Chapter 21―Joshua

“When I leave for work tomorrow,” Ben said as we sat down to eat, “I’m going to take you to a car rental place. After you rent a car, drive outside the city limits and release Amanda. You can take her into a small town or leave her in the middle of the country. I don’t care what you do, as long as you don’t let anyone see you. Ditch the car somewhere, and then get a cab back home. We’ll celebrate our victory, and a few friends of mine are going to help us deal with any possible consequences.”

“Other people know about this?” Abi asked.

“Don’t worry your pretty little face. I’ve already taken care of everything. Just get rid of the girl tomorrow, and we’ll all act like nothing ever happened. We’ll split up the money, and you can do whatever you want.”

“How are we splitting it?” I asked. I know the question meant nothing to us in the long run, but I just needed to know that he was going to screw us over to make me feel like we had made the right choice.

“We’ll discuss that when the money is in the account,” he said. Ben looked around to our sullen faces. “Lighten up, you guys. We’re about to be rich.”

When we finished eating, I piled up the leftovers on a plate and brought it up to Amanda.

“We’ll leave tomorrow,” I whispered, handing her the food, “as soon as Ben leaves for work. We’ll take a rental car, and Reese and Abi will meet us at my friend’s place.”

“Everything’s going to work out, isn’t it?” she whispered back.

“I really think so.”

She leaned in for a kiss, and I returned a peck. She leaned in again, but I pulled back. I couldn’t be away for too long.

“I have to go. I’ll come back up here when it’s time for us to go tomorrow.”

“You’re not sleeping up here?”

“I don’t think that would look good for us,” I said. “Besides, if Reese has cleaned everything, I don’t want to leave any trace of my DNA on the sheets. The walls are paper thin and there’s no way I can keep my hands off you.”

This got her smiling again.

“Fine. But I expect you to make it up to me the moment we get to Rome.”

I needed to leave the room before I couldn’t control myself any longer. The front of my jeans felt tight and constricting.

“I’ll more than make it up to you.” I winked and turned to go back to the kitchen.

“I figured you’d be up there for longer,” Ben sneered. “You going to have one last wild night with her? I can’t imagine she’s very good in the sack, but at least she’s got that tight virgin—”

“No,” I interrupted him. “I don’t know how many times I have to tell you, but you know that isn’t what it’s like. I had to do a job, a job that you gave to me. I do whatever needs to be done.”

“Easy, man, I’m just joking. I just think it’s funny to make fun of the fact that you had to bang someone like her for the money. I assure you, you’ll be well compensated for it.”

“Can we just stop talking about her?” I said, dropping onto the couch.

“Sure,” he said, sitting down next to me. He turned on the TV, but I wasn’t interested in watching anything.

“Isn’t it strange that just a few years ago, you were just starting out here. I took you under my wing, and just look where you are now. You’ve come a long way, Joshua.”

“I guess,” I said softly. We watched TV in silence. I wished that Reese and Abi would have stuck around to cut some of the awkward tension between Ben and me, but they scurried off to Reese’s room after dinner. I didn’t blame them, though. I would have done the same, given the option.

“Well,” he said, getting up from the couch after a few hours of mindless staring. “I’m going to take a shower and go to bed. We have a big day tomorrow.”

“We,” I muttered under my breath. Ben was going to hide away at work while I did all of his dirty work.

“Let’s pick up the car at eight,” he said. “Then it’s just a waiting game.”

“Goodnight,” I said, hoping he’d take the hint that I wanted to be alone.

I burrowed into the cushions, trying to get some rest. I didn’t know when I’d be able to sleep next. I felt a mix of excitement and anxiety over the next twenty-four hours. Once I had my feet in Rome, I knew everything would be okay. It was just the process of getting there that would be tricky.

I tossed and turned for a few hours before finally falling asleep. I had a dream that I was woken up by the police and Ben was nowhere to be found. I was dragged into a jail cell and told that I would never get out.

The dream was so realistic that when I woke up from it at five in the morning, I was too shaken to go back to sleep. I turned the TV on low and just stared at the screen until the sun came up.

When I got restless lying on the couch, I got up and gave the kitchen a good scrub. I knew that Reese and Abi would be careful about where they left their fingerprints, so hopefully, there wouldn’t be any good evidence for the cops. I picked up a knife that Ben used to cut an apple last night and rinsed off the blade, holding the handle with my t-shirt. When it was clean, I tucked it into the drawer.

It wasn’t long before Ben came down the stairs dressed for work.

“You ready?” he asked, a big smile on his face.

“Yeah, let’s go.”

When we got to the car rental, he gave the attendant his fake ID and we received a tan sedan in return. It was an incredibly drab car, but it was best that way. It certainly wouldn’t stand out in traffic.

Ben answered a phone call as we were about to part ways. As the person on the other end spoke, his eyes got brighter and brighter.

“Great news, buddy! That was Reese—he said that every penny is accounted for and is in a safe space. It’s done.”

