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I don’t know how Victor Corvi would be better, either, but right now I want to be anywhere but here.
I say nothing else as Cat storms out. There’s nothing else to say.
But I don’t hesitate to act, because this may be the only chance I get.
As quickly as I can, I sprint across the room and grab the door handle before it can shut behind her. I turn the knob, hearing the beep of the electronic lock. It doesn’t catch, and I hold my breath, hoping she doesn’t notice.
In the only favor the universe has done for me lately, my sandals are right by the door. I keep the door handle turned as I awkwardly grab them with my feet and put them on. I count to five hundred, until I’m sure Cat is gone, then I carefully pull the door open.
My heart is pounding fast as I slowly ease out of the room, carefully closing it behind me. I don’t know if I can get out of the building without being seen or heard, but I have to try. I have to get out and get to the police before Giulio can do anything worse to Stef. I have to make sure the police understand that the women here don’t want to be here.
Then I have to go back to Benton City and hide before Giulio can get his hands on me again.
I glance down the hall, toward the stairs. If I go down that way, I risk somebody else noticing me. But the other direction is a dead end, with a single window at the end of the hall.
We’re on the second floor, though. I can… I can handle a fall from the second floor. Not a fall. A calculated jump. And if I break my leg, maybe a bystander will call an ambulance for me.
That sounds like a much better plan than risking Paul or Donny spotting me.
No, it really doesn’t, but what other choice do I have?
I jog to the window, giving a relieved sigh when it actually opens. I half expected it to be barred and glued shut.
I’m even more relieved when I realize there’s a fire escape just outside. No need to break my ankle after all.
I look back one last time, then scramble out the window as fast as I can. I have to remove the fly screen, and there’s no way for me to reattach it from the outside. But I do close the window as far as I can.
I’m not entirely pleased with how rickety the fire escape is. The railing is rusted, and when I take one step toward the ladder at the end, the entire thing creaks.
“Please hold,” I beg.
I hit another snag: the ladder that’s supposed to lower to the alley only lowers halfway. It’s stuck in place, and I have no way of getting it down the rest of the way. Even getting to the other side of the ladder is going to be tricky.
But I can do this. It isn’t just for me. It’s for Stef, and all the girls at the club. They don’t deserve to be treated like this.
I wipe my eyes with the back of my hand, then grab the one part of the ladder that isn’t completely rusted. My breathing picks up as I climb over the railing so I can get to the other side.
Stupidly, I glance down.
The alley isn’t so far away, but with my feet on the rungs and nothing between me and that hard, concrete ground below, it feels like it’s a million miles away.
I can’t afford to wait around for my fear to subside, though. I need to get out of here before anybody notices I’m gone.
I slowly go down as much of the ladder as I can, wincing when the metal snags on my skin. As soon as this is over, I’ll have to get a tetanus shot.
Then my feet hit the last rung.
It’s still too far to just jump. But if I lower myself so I’m dangling, that might… that might work.
Oh god. I really wish I’d spent more time working on my grip strength. Or working out at all, this past month.
I take a deep breath and do what I can to drop myself lower and lower. My arms start to burn from the strain.
I’m going to take up rock climbing when I’m home again. My university had a rock-climbing wall in its gym, but I’d always preferred jogging. What an idiot I’d been.
Rock climbing, and kickboxing. Judo, too. Or jiu jitsu. Anything that will give me leverage over large men who want to manhandle me.
When I’m hanging from the last rung, I close my eyes, take a deep breath. But I can’t jump without looking. I have to keep them open as I let go and drop the remaining distance.
