by Gin Price
“I’m not,” she said unconvincingly. “Your brother should be down any second and I’m going to meet him in the lobby.”
“Don’t go. Sit.”
I was surprised when she did, but unsurprised by the pouting. “What?” she practically barked at me.
“Things are weird between us. It feels like you don’t want to be friends anymore. And I want to let you know that’s okay with me if that’s what you want.”
“That’s not what I want, Ellie. What I want is for you to watch out for yourself. For you to stop acting like a lovestruck sap and see the evidence that is right in front of you! I’m not looking forward to losing another best friend, all right!”
Ah! Her attitude finally made a little bit of sense. She was worried history was repeating itself.
A few other hospital visitors looked over at us when Liv raised her voice and I shushed her. Grabbing the back of her chair I pulled mine closer to her to keep my voice down.
“I understand this is hard for you. But I’m going to figure it out. I might even need your help to do it, which means I need you to be a little more open-minded. I can’t point a finger without solid proof.”
She stared straight into my eyes and shook her head. “Ellie, you’re never going to find the proof you’re looking for. Your heart will make sure of it.”
With that she rose and walked out of the cafeteria.
***
No matter how many chairs I pulled together, I hadn’t been able to get comfortable all night in Surge’s room. The nurses had tried to kick me out, but Surge threw such a fit, claiming he couldn’t lose me to the gang wars on the street and blah blah blah. Really, I think the nurses gave in to shut him up. I’d wished the medical staff would win so I could be in my comfy bed.
I wasn’t that lucky.
Now Surge’s parents officially thought we were an item, and in one of his lucid moments, he made me promise to keep up the ruse.
“It’s easier than the truth. Just pretend you love me.”
That part was easy enough. I did love Surge. Right now he was one of my bestest friends in the world. Soon to be my only when Liv’s frustration or mine got the better of us. Or maybe he’d always been the only friend, but I wanted so badly to have a girl friend, that I couldn’t see it until now.
What did Liv and I even have in common any more other than stubbornness?
Lately, I’d begun to see why I’d never be the popular chick on campus. I didn’t have the judgmental gene apparently needed to be in the Homecoming Court crowd, and that was fine with me. Not to say that Liv and I couldn’t be friends. Her heart was in the right place. I just couldn’t give her the vapid responses she obviously deemed important in a friendship, and in the last few days, we’d disagreed more than agreed. A clear sign of a dwindling friendship. Last time I experienced it was in grade school and I wasn’t looking forward to the awkward “moving on” speech, especially when I knew she still suffered from losing Haze’s sister.
There wouldn’t be a happy ending to the situation, so I did my best to focus on solving the mystery of why my boyfriend just tried to kill me.
***
By the following afternoon, Surge’s doctors were talking release with pain-killers, and my body wanted me to ask for one. Falling several stories to the ground, coupled with a night in the hospital made me almost wish I’d died on the landing.
Okay, not true.
All the pain made me wanna take a bat to Haze—or to whoever had killed Heather and wanted me dead.
“So, you’re still eager to prove Haze didn’t kill his sister?” Surge asked as we waited for his parents to bring the car around.
“I just need definitive proof. I’ve noticed how messy it gets when accusations are thrown around without it.”
“He pushed you from a building, LL. You don’t get much guiltier than that.”
I sighed. “I can’t help but remember the grunt behind me before he shoved me over….” A light bulb lit in my heart, traveling to my head as a glimmer of hope. “Yes! That’s it, Surge. What if someone shoved him into me? What if the grunt I heard was Haze fighting someone off or someone attacking him before pushing me over and that’s why I thought he pushed me! And who else would be on the roof but the true guilty bastard?”
Surge lifted a brow, leaning heavily on me as he tried to look at me without an awkward closeness. “I don’t know. But if you really think he didn’t do it, start at the beginning, girl. Go over everything again and find the proof before something else happens. You’ve got until tonight before I start calling around, starting with the police and your big brother.”
