by Jackson Kane
The ball of fire that erupted from the cabinet with all those chemicals gave way to a to much larger explosion seconds later that rocked the car and staggered everyone outside. It knocked Mitch and several of the kids to the ground along with a few of the motorcycles that were parked too close. Everyone fled from the fire that billowed out of the garage; everyone except Dante, who stood resolute against the extreme heat and stared at me.
Ashes and sparks of his old life rained down all around him, occasionally catching on his skin and burning small marks into his bare chest and face. An entire family history smoldered in a fiery inferno. Gone forever.
“Go,” he mouthed the word at me, not daring to say it out loud. His gaze was heavy with an immense sorrow.
My heart lurched when I realized what all this was.
This was the long con that Dante was playing at this whole time. My only escape. It crushed me to know that he had to burn his whole life just to save mine. Before I could try to convince him to come with me he went over to help Mitch who was already finding his feet.
I couldn’t waste this opportunity. This was my only chance. I slid fully behind the wheel and put the car in drive. The Plymouth immediately stalled out.
“Fuck!” I scolded myself starting it back up. I was way too close to the fire. The heat had permeated the inside of the car making it well over a hundred degrees. If I didn’t leave soon the tires would melt or the car itself might catch fire.
Breath, Autumn. Slow is fast, I reminded myself. Figure this out.
Agonizingly slowly I put it back into gear and started rolling. I let off the clutch nice and easy and started to move faster. I made it into first!
Then the back window exploded as a bullet tore through the inside of the car, narrowly missing me. In the rearview mirror I saw Dante standing there with an outstretched arm and a smoking gun. Both the engine and I screamed as I gave it more gas. A hail of bullets flew in from the rest of the crew mere seconds later. Most of the shots missed, but some didn’t, I needed to go faster! Mustering my courage, and praying to anyone who would listen, I attempted to shift into second gear. The transmission stuttered and there was a terrible grinding noise.
But the car didn’t stall!
One of the superheated motorcycles exploded behind me, which then set off the other closely parked ones in a chain reaction. As I pulled out of Dante’s driveway for what would definitely be the last time, my mirrors held an orange glow from the burning building that raged against the last of the dying, evening light.
I didn’t know how many vehicles were disabled from the blast, but I raced down the lonely dessert road as if I was being followed just in case. Heading nowhere, except generally away, I had nothing but time and thoughts keep me company. For hours I replayed all the events that just happened over and over in my mind. So many things weighed heavily during that long drive. I worried about my mother and wished I had a way to contact her, warn her. Dante wouldn’t tell them where she was would he?
Of course not! He saved my life!
He also shot at me!
But I’d seen him on the firing range. That would’ve been an easy shot for him if he was actually trying to kill me. Maybe that was a distraction too, a way to prove to the crew that he was trying to stop me? Nothing made any sense any more. It felt like my whole world was upside down. I didn’t know what to believe anymore. Was that story Mitch told me true?
Was Dante really a cold-blooded murder?
I would never be the same after what happened at Dante’s house tonight; in many ways it was a violent end to the summer season of my life. As the cold air flooded in through the shattered back window of the bullet-ridden Plymouth, the chills I got were only rivaled by the ones I felt in the heart of the coldest day of a New England winter. Did I somehow skip a season? Was it the death of Autumn as well?
Chapter 23
Autumn
“Autumn! Are you alright?” Jason’s limo barely came to a stop before he was out and rushing over to me. He spared a confused horrified look at the bullet-ridden Plymouth that had long since run out of gas.
All through the night I drove like the boogieman was hot on my heels. I called Jason from a gas station once I aimlessly drove long enough to feel like I wasn’t being followed. The two phone numbers I knew off the top of my head were Mom’s and Jason’s. I only knew Jason’s because I had to call it so often to set up acting sessions with him.
“Thank you so much for coming. I didn’t know who else to call.” I stepped out of the car and into the pale, pre-morning light. Wearing my grungy oversized shirt and sweatpants, I felt like a wreck compared to him. Jason wore a blazer, button down and slacks; even for a last minute, middle of the night call he looked put together.
I hugged him tightly and started to cry again at the comforting warmth of human contact. The whole night I’d I felt adrift, terrifyingly alone, like I was in a horror movie. I still didn’t know how I survived.
“What happened to you?” Jason looked me over; concern marred his delicately handsome features. “Do we need to go to the police?”
“No. Not yet. I—I just need time to think first.” I had a massive headache and my eyes hurt from crying. I was a wreck and needed to lie down. “Can we go somewhere safe for now?”
“Yes. Of course.” Jason put his blazer over my shoulders and walked me back to his limo. “I own a house in LA. You can rest there.”
I chuckled darkly to myself at the abrupt change from the Plymouth I could barely drive without a thousand little heart attacks to this temperature-controlled luxury wagon where all I needed to do was exist and I would arrive anywhere I wanted. My adrenaline which had been peaked all night crashed hard once I sat on the heated leather seats and got comfortable.
“We’re here.” Jason yawned, touching my shoulder to stir me.
