens while they searched for Willa. They were in contact with Thario, who had an idea of which area of the city Robert had taken Willa to.
Jump’s house had turned out to be the perfect place to go. Calla had tracked Robert’s car to this side of the city, but she’d lost it on a stretch of road that didn’t have working traffic cameras.
“So we have four motels they could be in,” Wave said.
“I just want to get out there and start knocking on doors,” Cy said.
Foster grunted. “We should wait until we have more information.”
They were right, but that didn’t stop him from wanting to go out there to track the bastard down. Lord only knew what was happening to Willa at the moment.
His stomach clenched. He couldn’t believe that Cindy had brought that guy back, the one who’d been kicked out of Aces, so he could do something to Willa.
So far, the specific something she’d told the guy to do was up in the air.
Cindy said she’d only meant to scare Willa, not hurt her.
But Cy had a feeling she’d meant to do more than just scare Willa.
“Fuck! This is so frustrating.”
Wave squeezed his shoulder. “If we go in without any real intelligence on where she is, we could end up delaying everything. The last thing we want is to scare him off and have him run. If she’s close, we can get her back.”
Cy let go of a ragged breath. Wave was right, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t frustrated by waiting. “You’re right. Doesn’t mean I want to wait, though.”
“Get up and take a walk. Stretch your muscles. You’re getting frustrated just sitting here,” Foster said.
Cy stood and stretched his arms over his head. He stepped away from the table and pulled out his phone. For a second, he wondered if he’d place a call, because when he looked at the screen, it looked like he was on a call. Had he answered a call when he pulled his phone from his pocket?
Willa was about to hang up the phone when Robert’s voice seemed to fade away. Was this some kind of trick?
She heard a click on the line. Had Cy answered? The hotel phone was old, and they were probably on some sort of switchboard, so everything seemed to be taking longer than with her cellphone. It seemed like forever before Cy’s voice came over the line.
“Hello.”
“Cy, listen.” She read off the address and room number, her voice slurring so she had to repeat parts of the address twice. “That’s where the pizza delivery sticker says to deliver to.”
“Stay put.”
“Can’t move.”
Cy grunted, then his voice sounded far away. Maybe he’d put his phone down.
Her eyes drifted closed, and she might have passed out. Then she heard Cy’s voice in her ear.
“We’re coming. As much as I don’t want you to, I think you should hang up the phone and hide the evidence that you called. I don’t want him figuring out that you called me.”
“Oh God, Cy. I hurt so much.”
“We’ll be there in a few minutes. Don’t get caught on the phone. Hang up. I’ll be there.”
Willa didn’t know what to do. She didn’t want to end the call. She liked hearing Cy’s voice. He gave her strength, but he was right. If Robert came back and saw her on the phone, he would throw a fit.
Already her body ached so much she wasn’t sure she would ever recover. The pain was too much, and she wanted to sink into oblivion. But she had to make it look like she wasn’t on the phone with Cy, which meant she had to hang up and move to the other side of the room where he’d left her.
Though she didn’t want to, Willa hung up the phone and closed the drawers. Then she pushed the phone back to where it had been before and switched back on the light.
Moving to the other side of the room took all her energy. She had no idea how long it took her to move, but Robert’s voice could be heard outside the room by the time she dropped into a heap where she’d been before.
Her heart picked up speed as she heard his hand on the doorknob. A shiver slid through her at the thought of him catching her.
The door cracked open, and she heard a car in the lot. If only the person in that car knew she was here. She needed help now.
Where was Cy? She wanted him to save her because there was no way she could fight off Robert or run from him. She was stuck here, unable to escape. She prayed Cy showed up soon, because she didn’t want to die here in this shitty motel, not without telling Cy she loved him.