Page 37 of Jesse

“He’s not going anywhere, Emma,” Hannah says, fingers furiously tapping away at her screen as she smiles.

“We cannot just leave him here.”

“Well, what do you wanna do?” Mila asks. “It’s a long drive home and I have to be up by nine to drop Stephanie at ballet.”

“Who cares about fucking ballet?” I say.

“First of all,” she says, using her mom voice on me as she holds up a finger, “Stephanie has worked her ass off this year and tomorrow are the auditions for the summer production of Alice in Wonderland. She really wants to be the caterpillar’s face. And second, fuck this guy! He deserves this!”

“He so does,” Hannah mumbles, still texting.

Natalie sets her coffee cup down and grabs her purse off the counter. “Yeah, let’s go. I have to change before I meet up with date number one. You wanna ride with me, Ems?”

“No,” I say. “We’re not leaving him down there. He doesn’t even have water.”

“He doesn’t deserve water, Emma,” Hannah says. “He’s a dick. A total dick.”

Mila says, “We’ll just come back tomorrow, drug him up again, and then drop him off back at his place tomorrow night like this never happened. He has no idea who we are.”

“Hello!” I say. “I bought him at the auction. He knows I’m involved!”

“He thinks you were kidnapped,” Natalie says. “Plus, he’s super disoriented right now. Maybe we should drug him tonight too?”

“No,” I say. “No more drugs.”

“OK, it’s settled then,” Mila says. “Let’s go. Emma, how are you getting home? I’d offer to take you, but your place is totally out of my way and I really need to catch some z’s before Stephanie’s audition.”

Hannah stuffs her phone in her back pocket and grabs her purse off the counter and starts heading for the door.

“I’ll drive the Land Rover home,” I say. That’s the car we keep out here.

Mila shoots me a look.

“What? I’ll bring it back tomorrow.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about. You do not go down there. You hear me?”

“Why the hell would I go down there?” I ask. “The last thing I need is for him to figure out I’m the stupid mastermind of this shit show.”

“Good, let’s go,” Natalie says.

We all file out of the house. Mila last, so she can arm the security system. Hannah takes off without another word. And by the time I back the Land Rover out of the garage, only Mila is left. Sitting in her Mercedes, waiting for me to pull in front of her. Like she doesn’t trust me to leave Jesse here overnight.

I shake my head at her as I drive past, then exit the gate and follow the long Lake Road back to the highway.

But the whole time I’m driving back to the city Mila stays behind me. Not taking her eyes off my car until I have to exit onto another freeway and she has no choice but to let me go my own way.

I watch out the side window as she keeps cruising straight and then I get off on the next exit and turn around.

I have to go back. I can’t leave Jesse Boston tied up in the basement.

I need to know things.

Things like… was any of it real? Or was it all lies?

CHAPTER FOURTEEN - JESSE

There is a vent in the basement that must connect to the room where they are talking upstairs because I hear every fucking word of their conversation.