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“’Bout fucking time. I didn’t bring the other rope to tie his legs up, so I need one of you to open the door.”
I go straight for the door, knowing the combination by memory. Once it’s open, Neo lugs Jude inside by his arm.
Riley stands by idly, pointing the flashlight, and while we could use a hand tying him to the chair Neo set up, I know she’s not ready to take part in this. The chair is nothing fancy. It’s not an electric chair like he actually deserves. Just an old office chair that was down here with a pile of rope on it and some duct tape.
Neo tosses him down, and when Jude starts begging for mercy, he grabs the duct tape and pulls a long strip of it out. Using his teeth, he tears it off the roll.
“When we’re ready to hear you talk, we’ll let you.” He slaps the tape over Jude’s mouth, who immediately begins sobbing. Tears fall onto the silver tape and my heart splinters. Not because he doesn’t deserve this after all he’s done, but because I’m still human and carry a large amount of empathy for others.
“Little help here,” Neo barks, adjusting the rope behind the chair.
I step beside him and he orders me to hold Jude’s hands in place while he knots them up real tight. Next, we tie his legs back up, ensuring he can’t run, and when the same rope is bound to the chair, we know he’s not going anywhere.
“All right,” I say on a clipped exhale while slapping my hands to my sides, “what’s next?”
“Now, we get answers.” He crouches down in front of Jude and begins his spiel. “We know Elias Stanton died twenty years ago. We also know you’re Jude Beckett. So you can drop the act now. What we want to know is why you did it and who’s helping you?”
Jude shakes his head no, sputtering behind the tape and fighting to free his hands and feet.
“Take the damn tape off,” Riley snaps. “He can’t talk with his mouth covered.”
Neo rolls his neck to look at her. “Did I ask for your fucking advice?”
And just like that, all the justification for his actions have disappeared, once again.
Riley exhales profoundly, spinning around and facing the door.
“Could you try to be human for five fucking minutes?” I gnash at Neo. Heat flushes through my body as I cater to Riley. “Ignore him.”
“It’s not him. I’m used to his asshole ways at this point. I just can’t help but feel that this is all wrong.”
The sound of tape being ripped off Jude’s mouth has us both shooting our eyes to where he’s bound to the chair.
He vomits words quickly, trying to get them all out while he has a voice. “There has to be another Elias Stanton. You’ve got the wrong guy. I swear. It wasn’t me.”
Neo lifts his hand, and with an open palm, he smacks Jude hard across the face. Riley winces, burying her face in my chest. I wrap my arms around her and whisper, “You wanna leave?”
She nods, so I take her out of the room without even telling Neo. He doesn’t deserve that courtesy.
Leaving the door open, we start our hike through the tunnels. “This will all be over soon,” I reassure Riley, or, attempt to at least.
“No, it won’t,” she argues. “Sure. Maddie is safe and well, but this is just the beginning.” She stops walking, looking at me with red eyes that threaten tears. “What happens once they get the truth? Do they kill him?”
“I don’t know,” I tell her, truthfully. “I really don’t know.”
We start walking again, and when we’re at the halfway point, we spot Crew and Jagger coming toward us.
My heart skips a thousand beats. Sweat breaks out on my forehead and my knees go weak.
“What do I do?” I whisper to Riley, taking her hand in mine. It makes me feel less alone. Like I have someone in my corner when I’m on the verge of crumbling.
“Hear them out, I guess.”
Seeing them now, I want more than anything to run into their arms and tell them I lied. That I do love them and I never want to be apart from them again. I need them to know I have no feelings for Neo and he forced me to do this.
But when they’re standing directly in front of me, staring down at me like I’m an outlander, I go around them, taking Riley with me.
“I can’t do it,” I say in a hushed tone, choking back on my own tears. “I can’t look them in the eyes and lie again.”