“Stay the fuck away from me!” I woke up with a start, flailing my arms and rolling off the plush limousine bench seat. My breathing was ragged and quick. I felt trapped and hunted, and my heart was fit to burst. The dream faded fast but the tapping on the glass stayed with me. Mitch’s sharp tapping clawed its way into my brain and I wasn’t sure I’d ever get it out.
“It’s alright! You’re OK. It’s just me.”
“Oh fuck, I’m sorry.” I wiped the drool matted hair from my face. I was so groggy and my head pounded like crazy. “It was just—Where are we?”
“We’re at one of my houses.” Jason said as his driver opened the door for us. “Come, let’s get you some real rest.”
I stepped out onto a sharp slope. Jason lived on the side of a mountain that overlooked Los Angeles. Large expensive homes lined both sides of the newly paved road. Dawn was in full swing. How long was I out for?
He led me inside and briefly showed me around. His house was a stark contrast to where I’d been staying. Where Dante’s place was a lived-in home with warm colors, relaxed atmosphere and soft rounded features, Jason’s was the exact opposite. Everything was sharp corners glass dividers and hidden LED lights built into everything. It was sleek and had a futuristic, almost clinical, kind of style to it. It wasn’t pretty, but it was impressive as hell.
“You live here?” I walked out onto the patio and rested my hand on one of the four memory foam lounge chairs by the rectangle pool that had an unhindered view of downtown. The flat landscape below us was broken only by palm trees and skyscrapers.
I’d read a lot of articles before I first flew in to LAX airport about all the gorgeous homes of the rich and famous. I didn’t really know what to expect when I arrived, but part of me was still infatuated by that dream. This was exactly the kind of place I was hoping to stay at, but now that I was here I missed the adobo chunkiness of Dante’s house. This place seemed like it had seen a lot expensive Hollywood parties, but I couldn’t ever imagine raising any kind of family here.
“Whenever I’m in town, I guess. My main home is just outside London near where I grew up.” Jason offered me a glass of water “
What do you think of the view?”
“It’s incredible.” I sighed, not at the view but at what it reminded me off. For an instant my mind drifted back to that valley Dante took me to that seemed to go on forever. Despite all the craziness of last night, the memory of that horse ride with him still warmed my heart.
I suddenly felt like crying again.
“Are you going to tell me what’s going on? What happened at Dante’s house? Did he…”
“No! Whatever you think... Just no.” I took a deep breath, still feeling exhausted. “Can I use your phone?”
I didn’t have anything. Not even the clothes I was wearing were mine.
“Yes, of course.” Looking even more confused, Jason handed me a cell phone that lived on the counter. “Here. Let me show you where your room is.”
I followed him down a marble-floored hallway of mirrored glass, blue lights and white and black walls. He opened the brushed steel door to a large bedroom. It had dark wood flooring and bluish, coal colored slate walls, one of which hid a retractable one-hundred inch TV. A ten-by-teen foot mirror hung to the right of the king-sized bed. Two whole walls were made of glass that came together along a silent motorized track which was seamlessly built into the ceiling and floor. The host could either have a cornered glass wall or retract them and walk right out to the pool behind the house.
If sex, champagne and lingerie were actual people this is the house they would have threesomes in.
“If you’re hungry the kitchen staff is always on call. They can make you most anything.” Jason unlocked the phone he gave me and pointed out a few of the icons. “Just tap here on your phone for whatever you need. And if you need me, you can tap this icon to reach my cell. I’ll be just down the hall if you need anything. Anything at all.” Jason frowned slightly. “Are you sure you don’t want me to ring the police?”
“I can’t.”
“Well…” Jason planted both hands on his hips and sighed, defeated. “Just so you know, you’re welcome to stay as long as you’d like.”
“Thank you.” I squeezed his hand. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate all of this.”
“My pleasure. Get some rest. You’re safe here,” Jason said with a wide genuine smile, then left, closing the door behind him.
You have no idea, Jason.
I didn’t feel safe anywhere anymore.
Why didn’t I take Jason’s advice and file a police report? Even Dante told me to go to the cops when things got bad. How could I possible tell the police about Mitch and his gang of minors and not get Dante arrested in the process?
Why didn’t you just come with me?
I used Jason’s phone to log into my email and browse my contract. It took me a little while, but I found Dante’s cell phone number. I agonized over whether or not I should call him. What if someone other than him answered, like Mitch?
Pinching the stud in my ear, I called him. It immediately went to a generic voicemail. His phone was either off or destroyed.
“Damnit, Dante we could’ve escaped together!” I slammed the cell into the bed. The churning anger that swelled in me became a longing lament, escaping me as just a defeated whisper, “Why didn’t you come with me?”
He rescued me from Mitch; he’d even taken a bullet for me! I didn’t understand how he could both save and abandon me. All the fantasies about us that I clung to each night after training; reconnecting after all of this and being together like an actual couple had been ripped to shreds.
Dante was a murderer.
He’s not a hero. He executed a security guard! My pulse thrummed hot and loud in my ears as I turned the phone over in my hands. Scared, angry flushness flashed across my skin. Maybe Dante deserved to be arrested. Who knows what awful things he did in the decade and a half with Mitch?
