Page 3 of Screwed

“Hey, Ava,” she answered, and the tension in my body deflated. She sounded tired, but not defeated or scared or worried. This was a good start.

“How are you?” My brain was a flurry of questions. “How did things go this morning? Did you get into—?”

“Jeez, calm down, will you?” she chuckled. “I’m fine. I swear. I’m actually two blocks away from the office right now, so we can speak freely. First off, things are okay here. At least for now.”

I didn’t answer, well aware of just how volatile that “for now” really was. “How’d you manage to swing that?”

“Lots of good acting that might’ve gotten me into drama school if I bothered to reapply,” she said breezily. Then she paused. “Everything’s gone up in chaos at the moment. I needed to act just as shocked and betrayed as everybody else and then let the panic meetings create the perfect smokescreen to hide in.”

“For now,” I echoed her earlier statement, a pit forming in my stomach. “Jules, they’ll eventually start checking your personal records and surveillance footage. If they find something…”

“Then I’ll deal with it like I always do. You’ve got more than enough on your plate to worry about without thinking of what I’m doing,” she cut in. “Speaking of which, how’s the fresh mountain air and roads treating you?”

I huffed a laugh, then groaned. “Psychic now, are you? How’d you know I was struggling?”

“Because I’ve known you since we were kids. Did you at least make it to the cabin yet?” she asked.

I felt a sudden flash of shame.

Between the two of us, Jules had always been the brave one, the one whose own courage pushed me to do better and try more. Even now, hearing her overcome her fear and face the office head-on without flinching inspired me to try again. She was doing this for me, after all. I owed her my grit. I always did.

I started the engine with a sigh.

“Attagirl.”

“I’m trying. If I could just get these wheels to grip.”

“You might need to invest in a truck. Something rugged and totally un-Ava like.” She snorted. “Oh, I would pay good money to see you driving around in some beat-up, heavy-duty Chevy. Mud on the wheels and everything. You should maybe get a pair of work boots while you’re at it.”

“Not funny, Jules,” I replied, but smiled anyway. I was already starting to feel better, not cussing this time when the car ran over another rut and lurched forward. “This is harder than you think.”

“I’m aware. Rather you than me, is all I can say,” she said casually.

“Pfft. Okay, the next time we decide to do something like this, you get to be the one who disappears to God knows—”

A loud thunk cut me off. The front right wheel dropped heavily into a muddy crater, emitting a sickening, metallic crunching sound. The impact vibrated straight up my spine.

“Ava?”

“Shit. I’m okay. I think.”

A sharp pop echoed from the wheel and my wrists nearly sprained as the steering violently yanked itself to the right.

The car shuddered to a dead stop; the nose angled uselessly in the dirt.

“You don’t sound okay,” Jules said, concern pulling her voice tight.

“I must’ve hit a rock back there. Popped a tire.” I just sat for a moment, trying to let my adrenaline die down. “Jules?”

Silence.

I frowned, looking down at the screen. The call had dropped, a series of small pixelated signal bars in the top corner steadily dropping to zero.

You’ve got to be kidding me.

You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.

I resisted the urge to throw the burner phone out the window. Not only was I stuck on the side of this godforsaken mountain with a broken-down car, but I’d also lost signal. I couldn’t communicate with Julia, or call for a tow truck, or do anything to get me out of this absolute dumpster fire I found myself in.