Death Ride

by Sebastyen Dugas

  “Why didn’t you answer me?”

  Dominic looked at him dubiously. Jimmy dropped it; he probably hadn’t heard him. He felt a mixture of adrenalin and excitement as he realized that this was the day he would finally talk to Laura.

  He was nervous and anxious. Calm down, he told himself. If he weren’t in control of his emotions when talking to her, she’d freak out. What he would tell her was not easy to understand, and he had to be cool and in control.

  He turned on his laptop to look up Laura’s agent’s phone number and dialled it on his cell phone.

  The person answering told him that the firm no longer represented Laura Labelle. Astonished, Jimmy asked her the name of the new agent, but the woman had already hung up. He cursed her for endangering Laura’s life through her inaction.

  He began to search the internet and landed on a gossip site that said that Mike Tougas’ agency now represented Laura. He didn’t know if this was right or if it was mere gossip, but he had nothing to lose.

  Before calling the agency, Jimmy looked at a photograph of Laura that he particularly liked. He took a few seconds to admire it. Laura was sitting with her legs crossed, her left leg raised to support both arms. Her long, black hair was tucked back, showing off the right side of her face. Her full lips outlined a perfectly symmetrical smile and showed a set of magnificent, unnaturally white teeth.

  Laura’s eyes were expressive, as usual, and Jimmy once again felt a strong connection with her.

  She was gorgeous—not too big, not too thin. Not too tall, not too small. “Absolutely perfect,” he thought.

  He was swooning over the photo like an artist admiring his work.

  After being taken out of his thoughts by a truck passing by, he noticed Dominic staring at him impassively. Jimmy smiled at him and called the agency number.

  “Tougas and Gosselin Agency.”

  Jimmy sat up in his chair as if it gave him more credibility. “Hi, I’d like to speak with Mike Tougas, please.”

  “Mr. Tougas is not here. May I take a message?”

  Jimmy fumed. He didn’t have time to wait for Tougas to bother to call him back, God knew when. This was urgent.

  “Maybe you can help me. I’m looking to talk to Laura Labelle. I understand that your agency now represents her. I need to talk to her urgently. Could you give me her cell phone number or a number where I can reach her?”

  “Sir, we never give out that kind of information, come on. I’m going to ask Mr. Tougas to—”

  “I know, ma’am,” Jimmy said, interrupting her, “but it’s a matter of life or death—do you understand? We don’t have time to worry about protocol. I want to talk to her about the demise of her character in the show and what it means to her.”

  There was a moment of silence.

  “The death of her character? I think you’re mistaken, sir. On the contrary, Mr. Tougas is negotiating the extension of Laura’s contract. Believe me, no one intends to make such a central and popular character disappear from the show.”

  Jimmy was surprised by this news, but concluded that the producers of the series were using this scheme to ensure Laura’s presence when they planned to kill her both on the show and in the real world. They were going to fake an accident and then pocket the proceeds from all the events that would pay tribute to Laura, from DVD sales. And of course, her death would provide a much-needed boost for a TV series that was losing momentum. These men were only thinking about their wallets, Jimmy knew. The hell with it if anyone should suffer from it in the process. They were collateral damage.

  “Look, I know things you don’t know,” Jimmy said. “I know that her character is going to die and that she faces a great danger of suffering the same fate. I beg you to give me her phone number or Mike Tougas’ home number.”

  “As I told you, I’m not authorized to give you the personal contact numbers of our artists and employees. Have a good day, sir.”

  She hung up despite Jimmy’s pleas. He threw his cell phone on the couch in front of him.

  “You stupid bitch,” he said to himself. “She must be in on it too.”

  He paced in circles around his apartment, simmering with rage. After a few minutes of ruminating about what he was going to do, he reopened his laptop and ran a search on Laura Labelle. He had to find a way to reach her.

  Then, on a social media site, he saw an ad mentioning that actors from the show would be in the area that night for a signing session. It would take place in a shopping mall near his home. He thought it was a sign of fate. What were the chances of that happening?