“You can only trust me with your life. Nothing else.” I repeated the words Dante said to me in the parking lot before my audition. Mitch never would’ve come there if Dante hadn’t gotten mixed up with him in the first place. Maybe there really wasn’t goodness deep down in him. Maybe Dante was a con man all the way through, and he was playing me like he played everyone else.
If this were a movie, Dante Marks would be the bad guy…
This was all insane! I was in way over my head. What if I got in trouble somehow by not reporting? I had to think about myself and my mom and do the right thing. I dialed nine-one-one. It was time to end all this and let the authorities sort everything out.
My thumb hovered uncertainly over the call button.
I thought about the desert flower and the way he led me in the car when I told him it was OK to grieve. My soul turned to lead in my chest. After all the time we spent together, I knew he cared about me. No one could’ve faked all that. He could’ve kept his distance, but he didn’t. He let me in. I saw the real him. And it was beautiful.
Even villains had people they loved.
I tapped the clear button and put the phone down on the bed. Even after what happened to me, my aching heart refused to get him in trouble. God help me, I cared about Dante too much. I wiped the tears that had started down my cheeks. I already missed him so much.
What did it say about me that I’d fallen in love with a monster?
There was a quick knock on my door. When I opened it Jason was reading something off his cell phone.
“Sorry to be a bother, Autumn. I just got this email from the studio. It says that they’re pushing production on the film up to this Monday.” Jason skimmed the long email.
“What?” I scoffed angrily. “That’s in like two days! My training was scheduled to go another full week. I’m nowhere near ready for that. Why are they speeding up the timeframe?”
Then there was Lionhouse…
What was there involvement in all this? Were they really the ones that sent Dante’s old crew to kill us? Why on earth would they do something like that? It didn’t make any sense. They were the ones who hired me in the first place!
How would I possibly tell that to the police and have it be taken seriously? I didn’t have any evidence whatsoever. All I knew was what two criminals said to each other before one of them tried to kill me.
“I don’t know. They don’t say.” Finally, he looked up and offered a half smile. I guess they think you’re trained enough for what they need.” When my frown only deepened, he cleared his throat and went back to his phone. “I just forwarded the email to your phone for you to browse at your leisure.”
Jason left shortly afterwards. I spent the next twenty minutes lying on the bed reading the email from production, but I didn’t get much more out of it than what Jason told already me. It looked like the first two weeks would be filmed in a few sound stages at the main Lionhouse studio lot, and then the rest would be on location in various parts of Canada. The email ended with “more details TBD.”
I hated how little I knew about everything. I was so overwhelmed all the time. I hated this industry and just wanted to go home and forget about everything. I was angry, frightened, but above all, I was just exhausted; emotionally and physically spent. I wanted to just sleep for a week, but I couldn’t.
I had one more thing I had to do.
To keep from falling asleep, I switched from the plush bed to one of the almost-as-plush luxurious chairs in the room, then called Mom. I’d left her a message back at the gas station, but that was hours ago and would’ve been in the middle of the night for her. With the time difference being three hours later in Massachusetts she might be awake enough to pick up now.
“Hello?” Mom asked, not recognizing the number.
Oh, thank God.
“Mom, it’s me.” I told her as much as I could while being as vague as possible. I didn’t want to worry her; she had her own battles to fight. When she told me she’d already switched hospitals to one specializing in cancer treatment, I was totally caught off guard. “Wait, what do you mean they already moved you? Is everything alright?”
“Please, don’t freak out.”
Her voice sounded a little raspier than normal, and she sounded tired, but not from lack of sleep. That only worried me more.
“Starting sentences like that makes me want to freak out. What’s going on with Mr. Peanut?” I tried the lighter approach, but it still felt weird to talk that way about something so dangerous.
“Well it looks like Mr. Peanut made a friend and they intend to stay for awhile.”
“Oh my God! They found another tumor?” I jolted out of my seat and began pacing the room.
“Not exactly. Don’t worry! The cancer just spread to my lymph nodes and—”
“You don’t get to say ‘the cancer just spread’ and ‘don’t worry’ in the same breath!” I protested.
“I promise, I’ll breathe in between next time,” Mom said, trying to get me to calm down. “They’re worried about the cancer metastasizing…I think that’s how you say that? When the cancer decides to stretch its legs and—you know what never mind. What they’re doing is all preventative.”
“So, tell me what your options are. What are they doing to stop this?” I did my best to not get too worked up.
“I opted for the double mastectomy. My doctor says that’ll bump my odds up to about ninety percent to beat this.”
“They’re going to take your boobs…” I deflated back down into the chair feeling like I was just punched in the stomach.
“Jokes on the cancer, I didn’t have much to take in the first place. Now, if I got ass cancer I’d be screwed.” Her chuckle was forced. It was harder these days for her to keep the sound of fear out of her jokes.
“So, that’s why they moved you.”
“I saw the next wave of money in the account and figured it was ok to move to the specialist.” Mom thanked my Aunt Paula for something. It was good to know that she was still being taken care of.
“There’s more money in the account?” I asked.