Page 115 of The Arrangement
My heart stalls as a chill races down my spine. I can’t.
Please, please don’t make me do this. Don’t make me ask …
Car doors shut in the distance. Footfalls pound against the pavement. Tate and Ripley stand on either side of Gannon looking as ill as their brother.
I swallow. Hard.
“What …” I can’t get the words out. “Why are you?—?”
“Chloe, there’s been an accident …”
Chapter 28
Chloe
Nausea rises in my throat.
“What do you mean?” I ask.
I shiver against the rush of adrenaline blasting through my system. No one talks as Ripley closes the door behind them.
“Answer me,” I say, my throat so tight I can barely speak. “What kind of an accident?”
My mind shuffles through varied possibilities with his voice overlayed, telling me he loves me. I shake as I point at Tate.
“Answer me, dammit,” I say.
“I got a call that Jason’s plane went down just outside of Nashville,” Gannon says.
I scream inside my head, but nothing comes out. Tears pour down my face. Gannon’s lips move, but I can’t hear them over my internal cries.
Tate pulls me into a hug and then helps me sit back down. “It’s gonna be okay, Chloe. Just breathe.”
Ripley hands me a tissue, and then tends to Mimi.
“And I need to talk to you, too. But this isn’t the way to do it, Chloe.”
“Is he okay?” I ask, only able to make out his silhouette. “Where is he?”
Is he alive?
“We don’t know yet,” Gannon says. “He issued a mayday call and reported engine failure. He dropped off the radar shortly after.”
“Oh, my God.” I shake so hard I think I might puke. “What do we do?” I spring to my feet. “We need to go look for him. Why aren’t we looking for him? Why are you here and not out there?”
“His plane had a transmitter that broadcasted his location when he went down. First responders are on their way there now.”
My cries fill the room. “How are you not panicking? How are you calm? He could be … dead out there. Or hurt. Or scared. Or hungry.”
“Hungry?” Ripley says.
I glare at him.
He holds his hands up. “Definitely worrying about him being hungry. Ignore me.”
Gannon crouches in front of me and looks me in the eye. He’s not as confident as Jason, and I don’t feel nearly as safe. But there’s enough resemblance to remind me that I’m in a room full of Brewers. They love harder than anyone, and this is their brother. If they’re calm, I should try to be, too.
“Listen to me,” Gannon says. “This is Jason. You could drop the man off in the middle of the ocean, and he’d find his way to shore. And if he was trying to get back to you, I’m sure he could return from the moon.”
