by Wylder, Tia
At least, that’s what I hoped.
“Is there anything else you’d like to see, sir?”
“No,” I said. “You’ve done a wonderful job. Thank you so much, Bruce. I really appreciate all of your help.”
Bruce smiled. “Brilliant, sir,” he said. “I’m very glad to hear it.”
By now, I was starting to feel like my body had been wrung dry of every drop of moisture. My water had long since been drunk, and I was absolutely parched. I could tell that Bruce was eager to get back to work, so I said my goodbyes to him and the rest of the crew and took off into the heavy foliage.
Except, I wasn’t quite sure I was going in the right direction. Surely it hadn’t taken me thirty minutes to walk all the way from the Hotel St. Charles to the construction site? Frowning, I pulled out my phone and glanced down at the screen. The battery was nearly dead, and I groaned when I saw that I didn’t have any reception. I tried to use the compass app, but the needle spun wildly around in unpredictable circles.
“Fuck,” I muttered under my breath. “There’s no fucking way I’m fucking lost!”
Thorny branches were scratching my cheeks and arms, but I pushed through, keeping my head low as I stumbled through the dense trees. When I saw a clearing ahead, I grinned. I’m fine, I thought, quickening my pace and darting towards the empty site. I just have to ask Bruce for directions back to the hotel – embarrassing, yeah, but not exactly the end of the world or anything.
But as I got closer to the clearing, I realized something was horribly wrong. There was no sign of Bruce or the other construction workers that I’d spotted a few minutes prior. The clearing was almost completely deserted. And there was a wild, unkempt look about it that made my heart slow in my chest. Aside from a few large pieces of construction equipment, there was nothing in sight.
There was another difference, too. The clearing wasn’t neat and organized. Trees had been roughly ripped out of the ground, their roots sticking into the air like phantom hands. I put my hands on my hips and frowned – just what the fuck was going on here, exactly?
When I heard the sound of a twig snapping behind me, I froze. I didn’t exactly know very much about the wildlife of Nassau, but I wasn’t about to fight some feral dog if it came charging. As slowly and carefully as I could, I turned around and saw the back of a chubby man running straight into the woods.
“Hey!” I yelled. “Hey, get back here!”
The man didn’t reply. Adrenaline kicked in, like a punch to my heart, and I took off at a fast pace after him. I knew that with every step, I was risking getting even more lost, but I couldn’t let this guy escape. He might be able to help me…or tell me what had happened at the messy clearing.
I ran and ran until there was a stitch on my side. The chubby man was smaller than me, but he set a surprisingly fast pace. When I saw him trip over a branch and go crashing to the ground, I leaped on top of him and pinned him down.
“Let me go!” The man barked in a heavy accent. “Let me go!”
“No,” I growled, putting my hand on the man’s throat and staring into his face. His skin was flushed and damp, and his face was so fat that his eyes were tiny black specks. It was almost eerie.
“Who the fuck are you,” I demanded. “Do you work for Franchot?”
The man squirmed and twitched under my grip. Despite his large bulk, I was able to pin him down with ease.
“Tell me,” I snarled in his face. “Tell me!”
“Yes,” the man finally said, closing his eyes and sighing in defeat.
“And what the fuck are you doing here? How has he already started to build?”
The clueless look in the man’s eyes told me he didn’t understand what I was asking.
“You work Franchot,” I said plainly. “You start work now?”
The man furrowed his brow and nodded. “Yes, start work now,” he said, shuddering.
I groaned and rolled to the side. “I need help,” I said. “I need to get back to the Hotel St. Charles.”
The man grinned. Anger rose inside of me, and I balled one of my hands into a fist before punching the man in the jaw. He winced and groaned, putting his hands up to his face and shuddering.
“You need to help me get back to the hotel,” I said angrily. “Or else.”
For once, the man looked frightened. Still trembling, he pushed me away and got to his feet. He reached into his pocket and handed me a sweaty piece of paper. I looked down and saw a crude map of the island. The hotel was there, a crude block at the far right of the paper.
But something else I saw alarmed me more. There was a very clear place of land, marked with “Jack Nathan.”
“What the fuck is this,” I demanded. “Why is my fucking development on the map?”
The man began to shake and quiver. Before I could stop him, he’d turned and fled into the trees.
This time, I didn’t have the strength to chase him. With a groan, I leaned against a tree. The sun was broiling hot overhead, and my clothes were soaked in sweat, but the panic racing through my veins was stronger than that. I couldn’t believe it. My worst nightmare had come true – Franchot was not only spying on me, but he was also actively working to take me down.
How I wish I’d taken Adele seriously now!
With the help of the rudimentary map, I got back to the hotel about an hour later. I’d never been so glad to see a building before as I walked into the lobby, savoring the cool blast of air conditioning on my skin.
