“My thoughts exactly, Agent Murphy. I won’t lie to you. Something about all this doesn’t sit well with me. I feel like our office is being manipulated. Unfortunately, this manipulation comes from the top, so there’s not a damn thing you or I can do about it.”
Chapter Thirteen
Ethan
After breakfast, Ethan and Blayne headed back to the apartment. Blayne had to teach that afternoon, followed by a graduate seminar he was taking. Ethan was glad he got some alone time with Blayne that morning before Blayne had to head off for the day.
“Dude, I’ll be fine. I have no problem lounging around your apartment for the day. Honestly, it’s been ages since I’ve had nothing scheduled, so it will be nice to chill for once. Besides, I have the new book I bought this morning.”
“Okay,” Ethan responded. “If you need anything, call my cell.”
“Speaking of cells, I should probably finally check mine. I’m almost worried to see what messages people have left since I up and disappeared.”
Ethan noticed the strange look cross Blayne’s face, but Blayne said nothing. Instead, Blayne went about putting together his attaché case for the day.
“God, I feel like we’re Ozzie and Harriet. I’m leaving for work while you stay home eating bonbons on the couch.”
“More like Lucy and Ricky,” Ethan countered. “I promise not to blow anything up while you’re gone.”
“Lucy, you’ve got some ‘splaining to do!” Blayne replied in a dismal Ricky Ricardo impersonation. “Well, I’m out of here. I have enough time to get to class.”
“Have fun, Teach,” Ethan said. He walked Blayne to the front door of his apartment, which felt odd.I’m acting like I own the place. Ethan reached out and grabbed Blayne, pulling him in for a quick bear hug. “Thanks for everything. You have no idea how much this means to me.”
Blayne gave him a quick peck on the cheek before pulling away. “It’s not a problem at all. I enjoy having you around. But I hope you take the time to deal with whatever’s going on with you. In the immortal words of Lucille Ball, ‘It’s a helluva start, being able to recognize what makes you happy.’ Or maybe you need, ‘Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.’ Lucy’s great for a lot of wisdom.”
Ethan pulled away a bit and looked Blayne in the face. “You sure know yourI Love Lucy.”
“If you get bored, I have the full series on Blu-ray under the TV,” he responded with a quick flash of his eyebrows and a mischievous grin. Blayne turned the door handle behind him and left the apartment.
Blayne was right, though. But then, so was Lucy. Ethan had a lot of shit he hadn’t been dealing with. How did Blayne put it? “You can’t change everything, but you can’t change anything until you face it?”Guess it’s time for me to face the music.
Ethan walked through the apartment to the guest bedroom and found his cell phone. The green light on top showed that it was fully charged. He unplugged the device and powered it on.
As soon as it powered on, he saw the stream of texts immediately start blowing up his phone. He puffed his cheeks and let out a slow breath before diving into them. He felt his eyes widen more and more with each new text he read. The more he read, the more panicked he became.What the fuck? What the actual fuck?The first texts were Rawlins and Zach sounding worried, which turned into Rawlins sounding pissed about Ethan’s disappearing act. Those turned to fear as his brain registered what had happened after he’d left New Orleans.
Wait! Back up! The plane exploded?Ethan inhaled and exhaled in short waves as his pulse raced. His head started to fog as his mind raced. Ethan had experienced enough stage fright in his early days, so he knew to bend over and put his head between his knees as he tried to return his breath back to normal. Once he was no longer light-headed, he read the text from Zach saying they were safe and hadn’t been on the plane.
Ethan opened the RNN app and looked at the top headlines on his phone. He quickly found the report about the explosion at the airport the afternoon before.Whoa! That was the plane ZERO was supposed to fly to Seattle?He read the information in the texts and the news report. However, it took his brain a second to process the incoming information.
He kept reading through the stream of texts. The ones from Hightower and Rawlins had once again become pissy, but that was to be expected. The last one from Zach said Sally Higgins was flying back to New Orleans to re-choreograph the show with the three remaining members.
Rawlins isn’t saying he’s pissed, but he’s pissed. At this rate, they’re going to find someone whose name starts with “e” to replace you. I think they should find another “o” guy so we can rebrand as ZORO. I hope you’re well.
Peace,
Zach
He needed to talk to someone but wasn’t ready to talk to anyone in ZERO. He scrolled through the names in his phone and called the one who was probably the most important name in his Rolodex…Stephanie. He hit call.
“Where the fuck are you?” Stephanie said, answering the phone. “What the fuck are you doing? Everyone is worried about you.” She rapidly peppered him with more questions, not even giving him the chance to answer any of them. Ethan knew this was her way of showing concern, so he let her go on until she took a breath, and he could naturally jump in.
“I’m fine. I’m in Houston. I’m at the house of a guy I know. I forgot my charger, picked one up this morning and finally got my cell working again.” He paused, waiting for Stephanie to say something.
“Thank God!” she finally said. “I barely slept last night. I was worried sick. If you ever disappear like this again, Ethan Bond, I will hunt your ass down and make sure it stays lost forever.”
“I’m sorry. I really am. I needed space.”
“I get it…more than you realize,” Stephanie said, her voice softening. “I spoke to Danny’s mom today. She’s still in shock.”
