Happenstance(89)

“When is that going to be, approximately?” Tobias asks. “I have no idea where we are. I barely leave my apartment unless it’s for therapy. This could be Miami for all I know.”

“We’re in Midtown,” Gabe says, still sounding dazed. “Do you guys miss her?”

“Yes,” I say very precisely.

“Yes,” Tobias echoes, his voice a scrape of sound. “Very much.”

It remains dead quiet in the car through the next block.

“All three of us love her, don’t we?” Gabe asks, though he obviously doesn’t expect an answer.

He doesn’t need to. The truth is palpable. My stomach winds up into a knot when I think about her smile, how she listens so intently, how her eyes water when she feels cornered. Her bravery. I have known her for such a short amount of time and yet I can’t picture a future where she isn’t making her mark on every day, every hour, every moment.

“I’m a traditional man. I’ve always imagined myself getting married. Again.” Gabe coughs into his fist. “But I won’t be able to marry Elise. None of us will.”

“God, man. I’m just hoping she talks to me again.” Tobias exhales roughly. “But since we’re on the subject, I’ve done some internetting and…there are commitment ceremonies.”

I watch Gabe sit up straighter in the rearview. “There are?”

“Yes,” I say, trying to keep my voice even. “I checked into it, as well.”

Gabe curses. “I really need to figure out the internet.”

“When that day comes, you’re going to learn a lot more about me,” Tobias says. With a laugh that sounds pained, he asks, “How hard do you think it would be to convince Elise to exchange vows on the beach in a white dress while a violinist plays softly in the background?”

“Next to impossible,” I answer, strings tightening in my chest.

“We’d have to trick her,” Gabe laughs.

We join him. For about five seconds.

Then the car goes silent again. The air around us weighs a thousand pounds.

“Please. We really need to find her.” Tobias says, sounding winded. “Fast.”

It takes us another five minutes to get in the vicinity of the Times. By unspoken agreement, I find a metered parking spot and we don’t bother putting a ticket on the dashboard before we start to run.

“Elise took back her pass,” Gabe calls behind me. “I have no idea how we’re going to get in this time.”

“We’ll figure it out when we get there,” I say, picking up my pace.

I’m running through a host of options to get to Elise’s floor. But when we enter the lobby a moment later, I see a woman that looks familiar. She’s on her phone in the corner of the lobby. Elise was speaking to her the day we ambushed her in the office. The managing editor, Karina, right? The one who has been keeping her apprised of the situation with Alexander and Crouch? She looks…agitated.

“I don’t like that she looks agitated,” Gabe says, startling me by echoing my thoughts.

“Me either,” Tobias says, already storming in that direction.

It’s not until this moment that I realize Tobias never bothered to put on a shirt.

At least he managed pants.

“Excuse me,” Tobias says, putting all of his effort forth into a broad grin, though he doesn’t really have to bother, because the editor stops speaking mid-sentence to gape at his bare chest. “Have you seen Elise?”

Karina’s expression doesn’t change, but I watch very closely as the color leaches slightly from her face. She opens her mouth to speak and closes it, her eyelashes fluttering a hundred miles an hour. “I’m…” She begins to fan her face, regret clouding her features. “I’m sorry. Oh God, I never thought it would come to this. I’m trying to make it right—”

Panic is trying to shut my organs down one by one, but I manage to take her by the shoulders and look her hard in the eye. “Where is Elise?”

“They have her,” Karina whispers. “Alexander and Crouch.”

There’s a screeching sound inside of my skull. Blood rushes so quickly to the backs of my eyes, my head becomes one giant throb. Never in my life have I lost the ability to speak, but that’s what happens. I physically can’t force out a single syllable. We were only being cautious by keeping her at Gabe’s. I never really believed someone would try and physically hurt her. Another mistake. I’ve made two mistakes today and one of them could set my world on fire.

She could be in pain. Right now.

Worse.

Oh my God.

I turn to look at Tobias and Gabe. They’re in the same condition as me—being driven into the ground by denial. Gabe rakes shaking fingers through his hair. Tobias looks like he’s staring into the mouth of hell.

“Where did they take her?” Tobias asks through his teeth.

Karina is already shaking her head. “I don’t know.” Moisture spills down onto her cheeks. “You have to believe me, I didn’t realize I was making a deal with the devil. This is standard shit in journalism. Moral gray areas when it comes to collecting information. Having the mayor in my pocket would have been a windfall. I told Alexander and Crouch that I would keep a lid on Elise, dissuade her from pursuing the mole story about them teaming up to take down the current mayor. It shouldn’t have been hard—she’s not even employed by the Times. When they overheard her on our phone call, it was out of my hands. They thought I’d been playing them. I don’t…I don’t know what they’re going to do. What they’re capable of.”