Page 13 of Invisible Scars
Andrew snorts, then quickly covers up his laughter.
I roll my eyes, anger rising in my chest. “Are you two ganging up on me? Is this some inside joke you’ve got going on with my idiot brother?”
“No, man, but Mic’s onto something.” I grumble a few superlatives, and Andrew laughs again. “The first time I talked to Phoebe, I called her Curls, remember?”
“I also recall you came to her with a ploy to fight a terrible injustice.”
“Exactly!” he says excitedly.
“Still not sure what you’re trying to get at, Double A.”
“Jesus, Joe, for a smart guy, you’re slow sometimes.” Andrew releases a long breath. “Look, Effie’s guarded, and you’re…” He groans and mumbles something. “You tend to be too straightforward. So, try the soft approach, okay? You’d be surprised how far it can take you.”
I’m still convinced Andrew and Micah are playing a prank on me, but I’m out of options. “Fine, I’ll give it a shot. But if this backfires, you’re both dead to me.”
“Fair enough. Good luck, Joe.”
I end the call and remain sitting in my Jeep, contemplating Andrew’s advice. Maybeit istime I approached Effie with a different tactic, a gentler touch. After all, the objective is to keep her safe, whatever it takes.
With a sigh, I kill the engine and head back to headquarters, finding Micah waiting in my office. His solemn expression tells me everything I need to know.
“No go?” I ask, and Micah shakes his head. A mixture of relief and frustration bubbles up in my chest. I take a seat in my chair across from him and stare at my desk, fingers steepled at my lips. “Okay,” I say before lifting my gaze to Micah. “I’ll try it your way.”
“Okay.” Micah nods, his smile relieved rather than mocking. “I’d give it a couple of days, though. Let Effie cool down. She didn’t take you sending me to pry well.”
I nod, and Micah leaves me with my thoughts. As reluctant as I am to act on Micah’s advice, my way was a bust, and trying the same approach will only push Effie farther away. It wrenches at my gut, the helplessness I feel at the idea of Effie facing danger on her own because I’m a stubborn fucker.
So, when the opportunity arises, I’ll be ready. And if playing amicable doesn’t work? Well, I’ll leave her no choice but to accept my help.
* * *
EFFIE
My phone rings, the caller labelled private. It’s the same as the last five times, and just like those calls, I silence the ringing and ignore it until the caller hangs up.
I blocked the original number Abe called from, which, in hindsight, may have been a mistake since now I panic over every call from a new or unknown number.
My ringtone plays again, and I turn my phone face down, forcing myself to take calming breaths as my heart starts pounding in my chest too fast.
A whimper escapes my lips, and I squeeze my eyes shut.
“I can’t do this,” I whisper, my breath wheezing out of me through trembling lips. “I can’t…” The phone finally stops ringing, and my soft sob sounds too loud in the empty office. Then it blares to life again, and with a scream, I stand and hurl the phone at the wall.
My door flings open, and Diva rushes in, fists held high and a ferocious snarl on her lips. When she realizes there’s no one in the room except me, her stance relaxes.
“Everything good here, Effie?” she asks, her worried gaze bouncing between me and my phone.
“Just…” I exhale sharply, closing my eyes and forcing myself to compose before plastering an apologetic smile on my face. “Family trouble, nothing serious. You know how frustrating families can get.”
“Do I ever,” Diva says with a humourless laugh, picking up my phone and walking over to my desk. “Girl, I came in here ready to start a fight. Don’t you scare me like that again,” she says, wiping imaginary sweat off her brow.
I bite my bottom lip, taking my broken phone from her. “I’m sorry, Diva.”
“Nah, it’s good to check on the street reflexes every now and then.” She winks. “By the way, Calderon’s been trying to reach you. Keeps getting your voicemail. He got a new phone, and he’s all kinds of paranoid someone’ll hack it and steal the blueprints to hisgenius shopping center.” She air quotes those last three words, her face scrunched up in contempt. “He went so far as to block the number from showing when he calls.”
“Oh.” I feel like the worst kind of idiot, standing there with a cracked screen and a completely pointless panic attack. “Tell him that if he insists on using an incognito number to call through the office.”
“Will do.”