  The autograph session was to take place at Galeries St-Hubert at 4:00 p.m. It was perfect; it gave him about six hours to refine his game plan. Considering that he had thought he would only talk to Laura on the phone, this was an unexpected windfall. He would meet with her face-to-face! Another indication from destiny that he was doing the right thing. The universe was sending him unequivocal signals. Things were setting themselves up.

  He had previously attended events where Laura was present, but he had never found the courage to talk to her, content to watch her from a distance. She was so warm with people, so kind. It had made him fall even more in love with her.

  He had sent her lots of messages via social media, telling her how beautiful he thought she was in a scene or how the dress she had worn on a red carpet had suited her well. He had even taken the liberty of giving her advice on her craft, on her life. He had told her how much he disapproved of her relationship with François Béliveau,

  She had sometimes replied to him, but Jimmy wasn’t sure if it was her responding or just her social media crew.

  This time, he knew, he would have to overcome his shyness and talk to her. He thought back to that picture of her he had been contemplating, and suddenly he felt afraid of being paralyzed by her bewitching gaze. If he were intimidated by her stare from an innocent photo, it would be worse in person.

  “Pull yourself together, Jimmy,” Dominic said. “Laura Labelle is an ordinary person like you and me. All you have to do is think like that, and she won’t intimidate you.”

  He was right. Jimmy would have to approach her like she was a long-time friend, ignoring the aura that surrounds people we idolize.

  For the rest of the day, time passed very slowly. Jimmy, a newly unemployed worker, checked his digital watch constantly. He had to find a way to distract his mind until the fateful hour, or he would go mad. He asked his brother to play a board game, but he refused. Dominic never wanted to do anything. He just stayed there, looking at him and giving him advice.

  Jimmy watched a re-run of a show he had already seen, partly to adapt to Laura’s expression and partly in hopes that it would relax him.

  He poured himself a glass of cold water, and as he sat down, he saw Laura languorously kissing the man who was playing her lover in the show. Every time Laura kissed an actor, it was like a stab to Jimmy’s chest, like when you catch the one you love with someone else. He shook himself. It was only a role, he reminded himself. Laura was an actress. Understandably, her character would kiss someone. There was nothing authentic about that. Nothing as real as the love Jimmy had for her.

  Once he had calmed down, he became absorbed by the scene, imagining that it was him she was kissing with such passion.

  Suddenly, Laura’s eyes turned directly to the camera, towards Jimmy, as she carried on kissing the other guy.

  Jimmy’s heart went crazy. He didn’t remember this scene, even though he had seen it dozens of times. Moreover, the actors never looked at the camera before. Laura was still kissing the other person, keeping Jimmy in sight, and then she sneered at him with a sly smile. Jimmy’s heart began to pound with excitement. He turned to his brother, but he was not there.

  Laura stopped kissing the actor and then sensually licked her partner’s neck, still staring languorously at the camera. Jimmy looked away, no longer able to cope with all the sexual tension. He had never felt so disturbed in his entire life; he didn�
��t know how to react.

  After a few seconds, he looked at the screen again, but a shampoo commercial was playing. He was shocked that the scene had ended so abruptly and grabbed the TV remote control to rewind back to it. He stopped as Laura threw her arms around her fictional lover’s neck and kissed him with passion. Jimmy waited for the scene to replay, but something was not right. This time, Laura kissed the actor for only a few seconds before leaving the room. The show then cut to the shampoo ad. Laura hadn’t looked at the camera at all.

  He replayed the scene several times, thinking he hadn’t found the right location on the recording, but each time, it came back to the moment when Laura kissed the guy and then left the room.

  Then, that damn shampoo commercial.

  What was going on? He couldn’t have imagined all this. He was furious with himself for looking away from the screen for a split second. Now, he was even more convinced that he would never be able to withstand Laura’s intense look in person. He would be responsible for her death because he was too fragile.

  “What’s going on?” said his brother, who had just reappeared.

