NOT ONLY DID Meg give me directions to the state beach parking lot, but she let me borrow her car. On top of that, after telling me that I looked like I was running on fumes, she sent me off with a freshly made ham sandwich and a travel mug of the best coffee I’d ever tasted. I tried to refuse. She was the salt of the earth. A truly good and honest person. In the end, she was insistent. I told her nothing of my suspicions. She never asked me why I needed to go to that place. All she did was hand me the keys and remain steadfast. Eventually, I caved in. I got behind the wheel and drove.
It didn’t take long to find the spot. Since it was off-season, the lot was empty. I rolled into the first stop and killed the engine. Then I called Jessica.
“Are you in Delaware?” I asked.
“Uh, no,” she said.
“I need you here! It’s happening. Now.”
“Look, Mr. Snyder. I … Zora told me to tell you that you’re not to call me again.”
“Zora told you to say that?”
“Um, yeah.”
“Let me guess,” I snapped, slapping a hand on the steering wheel of Meg’s car. “You just happened to get an offer from Cassandra. Maybe DP? Is that it?”
“What?” Jessica said, but she sounded entirely guilty.
“Whatever. You’ll regret it,” I said. “I mean, not in a threating way or anything. I’m not crazy. I just mean that when this hits, and it is huge, you’ll wish you hadn’t been such a … Oh, whatever!”
I ended the call, pounding on the wheel again. Then my phone rang. I figured it was Jessica calling back, coming to her senses. But it was Zora. I took a deep breath before answering.
“Hello, Zora,” I said.
“Theo. Are you in LA?”
“Excuse me?”
“I heard from a friend that you’re in LA. I think that’s great.”
I frowned. “Why would that be great … exactly?”
“You’re finally taking this seriously. When we left, I was worried you’d do something crazy, like try to find him. I’m just happy that—”
“I’m not in LA.”
“Yes, you are. I just—”
“I got back a few hours ago. I know everything now. The pieces all fit together. It’s going to end, Zora. And I’m going to be here for it. With or without your little friend Jessica.”
“What the hell, Theo?”
“What does she have on you? Why are you lying for her?”
“Who?”
I smiled to myself. “Miracle.”
Zora paused for a few seconds. “Where are you?”
“I’m at the beach. In the parking lot. You know the one.”
There was a pause. I think I heard her hand cover the mic. Then she was back.
“Theo, stay there. Don’t move. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”
I laughed. “I knew you were close.”
“You don’t know shit.”
I moved along the edges of the lot, gauging the sunlight through my phone. A real camera would be ideal, but the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea of a raw, gritty quality to this scene. A beautiful film, stunning and thoughtful, yet culminating in the kind of frantic imperfection that provides the very foundation of the social media generation. It would be groundbreaking and viral. Coppola meets Kardashian. The concept made me giddy.
“It is going to be huge,” I chattered to myself as I strutted along the sandy edge.
My eyes lifted off the screen, and I noticed the sun dipping low, toward the sparkling surface of the bay across the highway. It would be dark soon. I reimagined the entire moment, but in the pale greens and black of a night-vision lens. Too contrived, I thought. Too intentional.
When the car pulled into the lot, my heart raced. But it was only Zora, driving some small foreign sedan that I’d never seen before. She pulled to a stop, parking close to Meg’s car. I took a step toward her, but the door swung open.
“Get in!” she snapped.
“No way,” I said. “He’s coming here. I’m sure—”
“You are such a fucking idiot!” she hissed.
Zora jumped out of the car and grabbed my arm.
“Let go of me,” I demanded.
I ripped her hand away. Spinning, I sprinted to the outhouse. I had to see it. To truly understand where my story began. I kicked the door open and entered, Zora following close behind. I ignored her and took it all in. My eyes caught the cracked, graying sink. I moved to it, ran my hand along the smooth but grimy surface. I took air in through my nose, smelling the brine and musk. A chill rose the hairs on my arm.
“This is where it started,” I whispered reverently.
“What are you talking about!?”
I focused my camera.
“Miracle Jones was born in this very building,” I said. “In this very spot.”
Before I’d finished the sentence, she grabbed me. Turning me roughly, Zora yanked me close. Our noses almost touched. The fury radiating from her hard eyes burned the skin of my cheeks.
“What the hell are you doing? Don’t you get it? He’s been playing you all along. Have you been talking to him? Did he lead you here?”
“I …”
My eyes crossed. My legs turned soft. I blinked, but I couldn’t refocus.
He’s been playing me?
My brain tried to comprehend that. It tried to deny it. It tried to fit those pieces together. Something clicked. I started to shake.
“He’s playing me,” I whispered.
A caring smile overshadowed the anger on her face. Zora loosened her grip on me.
“Yes, Theo. He is. For whatever reason, he is.”
“Why? It doesn’t …”
Maybe it did. Maybe it made perfect sense. He’d started it, hadn’t he? He’d hinted at Miracle’s existence during that first call. He’d led me to find her. To bring her into the story. Into his web.
“He’s after her, isn’t he? He’s been using me to find her.”
She watched me.
“Why, though?”
God, my head hurt so much. For the first time, standing in that awful restroom, I realized just how sick and tired I was. I hadn’t slept more than an hour straight for a week. I hadn’t eaten a real meal until Meg’s sandwich. I’d existed on caffeine and sugar. The paramedic had warned me. She’d told me about my heart rate, my blood pressure. She’d told me I was dehydrated, but I hadn’t listened. Like an addict, I’d pushed through it all. Only caring about one thing. Maybe it was all part of his plan. Maybe he’d run me ragged. Kept me off-balance so I wouldn’t notice. In my exhaustion, I would be a good little puppet on the end of his strings and serve up his victim on a shining gold platter.
Though my thoughts refused to straighten, one loose end rattled against my temples. I swallowed the dry lump in my throat and looked Zora in the eyes as clearly as I could.
“What about Cassandra?” I whispered.
“Cassandra? What about her?”
“Her movie. On me.”
“What are you talking about? Why would anyone do a movie on you?”
“You went to my mother’s apartment.” Somehow I found the energy for anger again. “You questioned her.”
She looked incredulous. “I did no such thing. Jesus!”
“She told me,” I sputtered.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Look, I heard Cassandra was annoyed that you beat her to the story, but that happens all the time. Though I don’t know her well, she’s a professional. She wouldn’t waste her time on some kind of stupid revenge project.” Her fingers tightened on my shoulders. “You know that. I know you do.”
“My mom wouldn’t lie,” I said, straightening my back. “Someone came to her.”
For just a second, I saw it. A flash of concern. A hint of uncertainty. Zora was a person who thought she knew everything. Usually, she did. But something clicked in that moment. I was sure of it, so I pressed.
“You know these guys as well as I do,” I said. “I’m starting to believe you. That he’s playing me. And I think you’re right that he’s trying to get me to bring him Miracle. But … someone is helping him.”
She let go of me and stepped back. Her eyes narrowed.
“Could it be Miracle?”
A laugh burst from Zora. It erupted in that confined space, a clap of judgment right in my face.
“Do I need to spell it out? He killed her mother!”
“I know … I know.”
The air left my body. She was right. That made no sense. And in that realization, it dawned on me just how horribly I had been used.
“Is she safe?” I managed to ask, softly.
Zora nodded. At the same instant, I heard the soft rumble of a moped engine pulling into the parking lot outside. Lights panned across the slit-like windows just below the ceiling, casting Zora’s face in a cascade of eerie shadow and brightness. Her head turned, and a hand slipped into the front pocket of her denim jacket.
“It’s too late,” she said. “He’s here.”