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ANGELINE

“Angeline,” said Tavo, sitting on Alex’s hotel-room bed. “What is it?”

She didn’t answer right away, reading and reading again to see if there was any other way to interpret the texts. She felt like she’d swallowed glass—throat raw, stomach aching. Outside, the wind moaned, and even the shadows of the lawn furniture looked like crouched monsters waiting to pounce. She felt the heat of Tavo’s gaze but kept her eyes on the screen swimming before her eyes. It was wrong, spying on a private exchange between husband and wife. But she read it again.

I’m going to do it. I’m going to confront him tonight.

Just come home, Alex. Please. The baby is sick. I miss you. Forget about Extreme. We’ll get a lawyer.

I can’t let this stand. I have to confront him. There are millions of dollars missing. He’s stealing from all of us.

Maybe it’s a mistake.

No. There’s no mistake. I don’t know how it took me so long to see it.

Look…just get out of there. You can report it and let a forensic accountant sort it all out.

Then we could all lose everything. I’m the fucking CFO. You don’t think I’ll be held accountable in some way if this goes to the courts, to the authorities? After all these years of putting up with his shit, we walk away with nothing? Worse. I go to jail with him? No. No fucking way.

Then, what?

I don’t know. I talk to him. Make him give it back. I fix the books, and we take that offer from BoxOfficePlus and we all walk away rich.

But he said he’d never sell Extreme. That he’d never answer to a studio.

If I confront him about this, he won’t have a choice. It’s sell or go to jail.

Okay. But do it from here. Please. Just come home.

I have to give him the chance to do the right thing. To come clean to me.

People can be dangerous when you back them into a corner.

No. We’re friends. Brothers.

Maybe you don’t know him like you think you do.

I love you. I love our baby. By tomorrow this will be over, and we’ll have a new life.

A few hours went by before Lucia texted again.

Alex? What was that whole mess at the site? I didn’t see you.

What’s going on? I’m worried.

Call me. Please let me know you’re ok.

I’m calling Angeline.

Alex??? Where are you??? Please.

Angeline could feel Lucia’s despair, her worry. She didn’t like Lucia especially, but she knew what it was like to be on the worried end of a text chain. How many times had she waited by the phone when Mav was off on one of his quests , as he liked to call them.

“How do you live like this?” Lucia had asked Angeline one night at an Extreme dinner where they’d both had too much to drink. The boys were loud, swapping stories about Mav—Mav wiping out in Hawaii, Mav getting arrested in Mexico, Mav disappearing in Shanghai for a full day.

Lucia was a small woman, with big soulful eyes, a mane of dark hair. She and Alex had met in Brazil, and like any nerd who fell in love for the first time, Alex fell hard. Within a year, they were married, and Lucia was pregnant.

“Live like what?” Angeline had asked, surprised. They hadn’t talked much. None of the guys liked her and thought that she was changing Alex .

But Lucia had just looked at her with something like pity. “Never mind,” she said. “Not my business.”

Angeline was about to press when Lucia rose, whispered something to Alex. A moment later they both got up, calling out their goodbyes, as the boys all jeered and tried to convince them to stay.

Then they left, Lucia giving them a wave and victorious smile as they went arm in arm.

“Bitch,” said Mav. “She hates us. She’s stealing Alex.”

Through the restaurant window, she saw them on the street. Lucia peered up at Alex, brushing hair out of his eyes. He had a protective arm snaked around her back, smiled down at her. She was just starting to show. Angeline was surprised by a lash of envy.

“Don’t use that word,” she said.

He lifted his palms. “She is. She’s stealing him.”

At first, they’d all suspected that Lucia was looking for a green card, a big bank account, and a man she could control. Which was probably racist and sexist as fuck. Anyway, it had quickly become clear that she was as smitten with Alex as he was with her. They were inseparable, and then the baby came. And that’s when Alex really started to pull away from the group. The truth was that they all viewed Lucia as a nuisance, an interloper, someone who made Alex less interested in them, in Extreme. Earlier that afternoon, Angeline had seen Lucia’s call come in and ignored it. Lucia had made overtures of friendship over the years, which Angeline had rebuffed.

“Talk to me,” Tavo said now.

She hesitated, then handed over the phone. She paced as he read, grappling with the words, trying to rearrange them into something that made sense. Anything that made a different kind of sense. Her own phone starting pinging. Mav.

What’s taking you guys so long? Make Alex come talk to me. I see his Pop right next to you, so I know he didn’t leave.

Angeline felt a chill move through her body, an unpleasant tingling of nerves.

Mav, she knew, was a cool and competent liar. A thinker.

“What is this about?” asked Tavo; he looked at her confused. “First, what offer?”

