Page 117 of Unlucky Like Us

“Does he always come in this hot?” Oscar asks Farrow, and I imagine Farrow is either rolling his eyes or glaring at him.

“Oscar and Donnelly can hear you,” Farrow warns his husband. “I’m in the car with them.”

“I’ve been told to go to the hospital to see my mom—I’m not about to come in fucking cool,” Maximoff retorts.

“Good,” Oscar says, more seriously. “Neither would we.”

“Farrow—”

“I can’t tell you what happened, wolf scout,” he says, his voice abnormally constricted. “Not while you’re driving.”

Long dead silence tries to eat away at me.

“I can drive,” Maximoff finally replies. “I’ll be fine. You know I can handle it. Just tell me what the fuck is going on.Please.”

“I know you can drive. I know you won’t wreck.”

“Then why are you doing this to me?” His hurt is crushing.

“Man, don’t say it like that,” Farrow breathes, tortured too.

“You always let me in on everything. If you’re worried about our son, he’s okay. He’s asleep in his car seat.”

“It’s not about Ripley.” Farrow lowers the brim of his baseball cap. “Promise me something and I’ll tell you.”

“Anything.”

“Don’t follow me.”

“What?” Maximoff says. “Where are the three of you going? Why aren’t you with my mom?”

“Promise me, wolf scout.”

“…it’s my sister?”

“Promise me.”

Another long pause, only with this one, I can see Maximoff wrestling with the tough choices in front of him. He’s felt a responsibility to protect his sister, but he’s gonna need to hand that off to someone else.

To me.

I want to tell him to trust me.

I want to tell him that I’ll die a hundred times over trying to save her.

I want to tell him that there is no stop in me. There never really has been. I’ll do more for her than he ever could. He’s got a husband. He’s got a son. He’s got another baby on the way.

She’s all I have.

She’s all I want.

But I don’t interrupt their conversation. Not as Maximoff says, “I promise. I’ll go straight to the hospital, Farrow. Just tell me.”

“Luna is missing,” Farrow starts, then disconnects his phone from the car speakers. He puts his cell to his ear. “We’re on our way to find her.”

Oscar parallel parks outside an old run-down biker bar. Black paint is peeled off the brick siding, but I still make out the name.The Rhino.

Time to see my dad.