  Jimmy reported what he had just seen, but Dominic laughed at him, saying he was hallucinating, confusing his fantasy with reality. He was probably right.

  Jimmy noticed a strange glint in Dominic’s eyes, as if a white flash of lightning had quickly passed through his pupils. Dominic asked him why he was looking at him like that, but Jimmy didn’t answer. He was imagining things, he told himself. It was probably due to his fear about meeting with Laura.

  To distract himself, Jimmy decided to walk down to the park a few blocks away from his home. He was not sure if he was imagining things, but it seemed passers-by were randomly looking at him. Was it because of his grotesque blond hair? Jimmy had a tendency to attribute intentions to people; this had caused him trouble in the past. It was also the main reason he didn’t have many friends except for Dominic, his aunt, and his friend Mathieu.

  He went on his way, avoiding people’s eyes. He sat on a park bench and took several deep breaths, trying to regain his senses. He didn’t have the luxury of screwing things up with Laura. Not under these circumstances. He wouldn’t be able to live with himself if his mission failed; failure meant that she would die.

  He hadn’t been able to save the other women in his life; he was going to save this one.

  Even if he died trying.

  3

  That afternoon, Laura Labelle made her way to the event in a taxi, wishing she hadn’t accepted. Meeting her fans demanded more and more energy from her. As much as she had loved this part of her career at first, it annoyed her considerably now. She had never liked being the centre of attention before she was an actress. That was why her mother had been so surprised by her career choice. Her daughter, who preferred reading in her room rather than going to parties with her friends. Her daughter, who didn’t want to go to her graduation because it meant being on stage. Her daughter, who was unable to sleep the night before an oral presentation in high school.

  But Laura had explained to her mother that playing a role was not the same because she could hide behind her character. She could turn on the switch to play a part and then turn it off again. When Laura returned to being Laura, she regained her introverted nature, which detested crowds. It was difficult to explain; even Laura didn’t know how she lived with this duality.

  But that’s the way it was; there was nothing more to add.

  She shivered as the taxi took a right turn, and she saw the shopping mall in the distance. Every fibre in her body urged her to flee, to ask the driver to do a U-turn. But she had duties. Mike Tougas was going to be there; her face was on the promotional posters. She had to go in there. She had no other choice. Feeling compelled to do what she hated brought tears to her eyes.

  Fortunately, Bruno was going to meet her there at some point. Laura didn’t know Mike Tougas very well, but she hoped he would acknowledge her love for Bruno and not attempt to control her private life. If she needed to change agents every week until she found one who would accept her relationship, she would. No one would ever impose anything on her again, not after the François Béliveau fiasco.

  Never again.

  She paid for her ride and walked along the brick wall of the building towards a secondary entrance door, trying to blend in as much as possible with her surroundings. As she entered, she spotted the team of technicians who were finishing installing the tables and, to her right, her colleague Martine, who waved at her. Laura breathed a sigh of relief; Martine was good company. The two of them got along very well.

  Laura walked towards her, forcing a smile.

  After leaving the bookstore with the last John Grisham for his aunt’s birthday, Jimmy walked around the aisles of the mall, avoiding wandering near where the signing session would take place in a few hours. He was wondering if Dominic was right after all. Perhaps the only way Laura would agree to follow him would be through coercion. At the end of the day, only the result counted. He quickly dismissed the idea. He didn’t see how Laura would be responsive under these conditions, and, in any case, he had no means of forcing her to oblige. He didn’t have a gun. The only weapon he had was at home. For a brief moment, he regretted not having brought it with him. If it turned out that he needed to use force, it would have been useful.

  But no, nothing good happens with a gun when you’re on edge, Jimmy thought, arguing with himself as though he had a devil and an angel in his head.

  He wished he hadn’t told Mathieu that he would be coming to the restaurant with Laura tonight. Mathieu had giggled with an expression suggesting that it was unlikely to happen.

