Endgame Romance, page 33
There’s a command there, one that I can’t risk unleashing on Maxx. Because if he feels like he has to, Maxx will go after Justin to protect me. And Justin? Well, he’d kill Maxx if he had to. No doubts about that. He wouldn’t lose a wink of sleep over it either.
“I’m okay.” The words are soft, but I step into the house and allow Bio Dad to shut the door behind me. He watches Maxx pace a bit on the porch, entangling his fingers together behind his head, before he eventually heads back to the Jeep and then waits there, staring at the house like he’s considering knocking or breaking in.
The consolation prize of returning to Justin’s home at sunrise is that he doesn’t seem to mind that I was out late. Not that he didn’t text me; he did. It’s just that he didn’t care if I came home early or not, if I stayed out and … did my own thing.
“Maxim Wright rather than Kwang-seon McKenna?” he asks, picking up a cup of coffee from the side table near the door. He takes a sip and then tsks his tongue at me, turning away and disappearing into the solarium.
Raúl is sitting at the breakfast table working on his pink MacBook. He glances up at me in disdain as I enter the room, reaching up to adjust his brightly colored eyewear. Today, it’s a pair of rainbow glasses.
“Am I being punished?” I ask, and Justin sighs, continuing past me to sit on the back porch. I can’t decide if he’s just getting up or if he never went to sleep. Either way, it looks like he’s gearing up to watch the sun rise.
“Did you think I wouldn’t know what Lumen was up to?” Justin asks casually, crossing his legs as he reclines in the chair and stares out across the water. “So, go. Save your ‘girlfriend’”—and here he makes a quote shape with a single finger, holding his coffee in the other hand—“just be aware that someone is going to die tonight. You can bring your boyfriends with you if you want, but I wouldn’t recommend it.”
I just stare at him.
I really messed up, didn’t I? By challenging Justin the way I did.
“Is this because of the things I said after the hearing?” I ask him, and he turns his head oh-so-slowly to look at me.
“Actually, yes. But not in the way you might think. I’d been planning on letting you make the decision yourself as to whether you’d meet Lumen alone or take your harem.” He says it unironically, too, the harem thing. He really and truly doesn’t care about that part of the equation, now does he? “I wanted to see if you were independent or overly reliant on your pawns. But”—he holds up a single finger—“I appreciated your gusto and bravado in terms of challenging me. This is a favor, Dakota.” He sips his coffee again and then points at his cheek. “Now, give me a kiss and say yes, Daddy and go meet your friend.”
“The friend you blackmailed into beating me up, into tormenting me, into revealing not just personal information about me and Parrish but also about how I destroyed the students’ cars.”
“I never made you do that; it was a choice.” He taps his cheek again. “And one day, you’ll thank me for what I did. Do you think I asked Veronica Fisher and her friends to cut your clothes off and post you naked online? I did not. I cleaned the internet of your images, Dakota. By using Lumen Hearst, I was proving to you what you already know: everyone in Whitehall—in Medina—is a monster.”
I bend down and kiss his cheek, chills creeping across my skin.
“Yes, Daddy.”
The words are wooden as I stand back up, heart pounding as I run through any and all available options.
Someone is going to die tonight? Who? Saffron? Lumen?
One thing I do know: it won’t be me.
Justin doesn’t want me dead.
I move away and into the house, sliding my phone from my pocket.
Where are you? I reply, and Lumen responds almost instantly with an address.
There’s a text from Maxx, too, asking me if I’m truly alright, if I need anything, if he should stay the night. Cute. Would Justin allow that? It’s not like he cares what I do with boys—in fact, he encourages it.
I’m totally fine. Get some sleep. I send that before I can stop myself, hoping that Maxx really will go home and stay out of this for the time being.
My choices are not good. Tackle this alone, which sounds like a really bad idea. Or bring one of the guys along which also seems like a really bad idea.
“Just be aware that someone is going to die tonight.”
I make my decision and then wake Delphine up to bum a ride.
