Chapter 25 #2
“And last, that was not nice, but you also have no idea what happened with me and Gabe, and frankly, I don’t want you to.
I don’t want anyone to know, because I was stupid, and I shouldn’t have gone there.
I did, because I’m weak where he is concerned, and now it hurts.
I don’t want to hurt anymore, Manny, and I don’t want anyone else to know I’m an idiot, because that just compounds the hurt. ”
“You’re not an idiot,” he says softly.
“He was always going to hurt me, Manny.”
“Yeah,” he sighs. “He always was. But—”
“No buts. It hurts too much.”
“Okay, sweetheart, no more buts,” he agrees.
“Good, because I have tapes to run.”
“I’m sorry for casting judgment on you though,” he says. “I saw you look at Eli, and it upset me. I want you for my boy. Gabe needs some good in his life. That’s a big deal. You don’t know it, but it is.”
“Manny—”
“So, I’m sorry I judged you. It was a dick thing to do, and I know better,” he says. I’m still stuck on the fact that he said he wants me for Gabe, but also that Gabe was always going to hurt me. “I am truly sorry.”
“It’s already forgiven,” I assure quietly.
“Thank you,” he replies. “Now let’s get you to the down room.”
“Yeah.” I let him lead me through the track, and the whole time, I think Manny’s wildly wrong. Because I don’t feel hurt as much as I feel destroyed.
Thankfully, I don’t have much time to think on it, because suddenly the world splinters apart and everything goes black.
“Adrienne!” someone shouts. My body rocks back and forth as they shake me. “Addie, Addie, Addie…”
I blink my eyes open. I’m lying on my back on the tarmac at the side of the track as memories flit around behind my eyes like someone’s flipping through channels with a TV remote. Quickly, one after another:
Bobby kissed me.
Eli threw me under the bus.
They tossed around the idea of Bobby being a suspect.
Manny was pissed but apologized.
He said he wanted me for Gabe.
Manny and I were walking to the down room so I could run tapes of competitors.
And then there was an explosion.
I try to turn my head, but it hurts.
“Don’t move,” Manny barks.
“I’m okay. My head just aches.” My voice is hoarse and scratchy.
“That’s normal after an explosion.”
“Are you okay?” I ask.
“Banged up but fine,” he answers. “Can you sit up? If not, that’s okay too.”
“I think so.”
“Go slowly and see first,” he says gently. “We’ll go from there.”
“Okay,” I say and slowly sit up. My head is pounding, but I think I’m all right. I’m actually wondering what the hell happened, because I feel like I was just hit by a bus, and Manny looks no worse for the wear, and then it dawns on me. Someone is missing. “Eli!”
“It’s okay,” Manny says. “Let’s just worry about you right now.”
“No!” I scream. My voice is rusty and feels unused. “We have to find him.”
“No,” Manny says gently. “This is the job. He knows the risks. I need to call Gabe.”
Hot tears burn the back of my eyes. No matter what he says, this is my fault. Maybe something would have happened to him on another job, but this job was protecting me. This is my fault.
Manny pulls his cell phone from the pocket of his jeans and slides his finger across the screen to unlock it. His fingers move quickly and then he puts it to his ear.
“We’ve got a problem, boss,” he says. “MacGuire is out of contact. The asset is injured.”
He says more, but I don’t stick around to listen. Eli is out there somewhere. Manny said he had a girlfriend. She deserves more, and frankly, so does he. I quietly push up to stand and then, while Manny’s back is turned and he’s still on the phone with Gabe, I slip away.
I retrace our steps, back to where we were, and then head off in the direction I last saw Eli go. I stick to the shadows as best as I can. Someone out here is dangerous and clearly wants to do harm. I need to be careful, but I have to find Eli.
I round the building and see Bobby’s garage is nothing but ash and flames.
I feel a modicum of relief. If his garage was targeted, he can’t be the one threatening to do me harm, right?
I hate the idea that my childhood friend would want to see me hurt like that.
I know he wants control of DHR, but murder? That’s a bit much.
I don’t have time to think about it now, I need to find Eli. I can’t accept that he might be gone, so I keep moving, making my way around the building, when an arm wraps around my belly from behind and lifts me off my feet.
“Are you fucking crazy?” Manny hisses in my ear. “If something happened to you, Gabe would have my ass in a body bag.”
“Doubtful,” I mutter before turning to him. “We have to find Eli.”
“I have to keep you safe,” he returns.
“No. I can’t let it be because of me.”
