Together We Lie

Something was vibrating near my head, and it wouldn’t stop. I opened my eyes, glancing at the bedside table, which had a bright light blinking in time with the vibration. The sleep fog cleared, and I reached out quickly to grab my phone to silence it, then shot a quick glance at Jake, who was thankfully still asleep. I looked at the home screen brightly flashing ‘Alex’.

“Wait a sec,” I whispered after quickly answering the call and reaching down for Jake’s shirt from the floor to slip it on. Climbing out of bed and holding my phone to my chest, I tiptoed to the bathroom and closed the door with barely a click before I returned the phone to my ear. “Everything okay?”

Alex wouldn’t call this late unless it was something urgent.

“Yeah, Stevie baby. It’s just… Will got back to me with the owner of the licence plate.” He paused. I could tell without seeing him he had his hand behind his neck, scratching it uncomfortably. “You’re not gonna like this.”

I stood, shifting my weight between my feet on the cold tiled floor, rubbing the thin cotton sleeves up and down my arm, waiting for Alex to continue. The line was so quiet I thought he’d hung up, but I could hear his heavy sigh as he debated whether or not he should continue. He cleared his throat after a prolonged bout of silence.

“It belongs to your father.”

I almost dropped my phone.

The fuck?

“Are you sure?” I asked, my voice barely audible. A surge of panic flared in the depths of my stomach. My father was behind this job? He was the one who contacted Will?

My breaths came out in short puffs and my hand holding my phone started to shake. Tears stung my eyes, and my head started to spin. None of this made sense.

“Stevie baby, breathe,” Alex’s voice said down the phone. “Just come home.”