Chapter 41 Ana
Ana
“STOP!”
Ana skidded to a halt, her feet kicking up a small cloud of red dust.
As far as dramatic entrances went, this was a good one. She couldn’t tell who was more shocked to see her—Alex, lying halfway across the white line, or Ellis, caught red-handed, mid-murder.
Ellis released the wheel and turned around on his tractor-throne to face her. The old tractor clanged and creaked as the rope stopped moving. Alex’s head and arms were across the line already, but he was safe for now.
“Ana…” Alex muttered. He seemed so lost, so vulnerable. Ana wished she could run over and kiss him, hold him, untie the rope, and tell him everything was going to be okay. But first, she had a job to do.
She had to get this right. Everything depended on it. She flashed him a quick smile, hoping he could take something more from it, read into it. She had to save her words for the final round of the game. She had to win.
One hand was behind her back, her fingers gripping tightly to a long metal bolt she’d grabbed from the floor of the outbuilding.
“Danny’s nobody sister. Nice of you to return to the land of the living.
I thought we’d lost you back there.” Ellis’s voice was neutral, but the expression in his eyes was different from before.
He was wary—almost respectful. Maybe he’d finally realized just how dangerous Danny’s nobody sister could be.
Pity, Ana thought, his consistent arrogance and underestimation of her had been a big advantage.
“So, did you crack the code and enter the dragon’s lair? Did you find Bates?”
Ana didn’t respond. She had no intention of telling him about the bunker. She was holding all the cards right now. All the cards but one.
She glanced over at Alex. He was lying halfway across the line, his position precarious. It wouldn’t take much to push him over. It was no accident that Ellis was keeping within arm’s reach of the wheel.
“So, I guess this is it,” she said, slowly moving forward, closer to Alex, her back to Ellis. “The finale. Two of us will die and then the game will be over. It could be me or Alex, or even you, Ellis—because I promise you, we will not go down easily.”
While she spoke, she moved around Ellis and stood between him and Alex. Her phone was tucked into the waistband of her jeans, the camera poking out discreetly; she had started recording while her back was turned to Ellis. Whatever happened next, she wanted a record of it.
Ellis laughed outright. “Seriously? I was coming around to thinking you were actually smart.” He was a picture of cool control.
“I’ll be the winner, and I’ll tell you why.
Because since we arrived in this shithole, I’ve been the only person with enough fucking balls to play the game.
I have done what had to be done. I have got my hands dirty because no one else could do it. No one else was strong enough.”
This was the opening she’d been waiting for. Her heart was racing. She had to play it perfectly.
“Done what had to be done? What are you talking about, Ellis?”
Ellis was laughing hard, reeking of cocky smug arrogance. Ana resisted the urge to walk up and slap his perfect face. They were talking about people dying, and he thought it was funny—there was something seriously wrong with him. She wouldn’t stop short of a full confession.
“Why are you laughing?” Ana said, trying to sound innocently confused. “I don’t understand…”
“No, of course you don’t. Because people like you don’t think outside of the box.
You live your sad, wasted little lives obeying rules and being nice to everybody, until if you’re lucky, you die old and decrepit in some pit of a nursing home.
” Ellis was on his soapbox now, ranting, right where she wanted him.
Ana folded her arms and leaned back, letting him dig his own grave.
“I’m alive because I played the game. I kept myself one step ahead at every fucking turn.
I read each play. Benny was so stupid, it was easy to convince him to go.
Jade was so guilty over murdering Jax, she just needed a little psychological shove in her Lululemons.
To be fair, Jax’s death was a surprise—killed by his iPhone-wielding girlfriend, but I had the foresight to pivot off the back of it and catch you all off guard. ”
He might just as well have been giving a play-by-play of his last Wolves game. There was no emotion as he described each death. No feeling at all.
“Now, Caden—that’s an interesting one. I think, to be fair, we should share the credit for that one.
” Ellis smiled slyly in her direction. “Who would have thought you had it in you to cold-bloodedly lie to his face like that. I’ll be one hundred percent honest here—I underestimated you, Danny’s sister.
You can be fucking evil when you want to. ”
Ana avoided his eyes. Was he right? Had she killed Caden?
She’d lied to his face, that was true. The hypocrisy of the situation hit her.
She’d thought she was the good guy, but hadn’t she done the same thing as Ellis?
