Page 102 of The Dis-Graced

At the worst possible moment, my mind goes blank. I know Stephanie’s probably outside the door listening or will be shortly. If I fail to keep up the momentum of the conversation, she could very well leave.

“I have reason to believe that Elliot Conway is making a sale at three!” I blurt out.

Oh, no!

I wasn’t supposed to divulge that information. We’d gone over it again and again, the balance of information. How I had to leave Stephanie wanting more, needing more. It’s very possible that by me saying that, I’ve accidentally clued them in to the fact that this is a setup, and that Drake knows.

A knock sounds on the door.

My body reacts by launching itself into the air. Devon’s face goes somber.

It’s exactly what we wanted to happened and exactly what I feared the most.

“What do we do?” I mouth to Devon, completely forgetting what comes next.

Devon moves past me, pointing to where I should be standing. I comply with his order, clutching my hands together to stop their shaking.

I close my eyes, hoping that this might be housekeeping or something. Perhaps a concerned neighbor. Devon looks out the peephole, turns to me, and nods. I nod back.

He opens the door. “What the hell are you doing here? Jealous? You ghosted me for a month, and now you want me back?” he shouts at a figure I’m unable to see.

“I think we need to step inside,” a familiar voice says.

“Who the hell is this?”

Crash!

Devon flies backward onto the floor and in step a man and a woman: Frank and Stephanie.

I feel the color drain from my face as I see the ghost of my ex-fiancé. He looks different, scraggly, there’s an edge to him.

“You look surprised to see me,” he says with a smirk.

“Frank?” I gasp.

“Actually, the name’s Frances.”

Devon sits up, scooting back away from them. Stephanie walks up to him, squats, and says, “Did you miss me?”

There’s a gun in Frances’ hand that’s pointed in no particular direction.

“So, tell me more about this evidence,” Frances says. “Not that it matters much. Not with where we’re going.”

My eyes are trained on the gun and how easy it would be for Frances to simply shoot us before Bruiser has a chance to charge in.

This is important, Grace. Get your shit together.

I remember my lines, the ones I’ve been rehearsing for hours, but then, I remember what ALAN said. What matters to Stephanie.

“I have no evidence, this was all to lure you here,” I say.

Frances looks to Stephanie. “Looks like we gotta take care of loose—”

“Wait, you need to hear me out. When Elliot releases ALAN, you have no idea the chaos it’s going to cause.”

They smirk at each other like they are in on some private joke. “We have a nice, cozy place to ride out the storm. I wouldn’t worry about us.”

“Well, it’s only going to be safe if you can get rid of every piece of technology. ALAN is evil. He’s going to bring down everything. Planes, subways, the internet, hospitals—they’ll all fall to their knees.”