After Mark's confession, Debbie didn't know what to believe. A hazy fog clouded her mind as she sat in the back of the car.
Debbie felt a swirl of nervous knots in her stomach. "So you lied to me this whole time? Is that why you were following me around? What am I supposed to believe, Mark?"
Debbie scoffed. "Unreal. You have nothing to say for yourself?"
He squeezed his eyes shut. "It isn't that simple. I didn't have a choice in the matter."
Mark continued to ramble. "I, uh, it's all my boss. He put me up to everything, but I swear, I'm starting to have my doubts. You're a very kind person, and I feel horrible tricking you. They wanted you to stay as far away from the actual business as possible. That's why I was there."
Debbie's thoughts were louder than Mark's voice. I don't understand, she thought. I was offered the job just so that I could dish the dirt on Alex. Seriously? They didn't even want me touching their finances. I'm such a fool if he's telling the truth.
Debbie gave Mark the side-eye. "How do I know Alex didn't put you up to this?"
Her accusation shocked Mark. "Alex Ambrose chased me out of a tree a few days ago. Plus, I'm the one who lured Christopher to Lincoln's bunker. Trust me, I'm definitely not the person Alex would put up to this."
I'm the one who lured Christopher to Lincoln's bunker. That phrase grasped Debbie's attention. She remembered the night Christopher ran off, his disappearance, and everything that followed. "You were the dark figure he went after in the woods?"
Mark peered down at his fidgeting hands. "Yeah, and I'm starting to regret it."
His story was starting to make sense. Debbie was able to see the pain in his expression. She reached out and grabbed his hand. "It's okay. We can make this right. We can alert Alex. As much as he's the last man on earth that I want to see, he needs to know. He's the only one who can stop Link."
Their driver glanced up at the two through the rearview mirror. "No one is going to see Alex Ambrose."
The man's interruption startled Debbie. She tilted her head. "Excuse me?"
The car reached a red light. When it came to a stop, the driver turned around. "I said, no one is going to see Alex Ambrose. In fact, you two aren't going anywhere."
Mark scratched his head. "Listen, man. You're just our driver. Take us where we need to go."
Debbie reached out her hand, putting it over Mark's mouth. Her pulse hammered in her throat.
The man driving the car chuckled. "Oh, I'm not your driver. You're sorely mistaken."
Debbie instantly recognized the driver's voice. She slowly picked her head up to see a skinny man wearing a black eye patch over his right eye. It was Riley's assistant, Todrick Dangles.
Without hesitation, Debbie reached for the handle of the car door. "We have to get out of here."
Mark followed suit. He jiggled the handle, but Dangles locked the car with the click of a button. He was waiting for the perfect moment, and he found it. He pulled a mask out from under his shirt. Then, he used it to cover his nose and mouth. "Looks like it's your unlucky day."
Dangles whipped a can of sleeping toxin out of his pocket. He held his mask close to his face as he sprayed it into the back seat.
"No!" Debbie screamed out in terror.
Mark fanned his hand in front of his face. "What the hell is that, man?"
Debbie grabbed Mark's shoulder. "Don't breathe."
Dangles manically laughed. "It's too late. The damage is done."
However, Debbie didn't go down without a fight. She held her breath and used all of her force to try and kick the door open.
Mark, being the delicate little man he was, didn't inhibit the same strength that Debbie did. He choked as the gas filled his lungs, then quickly collapsed.
Debbie realized she was stuck. There was no way out. She screamed, hoping to get the attention of the cars that surrounded them. After a few yelps, she fell over, unconscious.
Debbie mumbled as her consciousness slipped away. "You'll never get away with this, Dangles."
Her words, however, fell on deaf ears.
Todrick smirked under his mask. Everything went according to plan. The traffic light turned green, and his foot pumped the gas. "Sweet dreams."
***
"ALEX!" Flora's voice pierced through the walls of his home. "WHERE IS MY DRINK? I"M GETTING THRISTIER BY THE MINUTE!"
Alex groaned, not evening bothering to respond to the grating woman.
Sweat poured down Alex's head as he stood alone in the kitchen. Dealing with his parents was the equivalent of having a full-time job. His mom demanded she needed freshly squeezed lemonade. Flora claimed she could only drink liquid directly from the source. "If you get it from the store, the plastic has already infected it. And if the plastic has already infected it, you'll die," she explained.
So, instead of telling her to take a hike like he wanted to, Alex went into the kitchen, grabbed a lemon from the bowl of fresh fruit Debbie left behind, and started squeezing the life out of it. "This better be the best goddamn lemonade she's ever tasted."
