Happenstance(66)

“I…” I’m embarrassed to tell him. To recount my flub yesterday to anyone. At some point, I will have to acknowledge what is happening here out loud. But I need to deal with the immediate problems first. Need to wrap my head around what I’ve caused. “I need to call Shayna and tell her what happened. Then the police—”

I pretend not to notice Tobias scrutinizing me.

But I can’t ignore him when he approaches—and attempts to sweep me up in his arms like a child. I wrestle my way free, batting at his hands. “What are you doing?”

“Comforting you,” he explains, attempting to cradle me again. “It’s just the thing.”

“No, it’s not!”

Finally, he gives up, but he’s extremely put out about it, the absolute nut ball. “Fine. I’m calling the lads.” When I look at him in surprise, he adds, “Balance, right? If you were in danger and no one called me, I would go fucking mental.”

Danger? “I’m not in danger.”

“Try saying it with a little more conviction.” He taps the screen and holds up the phone, the familiar chirp of a call connecting filling the vandalized room. It’s not a regular old call, though, he’s FaceTiming. As if a group text with four people isn’t bad enough. Shoot me right now. “I can tell you’re keeping something from me, Elise,” he says solemnly, right before the FaceTime connects.

Keeping a problem this big from them doesn’t seem right. Not at all. And I find myself murmuring, “I’ll explain when we’re all together, so I only have to do it once.”

Two faces pop up on the screen. Banks is on top. There is a parking lot behind him, as if we’ve caught him walking to his car. Gabe is shirtless and holding a bottle of beer, construction grime still shadowing his jaw and forehead.

Banks is brisk. “Hello.”

“Yo,” Gabe says, peering into the phone, so only his eye is visible on the screen. “What’s good?”

Tobias gives me a withering look. “I hereby call an emergency Tram Fam meeting. Elise’s apartment has been trashed and she won’t even let me hold her like a baby.”

“What?” Banks has stopped in his tracks. “Trashed by who? Let me see her.”

Tobias shifts the phone, but I can’t look Banks in the eye. He’s going to know I’ve been withholding something from him, even after he asked me about the story. I assured him I was clear of the situation, so he’s going to feel that betrayal deeper than the other two. “I’m fine,” I say, suddenly feeling a very urgent, almost shocking need to be surrounded by all three of them. The need is so crucial, a shudder winds through me.

Still connected to the FaceTime, Tobias stomps over and draws me up against his chest. “We’re going to call the police and then—”

“Bring her to my place,” Gabe interrupts. It’s not until he growls this directive that I realize his face has been leached of color. “Meet here. I want her here.”

“Queens?” Tobias wrinkles his nose. “Is there even a decent sashimi place near you?”

I elbow him in the ribs.

“Call the police from down the street. Somewhere public. In case they come back.” Banks is speed walking now, getting into his car and firing up the engine. “Jesus Christ. That’s burglary 101, Tobias.”

“Elise is safe.” He tightens his hold on me, looking very dramatic. “I’m with her.”

That earns a classic Banks eyeroll. “They could have weapons. You don’t. And before you ask, no, you can’t swing your dick at the bad guys.”

Tobias snorts. “Lucky for them.”

I watch as a realization dawns on Banks’s face. “Elise, please tell me this has nothing to do with the story you were chasing.”

“I…” I shake my head. “I can’t tell you that.”

“Story.” Tobias’s face loses some of its color. “I thought that was over.”

All I can do is focus on breathing. Staying calm.

“Are you bringing her here or do I have to come and get her?” Gabe says, looking properly intimidating, a line of muscle flexing in his jaw. “Elise, I’m sorry this happened. We’ve got you.”

I give Tobias and Banks a pointed look. “Thank you, my sweet Gabe.”

“He’s the favorite,” Tobias mutters. “Anyone can see it.”

Gabe grins.

“Out of the apartment,” Banks near-shouts, his engine gunning in the background. “Now. I’ll meet you all at Gabe’s.” He pauses. “Elise can fill us in when we get there.”





Chapter Nineteen





Banks





* * *



Somehow, Tobias, Elise and I arrive at Gabe’s at the exact same time.

We pull into spots at the curb, parallel to each other, trading stunned glances through the passenger window of Tobias’s Audi. But I shouldn’t be surprised at this stage, should I? Everything that has happened from the moment I stepped onto the Roosevelt Island tram has felt…different, but oddly exact. Like I left my old skin behind on that island and stepped into a new one. If I wasn’t such a pragmatic man, I could swear the hand of fate is pressing on my back, guiding me from moment to moment with Elise, Tobias, Gabe.