We climb into the SUV and Austin is peeling away from the curb like dogs from hell are chasing us.
Eli’s eyes narrow into thin slits as he listens to whatever Bryce is telling him, and though I want to listen too, to know exactly what happened, I can’t make my mouth move. I can’t force air up my throat.
He lets go of my hand to fish his own phone out of his pants and nods, even while he’s tapping away at the screen.
“Okay, stay there. Don’t let anyone fucking touch that car, Bryce. I’ll do what I can to make sure the officers there know you can tow it somewhere. Maybe my office.” He closes his eyes and shakes his head as if trying to clear it. “I don’t know yet. No. No, I don’t care about the owners. I’ll deal with it, Bryce,” he snaps, and that more than anything tells me this isn’t a version of Eli I’ve met before.
This is someone completely new.
“Just keep your phone with you.”
A second later he ends the call and starts another one with his own phone. He doesn’t pause except to nod my way as he waits for the call to connect.
“You should call your Dad.” He won’t look at me.
Why isn’t he looking at me?
“Shit,” I hiss, and get to making calls too.
Eli speaks again while I wait for Dad to pick up the damn phone, and his half of the conversation entrances and confuses me into a catatonic state.
“Hey, I need help. Dad was just in a car accident. The car that hit them had no driver, someone hacked it and drove it remotely. I need access to that car, and I especially need the NYPD to leave it the fuck alone until I get to it, but—yeah, okay. Thank you, Harry. What? Oh, yeah, Mount Sinai. No you don’t have to—okay, see you later.”
“Alexei!” Dad’s shout finally snaps me out of it, and I realize he must’ve picked up.
“Dad.” I find the will somehow to speak. “Mom and Michael were in an accident. We don’t know a lot, just that they were both taken to Mount Sinai.”
“What the fuck?” I ignore his question.
“Eli and I are already on our way. We’re almost there actually. I think.”
Dad must have the same secret internal switch as Eli because his voice is detached and hard.
“Ally and I are on our way.”
And then the call disconnects.
When I turn, Eli is on another call.
“Seamus, I need a favor. Yes, I’ll owe you one.” The Eli I know would roll his eyes right there, but there’s only stone-cold determination on his face. I have no fucking clue who Harry or Seamus are, and it’s easier to think about that than?—
No.
Focus on Eli.
“My Dad was in an accident on Thirty-Second and Madison. I need you to make sure that if there is anything online about that, it gets shut down. Ignore the news outlets, I’ll take care of those, and focus on social media. Any photos or videos should be taken down immediately.”
What. The actual. Fuck.
He hangs up just as Austin hits the brakes hard enough to have us pitching forward.
I stop myself from face planting against the front passenger seat just in time to save myself another surgery, and then...
“Who was that?” I don’t know why that’s the first thing I ask, but it’s the only thing that feels safe right now.
“Huh?” Eli asks, finally looking at me.
“Seamus? Harry?”
