Page 119 of Close Your Eyes and Count to 10

Angeline ran for the gun, but not before Hector knocked her out of the way, sending her tumbling into the wall. She lay, wind knocked from her, head spinning from the earlier blow, tasting dirt in her mouth. Chloe came to stand over her, her smile victorious. The room spun.

Hector held the gun now, pointing it at Maverick and Gustavo. Mav was on top of Tavo, hitting him hard again and again.

“Stop,” Hector yelled, voice bouncing. But as usual, no one listened.

“I was always going to win,” Chloe said to Angeline. But Angeline had no idea what she meant. There were clearly no winners in this insane game. Angeline saw the gleam of instability in the other woman’s eyes. An anger that chilled her.

“Chloe?” Malinka moved tentatively toward them. “Chloe? What is this? I’ve been…so afraid for you.”

An expression of sorrow, of shame, clouded Chloe’s face when she looked at Malinka. Malinka reached out a hand, and Chloe took it.

“I’m sorry,” said Chloe. “I have so much to tell you.”

But before Malinka could answer, the sharp report of a fired gun froze the moment. The building shuddered, plaster falling from the ceiling in chunks. Then Maverick was tackling Hector, punching him hard in the face and easily taking the gun from him.

“Enough,” Maverick roared, struggling to his feet. He kept the gun pointed at Hector,who lifted his hands from his place on the ground.

“We have to get out of here,” yelled Adele. “This place is going to collapse.”

Maverick ignored her, moving away from Tavo, who was also on the ground, doubled over, seemingly immobilized by pain.

Maverick walked toward the camera. Adele, Malinka, and Cody were moving toward the door.

Where was Chloe? Angeline didn’t see her. Had she run? She was gone; she’d left them all.

“I am only exactly what you all want me to be,” Maverick yelled at the camera. “I do the things you’re afraid to do. I live the way you all wish you could live. I break myself to make you laugh.”

He looked around, waited for someone to say something, but no one did. He spoke again straight to the blinking red light.

“I’m sorry. But if you hurt yourself to be like me, or ifyour kidsdo, that’s on you. Who’s parking them in front of their devices and letting them watch?”

Angeline moved over to him, grabbed his arms. A crash somewhere inside the hotel. Did she hear voices?

“If I make promises I can’t keep…well, who doesn’t? If I took money, it was mine to take. The point is, I am out here.Doingshit. Living large, sucking the marrow out of this life—climbing, diving, flying, falling. And if you hate me, it’s because you’re jealous. Younever stopwatching me. You never decline to come along for the ride. If you hate me for who I am, then ask yourself this: Who areyoufor watching me? Who areyoufor making me who I am?”

He swept the gun around the room. Everyone stayed frozen, speechless. Breathless.

“I’m leaving here with Angeline,” he said.

And his tone reminded her why she had first loved him. He was sure of himself. He knew himself, where he was in the world,what he could do. Physically, he was sure-footed, athletic. He was right. He could fly. Only the most confident person could. Only the boldest person leaped into the air without thinking about the hard, unyielding ground.

“You’ve abducted an innocent woman,” he went on. “To getto me. Derailed a game that was meant to help people.One of youis responsible for whatever happened to Alex.”

He never lost sight of the agenda, even as it all fell apart.

Hector and Tavo were silent, helpless, both on the ground, bleeding. They thought they’d brought Maverick to his knees. They’d failed.

Were they live? If they were, Maverick had shamed them all and emerged unscathed as ever. Always on top. Always ahead. Always the winner of every game.

It was the camera that gave him his power. If they’d confronted him alone, he might have crumbled. But not with the eye on him. That’s what his mother had taught him, from the time he was a little boy.Never, ever let them see you cry.

“And trust me, if you try to come after us, Iwillkill you. In self-defense.”

It was at that moment that Enchantments offered its final protest. Somewhere deep in the belly of the beast, another crash. Outside the door, a great piece of concrete dropped from above, crashing into rubble. Adele let out a scream.

“Everybody, get out of here,” yelled Cody, moving to usher people out. “We have to get up top.”

They ran, Maverick holding Angeline’s hand and forearm tight, half dragging, half carrying her really, as she struggled to keep moving. The place seemed to be turning to rubble all around them, debris falling, water gushing in. She could hear the others running, screaming behind her as pieces of the ceiling fell, crashing into the water.

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