When I got back to my room, I was disturbed to see that I had over fifty emails – most of them were from Barnes, and the subject lines grew increasingly irate with each new piece of mail. I took a bottle of spring water from the minibar and sat down with my laptop, scrolling through the emails until I got to the bottom.
As I read, my heart sank.
“Jack, I’ve got some bad news. We’ll have to temporarily halt the Nassau development. Something came up.”
With shaking fingers, I dialed Barnes and held my phone to my sweaty face. This was the last thing I needed. After a day with a hellish hangover, a cold brush-off from Adele, and now the news about Franchot, the last thing I wanted was to find out about another new setback.
“What is it?” Barnes greeted me when he picked up. I could tell that he was angry. “Why the fuck haven’t you been answering my emails?”
I thought of my hours spent wandering lost in the woods and sighed. “I had a long day,” I said. “And I was away from my computer for a long time, with no cell service.”
“Well, fuck, man,” Barnes said. He laughed, but there was no joy or humor in the sound. “You need to get your ass back to Boston like, yesterday.”
“Why?” I narrowed my eyes. “And what’s all this about another delay?”
“Something happened,” Barnes said. “I’m not sure what, exactly. One of your shareholders called me. He told me that he’d been trying to get in touch with you for hours and that it was urgent, but you were ignoring his calls.”
“I told you,” I snapped. “I was in the fucking woods. I got lost, okay! Are you happy now?”
“Jesus, calm down,” Barnes replied. “Look, you’re not going to be happy about this because I can’t actually tell you what’s going on.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Wait. So, one of my shareholders told you that the project has to be delayed, but they didn’t give a reason.”
“Yeah,” Barnes said. “Look, I know it sucks – we’ll get you back on track as soon as possible. But I just got the news this afternoon. I’m sure it’s fixable.”
My mind went straight to Adele, and I clenched my free hand in anger. Of course, I thought as rage began to rise inside of my chest. Of course, it was her! She got back to Boston this morning, all butt-hurt that I wouldn’t help her immediately…so she decided to sabotage me. Again. Jesus Christ, this is like Key Largo all over again!
“I think I know who is responsible,” I said through clenched teeth. “I need to fly back to Boston imm
ediately.”
“Okay,” Barnes said. He sighed. “You think it’ll be easy to fix?”
“Yeah.” I closed my eyes and pictured Adele, smiling triumphantly in her little dump of an apartment as she planned to ruin my life…again. “Yeah,” I repeated. “I think it will.”
Chapter Eleven
Adele
After Lisa and I finished the entire pizza – no regrets – I climbed into bed with a biology textbook and fell asleep before I had the chance to do any reading. After a whirlwind trip to Nassau, I was exhausted, but it felt good to be home. As my lids were closing tight, I promised myself that I’d spend the entire next day in the library.
As luck would have it, it snowed again overnight. I had to wait an hour at the bus stop for a shuttle to Lager, and when it came, it was packed. I barely fit on the seat in my bulky parka and snow pants. As I shivered and rubbed my gloved hands together for warmth, part of me wished that I hadn’t left Nassau. But when I saw Jack’s cocky grin again…and I was glad that I hadn’t stayed.
I was counting on his help, but now that days were passing, and there was no sign of taking Franchot down, I was starting to wonder if perhaps I shouldn’t look for help elsewhere.
When I got to campus, I holed up in the library for hours, studying and taking notes until my hands were cramped and sore. At least the library was warm, even if it was pretty empty. I looked out the window and saw undergrads laughing and tossing snowballs at each other. I rolled my eyes. How easy life was for them! Back when I’d been an undergrad, I’d barely taken the time for fun. Lisa and Andrew and Sally had always teased me and told me that I was going to “dry up,” but I hadn’t regretted it at the time. Now, I wondered if I’d missed out on anything important.
But when I turned my attention back to my books, I realized there was nothing more important than my one true goal in life: stopping evil bastards like Louis Franchot from destroying precious ecosystems.
I just wished Jack was on board. He’s only interested in his own ego-system, I thought, rolling my eyes at my bad pun. And I hated how I couldn’t even think about Jack without feeling incredibly turned on. It was like he’d somehow hijacked my body and made it his own.
Somehow, I imagined Jack Nathan doing that to everyone around him. He was wealthy and arrogant, and he got what he wanted.
If only he wanted to take Franchot down as badly as I did!
By the time the sun was setting in the sky, I stood up and stretched. My limbs were stiff from sitting in the cramped library chair for so long, and my hands were stained with ballpoint ink from taking copious notes. The kids outside had long gone – probably to the dining hall, or maybe to a party – and the library was empty. As I left, I noticed that even the front desk looked abandoned.
I shivered as I walked out into the cold. I’d planned on catching some dinner and then hanging out in the student union, but I longed for the comfort of my bed and my couch. I wiped my nose on the back of my glove and walked to the bus station, shivering under my heavy parka.
“Adele!”
