Page 101 of The Season
And then everything tipped and spun, the smell of blood and petrol mixing with nitrates, twisted metal and bodies, the ringing in my ears…
“Hey.” Eddie’s hand is clasping my shoulder, squeezing tight, almost painfully, his eyes boring into mine. “You got this, okay.”
I blink, the haze ofthenmixing with snowflakes and Eddie’s face.
He gives me an apologetic smile. “You’re the only one who hasn’t been drinking. I don’t trust any of these other fuckers behind the wheel. I know it’s a lot to ask…”
I swallow. It’s not a lot to ask. Itshouldn’tbe a lot to ask.
The keys feel hot and sharp against my palm. I squeeze them tight, focusing on the feel of them. On the snowflakes fluttering around us. On Lily’s pale face, tucked against Seth’s chest as he makes his way toward the car.
“Okay.” The words come out thick, catching in my throat, but there’s a pulse of exhilaration that runs through me too, that burst ofI can do thisthat screams in my veins when I’m about to drop down a slope that terrifies me. Like dropping off that cornice, with all the wild backcountry stretched beyond me, with Liam and Eddie urging me forward.
“Good man.” Eddie gives me a sharp smile, clapping me on the shoulder, but there’s a glow of pride in his brown eyes that borders on smugness. “Now, listen dickwad…” he says, turning his attention to whoever is on the phone and climbing into the front passenger seat. “We have a bit of a situation here, okay?”
Liam and Antoine are already climbing into the back, Seth following after them, grumbling and muttering angrily as he carefully positions Lily across the three of them. I slide the key into the ignition, heart thundering but hands steady, take a deep breath, and start the car.
“So let’s say, hypothetically speaking, a guy caught someone about to hurt someone else, and then beat the crap out of him. To protect the other person. How much trouble would they be in, exactly?”
There’s a short silence, the only sound the wheels crunching over snow.
“Don’t give me that legal disclaimer bullshit,” Eddie snaps into the phone, leaning forward to drum his fingers against the dashboard. “I’m not one of your clients you can dick around. I just want straight answers, yah? Don’t forget who knows about the time you got pissed and stole a bottle of wine at that law function when you were a summer clerk. Or that time you vomed in your boss’s office and blamed it on that other guy? How do you think your fancy practicing certificate would hold up if I let that little bit of intel slip?”
I wince, unable to help feeling bad for whoever it is on the other line. But Eddie falls silent, and when I dare take my eyes off the snow-covered road, I can see his brow constricted in thought, his expression serious as he nods along.
“Nah, he’s all good man,” Eddie says. “I mean, he’s unconscious in the boot of the car, but he’s breathing and all that.”
“I could change that,” Seth mutters from the back seat, but Eddie ignores him.
“I’m not going into detail with you about it,” Eddie says. “You’re not getting names. Let’s just say the guy was about to do something really bad. Remember Jessica? Yah, like that level bad.”
Another long pause, and my fingers flex and tighten around the wheel as I squint through wildly moving windshield wipers and blinding snow.
“Well, that’s about as useful as tits on a bull,” Eddie hisses. “What am I supposed to do with that? Of course he’s probably going to bring charges. He’s a whiny, entitled…”
Eddie bites back whatever he was going to say, and I can practically hear his teeth grinding in frustration as he listens to the person speaking on the phone. For several minutes, it’s only the sound of the road, wheels on snow, squeaking windshield wipers, and Eddie humming in agreement or irritation as he listens intently.
He lets out a sigh, slumping back onto the seat, tension bleeding out of him so fast, I find my grip on the wheel loosening in response.
“See. I knew you didn’t have that fancy law degree for nothing.” I can hear the grin in Eddie’s voice, even if I can’t see it. “Fucking brilliant, mate.” He waves one hand dismissively. “Of course I won’t mention you said anything. You know I’m all good with appropriating your ideas.” A dark chuckle. “Well, the good ones anyway.”
I bite the inside of my cheek, trying to ignore the familiar sense of frustration that wells up whenever I don’t know what’s going on. That sense of being in a haze, of not seeing what other people seem to grasp so readily.
“Yah, have fun with your gym workout, you tool. Hate you more. Tell mum her favorite son said hi.”
Eddie ends the call, dropping his phone onto his lap, throwing his head against the headrest with a thud.
“So you going to tell us what the fuck happened?” Liam growls from the back seat. “Like, maybe why Tom is bleeding in the back of the car.”
In my periphery, I can see Eddie drag one hand over his face, letting out a sigh. “Tom drugged Lily,” he says, without any preamble.
I feel ice wash over me at his words, a cold, trembling rage that has every muscle in my body going tense.
“I saw him slip something into her drink—but I didn’t realize what he’d done until after…”
My nostrils flare, teeth grinding.He saw? He saw and didn’t do anything?
“He followed her to the bathroom. When Seth and I got there, it was pretty fucking clear what he was trying to do.”