“Surge…”
He held up his hand, his eyes pleading with me to understand. “I don’t feel comfortable with this. What if something were to happen to you and I had told no one what I knew?”
I tried to put myself in his shoes and had to nod. “I get it. Maybe I’d feel the same way, I guess. If I only have until tonight, I better go.”
“Wait,” he called me back when I took a step away.
Whoops. I’d forgotten he was drugged. I helped him to the decorative brick tree platform and grimaced. “I’m a dork.”
“Uh huh,” he agreed. “You’re also on some serious drugs if you think I’m going to let you outta here without taking my phone so I can call you every few minutes.”
“Don’t you need it?”
“Nah. I’ve got my landline, and I’m not feeling particularly chatty today. I’m too fuzzy to think straight. Last thing I need is to make a few drugged confessions.”
I smiled and took the phone he held out to me. “All right, I’ll only answer calls coming from your landline.”
“Or your brother’s phone. He’s coming over later, so I’m guessing he’s going to want to know I only let you go with a cell in your possession. Make sure you answer it this time. Cool?”
“Cool.” I nodded and kissed his cheek, waving as his parents pulled up to collect him.
“Till tonight, LL. Once it gets dark—” he called after me.
I waved in acknowledgement as I ran toward downtown. I had a few hours to find out what really happened on the roof and identify the true culprit before Surge called down hell.
Twenty-three
Staring at a depiction of what you’d look like as a corpse is disturbing, no matter who you are. But for me, I didn’t have the luxury of being grossed out or taking a moment to ride the wiggins. Nope, I had to look past the willies into the artwork itself. Each stroke of the spray can needed to be explored. This macabre masterpiece was all I had to go on to prove Haze innocent or to solidify his guilt.
I looked down at the color copy of the newspaper clipping in my hand, comparing the old to the new, and trying to remember the homage Haze painted to his sister on the wall where we met.
The style was exactly the same. Each artistic face, sunray, cloud, and bubbled letter seemed painted by the same writer.
The subtle swirling backgrounds of the newspaper photo, each of the pieces I’d seen, and the mural before me were similar too.
Even though the bloated piece of me was a little out of character—the consistency of style was undeniable. The same person who had killed Heather back then had made that obvious death threat against me now. And Haze had been on the roof when the mural had been painted.
“Dammit!”
Exasperated, I walked a few steps away and balled the piece of paper in my fist. I was being irrational to harbor any doubt. Haze and his crew wanted me dead, to bring on a war they’d been longing to start with my brother and the rest of the freerunners for dominance in the new school. All the clues pointed to the neat little guilt package—and I didn’t want to accept it because of my heart.
I’d die at a young age because I lacked the ability to call the cops on someone who had pushed me over the edge of a building a
nd kissed like a champ.
With a heavy sigh, I decided to stop being the Queen of the Clueless and admit defeat. I’d call Surge and agree to call the cops.
Commotion behind me stole my attention away from my pity party. “What the hell?” I rushed to the rail edge and peered over at the buildings nearby. I saw my brother and a few others in our crew, running the cityscape. Were they looking for me? Great, nothing would top my day off like a bleeding-ear lecture by Warp in front of the crew.
“Gah!” I pressed a hand to my throat as Haze leapt over the fire ladder and landed beside me. Too shocked to scream, I stared at him in amazement. “W-what?”
The emotion on his face halted the rest of the words in my throat. He looked so—sad.
“Your brother’s—” he started and then shook his head, changing his mind. “I’ve been looking all over for you. I called you all last night. I saw you walk away but I didn’t know if you were badly hurt or not. I went to the hospital today to see if you were there but ran into your brother and crew. He said they’d all kill me for pushing you off the roof. Why would you tell him I pushed you?”
“I…didn’t.” It was true. I didn’t tell my brother, but apparently someone had.
Dammit, Surge. I knew it had been too easy to convince him to let me go out on my own and investigate. I wonder if he waited more than five seconds before calling Warp.
