Page 34 of Twisted Empire

I wanted to help, but Elias ordered me to stay in the van while he changed the tire, just in case all the passing cars frayed my nerves even more. He wasn’t being a macho asshole—he had a point. I was practically a basket case right now. No matter how much I tried to stay strong and brave, I couldn’t quite manage it. I had a new, pervasive fear that something was bound to go wrong at any minute, because our escape plan had worked so perfectly.

Nothing stayed perfect forever.

My gaze snapped to the digital clock on the van’s dashboard. Elias had been outside for fifteen minutes now, and he still wasn’t done yet. If the tire change took much longer, we might not make it to the designated meeting spot on the other side of New Marwick. I had no idea what Henry would do if we were late, because I didn’t know him as well as Elias, but I had a feeling he wouldn’t wait around for long. He’d probably assume we got spooked and decided not to come.

Five minutes later, Elias finally returned to the van. “Done,” he said, wiping his forehead and glancing at the clock. "We’re going to be a little late.”

“Do you think Henry will mind?” I said anxiously.

He smiled. “Doubt he’ll care. I used to be late for everything back in the day, so he’ll probably wait for a few minutes if we don’t show up at the exact right time.”

“Oh. Good.” I settled back into my seat and watched the world go by outside as we arrived in the city and headed through the central business district. It was a surreal sensation, knowing that my old dorm was just a ten minute drive from our current location, but also knowing I couldn’t return to it. At least not under the current circumstances.

With a pang of sadness, I thought of my old best friends again. Katie, Willa, Greer. Where were they right now? What were they doing? Did they ever think about me, even though my parents had ensured they couldn’t stand me?

I was tempted to ask Elias to drop me off at Roden after our meeting with Henry, just so I could track down Greer and Willa and watch them for a while. My disguise would stop anyone from noticing who I was, so as long as I didn’t speak to the girls, it would be okay.

Right?

I opened my mouth to ask, but then the rational part of my brain started functioning again, and I firmly clamped it shut. Of course I couldn’t go to my old campus and stalk my old friends around. The risk was too great.

“Shit,” Elias muttered.

I turned my head. “What’s wrong?”

He waved a hand. “Look.”

I stared through the windscreen, and my heart sank. If I hadn’t been so deep in thought, I would’ve picked up on the rush hour traffic earlier. Ahead of us lay a gridlocked landscape of red taillights and back windows glinting in the late afternoon sun.

“It’s always bad this time of day,” Elias said. “If that fucking tire hadn’t popped, we would’ve been able to skip most of it.”

“How late do you think we’ll be?” I asked.

He rubbed his jaw and shrugged. “At least half an hour. Probably more.”

“You think he’ll wait that long?”

Another shrug. “Let’s hope so.”

We crawled through the traffic at a snail’s pace. By the time we made it to the north side of the city, it was already ten to six. We were twenty minutes late and still miles away from our destination.

When we got back on an open stretch of road, Elias stepped on the gas. He pulled off onto a coastal route a few minutes later, shooting a nervous glance at the middle of the dashboard as it hit six o’clock.

The coastline we were driving along was full of pleats and tucks—harbors, inlets, and bays. The lookout spot was around ten miles out of the city along the winding road, overlooking a beach within a secluded cove. We weren’t far off now.

I looked out the window as we drove, admiring the stunning view of the sun setting over the ocean. The sky was pink and orange, and the water was almost blinding as it reflected the light like a million flashing jewels.

“We’re here,” Elias announced, swerving off the road into a small parking lot.

On our right was a large deck with a balustrade, overlooking the shimmering ocean. There was a long wooden table and matching benches on it, but they were unoccupied. To the left of the deck was a wide path, presumably leading down to the beach below.

I saw a white car parked on the other side of the lot, and I glanced at it with a frown. “Think that’s his car?” I asked, pointing at it.

“Maybe,” Elias replied. “One way to find out.”

He got out and strode toward the lookout. I trailed behind him. The wild sea breeze blew my fake hair around my face, dragging a few strands free from the ponytail I’d scraped it into earlier.

We peered out over the beach from the balustrade. My heart leapt with excitement as I spotted a person sitting against a large rocky outcrop on the beach. “That’s him, right?”

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