  Jimmy’s idea was to convince Laura to join him at the restaurant, Deux Cigognes, where Mathieu was working. There, privately, he would explain to her that he was afraid for her and give her the results of his investigation.

  He watched the technicians who were installing the tables and lighting equipment on the premises. There was no sign of Laura, and a worm of doubt began to gnaw at him. What if Laura had cancelled her appearance?

  He panicked.

  One of the technicians who noticed his arrival asked him if he could help him.

  “Do you know if Laura Labelle will be here tonight?”

  “Who?”

  Jimmy couldn’t conceive of anyone not knowing who Laura Labelle was. The man’s colleague intervened.

  “She’s on the poster, so I guess she’ll be here. What do you think?”

  Jimmy didn’t care for the technician’s arrogant tone, but he disregarded it. He left without asking any further questions. People were so out of touch, he thought angrily. Imagine if something terrible happened to Laura, and these two morons did nothing to help the only person who was meant to save her. They’d look like complete idiots.

  The waiting became unbearable for Jimmy, who didn’t notice that Laura had entered by a different door.

  Restless and uneasy, Jimmy went to sit in the food court to sip a soft drink and take some deep breaths. His nervousness worried him. He had to calm down somehow. A shadow passing in his peripheral vision made him startle, but just like the previous time at the apartment, there was nobody there. Then another shadow passed close to him, but this time to his right. Was he losing his mind? He was clearly agitated, but to imagine fictional shadows?

  He got to his feet; he could no longer bear to wait until the fateful hour came when he would finally speak to Laura and warn her about the dangers she was in for.

  He sat down again; he was also afraid to fail. How would he react if he was unable to convince Laura and make her see the light?

  Would he just go back home with his tail between his legs? Unthinkable.

  And Mathieu, with his fucking condescending look, would not fail to inquire where Laura was if Jimmy went alone to the restaurant.

  No, he had to succeed at all costs.

  He heard loud music from a distance and realized that the event had just begun. There was a massiv
e crowd in the mall corridors now, and people were converging towards where the actors would soon appear. Jimmy looked at his watch; it was time. He took a deep breath and got up. After a few steps, his legs nearly buckled and he grabbed a table for support.

  God, he’d never make it through. His inability to manage his emotions disheartened him. Dominic would never have this kind of problem. He was so in control of everything, so clear of mind and purpose. He wouldn’t be impressed by a fucking actress. Dominic didn’t care what anyone else thought. Jimmy had always envied him for that.

  He wished Dominic could somehow infuse him with his strength, maybe telepathically. He needed it so much right now. Jimmy had asked his brother to come with him, but, as usual, he had refused without an explanation. Dominic never justified himself. If you pushed him too hard, he would become angry and sometimes even violent. Might as well not insist.

  Jimmy moved slowly, trying to maintain his balance as a crowd of young people ran by him, laughing and talking so loudly that it hurt his eardrums. People could be unbearable sometimes. Crowds made him angry. But for now, all he cared about was getting to his destination on both feet.

  He saw his reflection as he walked past a shop window. As always, he was disappointed with what he saw. His blond hair looked greenish; his blunt-shaped body was not sufficiently hidden under his loose-fitting clothes. Laura wouldn’t want to have anything to do with him. His heart was racing so hard in his chest that he thought he was about to pass out. He stopped for a few seconds and took three deep breaths. He was sweating profusely. He was a mess. He turned to his left and staggered into a public men’s room, where he bent over the sink and splashed his face with cold water. He looked in the mirror.

  “Get your shit together, Jimmy, for crying out loud. You’ll fail again. How many will you have to lose before you do something?”

  He lowered his head. His nose was tingling like he was about to cry. He straightened up, sniffled, and walked to one of the free toilet cubicles. He closed the door behind him, locked it, and sat down. He wasn’t going to get out of there until he felt ready. It was no use seeing Laura in this state of mind. He didn’t know how he would manage to do it, but he had to find a way. He had only rarely done so since his mother’s death, but now he closed his eyes and implored her to provide him with the necessary strength to save Laura.