Last Stop - Chapter 03

My heart leaped into my throat, fear rolling off in waves. I twisted off the stool, bringing out the dinner knife I'd tucked away, almost diving back to the corner. They'd found me! Instead of running and trying to find a hole to hide in until I might skip town, I had been lured in by the warmth, the food, and the offer of a job, and stayed here too long. Had that been the loco cat's true purpose? To keep me here until my killers could catch up to me?

The knock wasn't repeated; the sliding door pushed open instead.

But it had been locked, and the lights turned off! Had they picked the bolt somehow? These people still might not have had anything to do with my being found. Their deaths would be on my head! A cold sweat broke out all over me.

If I rushed past the intruder and made it outside, my pursuers would run after me and forget about the people here. I hunkered down, ready to make a break for it. Please let me do this one last thing before I die!

"Is it okay to come in again? Did you have enough time?"

I froze at the familiar-sounding boyish voice—one I'd been sure I would never hear again.

'Your timing is perfect,' Beauty said. 'Come on in.'

I swallowed hard, hesitating so I could catch a glance of him instead of running off or forcing my way out the front door. Mira, I had to know!

A young man sheepishly stepped in through the open doorway. I couldn't breathe as I got a good look at him. There was no mistaking the side-swept fringe of his blond hair and the ever-present easy grin, which, with the open black shirt and creased pants, made him look like he'd just stepped off the cover of GQ. It was my best friend in the whole wide world.

"OMG! Jay!"

He turned my way, and our gazes met right before I plowed into him and squeezed him for all I was worth. "Moron. ¡Pendejo! I'm so happy to see you. I've been so worried!" Without my heels, he towered over me by a foot. I pulled back and shook him hard as if trying to shake fruit off a tree. "And now I'm going to kill you. You and your idiotic schemes!"

We might die at any second, but joy bubbled up and overflowed at the chance to see him again. After that night's debacle, I thought I'd lost him forever. My face hurt, I was smiling so hard.

But—

"Dani, I'm so, so sorry," Jay said, his eyes filling with tears. "They got you, too?"

All the happiness I'd felt at seeing him flowed out of me like water from a broken dam. "Wha—what are you talking about?" My hands dropped like heavy weights to my sides, and I took a trembling step back. "Di—didn't you escape like I did?"

I hadn't noticed it before, but Jay was dry, untouched by the heavy storm still raging loudly outside.

He shook his head, his hand rubbing the back of his neck as his ears turned beet red. "I got turned around. Took the wrong door," Jay said. "Got caught trying to find the right way again."

I could see it happening all too clearly in my mind. "Really, Jay?"

How many times had it been pounded into us to memorize the layout and always, always, always have a way out? And he'd gone and messed up the one time it really counted! It was so 'Jay' I would have laughed, except I might not be able to stop, even as it ripped me to shreds from the inside.

I was supposed to be the smart one. So why had I ever let him talk me into crashing that private party? But I knew why. Because I wanted out, and he'd sounded so sure. If only I had pressed and questioned it more, he wouldn't be… wouldn't be…

"I've disappointed you again, haven't I?" Jay looked at me like a kid caught poking holes in the wrapping of his Christmas presents to sneak a peek at what was inside.

Suddenly, his expression brightened, his eyes shining. "But at least you made it out alive. And I'm super glad about that!" Then his smile dimmed, and he looked away, kicking at an invisible rock on the floor. "Still… this disaster was all my fault."

We had become best friends almost from the moment Pierson "recruited" us into his group. With my flash-powder temper and his easygoing surfer boy manner, we had balanced each other out—not that any of that was important anymore. "Naw. We're good, hermano."

I gave him another back-breaking hug to show him I meant it. But if he was dead, how was I able to do that? He was totally here. He was solid! His warm breath caressed my neck. I could hear his heartbeat. How could he feel this alive if he were dead? Could it all be some giant, drug-aided, elaborate prank?

'Last Stop is a waypoint between the land of the living and the realm of the dead for those who aren't ready to move on, amongst other things.' Beauty's voice rang in my head in the lightest of purrs. 'The normal laws of other worlds do not apply here. We have our own set of rules in this in-between.'

"Dani, do you smell that?" Jay asked, excitement suddenly lacing his voice.

I let him go, Beauty's words still echoing between my ears as I struggled to make sense of it all. The cook came through the odd curtains again with a new tray filled with steaming food.

"No way!" Jay virtually jumped over to the counter. "Are those fried alligator bites? And ceviche? Freakin' awesome. Thanks, dude!"

I threw a glance at the cook. How had he known Jay's favorite dishes? How had he known mine? Was that part of how the laws worked here? Was he dead, too, like Jay? Was I?

My head started to pound. Surely I could take that as a sign that I hadn't died yet. And Beauty had implied as much.

But then why would the dead be hungry? Or be able to taste anything? My head throbbed harder, and I was swept with the sudden need to sit down before I fell down.

I grabbed the stool next to Jay's.