“It was his duty—” he starts, but something snags my attention and I interrupt him. It looks like Eli’s shirt.
“Look!” I point.
Manny turns, and with his arm still sheilding me, we race toward where Eli lays prone, his face to the asphalt.
We both drop to our knees on either side of him and after Manny assesses his injuries, we roll him over. Eli blinks a few times and opens his eyes. Blood trickles down from above his left eye.
“What happened?” he asks, blinking away the confusion.
“There was an explosion,” I answer while Manny slips his cell phone from his pocket and dials 9-1-1.
Eli closes his eyes and slips back into unconsciousness.
When the paramedics arrive, they load up Eli, who is now grumbling about riding in an ambulance.
But he knows he needs to be checked out, so he goes willingly.
It helped that his phone chimed with a text, and it was Gabe telling him to get his ass in the ambulance.
Eli slips in and out and is asleep when the ambulance pulls away.
I want to know what the connection is between these three men. They seem so close to one another but are clearly all a little different.
After they take Eli away, Manny deals with the police as quickly as possible. Everyone is accounted for, thankfully. Over one hundred people work here on a day-to-day basis, so it’s no minor miracle that everyone is safe and accounted for, including Bobby, who’s obviously shaken.
Manny finally breaks free from the commotion and leads me to his SUV. We climb in and he makes his way to Grossmont Hospital where Eli is being treated. Gabe never showed up at the track and I can’t help but wonder where he is and what he’s doing.
I’m scared. For Eli, whose status is still unknown to me.
I’m scared for Manny and Gabe.
And I’m scared for me.
This is serious.
We make our way into the hospital after Manny parks the car, and we ask for directions to the Emergency Department.
“Hi, how can I help you?” a nurse prompts when we walk up to the desk.
“We’re here for Eli MacGuire,” Manny says.
I feel like there’s a livewire inside me with all the nervous energy and anxiety. I don’t know what to do.
“He’s still being seen to,” she replies once she looks Eli up on her computer. “If you could follow me this way, someone will be with you when they know more.”
We follow her through a locked door to a waiting area. It’s empty. I guess that’s a good thing. At the same time, I wish we weren’t here either. I need to know what’s going on with Eli, and I know Manny feels the same way.
“Should we call his parents?” I ask, because it’s something to be considered, and also because I can’t handle the silence.
“His parents are dead,” Manny says. “But Gabe will call his grandparents in New Jersey and talk to them.”
“What about his girlfriend?” I add and wish I hadn’t, because Manny goes on and breaks my heart.
“He hasn’t talked to her in about ten years.”
“That’s sad.”
“That’s life, Addie. No one’s story is easy.”
“What about you?” I ask, wanting to pass the time with a friend.
“My story is perfect,” he says with a smile. “Marisol, my wife, was the most beautiful girl in my high school. So obviously I knocked her up after a football game and married her.”
“And you’re desperately in love with her,” I add to his tale.
“Oh yes.”
“And the baby?”
“That baby is now thirteen and has five siblings,” he says. “They turn my hair gray, but I love every one of them.”
“I’m glad you have that,” I whisper, tears burning my eyes. Today has been so overwhelming. I can’t stand it.
“You deserve good things too,” he says quietly.
“Maybe one day. Look, I’m sorry for what I said earlier.”
“Adrienne—” he starts, but I move away.
“That’s enough about me,” I reply. “I think it’s about time I go back to my boring little life, don’t you?”
“Querida,” he says with a smile. “I bet you were never boring.”
“When do you think we’ll know something?” I ask, changing the subject.
“This isn’t your fault. You know that, right?”
I look away. It is my fault.
Eli never should have been hurt. If he’d been anywhere else, he would be whole, healthy, but he was here, protecting me. This is my fault. It’s all my fault, and if he’s not okay, I don’t know how I’ll live with myself.
I look out the window into the parking lot. The sun is setting on a terrible day, and I can’t help but feel like nothing is ever going to be right again.
I hear the door open behind me, and I know who’s there.
But I can’t turn around and face him. I can’t look at Gabe and see the disgust in his eyes.
The same disgust I feel for myself mirrored back at me.
I close my eyes, grip the windowsill, and try to beat back the tears, but it’s no use.
They roll unchecked down my cheeks. I don’t want to be here in this room anymore, but I have to stay here and wait for news on Eli.
I can’t leave, because I can’t go anywhere by myself, and the men in this room are the only ones who can keep me safe.
But one, or maybe both of them, hates me.