“Most people don’t know about it. It’s really beautiful! I’m convinced it’s the most beautiful place in LA—correction, the only beautiful place.”
She laughs again but it’s thinner, fades faster. “I should probably—”
“No,” I say. “Just let me show you one thing. It’ll take five minutes. Ten.” Five to ten.
She acquiesces. We continue walking until we reach the trailhead. The lake appears, a tranquil sea in the cradle of the hills surrounded by a tall chain-link fence.
She scowls at it. “How very LA to keep such a beautiful place behind a fence so no one can use it,” she observes. “This city is like a game and the locations are all levels. And no matter how high you get, there’s always a place you can’t access.” Her words echo my own thoughts. It’s dangerous to relate to anyone, let alone your target. To imagine a world where we could be friends, just friends, like Elvira and I were before the game got in the way.
“That’s so funny; I think of things as games, too.”
She shrugs. “Life is a game.”
I go along with it. “What’s the prize?”
“。 . . Playing.” Her tone is dark but she smiles after, like she regrets or relishes it. “Just getting to play.”
I’m not sure if I agree with her, but I think I understand what she means. You get what you want and the game is not over. It’s never enough. You just get to keep playing.
I think of our game and I shiver. It won’t end with this one. Deep down, I know that, but I have to believe it will. I have to convince myself that I can end it. Today. Now.
“I think I like you,” I say, and I mean it in that moment. But I have a game to win, and the quicker I can get it done, the sooner my turn can be over. “And now I have a surprise.” I tap my nose, smile.
She stops in her tracks. “What is it?”
“Access.”
LYLA
We walk along the asphalt road that follows the perimeter of the lake. We pass no fewer than three signs warning against trespassing, with a number to call at the bottom. Beyond the fence, reeds twitch; tall trees curve, malformed by nature, twisted by their will to survive. We don’t see a single person. We are the last two people left in LA.
“There’s no one here,” Demi says.
“It’s the best kind of place.” Elvira and I used to walk around here alone, undisturbed. In some version of the world, we are still walking. I stop at the place where the fence now curves up like a skirt. “Here we are.”
She shakes her head, nervous eyes still scanning the periphery. “Where?”
“If we lift the fence”—I bend down to demonstrate—“we can walk down to the lake.”
Demi remains frozen. “I don’t want to.”
I release the fence. It jangles harshly back into place. “But I thought you said—”
“I should really go back.” What is her problem?
“It’s totally safe.” I wipe my temple with my wrist. “There’s nobody around. You said it was beautiful. You said it was inaccessible. Don’t you want to go there? Just to prove you can?”
She sets her jaw. “We’ll get caught.”
I smirk like a fiend. “I never get caught.” I turn back to the fence. “You first. You’re smaller.” I wrench the fence up high enough for a person to crawl through. She hesitates, looks left, then right. “Hurry!” I order. “It’s heavy.”
She looks both ways again.
“Stop being so paranoid.”
“Fine.” Her voice grounds down. “Hold it up.”
I use my hip to lift the fence as high as I can so she can crawl through safely. I needn’t have worried. She can make herself tiny. She slips through the crack like a forgotten secret.
She stands on the other side facing me. Behind her, the water twitches. The sun casts shadows. I drop the fence. “Shit.”
“What?”
I can practically see her heart beating in her chest. “I have to change my tampon. I’ll be right back.”
“But!”
“Just stay there; I’ll be right back!”
As soon as I am out of sight, I block my number and make the call. “Hello? Security. Yes, I saw a woman cut through the fence and walk down into the reservoir. I know this sounds crazy, but I think she had a gun!”
* * *
I WALK AS quickly and quietly as I can to the trailhead. I am cresting the last turn when I hear the rumble of tires. A security truck rolls toward me, seemingly in no hurry to arrest Demi.