Delphine doesn’t mind being woken up. Actually, she seems excited that I sought her out, showing off the beautiful new convertible that Justin bought for her. I’m not surprised in the least, not about the car or the fact that she says he’ll get me one as soon as I’m able to drive.
He’d like that, providing an even nicer and fancier car than Tess did.
I force those thoughts aside, focused on the moment at hand instead. Because whatever is going to happen tonight, I’m not going to like it. We head to the address together—it just so happens to be a diner that either stays open all night or else opens up really early—and Delphine drops me off.
Lumen is waiting at a table inside, and I watch almost forlornly as Delphine leaves again.
“You made it,” she says as I approach the table and take a tentative seat across from her. I tossed my phone under a bench outside. If it gets stolen, eh. Honestly, it might be a blessing. The two of us stare at each other for a moment before she leans in toward me. “I accidentally left my phone in the car, so I wasn’t sure if you got my last message.”
“Mine’s outside under a bench,” I add, and Lumen smiles. Not to say there aren’t cameras in here. There very well could be. “What’s up? Justin seems to know that we’ve been communicating. Unfortunately, that doesn’t bode well for either of us.”
Lumen just stares at me, blinking a set of falsies that I wonder if she put on just now or has been wearing all night. Her blond hair is loose and hanging in a glossy wave over one shoulder, and she’s dressed herself into a white t-shirt with gold letters on the front and a pair of blue jeans. Pretty sure the letters constitute some luxury brand, but I could be wrong. It could just as easily be a political slogan of some sort.
Lumen is hardcore conservative in many ways; Danyella is mostly the opposite; I float between them. Somehow, all three of us got along just fine before Justin’s interference. Imagine that.
“What did he say?” she asks, her voice a strangled, tired thing. A waiter brings over a pair of coffees, and I order a plate of eggs and bacon, wishing I could enjoy this moment. It could be fun if there weren’t extenuating circumstances involved. I just had sex with one of the hottest guys I’ve ever seen in my life—in an arcade of all places—and now I’m here having breakfast with a friend, and I should just be gushing over my experience …
Instead, I keep wondering who the hell is supposed to kick the bucket and if I made the right decision by not informing the guys and … I could text them now, let them know that I’m out with Lumen, but not give them the address. At least then they’d know something was going on. If I did give them the address, the three of them would show up within minutes. Guaranteed.
It’s a nice feeling and simultaneously threatening.
On the other hand, I know for a fact that Justin won’t allow anything to happen to me. I am not the one at risk here; there’s no immediate threat against my life. It makes sense for me to handle this on my own.
“One second.” I head back outside, slide my phone from under the bench and message the boys anyway. Hey, they might track my phone and show up here, but … I can’t lie to them. And I can’t just leave them out.
Eating breakfast with Lumen; she really wanted me to meet up and talk. I’ll message you when I get home safe. I hit send, head back inside, and slide into the booth across from Lumen.
“Sorry about that.” I clear my head and try to remember where we were. Ah. Right. “Justin said you didn’t think I knew what she was up to or something along those lines.” My food arrives almost as quickly as I ordered it, and the waiter leaves the plate in front of me as Lumen sits there staring back at me.
“You’re sure that’s what he said?” she asks, and I nod, taking a bite of scrambled egg and realizing as it hits my stomach how damn hungry I was. Part of me wants to go outside and see what the boys’ responses are. On the other hand … gah.
I make myself eat. Maxx tired me out, I won’t lie. Two times in quick succession, and my stomach is still in knots. I want to be naked in bed with him, licking and kissing every square inch of his body for hours, for days, for a week.
Someday, maybe.
“I’m sure.”
Lumen signals the waiter back over and orders this massive heaping pile of pancakes with chocolate chips, strawberries, and whipped cream.
“I was on a diet but screw it. If I’m going to prison, who cares?” She digs into her food with a sigh, but because I’m, well, me, I can’t let that comment slide.