The hard truth was, she’d manipulated Caden into crossing the line, and he had died because of it.
No. It was Caden or Alex. She’d just done what she had to do. She wasn’t trying to save herself, choosing her own life over others. That had to be different, right? Briefly her mind wandered off task, she glanced at Alex, momentarily confused.
Alex was still hanging on to the rope. He was listening but seemed tired. His wrists were red-raw from the lamp cord; there was a cut on his forehead. His skin glistened with sweat and dirt—he looked rough, broken somehow. He nodded to her.
That was all she needed. She knew what she was fighting for. There would be time enough for recriminations after this was over. After they went home.
There was just one last thing she had to do. Her fingers closed around the metal bolt; her palms were sweating.
“What about Raya?” She turned back to Ellis. Her voice was ice-cold. She didn’t want to hear this, but it needed to be said on camera.
Ellis looked at her, a half-smile on his lips. He paused thoughtfully, fully aware of the impact his next words would have—the pain they would hold for Ana.
“Raya cried.” Ellis stated it dryly, like he was ordering pizza.
Ana felt as though an icy knife had been plunged into her chest. Raya cried.
“I know,” Ellis said, watching her face closely.
“I was surprised too. I thought she’d have more guts than that.
But, in the end, true colors show through.
Though to her credit, she didn’t beg for her life…
” Ellis paused, relishing the moment, the power, “…she begged for yours.”
It felt like the world had stopped for a moment. Everything froze in place, locked down inside and out. Ellis’s words hung in the air. As she’d faced her death, Raya had been thinking of someone else, thinking of Ana. Something clenched tight in her chest, making it nearly impossible to breathe.
Ellis was right about one thing—in the end, true colors do show through. Raya had died the way she’d lived—with love. Even death couldn’t take that from her.
A single tear fell, mixing with the dirt and ash on Ana’s cheek. A newfound resolve was rising inside her, anger mingled with grief and love. End this.
For Raya. Once and for all, end this.
Her fists balled up, the metal bolt held firmly in her right hand. Her head dropped low, dangerously. She tensed, ready for the final leap, the final run. Raw anger seared through her.
End this.
Ellis was ten feet away, still perched lightly on the tractor.
He watched her, his measured athletic eye assessing her body language.
There was no question he could sense the rising danger; no doubt he wasn’t afraid.
He wanted her to take a run at him. His hand rested easily on the wheel, his fingers drumming up and down, playing with it. Playing with life and death.
Neither of them spoke.
Timing was everything. Ana’s thumb pushed into the rusty metal. No time for self-doubt. She took a deep breath and did it.
Three steps towards Ellis. He rose up, ready for the attack. One hand gripped the wheel and turned.
Suddenly Ana swerved, changing direction, sprinting to the front of the tractor. The metal creaked as the gears started up, straining to turn. Ana bent low, reaching under the hot metal hood.
Ellis looked thrown. He was expecting a full-blown attack, ready to defend his position.
Before he could reset, Ana opened her fist and rammed the bolt hard into the rusty gears. There was an earsplitting shriek as the metal was ground up, wedging itself firmly in place. The entire tractor groaned, straining, but the bolt held.
The rope stopped moving, the death machine ground to a halt. It had worked!
As Ana pulled back, straightening up, her relief was short-lived.
In two long bounds, Ellis covered the distance from the wheel to where she was standing. Before she could react, he grabbed her by the hair, pulling her roughly away from the machine. She strained at his grip, but his hand was firm.
Ellis glanced across at the gears, the top of the bolt sticking out between the teeth. He smiled.
“Once again, I underestimated you.” He pulled her close to him. Ana could feel his breath, fast and hard on her face. “Last time I make that mistake.”
Slowly Ellis extended the arm that was holding her, stretching until she was held at arm’s length. His other hand reached out to grab her neck, his fingers nearly circling it, closing tightly.
She’d fucked up. She knew it with complete certainty. All the time she’d been focused on Ellis’s weakness, she’d made the exact same mistake. She’d underestimated him and what he was capable of.
This was it. This was how she was going to die. Strangled, choking for air on the desert floor. She couldn’t speak, her hands reached out for anything she could grab. But Ellis held her firmly. There was nothing she could do.
Ellis tightened his grip. Ana choked and gasped, her vision darkened.
“So long, Danny’s sister,” Ellis said coldly. “It’s been a trip.”
Ana closed her eyes. Game over.