A Year of Jubilee [The Death Note Fanfic]

Chapter 60

"Mello!" Jubilee shrieked, jolting forward to clutch the screen of her laptop with her hands. Onscreen, the camera angle had been knocked askew and was now pointing at the empty passenger seat. The interior of the cab looked dim. "Oh, God," she whispered. Beside her, Hellenos had disappeared. "Mello!" she cried again in desperation. Tears filled her eyes as she suddenly realized that their last exchange had been her yelling at him.

"For Pete's sake, J," Mello whispered. "Quit hollering. I'm trying to pretend I'm dead."

Jubilee almost cried with relief. "Mello!" she exclaimed a third time.

"Yes, that's my name," intoned Mello dryly.

"For the love of—" she began, slightly irritated, before cutting herself off. "You nearly gave me a heart attack! Are you okay?" she whispered.

"Yes," he murmured. "Drove through the wall of an abandoned farmhouse. The structure is old so the walls are weak and the impact wasn't severe...but it made enough of a ruckus that Takada should think it's a serious crash."

Jubilee sat back on her heels, stunned. So the kid had managed to plan out even that little detail in advance.

Mello continued, "Can you tell me what she's doing now? Oh, and by the way, J...you don't have to whisper. I just wanted you to stop yelling because you were hurting my ears."

She huffed, but was too relieved to be angry with him. Turning her attention to the other video feed on her screen, she saw Takada pulling herself up from the floor of the truck. She seemed a little worse for wear—several plastic tanks of spare fuel had slid from the back of the cab and knocked into her—but well enough. Rewrapping the blanket around herself, she took shaky but determined steps forward.

"Takada looks a little bruised, but overall okay," Jubilee reported. "She's coming up to the front and...putting her ear to the wall of the cab. I think she's trying to listen for you."

Mello remained silent.

Jubilee continued to watch. "Now she's getting her phone...and making a call."

"Listen in," instructed Mello quietly.

Jubilee raised the volume on Takada's video feed.

"Light?" the other woman's voice filled her headset. It was quavering with fear. "Light, please...I need you to come and save me. Someone's—someone's kidnapped me, and I don't know where I am." There was a pause. "I don't know...it was an intern at the station—but he's just a boy, I don't know who could have put him up to it, and—and he's dead now, he crashed while driving but I'm still in the back of the truck and...Light, please! I'm scared and I—" She stopped again, listening. Taking a deep breath, she continued, more calmly, "Yes." She nodded, then repeated, "Yes. I understand." A single tear fell from the corner of her eye then. "You'll find me soon...right, Light?" She lowered her head, clutching the phone to her ear like it was a lifeline. "I believe in you," she whispered, then let the phone fall to her side.

"She called Light to have him come find her," Jubilee reported, her voice involuntarily hushed once more as she continued to observe Takada. She almost felt bad for the other woman. If the pulsing red and blue hues over her were any indication, she was terrified.

"Okay," Mello whispered back. "Listen really carefully, J. I need you to do several things, all at once."

Jubilee snapped to attention. "What are they?"

"First, I need you to keep a close watch on what Light does next, while still keeping an eye on Takada. Light's the current priority though. Open up a channel to downstairs so you can monitor him. Do it now."