43
Ridge
I sit on the top step of Magma’s front porch, watching the road. My stomach is in knots.
A car turns onto the street. I straighten when I see it’s Flint’s SUV. He slows at the driveway and pulls in.
Both doors open at once.
Magma gets out of the passenger side first. He’s in a gray T-shirt and jeans. Flint slams his door and walks around to grab a six-pack off the back seat, which would explain why they are late.
Their voices carry up the path.
“So prison food wasn’t up to standard?” Flint asks.
“It actually wasn’t too bad, but you’re too stressed to eat anything.”
“I can imagine.”
“It’s good to be home and to see the sky and the grass.” He sucks in a breath.
“You were in for what? Two days…or was it three?”
Magma laughs. It’s a tired laugh, but it’s there. “It feels like two or three years.”
He hasn’t seen me yet. My car is parked further down the street, on the other side of a hedge.
They turn together and start up the path. Flint glances at me. Just a small tip of his head. He doesn’t say anything. He lets Magma get there on his own.
I stand waiting by the door, to the side. I’m essentially going to ambush him.
Magma reaches the bottom of the steps and stops.
He does a double-take.
“What the hell are you doing here?” His voice is gruff.
Then he looks at Flint, who has come up alongside him on the path with the beer dangling from one hand. “What is he doing here? Did you know about this?”
“Yes.” Flint holds his ground. “I asked him to come.”
“You asked him. Why would you do that? Do you know what he did?”
“I do, and I asked him anyway.”
Magma’s jaw is tight; his eyes are blazing. “Why would you do that?”
“Hear me out, please,” I say.
“No!”
“Hear him out.” Flint lifts the six-pack a little, like an offering. “Please. Ridge played a big role in getting you freed. He found the evidence we needed. He’s the one who got Layla on a video call with Reed, so she’d give her confession. He got her to agree to come back to the island to testify. Without him, you’d still be in that cell. It’s a simple fact. He knows Layla. He got her to tell him about how she was being blackmailed. I told you all about it in the car.”
Magma’s eyes move from Flint to me and back.
“I’m angry with you.” He points a finger.
“I know. I get it, I do.”