She released a long breath. The offer. The thing Mav and Alex had been fighting about for months. Mav would kill her for telling Tavo, but… “BoxOfficePlus made an offer to buy Extreme, turning it into a multiseason series and a video game. It was—is—huge, life-changing money. But Mav turned the initial offer down flat. They came back with even more money. It’s still on the table.”

Tavo stared down at the ground a moment. “Was he going to tell us?”

She shrugged, shook her head. “Mav has fifty-one percent of the shares. His vote rules. That’s how you guys set up the company.”

Alex had twenty-five, Tavo twenty, and Hector held the smallest at four percent. Those negotiations were before Angeline’s time. She had no idea why the guys ceded so much power to Mav, or how they’d decided who got what, but the truth was that Extreme was Mav and Mav was Extreme. So maybe it was only fair. They all pulled hefty salaries; they each had their role in the group. It never really seemed equitable to Angeline that Hector had the smallest share but arguably did the most work. Even so, if the sale went through, they’d all be filthy rich, not to mention BoxOfficePlus wanted them all to be part of the show, so they’d continue doing the things they loved and still get paid for it.

As far as Alex was concerned, it was a no-brainer, especially since the last couple of years had not been great financially, and they were embattled on all sides. Mav just didn’t want to cede control, to answer to anyone.

As far as a sale went, Angeline had no skin in the game, except the golden parachute promised as part of her employment contract, which Alex had helped draft. She hadn’t asked for shares as part of her contract. Hadn’t really known to ask for that at that time. Her mind didn’t work that way.

Tavo was still quiet. Then, “Is this true? Was Mav stealing money from the company?”

“No,” she said, the protest coming up from a deep place inside of her. “No way.”

“How do you know? Do you think he’s not capable of it?”

“Of what? Stealing money from all of his best friends? No. I don’t. Do you?”

Tavo rubbed at his chest like he had heartburn. “Honestly, I don’t know.”

She was surprised to hear that, gazed over at him. His shoulders were hiked, face grim. He was angry: she could tell by the set of his mouth. Everyone was a little angry at Mav, weren’t they? Everyone except for maybe Hector, who seemed to think Mav got up and put the sun in the sky every morning.

“That’s fucked-up, Tavo,” said Angeline.

Tavo lifted his palms. “Alex is the most honest, trustworthy person I know,” he said. “The smartest. The person who has been holding Extreme together for years.”

He wasn’t wrong. She felt the same way about Alex. “So…he made a mistake,” she said.

Tavo stood and walked over to the blood spray on the window.

“Then, what happened here?”

Angeline shook her head, her voice failing her. It was freezing in the room, she noticed. She was cold to her bones.

Her phone pinged. Mav again.

Heeelllooo? Are you guys coming back?

“We need to call the police,” said Tavo.

“And say what?”

Tavo swept an arm around the room, his forehead wrinkled with concern, like she wasn’t thinking clearly. Maybe she wasn’t. Maybe she could never think clearly when it came to Maverick, like he had her under some kind of spell. Her mother’s words rang back to her: You’re someone different when you’re with him.

“That our CFO—our friend—is missing . That there’s blood on the window and the floor. That the area rug is gone .”

Maybe he was right. Maybe they should call the police.

“He’s not missing ,” she said stubbornly.

“He’s not? Have you ever seen Alex without his phone in his hand? His laptop under his arm?”

“Maybe he went for a walk,” she suggested, desperately grasping at possibilities. “You know, to clear his head.”

Her phone again.

Okay. I’m coming to you.

“Mav’s on his way here,” she said.

She opened the PopMap and saw his icon driving in their direction. He was already halfway to the hotel. Lately, she had the sense that maybe he suspected that there was something between her and Tavo. Something about the way he watched them when they were together. But she’d dismissed it. Mav wasn’t subtle. He wasn’t one to harbor secret suspicions. He was prone to outbursts, tantrums, rage. She couldn’t think of single time when he’d kept a feeling to himself.

“Tell him not to,” said Tavo quickly. “Tell him we’re on our way back.”

We’re on our way back , she thumbed.

Stay put , came his quick reply.

Angeline didn’t bother to answer again. She knew better. Mav would do what he wanted. Always.

“He’s already on his way.”

But Tavo wasn’t listening. He was staring at something over by the door, moved in that direction. Angeline followed.

More dark spots, big dollops of blood-red. Tavo pushed the door open with a creak.

They stepped out into the hall, with Tavo sticking close to her. The trail of blood continued down the hallway. Blood rushed in her ears, a vein pulsing in her throat. She grabbed for Gustavo’s hand. It was warm and strong; he held hers tight. His eyes, when he looked at her, were etched at the corners with worry.

Together they followed the trail down the darkened hallway.