Chapter 33 — Nicholas

As we passed the motel from earlier, I spotted a familiar blue sports car in the parking lot.

“Let me off here,” I said. “Then you’re free to go.”

The driver didn’t hesitate to obey.

I set the gun down on concrete before I lifted my mom from the seat. Her head lolled back.

Kicking the weapon in front of me, I made my way toward the blue car. Ten minutes passed before its owner showed up, a bad mood hanging over his head like a storm cloud.

Josiah looked surprised to see me. “Nicholas? What are you doing here? And who’s the woman you’re carrying?”

I shook my head. “It’s a long story. Are you looking for Ace?”

“Yeah. I had the company track him through his burner phone, but it keeps showing him in the middle of a forest.”

“Start driving there,” I said. “I’ll explain on the way.”

Josiah, to his credit, didn’t question it. He unlocked the car and got behind the wheel. I buckled my mom in the backseat, avoiding the strange hole into the trunk, before hopping up front beside Josiah.

He turned onto the highway. “What’s going on?”

“The short version is that Ace has gone to face the Underground leader. Alone.”

“And what’s the long version?”

I spent the next hour filling him in.

We were a few miles away from Ace when the road ended in an empty lot. My mom’s silver Nissan was parked in the middle.

“I guess we go the rest of the way on foot,” I said. “That place looks like it has a ton of mosquitoes.”

Josiah eyed the forest behind us. “Hope you brought bug repellant.”

A weed whacker would have been more useful. The thorns were almost sentient, curling and twisting around our feet like demented serpents as we traveled along a worn stone path. I kept my gun in hand.

The GPS signal led us to a cottage with an empty runway behind it. There wasn’t a single person in sight.

I looked at the tracker. “I don’t get it. It says he’s right here.”

“He might be inside the house,” Josiah suggested.

“Sitting in the dark? Unlikely. He’d at least turn on the lights. Let’s split up and search the area. Ace has to be around here somewhere.”

After several minutes, I stumbled upon a body covered with leaves. The face was streaked with dirt and blood. It took me a minute to recognize him.

“Josiah,” I called. “Come here.”

He was over in a flash, shock filling his face as he looked down. “Oh my God. What happened to him?”

“I’m guessing it was Seth,” I said. “Who else could fight Spades on even terms and win?”

Josiah brushed the leaves aside, cupping his face and whispering words too soft for me to hear. Ace didn’t stir, and there was no rise and fall of his chest that would indicate breathing. Dark, hand-shaped bruises marred his neck. He’d been choked to death.

Even in the poor lighting, he looked remarkably like his father. I wondered if the resemblance had made it hard for Seth. It must hurt, knowing you were killing your own flesh and blood.

Josiah let his hand drop to Ace’s side and buried his face in his chest, shoulders shaking with quiet sobs.

Seth had no right to walk free when he’d caused so much pain and suffering. I pulled out my phone, dreading the call I’d have to make to Andrea.

Josiah jerked up. “I think I felt a pulse.”

“You’re imagining things,” I said gently. “Ace isn’t breathing.”

“I’m serious. Feel for yourself.”

I placed two fingers along the side of Ace’s neck. Sure enough, it was there, thready and weak.

I got to my feet. “He won’t survive much longer without a doctor.”

Josiah picked him up, stumbling under his weight. “Then we’ll have to hurry.”

We made it back to the lot in record time. I leaned against the car as Josiah set Ace down on the seats and started up the engine.

The speedometer didn’t dip below ninety the entire way. When we arrived, Josiah rushed him inside the emergency room, leaving my mom asleep in the back. He hadn’t even turned off the ignition.

I made a series of phone calls while I waited. First to Andrea, David, and Genevieve to tell them about Ace. Next came Tom, to let him know that the Underground leader had left for Russia. We entertained the idea of tracking him down for a while, but Russia was a large nation that could hide a criminal for years.

Josiah came out an hour later to park the car, his face grim.

“The doctors say he’s in critical condition,” he told me. “But if he can survive the night, it’s probable he’ll make it.”

I tried my best to look encouraging. “That’s good at least.”

“Call a cab, Nicholas. I’ll stay with Ace. Should my parents ask, tell them I was at Anthony’s studying.”

Ten minutes later, I was sitting in the back of a taxi with my mom. If the driver found anything odd about me lugging an unconscious woman into the car, he didn’t say it aloud.

Mom woke up halfway through the ride in a panic.

“It’s okay,” I soothed. “You’re safe, Mom.”

“Where’s Seth? Is he alright?”

“How can you worry about him after everything he’s done?”

Mom glared at me, waiting for an answer.

