Lucky(39)

“Her. Alexa,” Lucky lied, feeling a sense of foreboding as she did. She grabbed her backpack. “Anyway, nice to see you, bye.” She took off before her father could stop her, and started walking down the dock, thinking she would head to the pay phones outside the marina and call Alex, see what he was up to and if he did indeed feel like dinner, even though they had just parted ways less than an hour ago. He always said yes to her, always seemed to be waiting for her to call.

She was walking so fast she nearly ran straight into Reyes. “God! You scared me! What are you doing here?”

“Waiting for Priscilla,” Reyes said.

“Why didn’t you just go to the boat with her? Why are you lurking here in the dark?”

“Why are you so rude to me all the time? Why do you look at me like I’m a cockroach?”

Lucky couldn’t think of anything to say to that. Because Reyes spent so much more time with her dad than Lucky did these days? Because she seemed so secretive?

Reyes shoved her hands deeper into her pockets, the way she always did. “Whatever. I don’t care. I didn’t really feel like sitting around drinking iced tea tonight, but why should I have to explain that to you?”

“Okay, then, your choice.” Lucky started to walk again.

“Wait,” Reyes said. Lucky turned.

“What?”

“You need to know something. That’s Priscilla’s son, the guy you’ve been hanging around with. I was going to tell your dad—he asked me to keep an eye out for you. But you might as well know now, too.”

“What the hell are you talking about? Alex is Priscilla’s son?”

“That’s not his name. His name is Cary Matheson and yes, he’s Priscilla’s son, and he’s lying to you.”

“Fuck you!”

“Why do you think Priscilla has taken a sudden interest in you? What do you think is really going on here, Lucky? Have you been to his place? Do you even know where he lives? You don’t have all the facts.”

“And you do? You know Alex better than I do?”

“Cary,” Reyes said in a quiet voice. “His name is Cary. And yes, I do. I’ve known him for seven years. And he’s bad news. I don’t know what he wants with you, but now Priscilla knows about you two—and trust me, these are not the kind of people you want to get tangled up with.”

“You’re tangled up with them! You work for her!” But as Lucky spoke, she realized she was the one who was tangled up. She didn’t want to believe Reyes, but she already knew it was probably true.

Reyes’s eyes were troubled. “I wish I didn’t work for her. I wish your dad didn’t. But we’re in it now. There’s nothing we can do. It’s not too late for you, though. You can walk away.”

“I don’t believe you. You just want us apart.”

“What reason would I have for wanting you and Cary apart?”

“I don’t know. Maybe you want him for yourself.”

Reyes laughed softly. “Not a chance in hell.”

Lucky turned away from her and ran through the darkness, toward the pay phones. Alex—or Cary, or whoever he was—answered right away. There was music in the background, but he turned it down. “Hey, babe. What’s up?”

“Is your name really Alex? Or is your name Cary Matheson and is Priscilla your mother? Where are you, right now? Where do you actually live?”

“Whoa, whoa, slow down, what is this about?”

“Answer my questions.”

He was silent. It lasted so long Lucky knew it was all true, and that realization made her heartsick.

“Who told you? Reyes? I should have known. That girl is such a bitch. And she’s totally nuts. Weird, like you said.”

Lucky closed her eyes and leaned against the wall. She had fallen for it. She was a mark. “Why did you lie to me?”

“Just stay where you are and I’ll come to you and explain everything. You’re at the pay phones?”

“No. I don’t want to see you.”

“I care about you so much; I have since the moment I laid eyes on you. I was afraid if you knew who my mother was, you wouldn’t want anything to do with me.”

“I barely even know your mother—or I didn’t then, so why would I have cared?”

“I’m not wrong, admit it. You found out who my mother is, and now you don’t want to see me.”

This was a familiar sensation, the slow turning of the tables on her. She had been through this too many times with her father. She wasn’t going to let him—Alex, Cary, this stranger to her—do it. “So, everything you’ve told me is a lie. Your parents, the plane crash? All lies?”

“Just let me explain myself.”

“You aren’t who I thought you were. What is there to explain?”

“Correction. I’m not who you wanted me to be. What if I’m something better, Alaina? Did you ever think of that?”

It felt like a gut punch. “You know my name isn’t really Alaina. If Priscilla is your mother, you know that. So don’t call me that.”

“Yeah, but the difference is, I don’t care if your name is Alaina, or Luciana, or Lucky, or whatever. We’ve both been hiding stuff. But it doesn’t bother me. Why should it bother you?”