I walk into the library, leaving the door cracked so I’ll still hear if Cleo needs me, and make the call.
Kit picks up on the second ring, like she’s been waiting by the phone.“Kit Dempsey speaking.”
“Wow.Very official,” I tease.“Should I say, ‘This is Barret Leonard Hetfield?’”
She laughs.“You’d think I’m trying to be proper.Actually, I’m waiting to hear back from the Seattle Philharmonic.”
“You’re finally playing with them?”
She scoffs.“Nope.They want me to direct a summer camp they’re sponsoring next year.It’ll get my name out there—and the charity, since Rod promised to donate.”
“Interesting.”I listen to the scrape of her chair.I hear Rod’s movements before I make out his voice: a soft shuffle, then his voice, tauter than usual.
I picture them at the kitchen table at the farm—Arlo asleep in the next room, the afternoon folding around them.I rub the palm of my hand over my jaw and stare past my reflection in the glass.“So, you saw the papers,” I say.“Montauk.Cliff paths.All that.”
Rod breathes out slowly, gauging each syllable.“We saw.I also heard from Eddie and Rhodes.They say not to believe everything in the papers.Do you know anything?Is my sister safe?”
“Listen,” I say.“We need you here.We can arrange for a driver to pick you up tomorrow.Can you come?”
“I can drive myself,” he answers.“If only you could tell me where the fuck you’re hiding at.”
“Sure, I believe in your driver’s abilities,” I say, “but humor me.Pack for a couple of days.You know we have a nursery—Arlo will be fine.”
“Are you and Eddie recognizing you’re together and getting married?”he asks, like a grenade lobbed into the middle of everyday conversation.
“If that was the case, same-sex marriage isn’t legal in this country,” I remind him.
“Well, no offense, but having a blessing ceremony right now would be ...insensitive, don’t you think?”he groans, again.“My sister is missing.She might ...fuck.”
“It would agree, if I were getting married or celebrating shit,” I say, keeping my voice clipped. “We’re not and we need you asap.”
Fuck, this man can be so infuriating.
This is the problem with pulling everyone in and not telling them why.I told Eddie we should be more explicit.Eddie said no.We have to handle this carefully.Mason Bradley swore no one has bugged the Wilders’ phones, but cautious is still what it’s called.Cautious has turned me into someone who will cash in favors, and I remember Rod owes me a mountain of them.I should collect one, even if it doesn’t help me personally.
“You know all those times I did something for you, no questions asked?”I say.
“I don’t recall.I was too high.Try again,” he cuts in, half-laughing, half-annoyed.
“If this is important to you, we’ll do it,” Kit says, voice like a leveler.
“No.We’re not fucking doing it,” Rod growls.“I’m not taking my son to the middle of nowhere while that asshole probably?—”
“What’s bothering you?”I ask because, honestly, he’s unraveling on the line.
“I saw an article that said you and my sister—” he starts.
“You ...are you kidding me?”On purpose, I let my voice drop, slow and controlled, the same way he speaks.“If your sister and I ever ...it would have been out of love.It wouldn’t be trash on Page Six.”I roll the pick in my palm until the edge bites.
There’s a beat where silence eats the space between us.“We’ll see you tomorrow,” I add.“Understood?”
“Like fuck,” he says.
“Kit, talk some sense into this man,” I plead.“Believe me—it’s fucking important.Rhodes, Alfie, and Julian will be there too.”
There’s a breath from Kit, a tiny shuffle as she rearranges her thoughts.“Oh,” she says, as if the names have unlocked something else.“Is it like a family reunion?”
“Yes.We’re bringingallthe Wilder siblings together because of what’s happening.We really care about them.”I let out a slow sigh, careful not to unravel.“All of thesiblings,” I repeat, making sure she understands I mean five, not four.