I relented. “He’s left for Russia. It’s unlikely EAGLE will pursue him.”

At least that seemed to placate her.

Alex texted me the next day, asking to meet up for coffee. Unable to stand the chilly silence that permeated the house, I immediately agreed.

Had I known Elliot would be there, I would have been more hesitant. He gave me such a heated glare when I walked in that I found myself longing for my mother’s frosty looks.

Alex pretended not to notice. “Come join us, Nicholas.”

“I didn’t know he would be here,” Elliot said. “I thought you invited Delaney.”

Alex shrugged. “I did, but she’s in the hospital and from what I hear, getting bored with the monotony too.”

I felt a pang of guilt. “Is she alright?”

Elliot’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t act like this whole situation isn’t your fault.”

Alex looked tired as he shook his head. “Lexi is dead and instead of banding together like friends should, you’re driving us apart by assigning blame.”

“Nicholas deserves—”

“Taking you all with me to that farmhouse was a lapse of judgment,” I said, “but I wasn’t the one who pulled the trigger. In case you’ve forgotten, Lexi was my friend too.”

Elliot sent me a murderous look over the rim of his cup.

Alex smiled, encouraged by the silence. “Come on, both of you. Let’s head to the cemetery. We missed the service in all the chaos, but we should have a chance to say goodbye.”

Elliot gave a grudging nod and got up from the seat, throwing a rough “you coming?” over his shoulder as he headed out the door.

The taxi ride was dead silent. Elliot stared out the window as Alex made awkward attempts at starting up a conversation. Realizing that he wouldn’t get either of us to talk, he fell quiet as well.

It was a beautiful day outside, so I asked the driver to let us off a block away. As we walked, I made a bouquet from wildflowers that grew in between the sidewalk cracks.

The city cemetery was a somber place, with looming tombstones and a tidy lawn. Lexi would have despised it. The gate creaked as we pushed it open. Alex took the lead, walking toward a small pond with a weeping willow.

Her family had given Lexi an elaborate burial, her grave marked with a white marble structure. Cherubs and roses were carved along the sides, framing her name and a short epitaph.

“Even amidst fierce flames, the golden lotus can be planted,” Alex read aloud. “How original.”

“Lexi would have hated it.” I gestured to the grave. “She would have hated all of this.”

“The epitaph reeks of pretentiousness,” Elliot agreed. “The quote is the same one used for Sylvia Plath.”

“It’s not very fitting either. Lexi was no flower.”

Elliot kneeled down, placing his hand on the ground as if he could touch Lexi through the dirt.

“We should fix it,” he said. “Make it into something more...her.”

Alex frowned. “Are you suggesting we deface her grave?”

“Nothing so drastic, just adding personality. Put some flowers, figurines, journals, maybe even a flamethrower.”

“I’m in,” I said.

Alex nodded in agreement.

We spent the afternoon decorating the grave, starting with the wildflowers and moving on to trinkets from the corner store nearby. I smiled as Elliot tucked a rainbow flag next to a tiny stuffed kitten. It seemed Alex had told him Lexi’s story.

When the sun was setting, I lit a Santa Claus candle and set it next to the tombstone. As an afterthought, I put the entire match box beside it too and sat back to admire our handiwork.

“It’s certainly something,” Alex said.

We had covered the elegant beauty of the marble with garish stickers and heaped books, stuffed animals, and charms around it. The candle flickered, casting long shadows over the objects, making the plush toys look demented.

Elliot gave me a tentative smile. “I think she would have loved it.”

I smiled back. “Knowing her, I think she really would.”

He got to his feet, brushing dirt off his clothes. “I have to go before my parents freak out. I’ll see you both at school.”

“Right, that’s still a thing.”

“Yeah and prepare for Mrs. Hunter to pile on all the work you’ve missed.”

Alex grinned as Elliot left. “That went well.”

“Do you think Lexi will see it?” I asked. “Wherever she is.”

“I don’t believe in an afterlife,” he said. “And if one existed, I think the dead would hate to hang around their old bodies.”

“Then why did you agree to do this?”

“For the same reason people go through the trouble of planning elaborate funerals. It’s all for closure. The dead don’t care, but the living sure do. It lets us say goodbye.”

“Did you find the closure you were looking for?”

Alex’s eyes were bright in the light of the street lamps. “I think I did. What about you?”

I looked back at the redecorated grave, spilling wildflowers, stuffed animals, and paperbacks. They reminded me of her courage, her craziness, her resolve, wanting to stand strong even when she feared she would break. Lexi had faced death with the same fire in her eyes.

“You know,” I said, meeting his gaze. “I think I did too.”