“Yeah.” Preston’s fingertips make their way beneath the hem of her sweater.
My hands are clenched into fists so tight that my fingernails are cutting curved gashes into my palms. I know what’s coming, and it’s going to be as bad as finding out my two best friends are liars. I twist my wrists one at a time so that I’ll be ready to strike when the moment presents itself.
“Why do you always hang out at that place, anyway?” Parvati asks.
“Who cares? I think Max likes you,” Preston says.
“Well then, he’s got better taste than someone else I know.”
Preston smiles his relaxed grin. “I bet you can’t make him fall for you.”
Real-life Parvati hangs her head. “I’m sorry, Max,” she whispers.
“Yeah. Me too,” I mutter. If I swing my hip just right I can probably knock the phone to the floor. I won’t have to hear that Parvati went out with me as part of a stupid dare. I won’t have to learn that my two best friends were never my friends at all. My throat and my eyes start to water.
I can’t do it. I need to hear this.
I need to hear the truth.
“Why would you want me to do that?” Parvati asks.
“He needs a little excitement in his life.”
“And what about after I succeed? I just dump him? Kind of mean, isn’t it?”
Preston snorts. “Right. What was I thinking? You’re never mean.”
“Not to people who don’t deserve it.”
“You don’t think the CIA is going to expect you to be mean?” he asks. “You’re going to have to be able to cultivate assets, you know? Get strangers to trust you.”
Parvati doesn’t say anything.
“Hey, if you don’t think you can do it, I understand,” Preston says. “Maybe you’re not his type.”
“Oh, I can be his type.” Parvati reaches down and undoes the button of Preston’s jeans. “I’m just not sure why you want to share me.”
My turn to squeeze my eyes shut. “I’ve heard enough. Turn it off.”
“Aww. What’s the matter, Maximus? Aren’t you enjoying these videos of your girlfriend?” Adam’s lips twist into a cruel smile. “She only dated you because I told her to.”
“Fuck you, Adam.” She lifts her chin. “Maybe that was true at the start, but it’s not true now.” She looks over at me. “From our first date, you made me feel things no one else ever had. I need you to believe me.”
I barely hear her. Everything is starting to make sense. Adam started out trying to hurt me with Parvati, but somewhere along the way she must have gotten tired of the game. The fake Halloween party at his house—they’d been fighting before I got there. Maybe having sex with me right in front of him was her way of saying she was done blindly obeying him. And Adam didn’t like it, so he decided to frame me for “Preston’s” murder when he skipped town. He gets free and I get screwed—two-for-one deal.
“I swear I didn’t know what he was planning,” Parvati continues. “I thought it was just a stupid game.”
“For once she’s telling the truth. This was all me,” Adam gloats. “Once I sold you on the idea of selling alibis at school, everything seemed to fall into place. I knew you’d hook me up with a cover story, especially if it meant getting me away from your girlfriend.”
“So you left your bloody phone in my trunk, stole my shark’s tooth, and called in a fake tip that we’d been arguing?” As much as what I just learned is killing me inside, I have to keep Adam talking long enough to figure out a way to distract him. I just need him to get sloppy with the gun for a second.
Just one second.
“Basically,” he says. “But when I saw that dear old Dad had bailed you out, I figured he might have an attack of conscience and buy you a fancy lawyer who’d get you off on a technicality. I couldn’t handle the thought of you going free. I had to step up the plan one more time.”
“So now you’re going to kill me instead?”
“I’m going to kill both of you. I just haven’t decided who to kill first.”
“Me,” Parvati blurts out. “Kill me first. I deserve it.” She turns to me and mouths something that looks a lot like “you.”
Adam aims his gun at her chest and shrugs. “Fair enough.”
It takes me a second to realize what Parvati said was “now.”
“Good-bye, Pervy.” Adam’s finger squeezes the trigger.
“No!” With my feet still bound, I lunge for him, just as flame bursts from the barrel.
THIRTY-NINE
THE ROOM EXPLODES WITH SOUND. From the corner of my eye, I see Parvati’s body spasm. Blood blooms in the folds of her sari. “No!” I scream again. My arms attempt to circle Adam’s waist as my head connects with his stomach. But he’s stronger and heavier than me. He resists my tackle and pushes back. We land on the wooden coffee table, which collapses under our weight. My left arm ends up at the bottom of the pile, folded in a way that arms shouldn’t fold. I howl in agony. My vision goes white for a second and I lose track of the gun. Then I forget the pain. Fists fly. I push Adam up and away from me. I throw punches in every direction. My arm feels like it’s being pulled apart at the joints. I hear a grunt and a stumble, and then the sound of the gun skittering across the floor.
Adam’s fist connects with the side of my face. Warm liquid flows. I turn and spit blood onto the cabin’s floor. Parvati is crumpled on the sofa, her skin pale, her sari a mess of blood. I have no idea if she’s alive, but I can’t help her. Not until I deal with Adam.
I flail toward him, lashing out at this face and throat. “You bastard,” I say. “Look what you did!” My ears are still buzzing from the gunshot and my voice sounds hazy and far away. “I loved her. And apparently she loved you. But all you did was use her. You’ve never loved anyone in your whole life, have you?”
Adam leaps back to his feet, his mouth dripping blood, his chest caving with each breath. “I loved the Cantrells. But you ruined that.”
“You loved them? After what? A couple of hours together?” I kick off one of my shoes and manage to free my feet from the duct tape, which has loosened during our fight. I clamber to a standing position, gasping for breath.
Adam glances over at Parvati. “How long did it take you to fall for her?” he asks. “Five minutes?”
“Fuck off.” We stand there for a moment, dancing like prizefighters and gasping for breath. The front door is behind me. I could escape, maybe, but then what? Adam took my phone when he tied me up. I can’t leave Parvati to die.