“Spider-Man Mateo.” I hated to admit it. I never thought I’d be so glad for those nights in the Lowe’s parking lot, fishtailing in his green Pinto.
Jude relaxed for only a minute, but now we were headlights to headlights, us going forward, the Jeep Wagoneer still in reverse. I could only see the top shadowy part of the driver’s head.
“You see the driver’s face?”
“I’m trying not to see anything,” Jude said, ducking again and covering his eyes. Up ahead, I saw we were headed to a railroad crossing. The flashing lights came on, and the warning bell clanged, as the red-and-white bar started to lower.
“Is that a train I hear?” Jude opened his eyes again. “You’ve got to stop! Ella!”
The Wagoneer swept under the wooden bar just before it came down, skimming across the railroad tracks in reverse. We wouldn’t be so lucky. Jude wrapped his arms around me as I heard the blast of the horn. The white light blinded me temporarily, and my ears filled with the roar of the train.
Thirteen
The fact that the murder victims might be sympathetic didn’t stop people from continuing to cheer the Canceled Killer on.
—Crime Hivepodcast
And then the Volvo’s braking system kicked in automatically, slamming both Jude and me into the steering wheel as it came to a screeching halt, the car not even tapping the wooden barricade. Seconds later, the train roared past.
“Oh, thank God,” Jude said, dropping his head back against the seat and squeezing me even tighter. “Thank God for automatic braking.”
“We had him!” I slapped the steering wheel in annoyance. Every single exclamation mark in the dashboard was lit, the Volvo judging me harshly, and the heads-up display scolded me about braking properly. I flipped off the dashboard and its dumb safety features designed to keep us in one piece.
“I thought we were going to die. Did we die?”
“We’re fine, Jude,” I said, glaring out the windshield, our headlights illuminating the spray-painted graffiti on the freight cars speeding past.
Annoyed, I watched the train cars clack by. Several empty flat rail cars sped across the tracks. Over the empty flat cars, I saw the Wagoneer at the end of the road slow, headlights bright. Then ittook a right down a road beyond. I watched its rear lights through the train cars until I couldn’t see them anymore.
“We lost him,” I groaned, disappointed.
“Yes, but we lived. So, a point for us.” Jude’s breath was warm on my neck. I’d forgotten for a second I was sitting on his lap. He took off his glasses and leaned his forehead against my back. “I think I’m having a panic attack.”
“You are not.”
“Ella, there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you,” Jude said.
“How to disengage the stupid auto brakes?” I complained as I punched random buttons on the large console.
“No. Something else.” His voice sounded serious. “Oof, watch that elbow,” he said, even as I knocked the top of my head against his sunroof as I slid off his lap, over the gear shift, and safely back to the passenger side seat.
“Sorry,” I managed as I awkwardly sank back into my seat. The Volvo had the nerve to ding at me to fasten my seat belt.
I looked up and met his dark brown gaze and found myself falling into two puppy-dog pools. His eyes were so big and round without his glasses. I liked his flushed face, and dilated eyes, the way he wasn’t at all cool or collected right at this moment. Jude almost always kept his emotions in check, but he was rattled right then. Rattled in a way that I… liked. More than liked.
Something shifted then. I didn’t know if it was because we’d both nearly been hit by a train or because adrenaline from the thrill of the chase still pumped in my veins, or because it had been a hot minute since I’d last been laid, or because Oscar told me specifically that Jude was off-limits. But for the first time since I was in middle school, I thought about what it would be like to kiss Jude.
“I’ve been meaning to tell you something for a long time,” Jude said.
“That you hate my driving because I nearly ran your car into a train?” I quipped.
Jude chuckled. “No. But, yes. Probably that.” He sighed. “Listen, Ella, I…” Jude laughed a little. “Wow, this is harder than I thought.”
“You have never in your life had a hard time giving me your unsolicited opinion,” I said. “What is it? Do I have spinach in my teeth? That would be weird, because I haven’t eaten spinach in two years.”
Jude shook his head. “Okay. So remember when we talked about the job in Chicago?”
I nodded.