"These are so friggin' good!" Jay said. Half of his alligator bites were already gone. That boy could always put away his food. "You want some?"

My eyes prickled. "I already ate, but thanks anyway."

I felt someone's gaze on me, but when I looked up, the cook was already returning to the kitchen. Ida was still nowhere in sight, and Beauty had gone back to her perch on the shelf along the wall. So I swallowed hard, and tucked the knife still in my hand back up my sleeve. I watched Jay enjoy his last meal, trying to engrave his every move and sound into my memory, knowing that regardless of whatever was going on, this would be my last chance.

"Did I hear you say you had already been in here?" I asked him. This whole weird, crazy situation still made my head hurt, but he was the only one I trusted to tell it to me straight. Because deep inside, I knew darkness was coming. That this was but the briefest of reprieves before part of my soul got cut away.

Jay slipped me a sideways glance, as if he was acutely aware of the same thing. "Yeah. It was the weirdest thing," he said. "The place kind of called to me. And Beauty said she'd help."

"Help you do what?" I asked.

He stuffed his face rather than answer me. I couldn't gather the courage to repeat the question—at least not yet. When Jay was close to being finished, the cook showed up again. His timing was eerie. He had brought another tray, this one with two generous helpings of key lime pie.

"Key lime! Yes." Jay pumped his fist. "Dude, you are awesome!"

The almost non-existent smile made an appearance again. The cook set one plate before Jay and the other in front of me, then made off with the finished dishes.

Jay picked up his dessert fork and flashed an impish grin in my direction. I retrieved mine, and we crossed them like swords before a duel. Stuffed as I was already, my stomach churning and twisting with everything going on, I still ate the new dessert with relish because I was eating it with him.

"Holy moly!" Jay grinned, yellow filling showing on his teeth. "This isn't that condensed milk shit with a bucket of sugar thrown in. This is the real deal!"

I had to admit, the key lime was fabulous. Jay might be easygoing about most things, but he was a serious foodie about his pie. Whatever this place was, I was grateful they'd somehow managed to give him this before… whatever came next.

Jay bumped my shoulder with his. "I wouldn't have enjoyed this at all if I had gotten you killed, hermana. That wasn't what I wanted. You know that, right? I honestly thought I had good intel. That we'd clean house and finally get rid of your debt."

"I know." A forlorn sigh escaped before I could stop it. "You were pretty tight-lipped about where it came from. Was it Bobby?"

Jay glanced away. "Does it matter?"

I ground my teeth together. You would think being part of the same group meant something. The cabrón had only been with us for about a year, a "transfer" from out of state, from one of Pierson's friends' groups.

Not that I believed Pierson had friends. In his mind, everyone was a business associate, an asset, a mark, or beneath his notice. And though no one ever said, we were all pretty sure Bobby got into some deep shit with the law and had been dumped on us to get him out of the vicinity of the fire. The guy had skills, I'd give him that—which was the only reason they bothered to keep him from taking the heat, or why Pierson had taken him. Yeah, Bobby had been hot shit where he came from, but not here—and the prima donna hadn't liked that.

The pie turned to curdled lumps in my stomach.

The ungrateful ass had also put the moves on Jay to snag him off me. But though Jay had become smitten with the moron as planned, Bobby hadn't counted on Jay's deeply ingrained loyalty to me—he had remained my partner instead of switching. So I assumed this stunt had been Bobby's way of paying us back.

The flash of utter hatred at the lambón for having done this was so strong it left me gasping. I concentrated on the pain in my palms from the nails digging into them as my hands curled into tight fists on my lap. If I ever laid eyes on that cabrón again, he was a dead man.

"You warned me, and I knew better," Jay said, his voice barely above a whisper. "But I believed him anyway when he said he wanted to make up and play nice. He even helped with the research." He swallowed hard. "Bobby said that being in love was more important to him in the end than the pecking order."

He hung his head until I couldn't see his face. But there was no way to miss the wet drops falling on his legs. "I fucked up so hard, Dani. All I wanted was for you to be free of Pierson and get to live your life, be whoever you wanted. I would have helped Bobby fill in your spot and be number one. I'm really, really sorry."

I smacked my fiery loathing with the back of a shovel and buried it deep—for now. There were other things that needed to be taken care of before vengeance came into the picture. So I put Jay in a partial chokehold and rubbed a knuckle hard into his hair.

"Yeah, well, what else is new?" I shoved as much brightness into the words as I could. "Now, are you going to eat that pie or will I have to take it off your hands?"

He gave a half-hearted chuckle. "No way, man. That's mine."

Jay wiped his face on his sleeve and started eating again, his arm curled protectively around the plate. I pushed what was left of mine over so he could take it if he wanted. He chuckled again, this time sounding more like his usual joyful, carefree self before we got into a battle of elbows.

My eyes hurt and my throat closed tight, knowing this was the last time I would ever do this with him.

'Do you understand now?' Beauty's words trickled into my mind. I glanced over, and the glittering emerald gaze locked with mine. 'Your life was spared only because of him. So he could move on. You are his unfinished business.'