Page 125 of I Never Stopped Loving You

I can’t speak, my throat’s too tight for words. I only nod as he removes his hand and takes a bite of his burrito.

“Fuck that’s good. Eat your food before it gets cold…Well, colder.”

“You just couldn’t risk getting lettuce in your truck, huh?” I tease as I pull out my quesadilla and unwrap it on the table between us.

His plane is nice. Small, but functional. There are six seats total. Two sets face each other, one on each side of the aisle with a table between each of the sets then two captain's chairs in the front. There are two TVs mounted on the ceiling, one at the front and one at the back. A small bathroom is at the rear of the plane and a small bed folds down on each side as well. Of course, there is a fully stocked mini fridge and mini bar as well, so we’re set.

“Hey, I paid good money to get that baby all shiny just last week. Respect the leather.”

“Then there’s my truck, where if you took a blacklight to it, I’m completely fucked,” I tell him seriously.

He stares at me for a moment before we both burst out laughing. We fall into a comfortable silence after that as we eat our cold Taco Bell. I feel like I’m back in college munching on Taco Bell with a stomach full of alcohol on my way home from another frat party.

“Can I ask you a question?” Monty asks as he pulls out his cheesy Gordita crunch and the chips and cheese.

I finish off my last bite of quesadilla before balling up the wrapper and tossing it into the bag. I hope the potatoes still taste just as good as they used to.

“Sure, shoot,” I tell him as I pop the lid off and take a bite. Yep, still good.

“So…James Parker.” He says that monsters name quieter, even though he said the area we are in is soundproof.

“What about him?”

“What did you ever do with him? I mean, I had a guy pick up the car and scrap it that night. I know you took him with you, but you threw his cell out into the water by the Blue Water Bridge…What about him?”

I glance toward the door to the cockpit then back to him. He leans forward silently begging me for more info.

“You know if I tell you this, it incriminates you, right?” I ask him.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Cut the lawyer jargon. Give me the good details.”

He rubs his hands together excitedly, and I can’t help but laugh. I’m not going to lie, it honestly feels good that someone knows the full me. Jeremy knows me to a point and we’re closer than brothers, but I never wanted him to bear this burden with me. He hasn’t had the easiest life growing up, and if I have to keep him in the dark about my vigilante justice, so be it. If I ever got caught, he would go down with me and I would never want that.

At least Monty is tech-savvy enough to be able to hide his involvement completely. Plus, the dude isn’t squeaky clean himself. I’m not one hundred percent sure if he’s ever killed someone himself, but I know damn well he’s been the reason more than a few people have been killed. That doesn’t include the men he’s helped me hunt down.

“He’s in my basement,” I tell him before stuffing the last bites of the fiesta potatoes in my mouth.

“Your basement? You don’t have a basement. I’ve checked the blueprints on your house,” he says, rolling his eyes.

“That’s definitely not stalker-ish,” I tease.

“Noah, come on. Where is he?” he pleads.

“I told you, in my basement. My secret basement. It’s down a hidden staircase.”

“No shit?” he demands.

“No shit,” I laugh. “So years ago, I went to an estate sale and opened a random book. Inside was an old, folded-up piece of thin paper. I bought the book and rushed home, laid the paper out on my kitchen table, and discovered it was the blueprints the original architect made. I compared them to the ones you can find on the county website, but there was something on the hidden blueprint that wasn’t on the current ones. A hidden labyrinth.”

“Holy shit. No fucking way. Can I see it when we get back?” he asks, excitedly.

“Maybe. We’ll see. I've never shown it to anyone before…Well, no one that was allowed to keep breathing,” I laugh.

“So, he’s down there still? Why have you kept him alive all this time?” he asks before taking a long sip of his freezee. “Fuck, brain freeze,” he groans.

“I’m keeping him for her. I want her to be able to end him if that’s what she chooses.”

“Fuck roses and chocolates. You’re about to gift her the monster who ruined her life. And they say romance is dead?” he laughs. “Oh! Can you please tie a big ribbon on top of his head? Please?” he begs.