“You don’t need to be on a diet, Lumen. First off, you’re in great shape. Second, diets aren’t helpful for anybody. Eat healthy eighty-percent of the time, and do your own thing the other twenty-percent.”
She sighs heavily and stuffs a huge bite into her mouth.
“You’re too awesome, you know that?” she murmurs, but she doesn’t agree or disagree with my statement.
I lean in to whisper so that the few other patrons in the room won’t be able to hear us.
“Besides that, you used justifiable force to protect Danyella. I don’t necessarily believe that you would go to jail over that sort of incident.” I sit up straight and down some of my water before taking another sip of coffee. Too much caffeine without water makes me feel ehh for some reason.
“Not after burying him and keeping it hidden.” She sets her utensils aside and puts her face in her hands. “Why didn’t I just report it then and there?” I’m not actually sure if she’s talking to me or herself. “Maybe I should have? But I was afraid. These cases don’t always go the way they should, you know.”
She isn’t wrong, but it’s a moot point now so I don’t argue it.
Instead, we sit together and eat breakfast at six in the morning while the sun peaks its head above the horizon.
“What are we supposed to do now?” I ask her, wondering how murder comes into play in this particular scenario. We finish our food and Lumen pays, despite my protests. I’ve got some cash on hand thanks to Justin. He practically throws it at me.
“I have no idea.” She takes me outside, and I grab my phone from under the bench. Unfortunately, it’s still there. I almost wished it had been stolen.
If you don’t message me back now, I’m tracking you and coming over there. It’s Parrish. He could be on his way here at this very moment.
Little Sister, I swear to fuck. CALL US. X is panicking—also, he’s pissed.
Nothing more from Maxx himself though, not after our last conversation. I find that to be odd, but I don’t reply to them. I know that they can track my phone because I let them add software to mine for that very purpose.
“We should go.” I encourage Lumen to leave the parking lot, just in case one of the boys shows up.
“Where are we going?” she asks absently, and I shrug.
“Back to Justin’s place?” I ask, my heart thudding oddly in my chest. Justin didn’t send me out just to have breakfast with Lumen and then bail. Something else is going on here, but I can’t quite put my finger on it. Am I missing something? Is this yet another lesson that I’m just not getting?
On the way back, a cop car pulls up behind us and turns on its lights.
My mind immediately goes back to the cop we saw that night in the Vasquez house, the one that came around the corner opposite Mr. Volli with a freaking gun in his hand. It would make sense, wouldn’t it? Who else could it possibly be?
“Don’t pull over,” I say, clutching at the edge of my seat with tight fingers. “Just don’t.”
“I can’t not pull over,” Lumen insists, but she keeps driving anyway. “Why? What’s going on?”
She wouldn’t know about the cop because we didn’t exactly tell her that part.
“Justin has cops in his back pocket,” I explain, as quickly and succinctly as possible. “I don’t know if the person following us is one of his pets or not. Are you willing to take the risk?”
We end up back at Justin’s place—only to find that the gate is closed.
It’s closed, and the street here is a dead-end with another manor across from ours, only their gate isn’t on this side of the property.
We’re trapped.
Lumen is no Scarlett Force (famous action star/stunt driver extraordinaire) so outrunning and outmaneuvering a cop car isn’t an option. We exchange a look as the guy tells us to get out of the car, and to do so with our hands raised.
This is … not good.
Not at all.
I’m not great with faces, but I’m pretty sure the uniformed officer that climbs out of the car is the same guy I met in the wine cellar. I wish I’d looked at his name tag the last time we saw him.
He walks right up to us, Lumen on one side of the car, me on the other.
“Walk,” he commands, using the gun to gesture us into the woods at the end of the street. Oh no. No, no, no. This is not good.
“Someone is going to die tonight.” Justin wasn’t kidding around, was he? Not that I assumed he was.
Lumen and I exchange looks, but what can we do?
Justin closed the gate on purpose; this is exactly where he intended for us to end up.
