Chapter 17
seventeen
HARLOW
“I really think one of us should’ve gone with him.”
Cora blows a raspberry in agreement.
“See? Cora thinks so too.” I point out. Jo and Willa both roll their eyes at me, but Jason laughs. At least Cal’s dad is on my side.
“Maverick will be fine. He’s meeting her at a restaurant. In public,” Willa says.
“I know. I just don’t like it. Cal, Kai, Belle, and my dad are all in Maine. Now we’re sending Maverick to New Hampshire alone,” I groan into my hands. Mav’s mom offered to meet him halfway between here and her house for lunch and she could only do today. So he went.
“The guys aren’t going to be happy he went while they’re gone,” Willa admits.
“It’ll be fine. He promised to go with our plan,” Jo says, picking at her nails. It’s the only tell she has that shows how nervous she is. It’s not that we think he’s in danger. Physically, anyway.
Mav’s hair has grown out to his chin. The plan is, he’s going to wear an AirPod in one ear and make sure his hair is covering it. He’ll call Willa’s phone once he gets to the restaurant. She’ll put him on speaker and mute the call. Jo is going to record everything on her phone. Jason and I are on Cora duty. She just started crawling, so it involves a lot of chasing and making sure nothing ends up in her mouth.
“What if someone recognizes him?” Jason asks.
“He’ll be polite, but short, and they’ll lose interest. It’s what he always does,” Willa says.
“Phone’s ringing!” I yell the moment Willa’s phone lights up. “Sorry,” I say in a normal tone. “I’m anxious.”
“It’s just lunch, Harry. Jeez,” Jo says, laughing at me.
“Cal is in a prison, and we just sent his best friend into the lion’s den!” I whisper-shout at her while Willa answers and gets her phone set up.
“Cal isn’t in prison. You need to relax, or I’m sending you to your room,” Willa whispers, shutting me up with a terrifying glare.
“He’s in a prison,” I hiss, earning myself a glare from Willa in the process.
Jo gets her phone set up to record and we wait.
“I’ve got Cora. We’ll go play in her room. Focus on one thing at a time,” Jason says, squeezing my shoulder. I thank him with a smile.
“Maverick! I’m so glad we could finally get together,” a soft voice says.
“Hi, Mom.” Mav sounds exhausted already.
They make small talk and discuss the menu. You’d think they were strangers.
Then his mother makes her first mistake.
“Governor Daley, you remember him. His daughter is your age. She agreed to a date with you on Saturday. She’s staying in our guest house, so you’ll need to pick her up there. I suggest —”
“No.”
“Excuse me?” that voice that was soft before is harsh now. It made my spine straighten, and I’m not even there.
“I’m not taking anyone on a date. Especially someone that you will then expect me to marry to form a political alliance for Dad. It’s not happening.” Mav’s voice is firm and brokers no argument.
“It is your responsibility to this family.”
“What happened to Ezra, Mom?”
The silence on both ends of the line is tense. We’re all staring at each other in shock. That wasn’t on the list of more subtle questions Maverick was supposed to be asking. He went right for her throat.
“He died. You know that,” his mom says eventually.
“He’s not dead!” We hear something slam and gasps filter through the phone. “What did Dad do to him?”
“What reason would your father have to do something to some child?” his mother scoffs.
“What reason does he have to do anything he does? Because he wants to and fuck what it costs anyone else.”
Another scoff.
“Why did he corner Cal’s nanny in a parking lot?” The press hasn’t figured out my name yet, and I’m grateful to Mav for not giving it to his mother.
She scoffs for a third time. It’s her tell. She makes that noise when she’s about to lie or avoid the truth. At least it seems to be from what I’ve heard from her so far.
“He was trying to help the girl with her bags. Don’t twist it.”
I had to hold my breath, so I didn’t say something and mess up the recording Jo was taking of all this.
“The security footage shows otherwise,” Mav says. “What’s wrong, Mother? You look pale.”
“I have no knowledge of any security footage.”
“I’ve seen it.”
“Your father wouldn’t have to go to extremes if you would just get in line!” she hisses. “You’ve had your rebellious stage. Now it’s time to come back home.”
“Tell me what Dad did to Ezra, and I’ll do it. I’ll quit the band today and move back into my old room.”
There’s another pause. I look at Jo and Willa. Their eyes are just as wide as mine and we’re all holding our breaths.
“Ezra is dead. Ask the police. Stop blaming your father because your little friend died.” I flinch at the coldness in her voice.
“Why? Why do you protect him? He hits you, Mom,” Mav pleads with her.
Of course, she scoffs.
“We argue. That’s it.”
“We’re done.” Mav says, and there’s the sound of a chair being pushed back. “Did you guys get that?” he asks us a few moments later.
Willa quickly takes her phone off mute. “We got it, Mav.”
“I’ll be home in an hour.”
The line goes dead and we’re all standing around, staring at Willa’s phone.
“Do we think she was saying Ezra is dead because that’s the official ruling or because she knows her husband killed him?” Jo asks. I wince at her direct words. She really needs to work on that.
“She didn’t scoff,” I say.
“What?” Willa asks.
“She made a scoffing noise whenever she lied or tried to redirect. She didn’t when she said Ezra was dead.”
“So he’s dead?” Willa asks, tears forming in her eyes.
“She believes he is, at least. I don’t think that’s proof he is.” I bite my lip to keep from speaking more. The person closest to the man we think did something to Ezra thinks he’s dead. It’s more information than we’ve had in months and it’s not good.
“What are you thinking?” Jo asks.
“Gavin Irons,” I answer.
“What about him?” Willa asks, wiping under her eyes.
“If he loved Ezra enough to either find him or maybe eventually avenge him, he has to love Kai that much too.”
“Breadcrumbs,” Jo says, reading my mind.
“You think Gavin left breadcrumbs for Kai to follow?” Willa asks, and I’m happy she’s following. “But he called Kai and told him to stop looking.”
“He called Kai on an unsecure line.”
“I didn’t know that,” Willa says.
“My dad found the number but couldn’t find where it came from since the call was so short and the number disconnected so quickly.”
“And Gavin covers his tracks too well to make that mistake. He did it on purpose,” Jo adds.
“We find Gavin, we find Ezra,” Willa says, eyes dry and hopeful.
I just hope I’m right.