“I don’t understand, Manu.”
He reached for me and the fear of him grabbing my hand and hurling me to my death made me shrink back. If possible, the pain on his face intensified and I felt guilty for my reaction for some reason.
“How could you think I’d hurt you?”
“Are you kidding? You pushed me! I almost died.”
The dumbstruck stare he gave me made me feel hope again. “I didn’t push you. Jesus, LL! I was flat on my face. It was the other guy!”
“I didn’t see anyone else. We were running and I felt you push me from behind, Bren.”
“No! We were running and somebody jumped out from behind the A/C shed and tripped me up. I saw him push you and screamed. I thought you were dead. I got to my feet and I…I could’ve caught him, but instead…I was so scared…. I ran to the edge and I looked down—I’ve never been so relieved in my life. When I turned around, the guy was gone.”
I wanted to believe him. It sounded possible. I had heard him grunt, though at the time I chalked it up to the rough landing a few seconds before. Then I was pushed.
“I wish I could believe what you’re saying.”
He looked behind me to the wall with my deranged portrait and walked toward it. “I get it,” he whispered. “You thought you saw me standing there and concluded I did this.”
“Why wouldn’t I? It looked like you had paint in your hand. And the mural is the same style as all the others. Including the one at your sister’s murder scene. Including the one I saw you painting when we met, Haze.”
“I know! I know you can see me in all the pieces of you, but I need you to see what isn’t me, LL! I can paint faces and clouds and the like, but that?” He pointed at the right-most side of the piece.
I stared at the gnarled mess of branches reaching across the swirly background, framing my decaying visage. Oh, God! What an idiot. The proof stared me straight in the face. Whoever wanted me dead would have to be great with all types of nature art, not just clouds. Haze couldn’t draw trees.
“Come on, Manu. I need you to believe me.”
My brother and crew grew closer. I could hear them sound the alarm that they saw Haze on the rooftop with me. We were out of time.
“Go! They’ll be here any second.”
“I’ve been able to keep a step ahead. All that traceur training.” His downtrodden smile melted my heart. “I’m not running. Now that I’ve found you and know you’re okay, I’m staying right here.”
“Don’t be stupid.”
“I don’t seem able to help myself.” He laughed a little.
Every step he took back to me was cautionary, as though I were a wild stallion about to bolt. That wasn’t the case anymore. My steps swallowed the rest of the distance between us.
We had less than half a minute but he didn’t seem to care. He tugged me into him and kissed me like he had many times before but with a desperation that made my eyes tear. I didn’t want this to be the last kiss, the one that would have to last the rest of my lifetime, but that was exactly what it could turn out to be if he didn’t run.
I broke away, reaching for his hand. “Go,” I choked.
“No. Running makes it look like I tried to kill you.”
“Trust in me to find something that proves you innocent.”
He shook his head, but I squeezed his hand and nudged him toward the ledge. “Please. I believe in you, Brennen. Now I need you to survive, and believe in me.”
Reluctantly he let my fingers fall from his grip. “I love you, Manu,” He whispered.
I felt the tingle of his words down to my toes. His admission sounded beautiful and ominous. Besides the kisses in and out of the closet and his few outbursts of jealousy, he’d never confessed his feelings before. Now, he threw his emotions out there as if he didn’t expect to live past the day.
I wanted to tell him not to give up, not to say such things since they only wigged me out, but like him, I knew that our chances of averting some serious violence was slim. “I love you, Brennen.”
“Emanuella!” Warp bellowed as he and three others landed on the rooftop. I looked to them and then back to where Haze stood, but he was already gone.
“Warp, listen to me.”
“I’m done listening to you, little sister,” he said as he approached me. Stopping a foot away, he pointed a finger and the rest of the crew continued on to follow Haze. “You shoulda told me the second you walked into the hospital that this asshole tried to off you.”