When Alex had enough juice to start a successful lemonade stand with a small child, he added water and sugar to a pitcher. He dumped in the lemon juice and mixed it all together.
"When life gives you lemons," Alex said. "You make lemonade for your overbearing, incredibly irritating mother.
He looked down at his mixed concoction. Admittedly, it looked like the most delicious lemonade he'd ever seen. Or maybe I'm just delirious from all of the running around, he thought.
Once it was all done, he poured his mother a glass and rushed it out to her.
While Justin and Gideon stood in the living room, his mother Flora sat on the couch with a sour expression painted on her face. When she saw Alex, she let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank goodness. I'm parched. What took you so long?"
Justin snickered, not passing an opportunity to rag on his older brother. "Yeah, Alex. Mom has been waiting for hours. Why would you make her wait for such a long time?"
Alex's expression drooped. Maybe it took so long because I created this drink from scratch, he thought. Because you appeared at my door demanding fresh lemonade that I didn't have at my disposal.
Alex bit his tongue. "I don't know. Sorry, Mom."
She grabbed the glass from him and chugged the drink. She finished it in a second and then handed the empty glass back to her son. "Alex," she said as she pointed toward the bookshelf. "Where is that photo of you from when you were a baby, the one where you were wearing those striped pantaloons? We always displayed it on the bookshelf."
Alex's eyes felt heavy. He rubbed his forehead. "I switched out the pictures, Mom."
Flora pursed her lips. "Such a shame. That photo went so beautifully with the old wallpaper. Of course, you destroyed that too." She tossed her head back in a dramatic fashion. "Oh, Alex. I just wish I could see some of the old pictures again! Can't you get them out, just for me?:
As the mother lamented about the state of the house, Justin walked over to the bookcase. His eyes scanned all of the photos. He stopped at framed pictures of Debbie. "Mommie dearest might have a point," he said as he picked up one of the portraits of Alex's ex. "You should take these down now that she left you, big brother."
Alex glared at his brother. He wasn't ready to take down Debbie's, but he wasn't going to reveal that to Justin. "You're right. I haven't gotten around to it yet. I've got more important things to take care of around here."
Unimpressed, Justin rolled his eyes. "Sure you do, Alex. Let me guess, those important things include painting the ceiling fan coral blue?"
In an attempt to keep his cool, Alex squeezed his eyes shut. "I told you, Ken Stokes did that when he repainted the house. He said blue calms the soul, alright?"
Flora clenched her jaw. "Well, my soul is anything but calm. It's in pain, and it's parched, again."
Justin picked up one of the photographs of Debbie. "Why'd she leave you, Alex?"
Alex bit his lip, not willing to discuss such personal matters with Justin. "It's complicated."
Justin's lip twisted into a smirk. "I heard screwing Kylie Naysmith is quite complicated."
Alex's eyebrows shot up. "Excuse me? Where did you hear that?"
Justin threw his head back as he chuckled. "Word gets around, Alex."
Gideon scratched his head. "Kylie Naysmith, didn't you date her in high school, Alex?"
Flora nodded. "Oh, she was such a sweet girl."
Alex held up his hand. "Kylie is anything but sweet, and this conversation ends here."
Justin mocking opened his mouth. "Ouch, sounds like this went badly. Alex." He looked closer at the picture of Debbie. "What a shame. Debbie is the most beautiful woman in the city. How you could let her go, I'll never understand."
Alex clenched his fist. "You don't understand anything." He ripped the picture out of Justin's hand.
The younger brother rolled his eyes. "All I know is that if Debbie were mine, I would have treated her properly."
Then it was Alex's turn to roll his eyes. "Please. Debbie would never give you the time of day."
Before the brothers could continue their argument, Flora cleared her throat. "Enough of your bickering. Why can't you boys get along? One day, when I'm long gone, you're going to regret that we all couldn't just be together and enjoy our time."
Everyone sat in an awkward bout of silence. Then, the mother mustered a weak cough. "Alex, be a dear and fetch your mother another glass of lemonade."
Gideon raised his hand. "Flora, dear, do you think that's going to trigger your acid reflux?"
"No," she responded instantly. "Alex, lemonade. Now."
Alex didn't say a word as he shuffled out of the room. Who does Justin think he is? He thought. If I were less of a man, I would have gut-punched him right then and there. And what's with Mom? She wants us all to get along? No way. Justin and I will never see eye to eye. We're too different.
He wasn't sure how much longer he could deal with his family on his own. I hope Christopher and Yvonne are on their way back, he said. I need them here.
At the moment, Yvonne and Christopher were not on their way back. Instead, they were standing by Tom Sawyer's bedside.