“It’s not entirely finished,” I said, pointing at the car.

“Almost there. Good luck today, Josh. I’ll see you at the house after work. After today, our lives will change forever.”

I headed back toward the house in the rental car, but I couldn’t ignore my growling stomach. I decided to pull over at a fast food joint and grab something for breakfast. I figured that Reese and Abi would have already left, so I just got food for Amanda and me. Reese had mentioned that they wanted to spend a few hours in LA before we left the country for good, so they were heading out early.

I was about a mile away from the house when I got a phone call from Reese.

“What’s up? I’m in the rental car on the way home.”

“Josh,” he said frantically. “Abi and I just left a few minutes ago. We were at the intersection at the end of the street, and she saw the shady police officer.”

“The one who was hanging around with Ben?”

“Yeah. I’d get out of there immediately. Ben probably sent him to tail you when you left with Amanda.”

“Shit,” I yelled. “I have to go.”

“Stay safe.”

I sped the rest of the way home and parked on the street next to ours. I carefully ran through our neighbor’s yard and entered through the back door. Pulling the knife out of the drawer by the bottom of my shirt, I sprinted into the bedroom.

“Amanda,” I gasped. “The dirty cop is watching the house. Ben’s trying to frame me. We have to get out of here immediately.”

“Oh, my God,” she said, scrambling out of bed. “What do we do?”

“I think if we hurry, we can leave through the back door and get into the rental car. But we have to leave now.”

“Why are you holding that knife?” she asked.

I gulped. “If we don’t get this pinned on Ben, they’ll come after us. If you’re still missing without a trace, they’ll come looking for you.”

“You need my blood,” she said knowingly.

“Yes,” I said, my voice shaking. “Do you think you could do that? We need to make it look pretty bad. Do you trust me?”

She nodded, but she looked unsure. Amanda rolled up the sleeve of my sweatshirt and exposed the crook of her arm.

“Do it,” she said, squeezing her eyes shut.

I lowered the knife to her skin, gently grazing her pale flesh. It left a faint red line, no deeper than a paper cut.

“Josh,” she exclaimed.

“I can’t do it,” I cried.

“You have to. We don’t have any other choice.”

I kissed her on her forearm and then squinted my eyes. I imagined Ben’s arm in front of me. I applied pressure to the skin, resulting in a whimper from Amanda. I felt so terrible, but I continued. The cut was deep enough to bleed pretty badly, but not enough to be fatal.

Tears in her eyes, she smeared the blood on the white comforter and left handprints throughout the room. As she created the crime scene, I grabbed a clean towel from the bathroom, and when it looked convincing, I applied pressure to her wound.

I held her for a moment, making sure she was steady enough to continue.

“You did such a good job,” I murmured into her ear. “Let’s get out of here and never look back.”

She looked a little woozy, so I lifted her up, along with my duffel bag, and ran back down the stairs. I stood her on her feet once we got outside and practically carried her to the car.

Her face was white as a ghost, but she still had a faint smile across her lips.

“Hang in there, Amanda,” I said as I sped down the street. “Once I’m sure we aren’t being followed, I’ll take a look at your arm. Are you feeling okay?”

“I will be once we’re out of this damn city,” she said, looking around.

“You’re probably not remotely hungry,” I said, “but I grabbed some breakfast for us on the way back.”

She took a look at the greasy brown paper bag and cracked up. “I’m stuck in that house alone, with the police outside, and you’re going through the drive-through?”

“I didn’t know,” I said sheepishly.

She tilted her head back onto the headrest. “I suppose it’s the thought that counts.”

I took all the side streets and back alleys that I could until I was finally on the freeway out of the city. I had checked my surroundings every couple of seconds, and I had yet to see anything out of the ordinary.

I chose a shabby gas station on the edge of town and pulled over. First, I checked Amanda’s wound. It didn’t look great, but it was hardly bleeding. I stopped inside the general store and bought bandages and a few bottles of water.

After wrapping up her arm, I dropped a few quarters into a beat-up payphone and dialed the Las Vegas Police Department.

“There’s something strange going on at 2342 Maple Drive,” I said in a low voice when the operator answered. “I heard a scream, and there’s been a car parked outside all morning, with someone just watching the house.”

I hung up before they could get any more information and hopped back in the driver’s seat. I took off down the road and wondered how quickly the police would get to the house.

“I wonder what Ben’s going to do the moment he finally realizes that we beat him in his own game,” Amanda said.

I couldn’t help but smile. I would love to see the look on his face when the police take him away for questioning. He could tell all the stories he wanted to, but when it came down to evidence, it pointed solely at him.

“If only we could be there to witness the epic freak-out that is sure to ensue.” I chuckled.

“How soon will we get there?” she asked. “I’m just ready to get on a plane.”

“We’d better eat our breakfast. It’s going to be a while.”

She groaned and dug into the bag. She held my food in front of my face, and I let her feed me as I drove.

“At least I’m with you,” she said, turning to give me a bright smile.