Lumen and I do as we’re told, turning and heading into the shadows of the trees. The sun might be rising, but it’s still early morning, and the sun’s rays are weak. They barely penetrate the copse of trees. Pretty sure this is the Fairweather Nature Preserve. It’s not a big space, but at ten acres, it’s certainly large enough for us to get lost in.
We walk slowly, crunching across the debris on the forest floor.
The morning is cool and misty, but I can tell it’s going to heat up quick. Not … that I’ll be able to enjoy any of that. Oh hell no, whatever happens here is going to dictate the course of my life.
Somehow, I can feel it in my bones.
What we see when we reach a small clearing shocks the hell out of me.
It’s Danyella. She’s unconscious, arms tied behind her back, but there’s no mistaking her distinctive pink glasses or the black SIX sweatshirt with the white crown that she’s wearing.
Lumen makes a small sound of surprise, but I remain silent, even as the cop commands her to get to her knees beside Danyella’s quiet form.
He turns to me, his face impossible to read. It’s neutral, but almost disturbingly so. There’s nothing there. His eyes are empty in a way that Justin’s aren’t, and I’m reminded of Mr. Fosser all over again. This guy gives me the chills in a similar way.
Please don’t let this man be a pervert, I think, but I’m not about to let anything happen to any of us. Not at all.
I’m not an idiot: I didn’t come here emptyhanded, after all.
“Pick one.” The cop’s words are eerily similar to Justin’s from earlier, and I get the chills all over again. This moment has been planned for some time; Justin intended for me to end up right here, just like this.
And, by turning Lumen into the bad guy, he almost guaranteed who I would choose.
Lumen Hearst, the daughter of the woman who stole Justin’s research.
Shit.
I put my hands up to my face, as if I’m having a panic attack. Sort of am, sorry, not sorry, but I don’t let my anxiety control me. Not here, not now. What good would that do me?
If Justin didn’t send me out here with specific instructions, then he’s waiting for me to make a move.
I put my hands on my hips, and then I bend over, putting my palms on my thighs.
“Why are you doing this?” I ask, my voice shaky with unshed tears. I look up at the brown-haired man with the more than average face. He could be anybody, really. He’s fairly young, not any older than Justin certainly, and he’s handsome in the traditional sense.
Not a man you could pick out of a crowd.
Monsters hide in pretty skins sometimes, don’t they?
“None of your goddamn business, that’s why.” The man’s voice stays neutral, but then he smiles at me, and I go cold all over. Where did Justin find these creeps anyway?!
But the answer is obvious: Milk Carton. He probably used his stupid app to find perverts and killers, started rounding them up as pawns. I shudder. Did he use unsolved crimes to find wanted murderers?
That wouldn’t surprise me at all.
I lift my head up slightly, aiming to go for the knife in my back pocket, the one that Maxx just gifted to me.
What are you going to do, Kota? I ask myself, but I already saw what I was willing to do earlier. If somebody I love is in danger, then I have to be willing to bend my principles. What good is morality when it serves no practical person?
I love these girls more than I care about my morals.
I know exactly what I’m willing to do to get out of this. Justin wanted to teach me about sacrifice? What if the only person I’m willing to sacrifice is myself?
“The man you’re working for,” I begin, standing up slightly, hand moving slowly, so slowly … “You should know that he’s the Seattle Slayer. How do you know that he won’t come for you next?”
The cop guy just stares at me, and then he laughs. The sound is remarkably pleasant, like this guy would be the last person you’d expect of being a killer.
“He’s not the Seattle Slayer,” the man begins, cocking his head slightly. “I’m the Seattle Slayer.”
I just stare at him.
Huh? But Justin … No, I know without a doubt that he’s the Slayer. What the fuck is this guy talking about then? Lumen makes a small sound from her spot on the ground, and I flick my eyes her way, noticing that hers are focused on the cop in a disturbing way.
Like, she might rush him and get herself killed in the process.