“He didn’t, Warp! I know it. I know how to prove it!”
Warp’s lip curled toward his nose in disgust. “I can’t believe you. You’d lie for him even now? Go home, Emanuella. Surge is there waiting for us to come back.”
“No. I’m not going anywhere, and neither are you.” I kept him with me, grabbing his arm out of desperation. “Call them off, Warp, I mean it!”
He shook off my hand and took off at a run for the roof’s edge.
I followed closely on his heels.
We both dove across the expanse between buildings, but, typically, Warp’s leg strength on his push-off doubled mine. He landed in a perfect drop, able to keep the flow, but I was more of a Level to Level Cat. My fingers grabbed hold of the roof rim while my legs folded in toward my body, catching my momentum against the wall before I climbed up and vaulted over the ledge. The difference was a mere ten seconds, but ten seconds could mean the death of Brennen “Haze” Craig.
In my mind, I could already see his obit.
My legs pumped, hurriedly trying to gain ground not only on my brother, but on the rest of our crew. They were like mindless monkeys sometimes, following Warp because of Ander’s well-known reputation. Their blind loyalty was normally a tribute to them, but for once, I wouldn’t mind seeing a little dissension in the ranks.
Ander was my brother, too! But I guess my relationship with “the enemy” ruined my credibility.
The guys from our crew, Zone and Epic, stood on the ledge of the next roof looking down, and as always, my heart skipped a beat. Usually people only stopped a run for a wicked fall.
Warp and I caught up with the rest and I thought I might vomit when I saw Spry, a guy from our crew, sprawled on a metal fire escape balcony. One floor below him, Haze stalled in a Crane Moonstep with one foot planted firmly on a metal rail, his other leg dangling. I saw him glance up at me and my crew before eyeing Spry, as though he were weighing his options of climbing up a flight and pulse checking.
&
nbsp; I breathed a sigh of relief as Spry, clearly a misnomer, groaned and sat up. He shook his head like he was trying to get the fuzz outta his brain and gave Warp a wave, signaling he was all right.
The chase was on again.
Epic, Zone, and Warp all Cat Leapt to the balcony where Spry nursed his bruises and continued on their way down to Haze, who’d wisely started his own descent. Three-to-one was better odds but not great.
Although Haze’s training had been good, he didn’t have the same experience as the rest, and I knew Warp would eventually take him.
I lowered into a Cat, hanging off the wall, and did a few One-Eighty Cats, descending by bouncing from wall to opposite wall. The moves swallowed the distance between me and the boys in seconds.
I reached for Warp’s jacket and yanked him backwards.
Haze hit the ground feet-first and darted to the mouth of the alley. Epic and Zone were on him, but Warp was the one who needed a bigger handicap.
“Dammit, LL. Stop being a fucking nuisance!” He shoved me back and took off toward the chase.
Though I had to stumble a few steps in reverse, I wasn’t too far behind him. From my distant vantage point, I watched as Haze ran straight at a wall. Like me, Epic and Zone expected him to wall-run up and over, but instead Haze planted his palms on the bricks at the last second. He ran his legs up the wall in an arc and dropped his right hand. Anchoring his left, he propelled the rest of his body over and did a successful turn, leaving Epic and Zone hanging from the wall by their fingers in stunned silence.
A perfect wall-spin. I never taught him that.
Warp paused next to me, as shocked as I. “Someone’s been YouTube-ing.”
Someone’s been Surge-ing, I thought.
Since we were a little behind the chase, Warp and I were able to run a line of interference, avoiding the more complicated jumps to gain ground. That also meant we were going to collide with Haze.
Pedestrians complained loudly, a few of the guys we passed made threats they knew we probably wouldn’t stop long enough to take up.
If we made it to the el, Haze could have a good shot at surviving the day by jumping on a railcar. But if he took the main entrance, Warp would overtake him. And with a couple of buddies at his back, all the karate in the world wouldn’t keep my boyfriend breathing.
