Page 50 of Last Breath

‘Bullshit.’ Eliza popped a dripping ice cube into her mouth. ‘Call him. He’ll come. He’ll ditch her.’

‘He won’t. And I wouldn’t want him to. He deserves ...’

A life? Did Jett feel like he hadn’t been able to have a life, living with and working for her family? He must resent them all – especially her.

‘If you ask him, he’ll come. You’ve got him wrapped around your finger.’

‘I don’t!’ Nella slammed down her glass. The bartender looked up. So did some drunken bikers whose gazes lingered on her bra, but she was too angry, plus a little flattered, to bite their heads off. ‘I don’tuseJett.’

‘I didn’t say you use him.’ Eliza passed the ice from one cheek to the other. ‘I’m just saying, maybe you’re a little bit blind to some things where your family’s employees are concerned.’

Employees. The word was a wet hand slap to the face. Jett was more than that, wasn’t he? They weren’t friends exactly, but they were more than employer and employee. Some grey, murky area in between, where the water was never quite the right temperature.

And she was sick of everyone telling her she controlled people, like some kind of Marvel villain. Avery had said it in the police station, Jett had accused her of it when she’d told him about Sirena’s crush. And now Eliza was saying she did that to Jett?

Fuck them.

She pulled out her phone, waved the screen at Eliza so she knew she wasn’t bluffing, and pressed the ‘Call Now’ button next to Jett’s name. It rang for three seconds before she pressed the red ‘End Call’.

She couldn’t do it.

‘Watch this,’ Eliza said.

Nella assumed she was going to do some sort of disgusting ice-spitting trick but instead, she pulled out her phone, dressed in a yellow Pikachu case, and put it to her ear.

‘What are you ...’

Eliza stuck a cold finger against Nella’s lips, and her face broke into an animated smile. ‘Oh, hello, Mr Randall. This is Eliza Gulbrandsen. Yeah ... uh huh, that’s right, the vet, the best friend, the one and only. Yeah, look, Mr Randall ... Okay, Jett ... Was that because you were born on an aeroplane? Never mind. Nella’s phone died ... Yeah, yep, she called you ... Uh huh ... Yeah, it died then and there, no warning signs or anything, we didn’t even know it was sick. She told me she didn’t want to bother you, but look, some stuff went down, we’re down one top and ... Okay, thanks, Mr ... thanks, Jett ... We’ll see you soon.’

Eliza hung up and stacked her empty glass on top of Nella’s. Her smile cut all the way to her earlobes.

‘What the fuck, Lize?’

‘He’s on his way.’ Eliza popped the last ice cube in her mouth. ‘Didn’t even need to beg.’

‘And what exactly have you proven?’

‘A theory.’ Eliza paid for the drinks they’d ordered on a tab like they were stars in an American sitcom. Normally Nella put up a stronger fight but Challenge 4 wasThe law of whale and plankton: Take turns paying the bill, no matter if there’s a difference in wealth.

And also, she’d completely betrayed her, so Eliza was not her friend anymore.

As Nella pushed in front of her out the door, the cool evening breeze blew gritty, salty sea air into their faces, and her chest, still smelling like beer, prickled with cold.

‘Whattheory?’ she was about to ask, but shouts and yells erupted ahead of them.

‘Call an ambulance!’ someone yelled. Someone she knew. That was Avery’s voice.

‘What’s happened?’ Eliza asked an elderly man who was filming the whole thing on his phone.

‘Someone’s been hit.’

Nella and Eliza pushed through the crowd to the side of the footpath where Avery knelt, his upper body pumping in CPR position over the small, crumpled figure.

‘Oh my god.’ Eliza forgot to hide her neurotypical emotional reaction as she and Nella both made the same connection.

It was the blonde woman from the bar.

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