Immortal

76

Ethan sat on the edge of his bed in the hotel room and stared at the face of his cell phone, the Illinois number waiting there to be dialed taunting him in silence. The absurdity of his own reluctance, nervousness even, to just call the damned number wasn’t lost on him. But through Ethan’s moral compass he owed Saffron a promise, and despite himself he jabbed the dial button and listened to the phone ringing in his ear. To his surprise, it picked up on the second tone.

‘Ethan.’

There was no detectable tone in the voice to suggest surprise, concern or awareness that his father hadn’t received a call from him for two years. Ethan found himself suddenly unable to think of anything to say.

‘Hi, Dad, how’s things?’

Lame. The towering rock that was Henry Warner would probably laugh in his face and cut the line off with a shake of his craggy head and…

‘Not so bad, son. Haven’t heard from you for a while, thought you’d forgotten what goddamned phones were for.’

‘I’ve been busy,’ Ethan replied, strangely feeling a little bit more relaxed. ‘I’ve started a new business.’

‘Doing what?’

‘I work for the government, investigations and such like. It’s going good.’

‘Where are you right now?’

‘Santa Fe.’

‘Good for you. To what do I owe the honor of this unexpected communiqué?’

Ethan took a breath.

‘I just thought I should call. We haven’t spoken in a long time and I didn’t want to leave it any longer.’

‘You didn’t have to leave it at all, Ethan. Your mother’s found this all very difficult, you know.’

‘So have I.’

A long silence enveloped the line as Ethan struggled to find something useful to say. Nothing came. He considered hanging up, but his hand refused to obey. Henry Warner’s voice suddenly sounded down the line, startling him.

‘I take it you’ve gotten over what happened in Palestine, Ethan, Joanna’s disappearance and your… difficulties afterward.’

‘Diplomatic as always, Dad,’ Ethan responded.

‘No sense in treading on eggshells,’ his father replied. ‘Ever since you resigned your commission your life hasn’t followed a steady track.’

‘There’s no such thing as a steady goddamned track, Dad. Life doesn’t work like that.’

‘Your mother and I have done okay by living how I—’

‘Mom just does as she’s told because it’s easier than having to negotiate with you!’ Ethan shot back, unable to contain himself any further. ‘People are not machines, Dad! Families are not the Marine Corps, and home is not a barracks! When are you going to learn that?’

A long silence filled the line. Ethan realized that he was now holding his breath.

‘The Corps did you proud, son, you should remember that. There was a time when you were afraid to climb up that tiny tree in our garden, let alone go to war for your country.’

‘People change as they grow up,’ Ethan said through gritted teeth. ‘You should try it someday. Is mom there?’

‘She’s out visiting,’ came the response, then a long pause. ‘Has there been any word, about Joanna?’

Images of his long-vanished fiancée flickered through Ethan’s mind. It had been so long now since she had disappeared from Gaza City that he had begun to associate her memory with the four years he had spent searching for her, instead of the good times they had shared. Now, he tried not to think about her at all.

‘Nothing,’ Ethan said in a whisper. ‘Four years now. Whatever happened to Joanna, I don’t think she’ll be coming back.’

‘Then perhaps you can finally move on.’

‘Sure,’ Ethan muttered. ‘Sounds easy if you say it quickly enough.’

He heard a heavy sigh in response, as though his father was already tiring of the conversation.

‘I didn’t mean it like that, Ethan, and you know it. Why don’t you come by when you’re back in the state, come and visit? Natalie’s here too, on sabbatical.’

Ethan was surprised to become aware of the broad smile breaking across his face. He hadn’t seen his sister in two years. Last he’d heard, she was studying politics at college. He took a breath.

‘Sure. I’ll hopefully have some time off when we get back to Illinois.’

‘We?’

‘My partner and I,’ Ethan replied. ‘That is, my business partner and I, at least for the moment.’

‘Well, you’re welcome to bring her too. Just make sure you bring yourself, okay? It’s been too long, son, you know that, don’t you?’

Ethan avoided answering the question directly.

‘Sounds great, Dad, I’ll be there within a few days.’

‘Good. We’ll all be glad to see you, Ethan, after all that’s happened and despite our… differences. If there’s one thing that’s more important than anything else it’s family.’

Ethan smiled again, and was about to reply when a sudden realization slammed into his field of awareness like a bullet through glass. Ethan’s smile vanished as he stared blankly into nowhere and his jaw fell open as he heard his father’s words echoing around in his mind. If there’s one thing that’s more important than anything else it’s family.

‘Ethan?’

‘Dad, I’ve got to go, something just turned up.’

Ethan leapt up from the bed and dashed from the room, sprinting down the corridor outside and down a stairwell three at a time. He burst into the hotel foyer, where Lopez was casually leafing through a magazine.

‘They’ve got away!’ Ethan shouted.

Lopez dropped the magazine, leapt to her feet and stared at him.

‘Who’s got away?’

‘I can’t believe I’ve been so stupid,’ Ethan said, holding his head in his hands.

‘What the hell’s going on?’

‘Get the car,’ Ethan said. ‘We’ve got to go, right now.’

Ethan opened the car door and stepped out even before Lopez had fully braked to a stop, the outside of the facility swarming with police cars. Ethan hurried to the police cordon and asked for Lieutenant Zamora, who emerged from the facility a minute or two later and waved Ethan and Lopez forward.

‘I can’t believe it,’ Zamora said.

Ethan looked at him.

‘There’s been another abduction, right?’

Lieutenant Zamora nodded, running a hand through his hair.

‘We put a guard on the house just in case and extra security here, but it’s like they just vanished into thin air. I can’t understand how it happened.’

Ethan closed his eyes. ‘I can.’

Lopez grabbed Ethan’s shoulder and squeezed it hard.

‘Will you tell me what the hell is going on?!’