Frowning, I turned around. A figure was running toward me, clad in black. It took me a second to realize that it was none other than Jack himself.
“Adele!” He yelled again, louder this time. “I need to talk to you!”
I rolled my eyes. What the fuck was he here for now, to make me feel even worse about leaving?
Or maybe he’d come with something I could actually use – news of Franchot!
I waited for Jack to reach me before crossing my arms over my chest. “What is it,” I asked sarcastically. “Angry that I left you in Nassau?”
To my surprise, Jack’s face was contorted with rage. His cheeks were bright red, and his lips were pressed together in a firm, angry line.
“How could you,” Jack spat. “How could you do that to me, after everything we shared? After all that we’ve talked about and done!”
I blinked. “I…I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said slowly. “Jack, what’s going on?”
“You know exactly what’s going on,” Jack said angrily. “You ruined my new development!”
“What?” My jaw dropped. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
Jack narrowed his eyes. “You know what I’m saying, Adele,” he replied caustically. “You went behind my back and contacted my shareholders!”
“Jack, I wouldn’t have the slightest idea how to do that,” I said, feeling truly baffled. “Look, I got back last night. My roommate and I stayed in and ordered a pizza, and then I went to bed. This morning, I came straight here and worked in the library all day. Look,” I added, pulling out my notebook. “These are all from today. I haven’t even looked at my phone.”
Jack frowned. He looked puzzled. “If it wasn’t you, then…”
“Seriously, Jack,” I said angrily. “Do you have to be so fucking dense? It was probably Franchot or one of his little minions!”
Jack looked both embarrassed and guilty. “I didn’t even think of that,” he said slowly. “I thought you were angry with me, because you’d left, and that you came back here and tried to do something to put my project on hold.”
“I wouldn’t do that,” I said quickly. “We’re supposed to be a team, remember? Look, Jack, the reason why I got so angry was that I thought you were prioritizing your development over helping me, like we agreed on.”
Jack heaved a long sigh. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then he looked at me – really looked at me – and I felt a shiver run down my spine.
“Adele, really, I’m sorry,” Jack said. He put his face in his hands and groaned. “This whole thing is driving me crazy, and I’ve been taking it out on you. I’m just under a lot of stress.”
“Well, I am too,” I said angrily. “And I don’t exactly appreciate being accused of trying to foil you!”
“I’m sorry,” Jack said again. He took his hands away from his face and gave me a mournful look. “I really am. Please, forgive me.”
I sighed. “I need to go,” I said. “I have a lot of studying and writing to do, especially if I’m going to finish my work at a decent hour.”
Jack frowned. “Are you hungry?”
Before I could reply, my stomach growled. The gurgling sound broke the tension between me and Jack, and I felt almost relieved.
“Yeah,” I said, a small smile creeping across my face. “I could eat.”
Jack offered me his gloved hand. I hesitated a second before accepting.
“Let me buy you dinner,” Jack said. “Let’s go. Nick’s waiting for me in the parking lot.”
Riding in Jack’s limo with Nick at the helm was a lot more comfortable than riding on a school shuttle bus. As soon as Jack and I were safely inside the backseat, I began shedding layers.
“We can’t go anywhere fancy,” I moaned, looking down at my sweater and torn jeans. “I look like hell.”
Jack smirked. “Don’t worry,” he said. “I know the perfect place.”
Jack had Nick take us to a small diner just outside of West End. It had always been one of my favorite neighborhoods in Boston, but I rarely went because everything was so expensive. This diner didn’t look expensive, though. The windows were fogged with steam, and the inside smelled like delicious bacon grease and coffee.
“I used to come here when I was in college,” Jack explained. “It was the last place my father would send his minions looking for me.”
I smirked. “I bet that was terrible for you,” I said.
Jack narrowed his eyes, and I flushed.
“You have no idea,” Jack said smoothly. He passed me a menu – they were covered with a grimy layer of plastic – and glanced down at his own. “This place has the best milkshakes. And cheese fries.”
I burst out laughing. “It’s admittedly a little hard to picture you eating cheese fries,” I said.
Jack licked his lips and leaned closer. “Oh, Adele, I eat all kinds of things,” he said.
I blushed bright
red. “I bet you do,” I said.
Just then, I felt Jack’s hand on my thigh under the table. I almost jumped in surprise, but his touch was warm on my cold denim-clad thigh, and I wriggled closer, wanting him to touch me everywhere.
“What can I get for you kids?”
The sound of the waitress’s voice made me jump and flush again. Jack laughed heartily, and the sound filled me with warmth.
“I’ll have a double bacon cheeseburger, medium rare, with bacon and a side of chili cheese fries. Oh, and a strawberry milkshake,” Jack said. He smirked at me. “Adele?”
I had been planning to order a Caesar salad, but that sounded so good I wasn’t able to help myself. “I’ll have the same,” I said, still flushing.
