“Not nice…not nice…” she muttered. “…is too hot…we want boba…no sugar…always too much sugar…”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Ellis muttered under his breath. “Some people really don’t handle stress well.” Ellis squatted down next to Alex. “She’s talking herself into a one-way ride over the line. I’m not putting up with this shit for another hour.”
“We like boba…right? It’s our favorite. Right, Jax?” Jade was clearly talking to the phone.
Alex looked up at her. Had she said Jax? Wow, she was really out of it.
Ellis seemed to have noticed too. He stood up and walked over to her; as he got close, she wrapped her arms around her body defensively.
“Jade, can you tell me where Jax is?”
Jade just looked at the phone; its broken screen caught the bright sunlight. She didn’t need to say what she was thinking. Ellis gave a short bark of a laugh.
“Well, I guess that wouldn’t surprise me. If Jax did come back to haunt us, he’d probably be reincarnated as an iPhone.” He was grinning.
Alex looked down at the dirt; it was like rubbernecking the scene of an accident. He wouldn’t feel sorry for Jade, he told himself. Even if she had completely lost the plot and thought she was talking to her dead boyfriend. She was with Raya the last time they saw her alive. Whatever happened, whatever Ellis did, she must have sat back and let it happen. She wasn’t a victim.
“Oh, look! There he is.” Ellis waved at the phone. “Hey, Jax—looking good. What’s that…? Uh huh…sure…okay.” He turned to Jade and leaned forward conspiratorially. “Jax says you should go to him.” He caught Alex’s eye behind Jade’s back and winked. “He says he’s waiting for you.”
Jade shuddered. She kept her face firmly turned away from Ellis.
“I’m not…” Jade looked at the phone. Somewhere inside the mess in her head, she must still be registering danger. Alex felt relieved.
Ellis must have picked up on the same vibe. He stopped grinning and slipped his hands into his pockets, his brow creased in thought. He was alert, looking around, taking in everything. Jade’s proximity to the line, her body language. Alex was in no doubt—Ellis had chosen his next victim. The only thing left was deciding how to do it.
Did Jade understand what was happening? Did she know that Ellis was coming for her? Would she fight it? Alex’s eyes searched Jade’s face for something, anything. But all he saw was fear and confusion.
“Ja—” Alex broke off into a violent, hacking cough. His throat felt raw, each cough sending a spasm of pain through his chest. He fell back, struggling to catch his breath.
Ellis watched him dispassionately for a moment, before turning his attention back to Jade. “Jax says he wants you to come to him. He wants to tell you something.” Ellis feigned a kind of sad-awkward expression. “He says…he forgives you.”
This was low. Even for Ellis.
Jade’s lip quivered; her eyes filled with tears. Her entire body was shaking violently.
“I’m so sorry…so sorry…I never meant…” Her whole fragile figure seemed to shrink into itself—like a lost child. She started to cry.
“It’s okay, I know.” Ellis stepped forward and gently, almost tenderly, placed his hand on her shoulder. Jade instantly recoiled, spinning around to face him, her expression taut with fear. Her tears were flowing freely now, her heels pushed deep into the line’s white paint. Ellis dropped his hand. “I know you didn’t mean to kill Jax, or let Raya die to save yourself. No matter what everyone else will think, I know you’renot a murderer. You’re just doing what you have to, what we all have to. You’re not a bad person.” Was he talking to himself? It was like watching a snake carefully coil itself around an unsuspecting victim.
“Don’t listen…” Alex’s words were barely croaks. Awkwardly, he shifted himself forward, onto his knees, the lamp cord cutting into his wrists as he pulled against it.
Ellis shot him a dark warning look before turning to check the time. A steely expression crossed his face. They must be down to the final minutes of the hour by now.
“You need to go to Jax now. Go to him and this will all be over,” Ellis said, moving incrementally closer to her. His voice had a new urgency.
Jade was transfixed. Her sobbing dried up; she was staring at the phone as though she could see Jax, smiling his big smile, filming the moment. A strange look of calm flickered across her face.
“Go,” Ellis whispered encouragingly. “Jax needs you.” He had her. Alex could see the trap close. So smoothly, so easily.He had her.
“Jade, stop…” Alex pushed himself to standing, dragging the lamp behind him. “Jax isn’t there. Jax is…”
In two steps, Ellis covered the distance between them. He grabbed Alex by his shirt and flung him back down on the ground, locking his arm firmly around his neck. Alex gasped for air, struggling against the tight grip, choking.
“Jade, listen to me.” The sweetness was gone. Ellis was done playing. In one of his hands, he was gripping a plastic zip tie. Plan B. “It’s easy. You have two options. You can turn around and walk across the line to Jax. You can ride off into the fucking sunset together. Just the two of you. No more pain, just love. Or you can stay here…with me.” He held out the zip tie like an offering.
Time almost stopped as Jade looked at Ellis, then the phone, thenback to Ellis. There wasn’t much to choose between. She could stay here with her guilt and fear—with Ellis and his death machine, until he strapped her to it and dragged her over the line. Or she could walk over to the phone, to Jax, who loved her, who forgave her. If she wanted it to be so, it would be. Jax was waiting for her. He was smiling and waving, calling to her. Did anything else matter? Did the truth matter? Right here, in this moment, this was her truth.
As it turned out, Ellis was right. It was easy. She chose Jax.
